330 files changed, 60438 insertions, 0 deletions

diff --git a/.gitattributes b/.gitattributes
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..6833f05
--- /dev/null
+++ b/.gitattributes
@@ -0,0 +1,3 @@
+* text=auto
+*.txt text
+*.md text
diff --git a/20002-0.txt b/20002-0.txt
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..516cddd
--- /dev/null
+++ b/20002-0.txt
@@ -0,0 +1,10937 @@
+The Project Gutenberg EBook of Alroy, by Benjamin Disraeli
+
+This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with
+almost no restrictions whatsoever.  You may copy it, give it away or
+re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included
+with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org
+
+
+Title: Alroy
+       The Prince Of The Captivity
+
+Author: Benjamin Disraeli
+
+Release Date: December 3, 2006 [EBook #20002]
+Last Updated: August 26, 1016
+
+Language: English
+
+Character set encoding: UTF-8
+
+*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK ALROY ***
+
+
+
+
+Produced by David Widger
+
+
+
+
+
+ALROY
+
+OR
+
+THE PRINCE OF THE CAPTIVITY
+
+
+By Benjamin Disraeli
+
+
+[Illustration: cover]
+
+[Illustration: alroy-frontis-174]
+
+[Illustration: frontis-label]
+
+
+AUTHOR’S PREFACE
+
+Being at Jerusalem in the year 1831, and visiting the traditionary
+tombs of the Kings of Israel, my thoughts recurred to a personage whose
+marvellous career had, even in boyhood, attracted my attention, as
+one fraught with the richest materials of poetic fiction. And I then
+commenced these pages that should commemorate the name of Alroy. In the
+twelfth century, when he arose, this was the political condition of the
+East:
+
+The Caliphate was in a state of rapid decay. The Seljukian Sultans, who
+had been called to the assistance of the Commanders of the Faithful, had
+become, like the Mayors of the palace in France, the real sovereigns of
+the Empire. Out of the dominions of the successors of the Prophet,
+they had carved four kingdoms, which conferred titles on four Seljukian
+Princes, to wit, the Sultan of Bagdad, the Sultan of Persia, the Sultan
+of Syria, and the Sultan of Roum, or Asia Minor.
+
+But these warlike princes, in the relaxed discipline and doubtful
+conduct of their armies, began themselves to evince the natural effects
+of luxury and indulgence. They were no longer the same invincible
+and irresistible warriors who had poured forth from the shores of the
+Caspian over the fairest regions of the East; and although they still
+contrived to preserve order in their dominions, they witnessed with
+ill-concealed apprehension the rising power of the Kings of Karasmé,
+whose conquests daily made their territories more contiguous.
+
+With regard to the Hebrew people, it should be known that, after the
+destruction of Jerusalem, the Eastern Jews, while they acknowledged
+the supremacy of their conquerors, gathered themselves together for all
+purposes of jurisdiction, under the control of a native ruler, a reputed
+descendant of David, whom they dignified with the title of ‘The Prince
+of the Captivity.’ If we are to credit the enthusiastic annalists of
+this imaginative people, there were periods of prosperity when the
+Princes of the Captivity assumed scarcely less state and enjoyed
+scarcely less power than the ancient Kings of Judah themselves. Certain
+it is that their power increased always in an exact proportion to the
+weakness of the Caliphate, and, without doubt, in some of the most
+distracted periods of the Arabian rule, the Hebrew Princes rose into
+some degree of local and temporary importance. Their chief residence was
+Bagdad, where they remained until the eleventh century, an age fatal
+in Oriental history, from the disasters of which the Princes of the
+Captivity were not exempt. They are heard of even in the twelfth
+century. I have ventured to place one at Hamadan, which was a favourite
+residence of the Hebrews, from being the burial-place of Esther and
+Mordecai.
+
+With regard to the supernatural machinery of this romance, it is
+Cabalistical and correct. From the Spirits of the Tombs to the sceptre
+of Solomon, authority may be found in the traditions of the Hebrews for
+the introduction of all these spiritual agencies.
+
+Grosvenor Gate: July, 1845.
+
+
+
+
+
+A L R O Y
+
+[Illustration: page001]
+
+
+CHAPTER I.
+
+    _A Great Day for Israel._
+
+THE cornets sounded a final flourish as the Prince of the Captivity
+dismounted from his white mule; his train shouted as if they were once
+more a people; and, had it not been for the contemptuous leer which
+played upon the countenances of the Moslem bystanders, it might have
+been taken for a day of triumph rather than of tribute.
+
+‘The glory has not departed!’ exclaimed the venerable Bostenay, as he
+entered the hall of his mansion. ‘It is not as the visit of Sheba unto
+Solomon; nevertheless the glory has not yet departed. You have done
+well, faithful Caleb.’ The old man’s courage waxed more vigorous, as
+each step within his own walls the more assured him against the recent
+causes of his fear, the audible curses and the threatened missiles of
+the unbelieving mob.
+
+‘It shall be a day of rejoicing and thanksgiving!’ continued the Prince;
+‘and look, my faithful Caleb, that the trumpeters be well served. That
+last flourish was bravely done. It was not as the blast before Jericho;
+nevertheless, it told that the Lord of Hosts was for us. How the
+accursed Ishmaelites started! Did you mark, Caleb, that tall Turk in
+green upon my left? By the sceptre of Jacob, he turned pale! Oh! it
+shall be a day of rejoicing and thanksgiving! And spare not the wine,
+nor the flesh-pots for the people. Look you to this, my child, for the
+people shouted bravely and with a stout voice. It was not as the great
+shout in the camp when the ark returned; nevertheless, it was boldly
+done, and showed that the glory had not yet departed. So spare not the
+wine, my son, and drink to the desolation of Ishmael in the juice which
+he dare not quaff.’
+
+‘It has indeed been a great day for Israel!’ exclaimed Caleb, echoing
+his master’s exultation.
+
+‘Had the procession been forbidden,’ continued Bostenay, ‘had it been
+reserved for me of all the princes to have dragged the accursed tribute
+upon foot, without trumpets and without guards, by this sceptre, my good
+Caleb, I really think that, sluggishly as this old blood now runs, I
+would---- But it is needless now to talk; the God of our fathers hath
+been our refuge.’
+
+‘Verily, my lord, we were as David in the wilderness of Ziph; but now we
+are as the Lord’s anointed in the stronghold of Engedi!’
+
+‘The glory truly has not yet utterly departed,’ resumed the Prince in a
+more subdued tone; ‘yet if---- I tell you what, Caleb; praise the Lord
+that you are young.’
+
+‘My Prince too may yet live to see the good day.’
+
+‘Nay, my child, you misinterpret me. Your Prince has lived to see the
+evil day. ‘Twas not of the coming that I thought when I bid you praise
+the Lord because you were young, the more my sin. I was thinking, Caleb,
+that if your hair was as mine, if you could recollect, like me, the
+days that are gone by, the days when it needed no bride to prove we
+were princes,«the glorious days when we led captivity captive; I was
+thinking, I say, my son, what a gainful heritage it is to be born after
+the joys that have passed away.’
+
+‘My father lived at Babylon,’ said Caleb. ‘Oh! name it not! name it
+not!’ exclaimed the old chieftain. ‘Dark was the day that we lost that
+second Zion! We were then also slaves to the Egyptian; but verily we
+ruled over the realm of Pharaoh. Why, Caleb, Caleb, you who know all,
+the days of toil, the nights restless as a love-sick boy’s, which it has
+cost your Prince to gain permission to grace our tribute-day with
+the paltry presence of half-a-dozen guards; you who know all my
+difficulties, who have witnessed all my mortifications, what would you
+say to the purse of dirhems, surrounded by seven thousand scimitars?’
+
+‘Seven thousand scimitars!’ ‘Not one less; my father flourished one.’
+‘It was indeed a great day for Israel!’ ‘Nay, that is nothing. When old
+Alroy was prince, old David Alroy, for thirty years, good Caleb, thirty
+long years we paid _no_ tribute to the Caliph.’
+
+‘No tribute! no tribute for thirty years! What marvel then, my Prince,
+that the Philistines have of late exacted interest?’
+
+‘Nay, that is nothing,’ continued old Bostenay, unmindful of his
+servant’s ejaculations. ‘When Moctador was Caliph, he sent to the same
+Prince David, to know why the dirhems were not brought up, and David
+immediately called to horse, and, attended by all the chief people, rode
+to the palace, and told the Caliph that tribute was an acknowledgment
+made from the weak to the strong to insure protection and support; and,
+inasmuch as he and his people had garrisoned the city for ten years
+against the Seljuks, he held the Caliph in arrear.’
+
+‘We shall yet see an ass mount a ladder,’ [1] exclaimed Caleb, with
+uplifted eyes of wonder.
+
+‘It is true, though,’ continued the Prince; ‘often have I heard my
+father tell the tale. He was then a child, and his mother held him up to
+see the procession return, and all the people shouted “The sceptre has
+not gone out of Jacob.�’
+
+‘It was indeed a great day for Israel.’
+
+‘Nay, that is nothing. I could tell you such things! But we prattle; our
+business is not yet done. You to the people; the widow and the orphan
+are waiting. Give freely, good Caleb, give freely; the spoils of the
+Canaanite are no longer ours, nevertheless the Lord is still our God,
+and, after all, even this is a great day for Israel. And, Caleb, Caleb,
+bid my nephew, David Alroy, know that I would speak with him.’
+
+‘I will do all promptly, good master! We wondered that our honoured
+lord, your nephew, went not up with the donation this day.’
+
+‘Who bade you wonder? Begone, sir! How long are you to idle here? Away!
+
+‘They wonder he went not up with the tribute to-day. Ay! surely, a
+common talk. This boy will be our ruin, a prudent hand to wield our
+shattered sceptre. I have observed him from his infancy; he should have
+lived in Babylon. The old Alroy blood flows in his veins, a stiff-necked
+race. When I was a youth, his grandsire was my friend; I had some
+fancies then myself. Dreams, dreams! we have fallen on evil days, and
+yet we prosper. I have lived long enough to feel that a rich caravan,
+laden with the shawls of India and the stuffs of Samarcand, if not
+exactly like dancing before the ark, is still a goodly sight. And our
+hard-hearted rulers, with all their pride, can they subsist without us?
+Still we wax rich. I have lived to see the haughty Caliph sink into a
+slave viler far than Israel. And the victorious and voluptuous Seljuks,
+even now they tremble at the dim mention of the distant name of Arslan.
+Yet I, Bostenay, and the frail remnant of our scattered tribes, still
+we exist, and still, thanks to our God! we prosper. But the age of power
+has passed; it is by prudence now that we must flourish. The gibe and
+jest, the curse, perchance the blow, Israel now must bear, and with a
+calm or even smiling visage. What then? For every gibe and jest, for
+every curse, I’ll have a dirhem; and for every blow, let him look to it
+who is my debtor, or wills to be so. But see, he comes, my nephew! His
+grandsire was my friend. Methinks I look upon him now: the same Alroy
+that was the partner of my boyish hours. And yet that fragile form and
+girlish face but ill consort with the dark passions and the dangerous
+fancies, which, I fear, lie hidden in that tender breast. Well, sir?’
+
+‘You want me, uncle?’
+
+‘What then? Uncles often want what nephews seldom offer.’
+
+‘I at least can refuse nothing; for I have naught to give.’
+
+‘You have a jewel which I greatly covet.’ ‘A jewel! See my chaplet! You
+gave it me, my uncle; it is yours.’
+
+‘I thank you. Many a blazing ruby, many a soft and shadowy pearl, and
+many an emerald glowing like a star in the far desert, I behold, my
+child. They are choice stones, and yet I miss a jewel far more precious,
+which, when I gave you this rich chaplet, David, I deemed you did
+possess.’ ‘How do you call it, sir?’ ‘Obedience.’
+
+‘A word of doubtful import; for to obey, when duty is disgrace, is not a
+virtue.’
+
+‘I see you read my thought. In a word, I sent for you to know, wherefore
+you joined me not to-day in offering our--our----’
+
+‘Tribute.’
+
+‘Be it so: tribute. Why were you absent?’ ‘Because it was a tribute; I
+pay none.’ ‘But that the dreary course of seventy winters has not erased
+the memory of my boyish follies, David, I should esteem you mad. Think
+you, because I am old, I am enamoured of disgrace, and love a house of
+bondage? If life were a mere question between freedom and slavery, glory
+and dishonour, all could decide. Trust me, there needs but little spirit
+to be a moody patriot in a sullen home, and vent your heroic spleen upon
+your fellow-sufferers, whose sufferings you cannot remedy. But of such
+stuff your race were ever made. Such deliverers ever abounded in the
+house of Alroy. And what has been the result? I found you and your
+sister orphan infants, your sceptre broken, and your tribes dispersed.
+The tribute, which now at least we pay like princes, was then exacted
+with the scourge and offered in chains. I collected our scattered
+people, I re-established our ancient throne, and this day, which you
+look upon as a day of humiliation and of mourning, is rightly considered
+by all a day of triumph and of feasting; for, has it not proved in the
+very teeth of the Ishmaelites, that the sceptre has not yet departed
+from Jacob?’
+
+‘I pray you, uncle, speak not of these things. I would not willingly
+forget you are my kinsman, and a kind one. Let there not be strife
+between us. What my feelings are is nothing. They are my own: I cannot
+change them. And for my ancestors, if they pondered much, and achieved
+little, why then ‘twould seem our pedigree is pure, and I am their true
+son. At least one was a hero.’
+
+‘Ah! the great Alroy; you may well be proud of such an ancestor.’
+
+‘I am ashamed, uncle, ashamed, ashamed.’
+
+‘His sceptre still exists. At least, I have not betrayed him. And this
+brings me to the real purport of our interview. That sceptre I would
+return.’
+
+‘To whom?’
+
+‘To its right owner, to yourself.’
+
+‘Oh! no, no, no; I pray you, I pray you not. I do entreat you, sir,
+forget that I have a right as utterly as I disclaim it. That sceptre
+you have wielded it wisely and well; I beseech you keep it. Indeed, good
+uncle, I have no sort of talent for all the busy duties of this post.’
+
+‘You sigh for glory, yet you fly from toil.’
+
+‘Toil without glory is a menial’s lot.’
+
+‘You are a boy; you may yet live to learn that the sweetest lot of life
+consists in tranquil duties and well-earned repose.’
+
+‘If my lot be repose, I’ll find it in a lair.’
+
+‘Ah! David, David, there is a wildness in your temper, boy, that makes
+me often tremble. You are already too much alone, child. And for this,
+as well as weightier reasons, I am desirous that you should at length
+assume the office you inherit. What my poor experience can afford to aid
+you, as your counsellor, I shall ever proffer; and, for the rest, our
+God will not desert you, an orphan child, and born of royal blood.’
+
+‘Pr’ythee, no more, kind uncle. I have but little heart to mount a
+throne, which only ranks me as the first of slaves.’
+
+‘Pooh, pooh, you are young. Live we like slaves? Is this hall a servile
+chamber? These costly carpets, and these rich divans, in what proud
+harem shall we find their match? I feel not like a slave. My coffers are
+full of dirhems. Is that slavish? The wealthiest company of the caravan
+is ever Bostenay’s. Is that to be a slave? Walk the bazaar of Bagdad,
+and you will find my name more potent than the Caliph’s. Is that a badge
+of slavery?’
+
+‘Uncle, you toil for others.’
+
+‘So do we all, so does the bee, yet he is free and happy.’
+
+‘At least he has a sting.’
+
+‘Which he can use but once, and when he stings----’
+
+‘He dies, and like a hero. Such a death is sweeter than his honey.’
+
+‘Well, well, you are young, you are young. I once, too, had fancies.
+Dreams all, dreams all. I willingly would see you happy, child. Come,
+let that face brighten; after all, to-day is a great day. If you had
+seen what I have seen, David, you too would feel grateful. Come, let
+us feast. The Ishmaelite, the accursed child of Hagar, he does confess
+to-day that you are a prince; this day also you complete your eighteenth
+year. The custom of our people now requires that you should assume the
+attributes of manhood. To-day, then, your reign commences; and at
+our festival I will present the elders to their prince. For a while,
+farewell, my child. Array that face in smiles. I shall most anxiously
+await your presence.’
+
+‘Farewell, sir.’
+
+He turned his head and watched his uncle as he departed: the bitter
+expression of his countenance gradually melted away as Bostenay
+disappeared: dejection succeeded to sarcasm; he sighed, he threw himself
+upon a couch and buried his face in his hands.
+
+Suddenly he arose and paced the chamber with an irregular and moody
+step. He stopped, and leant against a column. He spoke in a tremulous
+and smothered voice:
+
+‘Oh! my heart is full of care, and my soul is dark with sorrow! What
+am I? What is all this? A cloud hangs heavy o’er my life. God of my
+fathers, let it burst!
+
+‘I know not what I feel, yet what I feel is madness. Thus to be is not
+to live, if life be what I sometimes dream, and dare to think it might
+be. To breathe, to feed, to sleep, to wake and breathe again, again to
+feel existence without hope; if this be life, why then these brooding
+thoughts that whisper death were better?
+
+‘Away! The demon tempts me. But to what? What nameless deed shall
+desecrate this hand? It must not be: the royal blood of twice two
+thousand years, it must not die, die like a dream. Oh! my heart is full
+of care, and my soul is dark with sorrow!
+
+‘Hark! the trumpets that sound our dishonour. Oh, that they but sounded
+to battle! Lord of Hosts, let me conquer or die! Let me conquer like
+David; or die, Lord, like Saul!
+
+‘Why do I live? Ah! could the thought that lurks within my secret heart
+but answer, not that trumpet’s blast could speak as loud or clear.
+The votary of a false idea, I linger in this shadowy life, and feed on
+silent images which no eye but mine can gaze upon, till at length they
+are invested with all the terrible circumstance of life, and breathe,
+and act, and form a stirring world of fate and beauty, time, and death,
+and glory. And then, from out this dazzling wilderness of deeds, I
+wander forth and wake, and find myself in this dull house of bondage,
+even as I do now. Horrible! horrible!
+
+‘God, of my fathers! for indeed I dare not style thee God of their
+wretched sons; yet, by the memory of Sinai, let me tell thee that some
+of the antique blood yet beats within these pulses, and there yet is one
+who fain would commune with thee face to face, commune and conquer.
+
+‘And if the promise unto which we cling be not a cheat, why, let him
+come, come, and come quickly, for thy servant Israel, Lord, is now a
+slave so infamous, so woe-begone, and so contemned, that even when our
+fathers hung their harps by the sad waters of the Babylonian stream,
+why, it was paradise compared with what we suffer.
+
+‘Alas! they do not suffer; they endure and do not feel. Or by this time
+our shadowy cherubim would guard again the ark. It is the will that is
+the father to the deed, and he who broods over some long idea, however
+wild, will find his dream was but the prophecy of coming fate.
+
+‘And even now a vivid flash darts through the darkness of my mind.
+Methinks, methinks--ah! worst of woes to dream of glory in despair. No,
+no; I live and die a most ignoble thing; beauty and love, and fame and
+mighty deeds, the smile of women and the gaze of men, and the ennobling
+consciousness of worth, and all the fiery course of the creative
+passions, these are not for me, and I, Alroy, the descendant of sacred
+kings, and with a soul that pants for empire, I stand here extending my
+vain arm for my lost sceptre, a most dishonoured slave! And do I still
+exist? Exist! ay, merrily. Hark! Festivity holds her fair revel in these
+light-hearted walls. We are gay to-day; and yet, ere yon proud sun,
+whose mighty course was stayed before our swords that now he even does
+not deign to shine upon; ere yon proud sun shall, like a hero from a
+glorious field, enter the bright pavilion of his rest, there shall a
+deed be done.
+
+‘My fathers, my heroic fathers, if this feeble arm cannot redeem your
+heritage; if the foul boar must still wallow in thy sweet vineyard,
+Israel, at least I will not disgrace you. No! let me perish. The house
+of David is no more; no more our sacred seed shall lurk and linger, like
+a blighted thing, in this degenerate earth. If we cannot flourish, ‘why,
+then, we will die!’
+
+‘Oh! say not so, my brother!’
+
+He turns, he gazes on a face beauteous as a starry night; his heart is
+full, his voice is low.
+
+‘Ah, Miriam! thou queller of dark spirits! is it thou? Why art thou
+here?’
+
+‘Why am I here? Are you not here? and need I urge a stronger plea? Oh!
+brother dear, I pray you come, and mingle in our festival. Our walls are
+hung with flowers you love;[2] I culled them by the fountain’s side; the
+holy lamps are trimmed and set, and you must raise their earliest flame.
+Without the gate, my maidens wait, to offer you a robe of state. Then,
+brother dear, I pray you come and mingle in our festival.’
+
+‘Why should we feast?’
+
+‘Ah! is it not in thy dear name these lamps are lit, these garlands
+hung? To-day to us a prince is given, to-day----’
+
+‘A prince without a kingdom.’
+
+‘But not without that which makes kingdoms precious, and which full many
+a royal heart has sighed for, willing subjects, David.’
+
+‘Slaves, Miriam, fellow-slaves.’
+
+‘What we are, my brother, our God has willed; and let us bow and
+tremble.’
+
+‘I will not bow, I cannot tremble.’
+
+‘Hush, David, hush! It was this haughty spirit that called the vengeance
+of the Lord upon us.’
+
+‘It was this haughty spirit that conquered Canaan.’
+
+‘Oh, my brother, my dear brother! they told me the dark spirit had
+fallen on thee, and I came, and hoped that Miriam might have charmed it.
+What we may have been, Alroy, is a bright dream; and what we may be, at
+least as bright a hope; and for what we are, thou art my brother. In thy
+love I find present felicity, and value more thy chance embraces and thy
+scanty smiles than all the vanished splendour of our race, our gorgeous
+gardens, and our glittering halls.’
+
+‘Who waits without there?’
+
+‘Caleb.’
+
+‘Caleb!’
+
+‘My lord.’
+
+‘Go tell my uncle that I will presently join the banquet. Leave me a
+moment, Miriam. Nay, dry those tears.’
+
+‘Oh, Alroy! they are not tears of sorrow.’
+
+‘God be with thee! Thou art the charm and consolation of my life.
+Farewell! farewell!
+
+‘I do observe the influence of women very potent over me. ‘Tis not
+of such stuff that they make heroes. I know not love, save that pure
+affection which doth subsist between me and this girl, an orphan and my
+sister. We are so alike, that when, last Passover, in mimicry she twined
+my turban round her head, our uncle called her David.
+
+‘The daughters of my tribe, they please me not, though they are passing
+fair. Were our sons as brave as they are beautiful, we still might dance
+on Sion. Yet have I often thought that, could I pillow this moody brow
+upon some snowy bosom that were my own, and dwell in the wilderness,
+far from the sight and ken of man, and all the care and toil and
+wretchedness that groan and sweat and sigh about me, I might haply lose
+this deep sensation of overwhelming woe that broods upon by being. No
+matter! Life is but a dream, and mine must be a dull one.’
+
+Without the gates of Hamadan, a short distance from the city, was
+an enclosed piece of elevated ground, in the centre of which rose an
+ancient sepulchre, the traditionary tomb of Esther and Mordecai.[3] This
+solemn and solitary spot was an accustomed haunt of Alroy, and thither,
+escaping from the banquet, about an hour before sunset, he this day
+repaired.
+
+As he unlocked the massy gate of the burial-place, he heard behind him
+the trampling of a horse; and before he had again secured the entrance,
+some one shouted to him.
+
+He looked up, and recognised the youthful and voluptuous Alschiroch, the
+governor of the city, and brother of the sultan of the Seljuks. He
+was attended only by a single running footman, an Arab, a detested
+favourite, and notorious minister of his pleasures.
+
+‘Dog!’ exclaimed the irritated Alschiroch, ‘art thou deaf, or obstinate,
+or both? Are we to call twice to our slaves? Unlock that gate!’
+‘Wherefore?’ inquired Alroy.
+
+‘Wherefore! By the holy Prophet, he bandies questions with us! Unlock
+that gate, or thy head shall answer for it!’
+
+‘Who art thou,’ inquired Alroy, ‘whose voice is so loud? Art thou some
+holiday Turk, who hath transgressed the orders of thy Prophet, and
+drunken aught but water? Go to, or I will summon thee before thy Cadi;’
+and, so saying, he turned towards the tomb.
+
+‘By the eyes of my mother, the dog jeers us! But that we are already
+late, and this horse is like an untamed tiger, I would impale him on the
+spot. Speak to the dog, Mustapha! manage him!’
+
+‘Worthy Hebrew,’ said the silky Mustapha, advancing, ‘apparently you are
+not aware that this is our Lord Alschiroch. His highness would fain walk
+his horse through the burial-ground of thy excellent people, as he is
+obliged to repair, on urgent matters, to a holy Santon, who sojourns on
+the other side of the hill, and time presses.’
+
+‘If this be our Lord Alschiroch, thou doubtless art his faithful slave,
+Mustapha.’
+
+‘I am, indeed, his poor slave. What then, young master?’
+
+‘Deem thyself lucky that the gate is closed. It was but yesterday thou
+didst insult the sister of a servant of my house. I would not willingly
+sully my hands with such miserable blood as thine, out away, wretch,
+away!’
+
+‘Holy Prophet! who is this dog?’ exclaimed the astonished governor.
+
+‘‘Tis the young Alroy,’ whispered Mustapha, who had not at first
+recognised him; ‘he they call their Prince; a most headstrong youth. My
+lord, we had better proceed.’
+
+‘The young Alroy! I mark him. They must have a prince too! The young
+Alroy! Well, let us away, and, dog!’ shouted Alschiroch, rising in his
+stirrups, and shaking his hand with a threatening air, ‘dog! remember
+thy tribute!’
+
+Alroy rushed to the gate, but the massy lock was slow to open; and ere
+he could succeed, the fiery steed had borne Alschiroch beyond pursuit.
+
+An expression of baffled rage remained for a moment on his countenance;
+for a moment he remained with his eager eye fixed on the route of his
+vanished enemy, and then he walked slowly towards the tomb; but his
+excited temper was now little in unison with the still reverie in
+which he had repaired to the sepulchre to indulge. He was restless and
+disquieted, and at length he wandered into the woods, which rose on the
+summit of the burial-place.
+
+He found himself upon a brow crested with young pine-trees, in the midst
+of which rose a mighty cedar. He threw himself beneath its thick and
+shadowy branches, and looked upon a valley small and green; in the midst
+of which was a marble fountain, the richly-carved cupola,[4] supported
+by twisted columns, and banded by a broad inscription in Hebrew
+characters. The bases of the white pillars were covered with wild
+flowers, or hidden by beds of variegated gourds. The transparent sunset
+flung over the whole scene a soft but brilliant light.
+
+The tranquil hour, the beauteous scene, the sweetness and the stillness
+blending their odour and serenity, the gentle breeze that softly rose,
+and summoned forth the languid birds to cool their plumage in the
+twilight air, and wave their radiant wings in skies as bright---- Ah!
+what stern spirit will not yield to the soft genius of subduing eve?
+
+And Alroy gazed upon the silent loneliness of earth, and a tear stole
+down his haughty cheek.
+
+‘‘Tis singular! but when I am thus alone at this still hour, I ever
+fancy I gaze upon the Land of Promise. And often, in my dreams, some
+sunny spot, the bright memorial of a roving hour, will rise upon my
+sight, and, when I wake, I feel as if I had been in Canaan. Why am I
+not? The caravan that bears my uncle’s goods across the Desert would
+bear me too. But I rest here, my miserable life running to seed in
+the dull misery of this wretched city, and do nothing. Why, the old
+captivity was empire to our inglorious bondage. We have no Esther now
+to share their thrones, no politic Mordecai, no purple-vested Daniel. O
+Jerusalem, Jerusalem! I do believe one sight of thee would nerve me
+to the sticking-point. And yet to gaze upon thy fallen state, my uncle
+tells me that of the Temple not a stone remains. ‘Tis horrible. Is there
+no hope?’
+
+‘_The bricks are fallen, but we will rebuild with marble; the sycamores
+are cut down, but we will replace them with cedars._’
+
+‘The chorus of our maidens, as they pay their evening visit to the
+fountain’s side.[5] The burden is prophetic.
+
+‘Hark again! How beautifully, upon the soft and flowing air, their sweet
+and mingled voices blend and float!’
+
+‘_YET AGAIN I WILL BUILD THEE, AND THOU SHALT BE BUILT, O VIRGIN OF
+ISRAEL! YET AGAIN SHALT THOU DECK THYSELF WITH THY TABRETS, AND GO
+FORTH IN THE DANCE OF THOSE THAT MAKE MERRY. YET AGAIN SHALT THOU PLANT
+VINEYARDS ON THE MOUNTAINS OF SAMARIA._’
+
+‘See! their white forms break through the sparkling foliage of the sunny
+shrubs as they descend, with measured step, that mild declivity. A
+fair society in bright procession: each one clothed in solemn drapery,
+veiling her shadowy face with modest hand, and bearing on her graceful
+head a graceful vase. Their leader is my sister.
+
+‘And now they reach the fountain’s side, and dip their vases in the
+water, pure and beauteous as themselves. Some repose beneath the marble
+pillars; some, seated ‘mid the flowers, gather sweets, and twine them
+into garlands; and that wild girl, now that the order is broken, touches
+with light fingers her moist vase, and showers startling drops of
+glittering light on her serener sisters. Hark! again they sing.’
+
+‘_O VINE OF SIBMAH! UPON THY SUMMER FRUITS, AND UPON THY VINTAGE, A
+SPOILER HATH FALLEN!_’
+
+A scream, a shriek, a long wild shriek, confusion, flight, despair!
+Behold! from out the woods a tur-baned man rushes, and seizes the leader
+of the chorus. Her companions fly on all sides, Miriam alone is left in
+the arms of Alschiroch.
+
+The water column wildly rising from the breast of summer ocean, in some
+warm tropic clime, when the sudden clouds too well discover that the
+holiday of heaven is over, and the shrieking sea-birds tell a time of
+fierce commotion, the column rising from the sea, it was not so wild as
+he, the young Alroy.
+
+Pallid and mad, he swift upsprang, and he tore up a tree by its lusty
+roots, and down the declivity, dashing with rapid leaps, panting
+and wild, he struck the ravisher on the temple with the mighty pine.
+Alschiroch fell lifeless on the sod, and Miriam fainting into her
+brother’s arms.
+
+And there he stood, fixed and immovable, gazing upon his sister’s
+deathly face, and himself exhausted by passion and his exploit,
+supporting her cherished but senseless body.
+
+One of the fugitive maidens appeared reconnoitring in the distance.
+When she observed her mistress in the arms of one of her own people, her
+courage revived, and, desirous of rallying her scattered companions, she
+raised her voice, and sang:
+
+_‘HASTE, DAUGHTERS OF JERUSALEM; O! HASTE, FOR THE LORD HAS AVENGED US,
+AND THE SPOILER IS SPOILED._’
+
+And soon the verse was responded to from various quarters of the woods,
+and soon the virgins reassembled, singing,
+
+‘_WE COME, O DAUGHTER OF JERUSALEM! WE COME; FOR THE LORD HAS AVENGED
+US, AND THE SPOILER IS SPOILED_.’
+
+They gathered round their mistress, and one loosened her veil, and
+another brought water from the fountain, and sprinkled her reviving
+countenance. And Miriam opened her eyes, and said, ‘My brother!’ And he
+answered, ‘I am here.’ And she replied in a low voice, ‘Fly, David, fly;
+for the man you have stricken is a prince among the people.’
+
+‘He will be merciful, my sister; and, doubtless, since he first erred,
+by this time he has forgotten my offence.’
+
+‘Justice and mercy! Oh, my brother, what can these foul tyrants know
+of either! Already he has perhaps doomed you to some refined and
+procrastinated torture, already---- Ah! what unutterable woe is mine!
+fly, my brother, fly!’
+
+‘Fly, fly, fly!’
+
+‘There is no fear, my Miriam; would all his accursed race could trouble
+us as little as their sometime ruler. See, he sleeps soundly. But his
+carcass shall not defile our fresh fountain and our fragrant flowers.
+I’ll stow it in the woods, and stroll here at night to listen to the
+jackals at their banquet.’
+
+‘You speak wildly, David. What! No! It is impossible! He is not dead!
+You have not slain him!
+
+He sleeps, he is afraid. He mimics death that we may leave his side,
+and he may rise again in safety. Girls, look to him. David, you do not
+answer. Brother, dear brother, surely he has swooned! I thought he had
+fled. Bear water, maidens, to that terrible man. I dare not look upon
+him.’
+
+‘Away! I’ll look on him, and I’ll triumph. Dead! Alschiroch dead! Why,
+but a moment since, this clotted carcass was a prince, my tyrant! So we
+can rid ourselves of them, eh? If the prince fall, why not the people?
+Dead, absolutely dead, and I his slayer! Hah! at length I am a man.
+This, this indeed is life. Let me live slaying!’
+
+‘Woe! woe, our house is fallen! The wildness of his gestures frightens
+me. David, David, I pray thee cease. He hears me not; my voice,
+perchance, is thin. I am very faint. Maidens, kneel to your Prince, and
+soothe the madness of his passion.’
+
+‘_SWEET IS THE VOICE OF A SISTER IN THE SEASON OF SORROW, AND WISE IS
+THE COUNSEL OF THOSE WHO LOVE US_.’
+
+‘Why, this is my Goliath! a pebble or a stick, it is the same. The Lord
+of Hosts is with us. Rightly am I called David.’
+
+‘_DELIVER US FROM OUR ENEMIES, O LORD! FROM THOSE WHO RISE UP AGAINST
+US, AND THOSE WHO LIE IN WAIT FOR US_.’
+
+[Illustration: page020]
+
+‘Were but this blow multiplied, were but the servants of my uncle’s
+house to do the same, why, we should see again the days of Elah! The
+Philistine, the foul, lascivious, damnable Philistine! and he must touch
+my sister! Oh! that all his tribe were here, all, all! I’d tie such
+firebrands to their foxes’ tails, the blaze should light to freedom!’
+
+While he spoke, a maiden, who had not yet rejoined the company, came
+running towards them swiftly with an agitated countenance.
+
+‘Fly,’ she exclaimed, ‘they come, they come!’
+
+Miriam was reclining in an attendant’s arms, feeble and faint, but the
+moment her quick ear caught these words she sprang up, and seized her
+brother’s arm.
+
+‘Alroy! David! brother, dear brother! I beseech thee, listen, I am thy
+sister, thy Miriam; they come, they come, the hard-hearted, wicked men,
+they come, to kill, perhaps to torture thee, my tender brother. Rouse
+thyself, David; rouse thyself from this wild, fierce dream: save
+thyself, fly!’
+
+‘Ah! is it thou, Miriam? Thou seest he sleepeth soundly. I was dreaming
+of noble purposes and mighty hopes. Tis over now. I am myself again.
+What wouldst thou?’
+
+‘They come, the fierce retainers of this fallen man; they come to seize
+thee. Fly, David!’
+
+‘And leave thee?’
+
+‘I and my maidens, we have yet time to escape by the private way we
+entered, our uncle’s garden. When in his house, we are for a moment
+safe, as safe as our poor race can ever be. Bostenay is so rich, so
+wise, so prudent, so learned in man’s ways, and knows so well the
+character and spirit of these men, all will go right; I fear nothing.
+But thou, if thou art here, or to be found, thy blood alone will satiate
+them. If they be persuaded that thou hast escaped, as I yet pray thou
+mayest, their late master here, whom they could scarcely love, why, give
+me thy arm an instant, sweet Beruna. So, that’s well. I was saying, if
+well bribed,--and they may have all my jewels,--why, very soon, he will
+be as little in their memories as he is now in life. I can scarcely
+speak; I feel my words wander, or seem to wander; I could swoon, but
+will not; nay! do not fear. I will reach home. These maidens are my
+charge. ‘Tis in these crises we should show the worth of royal blood.
+I’ll see them safe, or die with them.’
+
+‘O! my sister, methinks I never knew I was a brother until this hour. My
+precious Miriam, what is life? what is revenge, or even fame and freedom
+without thee? I’ll stay.’
+
+‘_SWEET IS THE VOICE OF A SISTER IN THE SEASON OF SORROW, AND WISE IS
+THE COUNSEL OF THOSE WHO LOVE US_.’
+
+‘Fly, David, fly!’
+
+‘Fly! whither and how?’
+
+The neigh of a horse sounded from the thicket.
+
+‘Ah! they come!’ exclaimed the distracted Miriam.
+
+‘_ALL THIS HAS COME UPON US, O LORD! YET HAVE WE NOT FORGOTTEN THEE,
+NEITHER HAVE WE DEALT FALSELY IN THY COVENANT_.’
+
+‘Hark! again it neighs! It is a horse that calleth to its rider. I see
+it. Courage, Miriam! it is no enemy, but a very present friend in time
+of trouble. It is Alschiroch’s courser. He passed me on it by the tomb
+ere sunset. I marked it well, a very princely steed.’
+
+_‘BEHOLD, BEHOLD, A RAM IS CAUGHT IN THE THICKET BY HIS HORNS._’
+
+‘Our God hath not forgotten us! Quick, maidens, bring forth the goodly
+steed. What! do you tremble? I’ll be his groom.’
+
+‘Nay! Miriam, beware, beware. It is an untamed beast, wild as the
+whirlwind. Let me deal with him.’
+
+He ran after her, dashed into the thicket, and brought forth the horse.
+
+Short time I ween that stately steed had parted from his desert home;
+his haughty crest, his eye of fire, the glory of his snorting nostril,
+betoken well his conscious pride, and pure nobility of race. His colour
+was like the sable night shining with a thousand stars, and he pawed the
+ground with his delicate hoof, like an eagle flapping its wing.
+
+Alroy vaulted on his back, and reined him with a master’s hand.
+
+‘Hah!’ he exclaimed, ‘I feel more like a hero than a fugitive. Farewell,
+my sister; farewell, ye gentle maidens; fare ye well, and cherish
+my precious Miriam. One embrace, sweet sister,’ and he bent down and
+whispered, ‘Tell the good Bostenay not to spare his gold, for I have a
+deep persuasion that, ere a year shall roll its heavy course, I shall
+return and make our masters here pay for this hurried ride and bitter
+parting. Now for the desert!’
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER II.
+
+     _The Slaying of an Ishmaelite_
+
+SPEED, fleetly speed, thou courser bold, and track the desert’s
+trackless way. Beneath thee is the boundless earth, above thee is the
+boundless heaven, an iron soil and brazen sky. Speed, swiftly speed,
+thou courser bold, and track the desert’s trackless way. Ah! dost thou
+deem these salty plains[6] lead to thy Yemen’s happy groves, and
+dost thou scent on the hot breeze the spicy breath of Araby? A sweet
+delusion, noble steed, for this briny wilderness leads not to the happy
+groves of Yemen, and the breath thou scentest on the coming breeze is
+not the spicy breath of Araby.
+
+The day has died, the stars have risen, with all the splendour of a
+desert sky, and now the Night descending brings solace on her dewy wings
+to the fainting form and pallid cheek of the youthful Hebrew Prince.
+
+Still the courser onward rushes, still his mighty heart supports him.
+Season and space, the glowing soil, the burning ray, yield to the
+tempest of his frame, the thunder of his nerves, and lightning of his
+veins.
+
+Food or water they have none. No genial fount, no graceful tree, rise
+with their pleasant company. Never a beast or bird is there, in that
+hoary desert bare. Nothing breaks the almighty stillness. Even the
+jackal’s felon cry might seem a soothing melody. A grey wild rat, with
+snowy whiskers, out of a withered bramble stealing, with a youthful
+snake in its ivory teeth, in the moonlight grins with glee. This is
+their sole society.
+
+Morn comes, the fresh and fragrant morn, for which even the guilty sigh.
+Morn comes, and all is visible. And light falls like a signet on the
+earth, and its face is turned like wax beneath a seal. Before them and
+also on their right was the sandy desert; but in the night they had
+approached much nearer to the mountainous chain, which bounded the
+desert on the left, and whither Alroy had at first guided the steed.
+
+The mountains were a chain of the mighty Elburz; and, as the sun rose
+from behind a lofty peak, the horse suddenly stopped and neighed, as if
+asking for water. But Alroy, himself exhausted, could only soothe him
+with caresses. And the horse, full of courage, understood his master,
+and neighed again more cheerfully.
+
+For an hour or two the Prince and his faithful companion proceeded
+slowly, but, as the day advanced, the heat became so oppressive, and
+the desire to drink so overwhelming, that Alroy again urged on the steed
+towards the mountains, where he knew that he should find a well. The
+courser dashed willingly forward, and seemed to share his master’s
+desire to quit the arid and exhausting wilderness.
+
+More than once the unhappy fugitive debated whether he should not allow
+himself to drop from his seat and die; no torture that could await him
+at Hamadan but seemed preferable to the prolonged and inexpressible
+anguish which he now endured. As he rushed along, leaning on his
+bearer’s neck, he perceived a patch of the desert that seemed of a
+darker colour than the surrounding sand. Here, he believed, might
+perhaps be found water. He tried to check the steed, but with difficulty
+he succeeded, and with still greater difficulty dismounted. He knelt
+down, and feebly raked up the sand with his hands. It was moist. He
+nearly fainted over his fruitless labour. At length, when he had dug
+about a foot deep, there bubbled up some water. He dashed in his hand,
+but it was salt as the ocean. When the horse saw the water his ears
+rose, but, when he smelt it, he turned away his head, and neighed most
+piteously.
+
+‘Alas, poor beast!’ exclaimed Alroy, ‘I am the occasion of thy
+suffering, I, who would be a kind master to thee, if the world would let
+me. Oh, that we were once more by my own fair fountain! The thought is
+madness. And Miriam too! I fear I am sadly tender-hearted.’ He leant
+against his horse’s back, with a feeling of utter exhaustion, and burst
+into hysteric sobs.
+
+And the steed softly moaned, and turned its head, and gently rubbed its
+face against his arm, as if to solace him in his suffering. And strange,
+but Alroy was relieved by having given way to his emotion, and, charmed
+with the fondness of the faithful horse, he leant down and took water,
+and threw it over its feet to cool them, and wiped the foam from its
+face, and washed it, and the horse again neighed.
+
+And now Alroy tried to remount, but his strength failed him, and the
+horse immediately knelt down and received him. And the moment that the
+Prince was in his seat, the horse rose, and again proceeded at a rapid
+pace in their old direction. Towards sunset they were within a few miles
+of the broken and rocky ground into which the mountains descended; and
+afar off Alroy recognised the cupola of the long-expected well. With
+re-animated courage and rallied energies he patted his courser’s neck,
+and pointed in the direction of the cupola, and the horse pricked up its
+ears, and increased its pace.
+
+Just us the sun set, they reached the well. Alroy jumped off the horse,
+and would have led it to the fountain, but the animal would not advance.
+It stood shivering with a glassy eye, and then with a groan fell down
+and died.
+
+Night brings rest; night brings solace; rest to the weary, solace to the
+sad. And to the desperate night brings despair.
+
+The moon has sunk to early rest; but a thousand stars are in the sky.
+The mighty mountains rise severe in the clear and silent air. In the
+forest all is still. The tired wind no longer roams, but has lightly
+dropped on its leafy couch, and sleeps like man. Silent all but the
+fountain’s drip. And by the fountain’s side a youth is lying.
+
+Suddenly a creature steals through the black and broken rocks. Ha, ha!
+the jackal smells from afar the rich corruption of the courser’s clay.
+Suddenly and silently it steals, and stops, and smells. Brave banqueting
+I ween to-night for all that goodly company. Jackal, and fox, and
+marten-cat, haste ye now, ere morning’s break shall call the vulture to
+his feast and rob you of your prey.
+
+The jackal lapped the courser’s blood, and moaned with exquisite
+delight. And in a moment, a faint bark was heard in the distance. And
+the jackal peeled the flesh from one of the ribs, and again burst into a
+shriek of mournful ecstasy.
+
+Hark, their quick tramp! First six, and then three, galloping with
+ungodly glee. And a marten-cat came rushing down from the woods; but
+the jackals, fierce in their number, drove her away, and there she stood
+without the circle, panting, beautiful, and baffled, with her white
+teeth and glossy skin, and sparkling eyes of rabid rage.[7]
+
+Suddenly as one of the half-gorged jackals retired from the main corpse,
+dragging along a stray member by some still palpitating nerves, the
+marten-cat made a spring at her enemy, carried off his prey, and rushed
+into the woods.
+
+Her wild scream of triumph woke a lion from his lair. His mighty form,
+black as ebony, moved on a distant eminence, his tail flowed like a
+serpent. He roared, and the jackals trembled, and immediately ceased
+from their banquet, turning their heads in the direction of their
+sovereign’s voice. He advanced; he stalked towards them. They retired;
+he bent his head, examined the carcass with condescending curiosity,
+and instantly quitted it with royal disdain. The jackals again collected
+around their garbage. The lion advanced to the fountain to drink. He
+beheld a man. His mane rose, his tail was wildly agitated, he bent over
+the sleeping Prince, he uttered an awful roar, which awoke Alroy.
+
+He awoke; his gaze met the flaming eyes of the enormous beast fixed upon
+him with a blended feeling of desire and surprise. He awoke, and from a
+swoon; but the dreamless trance had refreshed the exhausted energies of
+the desolate wanderer; in an instant he collected his senses, remembered
+all that had passed, and comprehended his present situation. He returned
+the lion a glance as imperious, and fierce, and scrutinsing, as his own.
+For a moment, their flashing orbs vied in regal rivalry; but at length
+the spirit of the mere animal yielded to the genius of the man. The
+lion, cowed, slunk away, stalked with haughty timidity through the
+rocks, and then sprang into the forest.
+
+Morn breaks; a silver light is shed over the blue and starry sky.
+Pleasant to feel is the breath of dawn. Night brings repose, but day
+brings joy.
+
+The carol of a lonely bird singing in the wilderness! A lonely bird that
+sings with glee! Sunny and sweet, and light and clear, its airy notes
+float through the sky, and trill with innocent revelry.
+
+The lonely youth on the lonely bird upgazes from the fountain’s side.
+High in the air it proudly floats, balancing its crimson wings, and its
+snowy tail, long, delicate, and thin, shines like a sparkling meteor in
+the sun.
+
+The carol of a lonely bird singing in the wilderness! Suddenly it
+downward dashes, and thrice with circling grace it flies around the head
+of the Hebrew Prince. Then by his side it gently drops a bunch of fresh
+and fragrant dates.
+
+‘Tis gone, ‘tis gone! that cheerful stranger, gone to the palmy land it
+loves; gone like a bright and pleasant dream. A moment since and it was
+there, glancing in the sunny air, and now the sky is without a guest.
+Alas, alas! no more is heard the carol of that lonely bird singing in
+the wilderness.
+
+‘As thou didst feed Elijah, so also hast thou fed me, God of my
+fathers!’ And Alroy arose, and he took his turban and unfolded it,
+and knelt and prayed. And then he ate of the dates, and drank of the
+fountain, and, full of confidence in the God of Israel, the descendant
+of David pursued his flight.
+
+He now commenced the ascent of the mountainous chain, a wearisome and
+painful toil. Two hours past noon he reached the summit of the first
+ridge, and looked over a wild and chaotic waste full of precipices
+and ravines, and dark unfathomable gorges. The surrounding hills were
+ploughed in all directions by the courses of dried-up cataracts, and
+here and there a few savage goats browsed on an occasional patch of
+lean and sour pasture. This waste extended for many miles; the distance
+formed by a more elevated range of mountains, and beyond these, high in
+the blue sky, rose the loftiest peaks of Elburz,[8] shining with sharp
+glaciers of eternal snow.
+
+It was apparent that Alroy was no stranger in the scene of his flight.
+He had never hesitated as to his course, and now, after having rested
+for a short time on the summit, he descended towards the left by a
+natural but intricate path, until his progress was arrested by a black
+ravine. Scarcely half a dozen yards divided him from the opposite
+precipice by which it was formed, but the gulf beneath, no one could
+shoot a glance at its invisible termination without drawing back with a
+cold shudder.
+
+The Prince knelt down and examined the surrounding ground with great
+care. At length he raised a small square stone which covered a metallic
+plate, and, taking from his vest a carnelian talisman covered with
+strange characters, he knocked thrice upon the plate with the signet.
+A low solemn murmur sounded around. Presently the plate flew off, and
+Alroy pulled forth several yards of an iron chain, which he threw over
+to the opposite precipice. The chain fastened without difficulty to
+the rock, and was evidently constrained by some magnetic influence.
+The Prince, seizing the chain with both his hands, now swung across
+the ravine. As he landed, the chain parted from the rock, swiftly
+disappeared down the opposite aperture, and its covering closed with the
+same low, solemn murmur as before.
+
+Alroy proceeded for about a hundred paces through a natural cloister
+of basalt until he arrived at a large uncovered court of the same
+formation, which a stranger might easily have been excused for believing
+to have been formed and smoothed by art. In its centre bubbled up a
+perpetual spring, icy cold; the stream had worn a channel through the
+pavement, and might be traced for some time wandering among the rocks,
+until at length it leaped from a precipice into a gorge below, in a
+gauzy shower of variegated spray. Crossing the court, Alroy now entered
+a vast cavern.
+
+The cavern was nearly circular in form, lighted from a large aperture
+in the top. Yet a burning lamp, in a distant and murky corner, indicated
+that its inhabitant did not trust merely to this natural source of the
+great blessing of existence. In the centre of the cave was a circular
+and brazen table, sculptured with strange characters and mysterious
+figures: near it was a couch, on which lay several volumes.[9] Suspended
+from the walls were a shield, some bows and arrows, and other arms.
+
+As the Prince of the Captivity knelt down and kissed the vacant couch, a
+figure advanced from the extremity of the cavern into the light. He
+was a man of middle age, considerably above the common height, with
+a remarkably athletic frame, and a strongly-marked but majestic
+countenance. His black beard descended to his waist, over a dark red
+robe, encircled by a black girdle embroidered with yellow characters,
+like those sculptured on the brazen table. Black also was his turban,
+and black his large and luminous eye.
+
+The stranger advanced so softly, that Alroy did not perceive him, until
+the Prince again rose.
+
+‘Jabaster!’ exclaimed the Prince.
+
+‘Sacred seed of David,’ answered the Cabalist,[10] ‘thou art expected. I
+read of thee in the stars last night. They spoke of trouble.’
+
+‘Trouble or triumph, Time must prove which it is, great master. At
+present I am a fugitive and exhausted. The bloodhounds track me, but
+methinks I have baffled them now. I have slain an Ishmaelite.’
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER III
+
+     _The Hope of Israel_
+
+IT WAS midnight. Alroy slept upon the couch: his sleep was troubled.
+Jabaster stood by his side motionless, and gazing intently upon his
+slumbering guest.
+
+‘The only hope of Israel,’ murmured the Cabalist,’ my pupil and my
+prince! I have long perceived in his young mind the seed of mighty
+deeds, and o’er his future life have often mused with a prophetic hope.
+The blood of David, the sacred offspring of a solemn race. There is a
+magic in his flowing veins my science cannot reach.
+
+‘When, in my youth, I raised our standard by my native Tigris, and
+called our nation to restore their ark, why, we were numerous, wealthy,
+potent; we were a people then, and they flocked to it boldly. Did we
+lack counsel? Did we need a leader? Who can aver that Jabaster’s brain
+or arm was ever wanting? And yet the dream dissolved, the glorious
+vision! Oh! when I struck down Marvan, and the Caliph’s camp flung its
+blazing shadow over the bloody river, ah! then indeed I lived. Twenty
+years of vigil may gain a pardon that I then forgot we lacked the chief
+ingredient in the spell, the blood that sleeps beside me.
+
+‘I recall the glorious rapture of that sacred strife amid the rocks of
+Caucasus. A fugitive, a proscribed and outlawed wretch, whose life is
+common sport, and whom the vilest hind may slay without a bidding. I,
+who would have been Messiah!
+
+‘Burn thy books, Jabaster; break thy brazen tables; forget thy lofty
+science, Cabalist, and read the stars no longer.[11] But last night
+I stood upon the gulf which girds my dwelling: in one hand, I held my
+sacred talisman, that bears the name ineffable; in the other, the mystic
+record of our holy race. I remembered that I had evoked spirits, that I
+had communed with the great departed, and that the glowing heavens were
+to me a natural language. I recalled, as consolation to my gloomy soul,
+that never had my science been exercised but for a sacred or a noble
+purpose. And I remembered Israel, my brave, my chosen, and my antique
+race, slaves, wretched slaves. I was strongly tempted to fling me down
+this perilous abyss, and end my learning and my life together.
+
+‘But, as I gazed upon the star of David, a sudden halo rose around its
+rays, and ever and anon a meteor shot from out the silver veil. I read
+that there was trouble in the holy seed; and now comes this boy, who has
+done a deed which----’
+
+‘The ark, the ark! I gaze upon the ark!’ ‘The slumberer speaks; the
+words of sleep are sacred.’ ‘Salvation only from the house of David.’
+‘A mighty truth; my life too well has proved it. ‘He is more calm. It
+is the holy hour. I’ll steal into the court, and gaze upon the star that
+sways the fortunes of his royal house.’
+
+The moonbeam fell upon the fountain; the pavement of the court was a
+flood of light; the rocks rose dark around. Jabaster, seated by the
+spring, and holding his talisman in his left hand, shaded his sight with
+the other as he gazed upon the luminous heavens.
+
+A shriek! his name was called. Alroy, wild and panting, rushed into the
+court with extended arms. The Cabalist started up, seized him, and held
+him in his careful grasp, foaming and in convulsions.
+
+‘Jabaster, Jabaster!’
+
+‘I am here, my child.’
+
+‘The Lord hath spoken.’
+
+‘The Lord is our refuge. Calm thyself, son of David, and tell me all.’
+
+‘I have been sleeping, master; is it not so?’
+
+‘Even so, my child. Exhausted by his flight and the exciting narrative
+of his exploit, my Prince lay down upon the couch and slumbered; but I
+fear that slumber was not repose.’
+
+‘Repose and I have naught in common now. Farewell for ever to that fatal
+word. I am the Lord’s anointed.’
+
+‘Drink of the fountain, David: it will restore thee.’
+
+‘Restore the covenant, restore the ark, restore the holy city.’
+
+‘The Spirit of the Lord hath fallen upon him. Son of David, I adjure
+thee tell me all that hath passed. I am a Levite; in my hand I hold the
+name ineffable.’
+
+‘Take thy trumpet then, summon the people, bid them swiftly raise again
+our temple. “The bricks have fallen, but we will rebuild with marble.�
+ Didst hear that chorus, sir?’
+
+‘Unto thy chosen ear alone it sounded.’
+
+‘Where am I? This is not our fountain. Yet thou didst say, “the
+fountain.� Think me not wild. I know thee, I know all. Thou art
+not Miriam. Thou art jabaster; I am Alroy. But thou didst say, “the
+fountain,� and it distracted me, and called back my memory to----
+
+‘God of Israel, lo, I kneel before thee! Here, in the solitude of
+wildest nature, my only witness here this holy man, I kneel and vow,
+Lord! I will do thy bidding. I am young, O God! and weak; but thou,
+Lord, art all-powerful! What God is like to thee? Doubt not my courage,
+Lord; and fill me with thy spirit! but remember, remember her, O Lord!
+remember Miriam. It is the only worldly thought I have, and it is pure.’
+
+‘Still of his sister! Calm thyself, my son.’
+
+‘Holy master, thou dost remember when I was thy pupil in this cavern.
+Thou hast not forgotten those days of tranquil study, those sweet, long
+wandering nights of sacred science! I was dutiful, and hung upon each
+accent of thy lore with the devotion that must spring from love.’
+
+‘I cannot weep, Alroy; but were it in my power, I would yield a tear of
+homage to the memory of those days.’
+
+‘How calmly have we sat on some high brow, and gazed upon the stars!’
+
+‘‘Tis very true, sweet child.’
+
+‘And if thou e’er didst chide me, ‘twas half in jest, and only for my
+silence.’
+
+‘What would he now infer? No matter, he grows calmer. How solemn is his
+visage in the moonlight! And yet not Solomon, upon his youthful throne,
+could look more beautiful.’
+
+‘I never told thee an untruth, Jabaster.’
+
+‘My life upon thy faith.’
+
+‘Fear not the pledge, and so believe me, on the mountain brow watching
+the starry heavens with thyself, I was not calmer than I feel, sir,
+now.’
+
+‘I do believe thee.’
+
+‘Then, Jabaster, believe as fully I am the Lord’s anointed.’
+
+‘Tell me all, my child.’
+
+‘Know, then, that sleeping on the couch within, my sleep was troubled.
+Many dreams I had, indefinite and broken. I recall none of their images,
+except I feel a dim sensation ‘twas my lot to live in brighter days than
+now rise on our race. Suddenly I stood upon a mountain tall and grey,
+and gazed upon the stars. And, as I gazed, a trumpet sounded. Its note
+thrilled through my soul. Never have I heard a sound so awful. The
+thunder, when it broke over the cavern here, and shivered the peak,
+whose ruins lie around us, was but a feeble worldly sound to this
+almighty music. My cheek grew pale, I panted even for breath. A
+flaming light spread over the sky, the stars melted away, and I beheld,
+advancing from the bursting radiancy, the foremost body of a mighty
+host.
+
+‘Oh! not when Saul led forth our fighting men against the Philistine,
+not when Joab numbered the warriors of my great ancestor, did human
+vision gaze upon a scene of so much martial splendour. Chariots and
+cavalry, and glittering trains of plumed warriors too robust to need a
+courser’s solace; streams of shining spears, and banners like a sunset;
+reverend priests swinging their perfumed censers, and prophets hymning
+with their golden harps a most triumphant future.
+
+‘“Joy, joy,� they say, “to Israel, for he cometh, he cometh in his
+splendour and his might, the great Messiah of our ancient hopes.�
+
+‘And, lo! a mighty chariot now appeared, drawn by strange beasts whose
+forms were half obscured by the bright flames on which they seemed to
+float. In that glorious car a warrior stood, proud and immovable his
+form, his countenance. Hold my hand, Jabaster, while I speak; that
+chieftain was myself!’
+
+‘Proceed, proceed, my son.’
+
+‘I started in my dream, and I awoke. I found myself upsitting on my
+couch. The pageantry had vanished. Naught was seen but the bright
+moonlight and the gloomy cave. And, as I sighed to think I e’er had
+wakened, and mused upon the strangeness of my vision, a still small
+voice descended from above and called, “Alroy!� I started, but I
+answered not. Methought it was my fancy. Again my name was called, and
+now I murmured, “Lord, I am here, what wouldst thou?� Naught responded,
+and soon great dread came over me, and I rushed out and called to thee,
+my master.’
+
+‘It was “the Daughter of the Voice�[12] that spake. Since the Captivity
+‘tis the only mode by which the saints are summoned. Oft have I heard
+of it, but never in these sad degenerate days has its soft aspiration
+fallen upon us. These are strange times and tidings. The building of the
+temple is at hand. Son of David, my heart is full. Let us to prayer!’
+
+Day dawned upon Jabaster, still musing in solitude among his rocks.
+Within the cavern, Alroy remained in prayer.
+
+Often and anxiously the Cabalist shot a glance at his companion, and
+then again relapsed into reverie.
+
+‘The time is come that I must to this youth reveal the secrets of my
+early life. Much will he hear of glory, much of shame. Naught must I
+conceal, and naught gloss over.
+
+‘I must tell how in the plains of Tigris I upraised the sacred standard
+of our chosen race, and called them from their bondage; how, despairing
+of his recreant fathers, and inspired by human power alone, I vainly
+claimed the mighty office for his sacred blood alone reserved. God of
+my fathers, grant that future service, the humble service of a
+contrite soul, may in the coming glory that awaits us, atone for past
+presumption!
+
+‘But for him great trials are impending. Not lightly must that votary
+be proved, who fain would free a people. The Lord is faithful to his
+promise, but the Lord will choose his season and his minister. Courage,
+and faith, and deep humility, and strong endurance, and the watchful
+soul temptation cannot sully, these are the fruits we lay upon his
+altar, and meekly watch if some descending flame will vouchsafe to
+accept and brightly bless them.
+
+‘It is written in the dread volume of our mystic lore, that not alone
+the Saviour shall spring from out our house of princes, but that none
+shall rise to free us, until, alone and unassisted, he have gained the
+sceptre which Solomon of old wielded within his cedar palaces.
+
+‘That sceptre must he gain. This fragile youth, untried and delicate,
+unknowing in the ways of this strange world, where every step is danger,
+how much hardship, how much peril, what withering disappointment, what
+dull care, what long despondency, what never-ending lures, now lie in
+ambush for this gentle boy! O my countrymen, is this your hope? And I,
+with all my lore, and all my courage, and all my deep intelligence of
+man; unhappy Israel, why am I not thy Prince?
+
+‘I check the blasphemous thought. Did not his great ancestor, as young
+and as untried, a beardless stripling, with but a pebble, a small
+smoothed stone, level a mailed giant with the ground, and save his
+people?
+
+‘He is clearly summoned. The Lord is with him. Be he with the Lord, and
+we shall prosper.’
+
+It was at sunset, on the third day after the arrival of Alroy at the
+cave of the Cabalist, that the Prince of the Captivity commenced his
+pilgrimage in quest of the sceptre of Solomon.
+
+Silently the pilgrim and his master took their way to the brink of the
+ravine, and there they stopped to part, perhaps forever.
+
+‘It is a bitter moment, Alroy. Human feelings are not for beings like
+us, yet they will have their way. Remember all. Cherish the talisman as
+thy life: nay! welcome death with it pressing against thy heart, rather
+than breathe without it. Be firm, be pious. Think of thy ancestors,
+think of thy God.’
+
+‘Doubt me not, dear master; if I seem not full of that proud spirit,
+which was perhaps too much my wont, ascribe it not to fear, Jabaster,
+nor even to the pain of leaving thee, dear friend. But ever since that
+sweet and solemn voice summoned me so thrillingly, I know not how it is,
+but a change has come over my temper; yet I am firm, oh! firmer far than
+when I struck down the Ishmaelite. Indeed, indeed, fear not for me. The
+Lord, that knoweth all things, knows full well I am prepared even to the
+death. Thy prayers, Jabaster, and----’
+
+‘Stop, stop. I do remember me. See this ring: ‘tis a choice emerald.
+Thou mayst have wondered I should wear a bauble. Alroy, I had a brother
+once: still he may live. When we parted, this was the signal of his
+love: a love, my child, strong, though we greatly differed. Take it. The
+hour may come that thou mayst need his aid. It will command it. If he
+live, he prospers. I know his temper well. He was made for what the
+worldly deem prosperity. God be with thee, sacred boy: the God of our
+great fathers, the God of Abraham, of Isaac, and of Jacob!’
+
+They embraced.
+
+‘We linger,’ exclaimed the Cabalist, ‘we linger. Oh! in vain we quell
+the feelings of our kind. God, God bless and be with thee! Art sure thou
+hast all? thy dagger and thy wallet? That staff has seen some service.
+I cut it on the Jordan. Ah! that I could be thy mate! ‘Twould be nothing
+then. At the worst to die together. Such a fate seems sweeter now than
+parting. I’ll watch thy star, my child. Thou weepest! And I too. Why!
+what is this? Am I indeed Jabaster? One more embrace, and so----we’ll
+not say farewell, but only think it.’
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER IV.
+
+     _Alroy Falls Among Thieves_
+
+TRADITION taught that the sceptre of Solomon could be found only in the
+unknown sepulchres of the ancient Hebrew monarchs, and that none might
+dare to touch it but one of their descendants. Armed with the cabalistic
+talisman, which was to guide him in his awful and difficult researches,
+Alroy commenced his pilgrimage to the Holy City. At this time, the love
+of these sacred wanderings was a reigning passion among the Jews as well
+as the Christians.
+
+The Prince of the Captivity was to direct his course into the heart
+of those great deserts which, in his flight from Hamadan, he had only
+skirted. Following the track of the caravan, he was to make his way
+to Babylon, or Bagdad. From the capital of the caliphs, his journey
+to Jerusalem was one comparatively easy; but to reach Bagdad he must
+encounter hardship and danger, the prospect of which would have
+divested any one of hope, who did not conceive himself the object of an
+omnipotent and particular Providence.
+
+Clothed only in a coarse black frock, common among the Kourds, girded
+round his waist by a cord which held his dagger, his head shaven, and
+covered with a large white turban, which screened him from the heat, his
+feet protected only by slippers, supported by his staff, and bearing on
+his shoulders a bag of dried meat and parched corn, and a leathern skin
+of water, behold, toiling over the glowing sands of Persia, a youth
+whose life had hitherto been a long unbroken dream of domestic luxury
+and innocent indulgence.
+
+He travelled during the warm night or the early starlit morn. During the
+day he rested: happy if he could recline by the side of some
+charitable well, shaded by a palm-tree, or frighten a gazelle from its
+resting-place among the rough bushes of some wild rocks. Were these
+resources wanting, he threw himself upon the sand, and made an awning
+with his staff and turban.
+
+Three weeks had elapsed since he quitted the cavern of the Cabalist.
+Hitherto he had met with no human being. The desert became less arid.
+A scanty vegetation sprang up from a more genial soil; the ground broke
+into gentle undulations; his senses were invigorated with the odour
+of wild plants, and his sight refreshed by the glancing form of some
+wandering bird, a pilgrim like himself, but more at ease.
+
+Soon sprang up a grove of graceful palm-trees, with their tall thin
+stems, and bending feathery crowns, languid and beautiful. Around, the
+verdant sod gleamed like an emerald: silver streams, flowing from a
+bubbling parent spring, wound their white forms within the bright green
+turf. From the grove arose the softening song of doves, and showers of
+gay and sparkling butterflies, borne on their tinted wings of shifting
+light, danced without danger in the liquid air. A fair and fresh Oasis!
+
+Alroy reposed in this delicious retreat for two days, feeding on the
+living dates, and drinking of the fresh water. Fain would he have
+lingered, nor indeed, until he rested, had he been sufficiently
+conscious of his previous exertion. But the remembrance of his great
+mission made him restless, and steeled him to the sufferings which yet
+awaited him.
+
+At the dawn of the second day of his journey from the Oasis he beheld to
+his astonishment, faintly but distinctly traced on the far horizon, the
+walls and turrets of an extensive city.[13] Animated by this unexpected
+prospect, he continued his progress for several hours after sunrise. At
+length, utterly exhausted, he sought refuge from the overpowering heat
+beneath the cupola of the ruined tomb of some Moslem saint. At sunset
+he continued his journey, and in the morning found himself within a few
+miles of the city. He halted, and watched with anxiety for some evidence
+of its inhabitants. None was visible. No crowds or cavalcades issued
+from the gates. Not a single human being, not a solitary camel, moved in
+the vicinity.
+
+The day was too advanced for the pilgrim to proceed, but so great was
+his anxiety to reach this unknown settlement, and penetrate the mystery
+of its silence, that ere sunset Alroy entered the gates.
+
+A magnificent city, of an architecture with which he was unacquainted,
+offered to his entranced vision its gorgeous ruins and deserted
+splendour; long streets of palaces, with their rich line of lessening
+pillars, here and there broken by some fallen shaft, vast courts
+surrounded by ornate and solemn temples, and luxurious baths adorned
+with rare mosaics, and yet bright with antique gilding; now an arch of
+triumph, still haughty with its broken friezes; now a granite obelisk
+covered with strange characters, and proudly towering over a prostrate
+companion; sometimes a void and crumbling theatre, sometimes a long and
+elegant aqueduct, sometimes a porphyry column, once breathing with the
+heroic statue that now lies shivered at its base, all suffused with the
+warm twilight of an eastern eve.
+
+He gazed with wonder and admiration upon the strange and fascinating
+scene. The more he beheld, the more his curiosity was excited. He
+breathed with difficulty; he advanced with a blended feeling of
+eagerness and hesitation. Fresh wonders successively unfolded
+themselves. Each turn developed a new scene of still and solemn
+splendour. The echo of his step filled him with awe. He looked around
+him with an amazed air, a fluttering heart, and a changing countenance.
+All was silent: alone the Hebrew Prince stood amid the regal creation of
+the Macedonian captains. Empires and dynasties flourish and pass away;
+the proud metropolis becomes a solitude, the conquering kingdom even a
+desert; but Israel still remains, still a descendant of the most ancient
+kings breathed amid these royal ruins, and still the eternal sun could
+never rise without gilding the towers of living Jerusalem. A word, a
+deed, a single day, a single man, and we might be a nation.
+
+A shout! he turns, he is seized; four ferocious Kourdish bandits grapple
+and bind him.
+
+The bandits hurried their captive through a street which appeared to
+have been the principal way of the city. Nearly at its termination,
+they turned by a small Ionian temple, and, clambering over some fallen
+pillars, entered a quarter of the city of a more ruinous aspect than
+that which Alroy had hitherto visited. The path was narrow, often
+obstructed, and around were signs of devastation for which the exterior
+of the city had not prepared him.
+
+The brilliant but brief twilight of the Orient was fast fading away; a
+sombre purple tint succeeded to the rosy flush; the distant towers rose
+black, although defined, in the clear and shadowy air; and the moon,
+which, when he first entered, had studded the heavens like a small white
+cloud, now glittered with deceptive light.
+
+Suddenly, before them rose a huge pile. Oval in shape, and formed by
+tiers of arches, it was evidently much dilapidated, and one enormous,
+irregular, and undulating rent, extending from the top nearly to the
+foundation, almost separated the side to which Alroy and his companions
+advanced.
+
+Clambering up the remainder of this massive wall, the robbers and their
+prisoner descended into an immense amphitheatre, which seemed vaster in
+the shadowy and streaming moonlight. In it were groups of men, horses,
+and camels. In the extreme distance, reclining or squatting on mats and
+carpets, was a large assembly, engaged in a rough but merry banquet. A
+fire blazed at their side, its red and uncertain flame mingling with the
+white and steady moonbeam, and throwing a flickering light over their
+ferocious countenances, their glistening armour, ample drapery, and
+shawled heads.
+
+‘A spy,’ exclaimed the captors, as they dragged Alroy before the leader
+of the band.
+
+‘Hang him, then,’ said the chieftain, without even looking up.
+
+‘This wine, great Scherirah, is excellent, or I am no true Moslem,’
+said a principal robber; ‘but you are too cruel; I hate this summary
+punishment. Let us torture him a little, and extract some useful
+information.’
+
+‘As you like, Kisloch,’ said Scherirah; ‘it may amuse us. Fellow, where
+do you come from? He cannot answer. Decidedly a spy. Hang him up.’
+
+The captors half untied the rope that bound Alroy, that it might serve
+him for a further purpose, when another of the gentle companions of
+Scherirah interfered.
+
+‘Spies always answer, captain. He is more probably a merchant in
+disguise.’
+
+‘And carries hidden treasure,’ added Kisloch; ‘these rough coats often
+cover jewels. We had better search him.’
+
+‘Ah! search him,’ said Scherirah, with his rough brutal voice; ‘do what
+you like, only give me the bottle. This Greek wine is choice booty. Feed
+the fire, men. Are you asleep? And then Kisloch, who hates cruelty, can
+roast him if he likes.’
+
+The robbers prepared to strip their captive. ‘Friends, friends!’
+exclaimed Alroy, ‘for there is no reason why you should not be friends,
+spare me, spare me. I am poor, I am young, I am innocent. I am neither a
+spy nor a merchant. I have no plots, no wealth. I am a pilgrim.’
+
+‘A decided spy,’ exclaimed Scherirah; ‘they are ever pilgrims.’
+
+‘He speaks too well to speak truth,’ exclaimed Kisloch.
+
+‘All talkers are liars,’ exclaimed Scherirah.
+
+‘That is why Kisloch is the most eloquent of the band.’
+
+‘A jest at the banquet may prove a curse in the field,’ replied Kisloch.
+
+‘Pooh!’ exclaimed Scherirah. ‘Fellows, why do you hesitate? Search the
+prisoner, I say!’
+
+They advanced, they seized him. In vain he struggled.
+
+‘Captain,’ exclaimed one of the band, ‘he wears upon his breast a
+jewel!’
+
+‘I told you so,’ said the third robber.
+
+‘Give it me,’ said Scherirah.
+
+But Alroy, in despair at the thought of losing the talisman, remembering
+the injunctions of Jabaster, and animated by supernatural courage, burst
+from his searchers, and, seizing a brand from the fire, held them at
+bay.
+
+‘The fellow has spirit,’ said Scherirah, calmly. ‘‘Tis pity it will cost
+him his life.’
+
+‘Bold man,’ exclaimed Alroy, ‘for a moment hear me! I am a pilgrim,
+poorer than a beggar. The jewel they talk of is a holy emblem, worthless
+to you, to me invaluable, and to be forfeited only with my life. You
+may be careless of that. Beware of your own. The first man who advances
+dies. I pray you humbly, chieftain, let me go.’
+
+‘Kill him,’ said Scherirah.
+
+‘Stab him!’ exclaimed Kisloch.
+
+‘Give me the jewel,’ said the third robber.
+
+‘The God of David be my refuge, then!’ exclaimed Alroy.
+
+‘He is a Hebrew, he is a Hebrew,’ exclaimed Scherirah, jumping up.
+‘Spare him, my mother was a Jewess.’
+
+The assailants lowered their arms, and withdrew a few paces. Alroy still
+remained upon his guard.
+
+‘Valiant pilgrim,’ said Scherirah, advancing, with a softened voice,
+‘are you for the holy city?’
+
+‘The city of my fathers.’
+
+‘A perilous journey. And whence from?’
+
+‘Hamadan.’
+
+‘A dreary way. You need repose. Your name?’
+
+‘David.’
+
+‘David, you are among friends. Rest, and repose in safety. You hesitate.
+Fear not! The memory of my mother is a charm that always changes me!’
+Scherirah unsheathed his dagger, punctured his arm,[14] and, throwing
+away the weapon, offered the bleeding member to Alroy. The Prince of the
+Captivity touched the open vein with his lips.
+
+‘My troth is pledged,’ said the bandit; ‘I can never betray him in whose
+veins my own blood is flowing.’ So saying, he led Alroy to his carpet.
+
+‘Eat,’ David,’ said Scherirah.
+
+‘I will eat bread,’ answered Alroy.
+
+‘What! have you had so much meat lately that you will refuse this
+delicate gazelle that I brought down this morning with my own lance?
+‘Tis food for a caliph.’
+
+‘I pray you give me bread.’
+
+‘Oh! bread if you like. But that a man should prefer bread to meat, and
+such meat as this, ‘tis miraculous.’
+
+‘A thousand thanks, good Scherirah; but with our people the flesh of the
+gazelle is forbidden. It is unclean. Its foot is _cloven_.’
+
+‘I have heard of these things,’ replied Scherirah, with a thoughtful
+air. ‘My mother was a Jewess, and my father was a Kourd. Whichever be
+right, I hope to be saved.’
+
+‘There is but one God, and Mahomed is his prophet!’ exclaimed Kisloch;
+‘though I drink wine. Your health, Hebrew.’
+
+‘I will join you,’ said to the third robber. ‘My father was a Guebre,
+and sacrificed his property to his faith; and the consequence is, his
+son has got neither.’
+
+‘As for me,’ said a fourth robber, of very dark complexion and
+singularly small bright eyes, ‘I am an Indian, and I believe in the
+great golden figure with carbuncle eyes, in the temple of Delhi.’
+
+‘I have no religion,’ said a tall negro in a red turban, grinning with
+his white teeth; ‘they have none in my country; but if I had heard of
+your God before, Calidas, I would have believed in him.’
+
+‘I almost wish I had been a Jew,’ exclaimed Scherirah, musing. ‘My
+mother was a good woman.’ ‘The Jews are very rich,’ said the third
+robber. ‘When you get to Jerusalem, David, you will see the Christians,’
+continued Scherirah.
+
+‘The accursed Giaours,’ exclaimed Kisloch, ‘we are all against them.’
+
+‘With their white faces,’ exclaimed the negro. ‘And their blue eyes,’
+said the Indian. ‘What can you expect of men who live in a country
+without a sun?’ observed the Guebre.
+
+Alroy awoke about two hours after midnight. His companions were in deep
+slumber. The moon had set, the fire had died away, a few red embers
+alone remaining; dark masses of shadow hung about the amphitheatre. He
+arose and cautiously stepped over the sleeping bandits. He was not
+in strictness a prisoner; but who could trust to the caprice of these
+lawless men? To-morrow might find him their slave, or their companion in
+some marauding expedition, which might make him almost retrace his steps
+to the Caucasus, or to Hamadan. The temptation to ensure his freedom
+was irresistible. He clambered up the ruined wall, descended into the
+intricate windings that led to the Ionic fane, that served him as a
+beacon, hurried through the silent and starry streets, gained the great
+portal, and rushed once more into the desert.
+
+A vague fear of pursuit made him continue his course many hours without
+resting. The desert again became sandy, the heat increased. The breeze
+that plays about the wilderness, and in early spring is often scented
+with the wild fragrance of aromatic plants, sank away. A lurid
+brightness suffused the heavens. An appalling stillness pervaded nature;
+even the insects were silent. For the first time in his pilgrimage,
+a feeling of deep despondency fell over the soul of Alroy. His energy
+appeared suddenly to have deserted him. A low hot wind began to rise,
+and fan his cheek with pestiferous kisses, and enervate his frame with
+its poisonous embrace. His head and limbs ached with a dull sensation,
+more terrible than pain; his sight was dizzy, his tongue swollen. Vainly
+he looked around for aid; vainly he extended his forlorn arms, and
+wrung them to the remorseless heaven, almost frantic with thirst. The
+boundless horizon of the desert disappeared, and the unhappy victim, in
+the midst of his torture, found himself apparently surrounded by bright
+and running streams, the fleeting waters of the false mirage!
+
+The sun became blood-red, the sky darker, the sand rose in fierce
+eddies, the moaning wind burst into shrieks and exhaled more ardent
+and still more malignant breath. The pilgrim could no longer sustain
+himself.[15] Faith, courage, devotion deserted him with his failing
+energies. He strove no longer with his destiny, he delivered himself
+up to despair and death. He fell upon one knee with drooping head,
+supporting himself by one quivering hand, and then, full of the anguish
+of baffled purposes and lost affections, raising his face and arm to
+heaven, thus to the elements he poured his passionate farewell.
+
+‘O life! once vainly deemed a gloomy toil, I feel thy sweetness now!
+Farewell, O life, farewell my high resolves and proud conviction of
+almighty fame. My days, my short unprofitable days, melt into the past;
+and death, with which I struggle, horrible death, arrests me in this
+wilderness. O my sister, could thy voice but murmur in my ear one single
+sigh of love; could thine eye with its soft radiance but an instant
+blend with my dim fading vision, the pang were nothing. Farewell,
+Miriam! my heart is with thee by thy fountain’s side. Fatal blast,
+bear her my dying words, my blessing. And ye too, friends, whose too
+neglected love I think of now, farewell! Farewell, my uncle; farewell,
+pleasant home, and Hamadan’s serene and shadowy bowers! Farewell,
+Jabaster, and the mighty lore of which thou wert the priest and I the
+pupil! Thy talisman throbs on my faithful heart. Green earth and golden
+sun, and all the beautiful and glorious sights ye fondly lavish on
+unthinking man, farewell, farewell! I die in the desert: ‘tis bitter. No
+more, oh! never more for me the hopeful day shall break, and the fresh
+breeze rise on its cheering wings of health and joy. Heaven and earth,
+water and air, my chosen country and my antique creed, farewell,
+farewell! And thou, too, city of my soul, I cannot name thee, unseen
+Jerusalem----’
+
+Amid the roar of the wind, the bosom of the earth heaved and opened,
+swift columns of sand sprang up to the lurid sky, and hurried towards
+their victim. With the clang of universal chaos, impenetrable darkness
+descended on the desert.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER V.
+
+     _Lord Honain Rescues Alroy_
+
+NOW our dreary way is over, now the desert’s toil is past. Soon the
+river broadly flowing, through its green and palmy banks, to our
+wearied limbs shall offer baths ‘which caliphs cannot buy. Allah-illah,
+Allah-hu. Allah-illah, Allah-hu.’
+
+‘Blessed the man who now may bear a relic from our Prophet’s tomb;
+blessed the man who now unfolds the treasures of a distant mart,
+jewels of the dusky East, and silks of farthest Samarcand. Allah-illah,
+Allah-hu. Allah-illah, Allah-hu.’
+
+‘Him the sacred mosque shall greet with a reverence grave and
+low; him the busy Bezestein shall welcome with confiding smile. Holy
+merchant, now receive the double triumph of thy toil. Allah-illah,
+Allah-hu. Allah-illah, Allah-hu.’
+
+‘The camel jibs, Abdallah! See, there is something in the track.’
+
+‘By the holy stone,[16] a dead man. Poor devil! One should never make
+a pilgrimage on foot. I hate your humble piety. Prick the beast and he
+will pass the corpse.’
+
+‘The Prophet preaches charity, Abdallah. He has favoured my enterprise,
+and I will practise his precept. See if he be utterly dead.’
+
+It was the Mecca caravan returning to Bagdad. The pilgrims were within
+a day’s journey of the Euphrates, and welcomed their approach to fertile
+earth with a triumphant chorus. Far as the eye could reach, the long
+line of their straggling procession stretched across the wilderness,
+thousands of camels in strings, laden with bales of merchandise, and
+each company headed by an animal of superior size, leading with tinkling
+bells; groups of horsemen, clusters of litters; all the pilgrims
+armed to their teeth, the van formed by a strong division of Seljukian
+cavalry, and the rear protected by a Kourdish clan, who guaranteed the
+security of the pious travellers through their country.
+
+Abdallah was the favourite slave of the charitable merchant Ali. In
+obedience to his master’s orders, he unwillingly descended from his
+camel, and examined the body of the apparently lifeless Alroy.
+
+‘A Kourd, by his dress,’ exclaimed Abdallah, with a sneer; ‘what does he
+here?’
+
+‘It is not the face of a Kourd,’ replied Ali; ‘perchance a pilgrim from
+the mountains.’
+
+‘Whatever he be, he is dead,’ answered the slave: ‘I doubt not an
+accursed Giaour.’
+
+‘God is great,’ exclaimed Ali; ‘he breathes; the breast of his caftan
+heaved.’
+
+‘‘Twas the wind,’ said Abdallah.
+
+‘‘Twas the sigh of a human heart,’ answered Ali.
+
+Several pilgrims who were on foot now gathered around the group.
+
+‘I am a Hakim,’[17] observed a dignified Armenian. ‘I will feel his
+pulse; ‘tis dull, but it beats.’
+
+‘There is but one God,’ exclaimed Ali.
+
+‘And Mahomed is his Prophet,’ responded Abdallah. ‘You do not believe in
+him, you Armenian infidel.’
+
+‘I am a Hakim,’ replied the dignified Armenian. ‘Although an infidel,
+God has granted me skill to cure true believers. Worthy Ali, believe me,
+the boy may yet live.’
+
+‘Hakim, you shall count your own dirhems if he breathe in my divan in
+Bagdad,’ answered Ali; ‘I have taken a fancy to the boy. God has sent
+him to me. He shall carry my slippers.’
+
+‘Give me a camel, and I will save his life.’
+
+‘We have none,’ said the servant.
+
+‘Walk, Abdallah,’ said the master.
+
+‘Is a true believer to walk to save the life of a Kourd? Master
+slipper-bearer shall answer for this, if there be any sweetness in the
+bastinado,’ murmured Abdallah.
+
+The Armenian bled Alroy; the blood flowed slowly but surely. The Prince
+of the Captivity opened his eyes.
+
+‘There is but one God,’ exclaimed Ali.
+
+‘The evil eye fall on him!’ muttered Abdallah.
+
+The Armenian took a cordial from his vest, and poured it down his
+patient’s throat. The blood flowed more freely.
+
+‘He will live, worthy merchant,’ said the physician.
+
+‘And Mahomed is his Prophet,’ continued Ali.
+
+‘By the stone of Mecca, I believe it is a Jew,’ shouted Abdallah.
+
+‘The dog!’ exclaimed Ali.
+
+‘Pah!’ said a negro slave, drawing back with disgust.
+
+‘He will die,’ said the Christian physician, not even binding up the
+vein.
+
+‘And be damned,’ said Abdallah, again jumping on his camel.
+
+The party rode on, the caravan proceeded. A Kourdish horseman galloped
+forward. He curbed his steed as he passed Alroy bleeding to death.
+
+‘What accursed slave has wounded one of my clan?’
+
+The Kourd leaped off his horse, stripped off a slip of his blue shirt,
+stanched the wound, and carried the unhappy Alroy to the rear.
+
+The desert ceased, the caravan entered upon a vast but fruitful plain.
+In the extreme distance might be descried a long undulating line of
+palm-trees. The vanguard gave a shout, shook their tall lances in the
+air, and rattled their scimitars in rude chorus against their small
+round iron shields. All eyes sparkled, all hands were raised, all voices
+sounded, save those that were breathless from overpowering joy. After
+months wandering in the sultry wilderness, they beheld the great
+Euphrates.
+
+Broad and fresh, magnificent and serene, the mighty waters rolled
+through the beautiful and fertile earth. A vital breeze rose from their
+bosom. Every being responded to their genial influence. The sick were
+cured, the desponding became sanguine, the healthy and light-hearted
+broke into shouts of laughter, jumped from their camels, and embraced
+the fragrant earth, or, wild in their renovated strength, galloped over
+the plain, and threw their wanton jerreeds in the air,[18] as if to
+show that suffering and labour had not deprived them of that skill and
+strength, without which it were vain again to enter the haunts of their
+less adventurous brethren.
+
+The caravan halted on the banks of the broad river, glowing in the
+cool sunset. The camp was pitched, the plain glittered with tents. The
+camels, falling on their knees, crouched in groups, the merchandise
+piled up in masses by their sides. The unharnessed horses rushed
+neighing about the plain, tossing their glad heads, and rolling in the
+unaccustomed pasture. Spreading their mats, and kneeling towards Mecca,
+the pilgrims performed their evening orisons. Never was thanksgiving
+more sincere. They arose: some rushed into the river, some lighted
+lamps, some pounded coffee.[19] Troops of smiling villagers arrived with
+fresh provisions, eager to prey upon such light hearts and heavy purses.
+It was one of those occasions when the accustomed gravity of the Orient
+disappears. Long through the night the sounds of music and the shouts of
+laughter were heard on the banks of that starry river; long through the
+night you might have listened with enchantment to the wild tales of the
+storier, or gazed with fascination on the wilder gestures of the dancing
+girls.[20]
+
+The great bazaar of Bagdad afforded an animated and sumptuous spectacle
+on the day after the arrival of the caravan. All the rare and costly
+products of the world were collected in that celebrated mart: the shawls
+of Cachemire and the silks of Syria, the ivory, and plumes, and gold
+of Afric, the jewels of Ind, the talismans of Egypt, the perfumes and
+manuscripts of Persia, the spices and gums of Araby, beautiful horses,
+more beautiful slaves, cloaks of sable, pelisses of ermine, armour alike
+magnificent in ornament and temper, rare animals, still rarer birds,
+blue apes in silver collars, white gazelles bound by a golden chain,
+greyhounds, peacocks, paroquets. And everywhere strange, and busy, and
+excited groups; men of all nations, creeds, and climes: the sumptuous
+and haughty Turk, the graceful and subtle Arab, the Hebrew with his
+black cap and anxious countenance; the Armenian Christian, with his dark
+flowing robes, and mild demeanour, and serene visage. Here strutted
+the lively, affected, and superfine Persian; and there the Circassian
+stalked with his long hair and chain cuirass. The fair Georgian jostled
+the ebony form of the merchant of Dongola or Sennaar.
+
+Through the long, narrow, arched, and winding streets of the bazaar,
+lined on each side with loaded stalls, all was bustle, bargaining, and
+barter. A passenger approached, apparently of no common rank. Two pages
+preceded him, beautiful Georgian boys, clothed in crimson cloth, and
+caps of the same material, sitting tight to their heads, with long
+golden tassels. One bore a blue velvet bag, and the other a clasped and
+richly bound volume. Four footmen, armed, followed their master, who
+rode behind the pages on a milk-white mule. He was a man of middle age,
+eminently handsome. His ample robes concealed the only fault in
+his appearance, a figure which indulgence had rendered somewhat too
+exuberant. His eyes were large, and soft, and dark; his nose aquiline,
+but delicately moulded; his mouth small, and beautifully proportioned;
+his lip full and red; his teeth regular and dazzling white. His ebony
+beard flowed, but not at too great a length, in graceful and natural
+curls, and was richly perfumed; a delicate mustachio shaded his upper
+lip, but no whisker was permitted to screen the form and shroud the
+lustre of his oval countenance and brilliant complexion. Altogether, the
+animal perhaps predominated too much in the expression of the stranger’s
+countenance; but genius beamed from his passionate eye, and craft lay
+concealed in that subtle lip. The dress of the rider was sumptuous. His
+turban, formed by a scarlet Cachemire shawl, was of great breadth, and
+concealing half of his white forehead, increased by the contrast the
+radiant height of the other. His under-vest was of white Damascus silk,
+stiff with silver embroidery, and confined by a girdle formed by a Brusa
+scarf of gold stuff, and holding a dagger, whose hilt appeared blazing
+with brilliants and rubies. His loose and exterior robe was of crimson
+cloth. His white hands sparkled with rings, and his ears glittered with
+pendulous gems.
+
+‘Who is this?’ asked an Egyptian merchant, in a low whisper, of the
+dealer whose stuffs he was examining.
+
+‘‘Tis the Lord Honain,’ replied the dealer. ‘And who may he be?’
+continued the Egyptian. ‘Is he the Caliph’s son?’
+
+‘A much greater man; his physician.’ The white mule stopped at the very
+stall where this conversation was taking place. The pages halted, and
+stood on each side of their master, the footmen kept off the crowd.
+
+‘Merchant,’ said Honain, with a gracious smile of condescension, and
+with a voice musical as a flute, ‘Merchant, did you obtain me my wish?’
+
+‘There is but one God,’ replied the dealer, who was the charitable
+Ali, ‘and Mahomed is his Prophet. I succeeded, please your highness, in
+seeing at Aleppo the accursed Giaour, of whom I spoke, and behold,
+that which you desired is here.’ So saying, Ali produced several Greek
+manuscripts, and offered them to his visitor.
+
+‘Hah!’ said Honain, with a sparkling eye, ‘‘tis well; their cost?’
+
+‘The infidel would not part with them under five hundred dirhems,’
+replied Ali.
+
+‘Ibrahim, see that this worthy merchant receive a thousand.’
+
+‘As many thanks, my Lord Honain.’
+
+The Caliph’s physician bowed gracefully.
+
+‘Advance, pages,’ continued Honain; ‘why this stoppage? Ibrahim, see
+that our way be cleared. What is all this?’
+
+A crowd of men advanced, pulling along a youth, who, almost exhausted,
+still singly struggled with his ungenerous adversaries.
+
+‘The Cadi, the Cadi,’ cried the foremost of them, who was Abdallah,
+‘drag him to the Cadi.’
+
+‘Noble lord,’ cried the youth, extricating himself by a sudden struggle
+from the grasp of his captors, and seizing the robe of Honain, ‘I am
+innocent and injured. I pray thy help.’
+
+‘The Cadi, the Cadi,’ exclaimed Abdallah; ‘the knave has stolen my ring,
+the ring given me by my faithful Fatima on our marriage-day, and which I
+would not part with for my master’s stores.’
+
+The youth still clung to the robe of Honain, and, mute from exhaustion,
+fixed upon him his beautiful and imploring eye.
+
+‘Silence,’ proclaimed Honain, ‘I will judge this cause.’
+
+‘The Lord Honain, the Lord Honain, listen to the Lord Honain!’
+
+‘Speak, thou brawler; of what hast thou to complain?’ said Honain to
+Abdallah.
+
+‘May it please your highness,’ said Abdallah, in a whining voice, ‘I am
+the slave of your faithful servant, Ali: often have I had the honour of
+waiting on your highness. This young knave here, a beggar, has robbed
+me, while slumbering in a coffee-house, of a ring; I have my witnesses
+to prove my slumbering. ‘Tis a fine emerald, may it please your
+highness, and doubly valuable to me as a love-token from my Fatima.
+No consideration in the world could induce me to part with it; and so,
+being asleep, here are three honest men who will prove the sleep, comes
+this little vagabond, may it please your highness, who while he pretends
+to offer me my coffee, takes him my finger, and slips off this precious
+ring, which he now wears upon his beggarly paw, and will not restore to
+me without the bastinado.’
+
+‘Abdallah is a faithful slave, may it please your highness, and a
+Hadgee,’ said Ali, his master.
+
+‘And what sayest thou, boy?’ inquired Honain.
+
+‘That this is a false knave, who lies as slaves ever will.’
+
+‘Pithy, and perhaps true,’ said Honain.
+
+‘You call me a slave, you young scoundrel?’ exclaimed Abdallah; ‘shall
+I tell you what you are? Why, your highness, do not listen to him a
+moment. It is a shame to bring such a creature into your presence; for,
+by the holy stone, and I am a Hadgee, I doubt little he is a Jew.’
+
+Honain grew somewhat pale, and bit his lip. He was perhaps annoyed that
+he had interfered so publicly in behalf of so unpopular a character as
+a Hebrew, but he was unwilling to desert one whom a moment before he had
+resolved to befriend, and he inquired of the youth where he had obtained
+the ring.
+
+‘The ring was given to me by my dearest friend when I first set out upon
+an arduous pilgrimage not yet completed. There is but one person in the
+world, except the donor, to whom I would part with it, and with that
+person I am unacquainted. All this may seem improbable, but all this is
+true. I have truth alone to support me. I am destitute and friendless;
+but I am not a beggar, nor will any suffering induce me to become one.
+Feeling, from various circumstances, utterly exhausted, I entered a
+coffee-house and lay down, it may have been to die. I could not sleep,
+although my eyes were shut, and nothing would have roused me from a
+tremulous trance, which I thought was dying, but this plunderer here,
+who would not wait until death had permitted him quietly to possess
+himself of a jewel I value more than life.’
+
+‘Show me the jewel.’
+
+The youth held up his hand to Honain, who felt his pulse, and then took
+off the ring.
+
+‘O, my Fatima!’ exclaimed Abdallah.
+
+‘Silence, sir!’ said Honain. ‘Page, call a jeweller.’
+
+Honain examined the ring attentively. Whether he were near-sighted, or
+whether the deceptive light of the covered bazaar prevented him from
+examining it with ease, he certainly raised his hand to his brow, and
+for some moments his countenance was invisible.
+
+The jeweller arrived, and, pressing his hand to his heart, bowed before
+Honain.
+
+‘Value this ring,’ said Honain, in a low voice.
+
+The jeweller took the ring, viewed it in all directions with a
+scrutinising glance, held it to the light, pressed it to his tongue,
+turned it over and over, and finally declared that he could not sell
+such a ring under a thousand dirhems.
+
+‘Whatever be the justice of the case,’ said Honain to Abdallah, ‘art
+thou ready to part with this ring for a thousand dirhems?’
+
+‘Most certainly,’ said Abdallah. ‘And thou, lad, if the decision be in
+thy favour, wilt thou take for the ring double the worth at which the
+jeweller prizes it?’
+
+‘My lord, I have spoken the truth. I cannot part with that ring for the
+palace of the Caliph.’
+
+‘The truth for once is triumphant,’ said Honain. ‘Boy, the ring is
+thine; and for thee, thou knave,’ turning to Abdallah, ‘liar, thief, and
+slanderer!--for thee the bastinado,[21] which thou destinedst for
+this innocent youth. Ibrahim, see that he receives five hundred. Young
+pilgrim, thou art no longer destitute or friendless. Follow me to my
+palace.’
+
+The arched chamber was of great size and beautiful proportion. The
+ceiling, encrusted with green fretwork, and studded with silver stars,
+rested upon clustered columns of white and green marble. In the centre
+of a variegated pavement of the same material, a fountain rose and fell
+into a green porphyry basin, and by the side of the fountain, upon a
+couch of silver, reposed Honain.
+
+He raised his eyes from the illuminated volume on which he had been long
+intent; he clapped his hands, and a Nubian slave advanced, and, folding
+his arms upon his breast, bowed in silence before his lord. ‘How fares
+the Hebrew boy, Analschar?’
+
+‘Master, the fever has not returned. We gave him the potion; he
+slumbered for many hours, and has now awakened, weak but well.’
+
+‘Let him rise and attend me.’
+
+The Nubian disappeared.
+
+‘There is nothing stranger than sympathy,’ soliloquised the physician
+of the Caliph, with a meditative air; ‘all resolves itself into this
+principle, and I confess this learned doctor treats it deeply and well.
+An erudite spirit truly, and an eloquent pen; yet he refines too
+much. ‘Tis too scholastic. Observation will teach us more than dogma.
+Meditating upon my passionate youth, I gathered wisdom. I have seen so
+much that I have ceased to wonder. However we doubt, there is a mystery
+beyond our penetration. And yet ‘tis near our grasp. I sometimes deem a
+step, a single step, would launch us into light. Here comes my patient.
+The rose has left his cheek, and his deep brow is wan and melancholy.
+Yet ‘tis a glorious visage, Meditation’s throne; and Passion lingers in
+that languid eye. I know not why, a strong attraction draws me to this
+lone child.
+
+‘Gentle stranger, how fares it with thee?’
+
+‘Very well, my lord. I come to thank thee for all thy goodness. My only
+thanks are words, and those too weak; and yet the orphan’s blessing is a
+treasure.’
+
+‘You are an orphan, then’
+
+‘I have no parent but my father’s God.’
+
+‘And that God is----’
+
+‘The God of Israel.’
+
+‘So I deemed. He is a Deity we all must honour; if he be the great
+Creator whom we all allow.’
+
+‘He is what he is, and we are what we are, a fallen people, but faithful
+still.’
+
+‘Fidelity is strength.’
+
+‘Thy words are truth, and strength must triumph.’
+
+‘A prophecy!’
+
+‘Many a prophet is little honoured, till the future proves his
+inspiration.’
+
+‘You are young and sanguine.’
+
+‘So was my ancestor within the vale of Elah. But I speak unto a Moslem,
+and this is foolishness.’
+
+‘I have read something, and can take your drift. As for my faith, I
+believe in truth, and wish all men to do the same. By-the-bye, might I
+inquire the name of him who is the inmate of my house?’
+
+‘They call me David.’
+
+‘David, you have a ring, an emerald cut with curious characters, Hebrew,
+I believe.’
+
+‘‘Tis here.’
+
+‘A fine stone, and this inscription means----’
+
+‘A simple legend, “_Parted, but one_;� the kind memorial of a brother’s
+love.’
+
+‘Your brother?’
+
+‘I never had a brother.’
+
+‘I have a silly fancy for this ring: you hesitate. Search my palace, and
+choose the treasure you deem its match.’
+
+‘Noble sir, the gem is little worth; but were it such might deck a
+Caliph’s brow, ‘twere a poor recompense for all thy goodness. This ring
+is a trust rather than a possession, and strange to say, although I
+cannot offer it to thee who mayst command, as thou hast saved, the life
+of its unhappy wearer, some stranger may cross my path to-morrow, and
+almost claim it as his own.’
+
+‘And that stranger is----’
+
+‘The brother of the donor.’
+
+‘The brother of Jabaster?’
+
+‘Jabaster!’
+
+‘Even so. I am that parted brother.’
+
+‘Great is the God of Israel! Take the ring. But what is this? the
+brother of Jabaster a turbaned chieftain! a Moslem! Say, but say, that
+thou hast not assumed their base belief; say, but say, that thou hast
+not become a traitor to our covenant, and I will bless the fortunes of
+this hour.’
+
+‘I am false to no God. Calm thyself, sweet youth. These are higher
+questions than thy faint strength can master now. Another time we’ll
+talk of this, my boy; at present of my brother and thyself. He lives and
+prospers?’
+
+‘He lives in faith; the pious ever prosper.’
+
+‘A glorious dreamer! Though our moods are different, I ever loved him.
+And thyself? Thou art not what thou seemest. Tell me all. Jabaster’s
+friend can be no common mind. Thy form has heralded thy fame. Trust me.’
+
+‘I am Alroy.’
+
+‘What! the Prince of our Captivity?’
+
+‘Even so.’
+
+‘The slayer of Alschiroch?’
+
+‘Ay!’
+
+‘My sympathy was prophetic. I loved thee from the first. And what dost
+thou here? A price is set upon thy head: thou knowest it?’
+
+‘For the first time; but I am neither astonished nor alarmed. I am upon
+the Lord’s business.’
+
+‘What wouldst thou?’
+
+‘Free his people.’
+
+‘The pupil of Jabaster: I see it all. Another victim to his reveries.
+I’ll save this boy. David,--for thy name must not be sounded within this
+city,--the sun is dying. Let us to the terrace, and seek the solace of
+the twilight breeze.’
+
+‘What is the hour, David?’
+
+‘Near to midnight. I marvel if thy brother may read in the stars our
+happy meeting.’
+
+‘Men read that which they wish. He is a learned Cabalist.’
+
+‘But what we wish comes from above.’
+
+‘So they say. We make our fortunes, and we call them Fate.’
+
+‘Yet the Voice sounded, the Daughter of the Voice that summoned Samuel.’
+
+‘You have told me strange things; I have heard stranger solved.’
+
+‘My faith is a rock.’
+
+‘On which you may split.’
+
+‘Art thou a Sadducee?’
+
+‘I am a man who knows men.’
+
+‘You are learned, but different from Jabaster.’
+
+‘We are the same, though different. Day and Night are both portions of
+Time.’
+
+‘And thy portion is----’
+
+‘Truth.’
+
+‘That is, light.’
+
+‘Yes; so dazzling that it sometimes seems dark.’
+
+‘Like thy meaning.’
+
+‘You are young.’
+
+‘Is youth a defect?’
+
+‘No, the reverse. But we cannot eat the fruit while the tree is in
+blossom.’
+
+‘What fruit?’
+
+‘Knowledge.’
+
+‘I have studied.’
+
+‘What?’
+
+‘All sacred things.’
+
+‘How know you that they are sacred?’
+
+‘They come from God.’
+
+‘So does everything. Is everything sacred?’
+
+‘They are the deep expression of his will.’
+
+‘According to Jabaster. Ask the man who prays in yonder mosque, and he
+will tell you that Jabaster’s wrong.’
+
+‘After all, thou art a Moslem?’
+
+‘No.’
+
+‘What then?’
+
+‘I have told you, a man.’
+
+‘But what dost thou worship?’
+
+‘What is worship?’
+
+‘Adoration due from the creature to the Creator.’
+
+‘Which is he?’
+
+‘Our God.’
+
+‘The God of Israel?’
+
+‘Even so.’
+
+‘A frail minority, then, burn incense to him.’
+
+‘We are the chosen people.’
+
+‘Chosen for scoffs, and scorns, and contumelies. Commend me to such
+choice.’
+
+‘We forgot Him, before He chastened us.’
+
+‘Why did we?’
+
+‘Thou knowest the records of our holy race.’
+
+‘Yes, I know them; like all records, annals of blood.’
+
+‘Annals of victory, that will dawn again.’
+
+‘If redemption be but another name for carnage, I envy no Messiah.’
+
+‘Art thou Jabaster’s brother?’ ‘So our mother was wont to say: a meek
+and blessed woman.’
+
+‘Lord Honain, thou art rich, and wise, and powerful. Thy fellow-men
+speak of thee only with praise or fear, and both are cheering. Thou
+hast quitted our antique ark; why, no matter. We’ll not discuss it. ‘Tis
+something; if a stranger, at least thou art not a renegade. The world
+goes well with thee, my Lord Honain. But if, instead of bows and
+blessings, thou, like thy brethren, wert greeted only with the cuff
+and curse; if thou didst rise each morning only to feel existence to
+be dishonour, and to find thyself marked out among surrounding men as
+something foul and fatal; if it were thy lot, like theirs, at best to
+drag on a mean and dull career, hopeless and aimless, or with no other
+hope or aim but that which is degrading, and all this, too, with a keen
+sense of thy intrinsic worth, and a deep conviction of superior race;
+why, then, perchance, Honain might even discover ‘twere worth a struggle
+to be free and honoured.’ ‘I pray your pardon, sir; I thought you were
+Jabaster’s pupil, a dreaming student. I see you have a deep ambition.’
+
+‘I am a prince; and I fain would be a prince without my fetters.’
+
+‘Listen to me, Alroy,’ said Honain in a low voice, and he placed his
+arm around him, ‘I am your friend. Our acquaintance is very brief: no
+matter, I love you; I rescued you in injury, I tended you in sickness,
+even now your life is in my power, I would protect it with my own. You
+cannot doubt me. Our affections are not under our own control; and mine
+are yours. The sympathy between us is entire. You see me, you see what I
+am; a Hebrew, though unknown; one of that despised, rejected, persecuted
+people, of whom you are the chief. I too would be free and honoured.
+Freedom and honour are mine, but I was my own messiah. I quitted in
+good time our desperate cause, but I gave it a trial. Ask Jabaster how I
+fought. Youth could be my only excuse for such indiscretion. I left
+this country; I studied and resided among the Greeks. I returned from
+Constantinople, with all their learning, some of their craft. No one
+knew me. I assumed their turban, and I am the Lord Honain. Take my
+experience, child, and save yourself much sorrow. Turn your late
+adventure to good account. No one can recognise you here. I will
+introduce you amongst the highest as my child by some fair Greek. The
+world is before you. You may fight, you may love, you may revel. War,
+and Women, and luxury are all at your command. With your person and
+talents you may be grand vizir. Clear your head of nonsense. In the
+present disordered state of the empire, you may even carve yourself out
+a kingdom, infinitely more delightful than the barren land of milk and
+honey. I have seen it, child; a rocky wilderness, where I would not let
+my courser graze.’
+
+He bent down, and fixed his eyes upon his companion with a scrutinising
+glance. The moonlight fell upon the resolved visage of the Prince of the
+Captivity.
+
+‘Honain,’ he replied, pressing his hand, ‘I thank thee. Thou knowest not
+me, but still I thank thee.’
+
+‘You are resolved, then, on destruction.’
+
+‘On glory, eternal glory.’
+
+‘Is it possible to succeed?’
+
+‘Is it possible to fail?’
+
+‘You are mad.’
+
+‘I am a believer.’
+
+‘Enough. You have yet one chance. My brother has saddled your enterprise
+with a condition, and an impossible one. Gain the sceptre of Solomon,
+and I will agree to be your subject. You will waste a year in this
+frolic. You are young, and can afford it. I trust you will experience
+nothing worse than a loss of time, which is, however, valuable. My duty
+will be, after all your sufferings, to send you forth on your adventures
+in good condition, and to provide you means for a less toilsome
+pilgrimage than has hitherto been your lot. Trust me, you will return to
+Bagdad to accept my offers. At present, the dews are descending, and we
+will return to our divan, and take some coffee.’
+
+Some few days after this conversation on the terrace, as Alroy was
+reclining in a bower, in the beautiful garden of his host, meditating
+on the future, some one touched him on the back. He looked up. It was
+Honain.
+
+‘Follow me,’ said the brother of Jabaster.
+
+The Prince rose, and followed him in silence. They entered the house,
+and, passing through the saloon already described, they proceeded down
+a long gallery, which terminated in an arched flight of broad steps
+leading to the river. A boat was fastened to the end of the stairs,
+floating on the blue line of the Tigris, bright in the sun.
+
+Honain now gave to Alroy a velvet bag, which he requested him to carry,
+and then they descended the steps and entered the covered boat; and,
+without any directions to the rower, they were soon skimming over the
+water. By the sound of passing vessels, and the occasional shouts of the
+boatmen, Alroy, although he could observe nothing, was conscious that
+for some time their course lay through a principal thoroughfare of
+the city; but by degrees the sounds became less frequent, and in time
+entirely died away, and all that caught his ear was the regular and
+monotonous stroke of their own oar.
+
+At length, after the lapse of nearly an hour from their entrance,
+the boat stopped, and was moored against a quay. The curtains were
+withdrawn, and Honain and his companion debarked.
+
+A low but extensive building, painted in white and gold arabesque, and
+irregular but picturesque in form, with many small domes, and tall thin
+towers, rose amid groves of cypress on the bank of the broad and silent
+river. The rapid stream had carried them far from the city, which was
+visible but distant. Around was no habitation, no human being. The
+opposite bank was occupied by enclosed gardens. Not even a boat passed.
+
+Honain, beckoning to Alroy to accompany him, but still silent, advanced
+to a small portal, and knocked. It was instantly opened by a single
+Nubian, who bowed reverently as the visitors passed him. They proceeded
+along a low and gloomy passage, covered with arches of fretwork, until
+they arrived at a door of tortoise-shell and mother-of-pearl.[22] Here
+Honain, who was in advance, turned round to Alroy, and said, ‘Whatever
+happen, and whoever may address you, as you value your life and mine, do
+not speak.’
+
+The door opened, and they found themselves in a vast and gorgeous hall.
+Pillars of many-coloured marbles rose from a red and blue pavement
+of the same material, and supported a vaulted, circular, and
+highly-embossed roof of purple, scarlet, and gold.[23] Around a
+fountain, which rose fifty feet in height from an immense basin of
+lapis-lazuli, and reclining on small yellow Barbary mats, was a group
+of Nubian eunuchs, dressed in rich habits of scarlet and gold,[24]
+and armed with ivory battle-axes, the white handles worked in precious
+arabesque finely contrasting with the blue and brilliant blades.
+
+The commander of the eunuch-guard rose on seeing Honain, and pressing
+his hand to his head, mouth, and heart, saluted him. The physician of
+the Caliph, motioning Alroy to remain, advanced some paces in front of
+him, and entered into a whispering conversation with the eunuch. After
+a few minutes, this officer resumed his seat, and Honain, beckoning to
+Alroy to rejoin him, crossed the hall.
+
+Passing through an open arch, they entered a quadrangular court of
+roses,[25] each bed of flowers surrounded by a stream of sparkling
+water, and floating like an enchanted islet upon a fairy ocean. The
+sound of the water and the sweetness of the flowers blended together,
+and produced a lulling sensation, which nothing but his strong and
+strange curiosity might have enabled Alroy to resist. Proceeding along
+a cloister of light airy workmanship which connected the hall with the
+remainder of the buildings, they stood before a lofty and sumptuous
+portal.
+
+It was a monolith gate, thirty feet in height, formed of one block of
+green and red jasper, and cut into the fanciful undulating arch of the
+Saracens. The consummate artist had seized the advantage afforded to him
+by the ruddy veins of the precious stone, and had formed them in bold
+relief into two vast and sinuous serpents, which shot forth their
+crested heads and glittering eyes at Honain and his companion.
+
+The physician of the Caliph, taking his dagger from his girdle, struck
+the head of one of the serpents thrice. The massy portal opened with a
+whirl and a roar, and before them stood an Abyssinian giant,[26] holding
+in his leash a roaring lion.
+
+‘Hush, Haroun!’ said Honain to the animal, raising at the same time his
+arm; and the beast crouched in silence. ‘Worthy Morgargon, I bring you
+a remembrance.’ The Abyssinian showed his tusks, larger and whiter than
+the lion’s, as he grinningly received the tribute of the courtly Honain;
+and he uttered a few uncouth sounds, but he could not speak, for he was
+a mute.
+
+The jasper portal introduced the companions to a long and lofty and
+arched chamber, lighted by high windows of stained glass, hung with
+tapestry of silk and silver, covered with prodigious carpets, and
+surrounded by immense couches. And thus through similar chambers they
+proceeded, in some of which were signs of recent habitation, until they
+arrived at another quadrangle nearly filled by a most singular fountain
+which rose from a basin of gold encrusted with pearls, and which was
+surrounded by figures of every rare quadruped[27] in the most costly
+materials. Here a golden tiger, with flaming eyes of ruby and flowing
+stripes of opal, stole, after some bloody banquet, to the refreshing
+brink; a camelopard raised its slender neck of silver from the centre
+of a group of every inhabitant of the forest; and brilliant bands of
+monkeys, glittering with precious stones, rested, in every variety of
+fantastic posture, on the margin of the basin.
+
+The fountain itself was a tree of gold and silver[28] spreading into
+innumerable branches, covered with every variety of curious birds, their
+plumage appropriately imitated by the corresponding tints of precious
+stones, which warbled in beautiful melody as they poured forth from
+their bills the musical and refreshing element.
+
+It was with difficulty that Alroy could refrain from an admiring
+exclamation, but Honain, ever quick, turned to him, with his finger
+pressed on his mouth, and quitting the quadrangle, they entered the
+gardens.
+
+Lofty terraces, dark masses of cypress, winding walks of acacia, in
+the distance an interminable paradise, and here and there a glittering
+pavilion and bright kiosk! Its appearance on the river had not prepared
+Alroy for the extent of the palace itself. It seemed infinite, and it
+was evident that he had only viewed a small portion of it. While they
+were moving on, there suddenly rose a sound of trumpets. The sound grew
+nearer and nearer, louder and louder: soon was heard the tramp of
+an approaching troop. Honain drew Alroy aside. A procession appeared
+advancing from a dark grove of cypress. Four hundred men led as many
+white bloodhounds with collars of gold and rubies.[29] Then came one
+hundred men, each with a hooded hawk; then six horsemen in rich dresses;
+after them a single horseman, mounted on a steed, marked on its forehead
+with a star.[30] The rider was middle-aged, handsome, and dignified. He
+was plainly dressed, but the staff of his hunting-spear was entirely of
+diamonds and the blade of gold.
+
+He was followed by a company of Nubian eunuchs, with their scarlet
+dresses and ivory battle-axes, and the procession closed.
+
+‘The Caliph,’ whispered Honain, when they had passed, placing at the
+same time his finger on his lip to prevent any inquiry. This was
+the first intimation that had reached Alroy of what he had already
+suspected, that he was a visitor to the palace of the Commander of the
+Faithful.
+
+The companions turned down a wild and winding walk, which, after some
+time, brought them to a small and gently sloping lawn, surrounded
+by cedar-trees of great size. Upon the lawn was a kiosk, a long and
+many-windowed building, covered with blinds, and further screened by
+an overhanging roof. The kiosk was built of white and green marble,
+the ascent to it was by a flight of steps the length of the building,
+alternately of white and green marble, and nearly covered with
+rose-trees. Honain went up these steps alone, and entered the kiosk.
+After a few minutes he looked out from the blinds and beckoned to Alroy.
+David advanced, but Honain, fearful of some indiscretion, met him, and
+said to him in a low whisper between his teeth, ‘Remember you are deaf,
+a mute, and a eunuch.’ Alroy could scarcely refrain from smiling, and
+the Prince of the Captivity and the physician of the Caliph entered
+the kiosk together. Two women, veiled, and two eunuchs of the guard,
+received them in an antechamber. And then they passed into a room which
+ran nearly the whole length of the kiosk, opening on one side to the
+gardens, and on the other supported by an ivory wall, with niches
+painted in green fresco, and in each niche a rose-tree. Each niche,
+also, was covered with an almost invisible golden grate, which confined
+a nightingale, and made him constant to the rose he loved. At the foot
+of each niche was a fountain, but, instead of water, each basin was
+replenished with the purest quicksilver.[31] The roof of the kiosk was
+of mother-of-pearl inlaid with tortoise-shell; the pavement, a mosaic of
+rare marbles and precious stones, representing the most delicious fruits
+and the most beautiful flowers. Over this pavement, a Georgian page
+flung at intervals refreshing perfumes. At the end of this elegant
+chamber was a divan of light green silk, embroidered with pearls,
+and covered with cushions of white satin and gold. Upon one of these
+cushions, in the middle of the divan, sat a lady, her eyes fixed in
+abstraction upon a volume of Persian poetry lying on her knees, one hand
+playing with a rosary of pearls and emeralds,[32] and the other holding
+a long gold chain, which imprisoned a white gazelle.
+
+The lady looked up as Honain and his companion entered. She was very
+young, as youthful as Alroy. Her long light brown hair, drawn off a high
+white forehead covered with blue veins, fell braided with pearls over
+each shoulder. Her eyes were large and deeply blue; her nose small, but
+high and aquiline. The fairness of her face was dazzling, and, when she
+looked up and greeted Honain, her lustrous cheeks broke into dimples,
+the more fascinating from their contrast with the general expression of
+her countenance, which was haughty and derisive. The lady was dressed
+in a robe of crimson silk girded round her waist by a green shawl, from
+which peeped forth the diamond hilt of a small poniard.[33] Her round
+white arms looked infinitely small, as they occasionally flashed forth
+from their large loose hanging sleeves. One was covered with jewels, and
+the right arm was quite bare.
+
+Honain advanced, and, bending, kissed the lady’s proffered hand. Alroy
+fell into the background.
+
+‘They told me that the Rose of the World drooped this morning,’ said the
+physician, bending again as he smiled, ‘and her slave hastened at her
+command to tend her.’
+
+‘It was a south wind. The wind has changed, and the Rose of the World is
+better,’ replied the lady laughing.
+
+Honain touched her pulse.
+
+‘Irregular,’ said the physician.
+
+‘Like myself,’ said the lady. ‘Is that a new slave?’
+
+‘A recent purchase, and a great bargain. He is good-looking, has the
+advantage of being deaf and dumb, and is harmless in every respect.’
+
+‘‘Tis a pity,’ replied the lady; ‘it seems that all good-looking people
+are born to be useless. I, for instance.’
+
+‘Yet rumour whispers the reverse,’ remarked the physician.
+
+‘How so?’ inquired the lady.
+
+‘The young King of Karasmé.’
+
+‘Poh! I have made up my mind to detest him. A barbarian!’
+
+‘A hero!’
+
+‘Have you ever seen him?’
+
+‘I have.’
+
+‘Handsome?’
+
+‘An archangel.’
+
+‘And sumptuous?’
+
+‘Is he not a conqueror? All the plunder of the world will be yours.’
+
+‘I am tired of magnificence. I built this kiosk to forget it.’
+
+‘It is not in the least degree splendid,’ said Honain, looking round
+with a smile.
+
+‘No,’ answered the lady, with a self-satisfied air: ‘here, at least, one
+can forget one has the misfortune to be a princess.’
+
+‘It is certainly a great misfortune,’ said the physician.
+
+‘And yet it must be the only tolerable lot,’ replied the lady.
+
+‘Assuredly,’ replied Honain.
+
+‘For our unhappy sex, at least.’
+
+‘Very unhappy.’
+
+‘If I were only a man!’
+
+‘What a hero you would be!’
+
+‘I should like to live in endless confusion.’
+
+‘I have not the least doubt of it.’
+
+‘Have you got me the books?’ eagerly inquired the Princess.
+
+‘My slave bears them,’ replied Honain.
+
+‘Let me see them directly.’
+
+Honain took the bag from Alroy, and unfolded its contents; the very
+volumes of Greek romances which Ali, the merchant, had obtained for him.
+
+‘I am tired of poetry,’ said the Princess, glancing over the costly
+volumes, and tossing them away; ‘I long to see the world.’
+
+‘You would soon be tired of that,’ replied the physician.
+
+‘I suppose common people are never tired.’ said the Princess.
+
+‘Except with labour;’ said the physician; ‘care keeps them alive.’
+
+‘What is care?’ asked the Princess, with a smile.
+
+‘It is a god,’ replied the physician, ‘invisible, but omnipotent. It
+steals the bloom from the cheek and lightness from the pulse; it takes
+away the appetite, and turns the hair grey.’
+
+‘It is no true divinity, then,’ replied the Princess, ‘but an idol we
+make ourselves. I am a sincere Moslem, and will not worship it. Tell me
+some news, Honain.’
+
+‘The young King of Karasmé----’
+
+‘Again! the barbarian! You are in his pay. I’ll none of him. To leave
+one prison, and to be shut up in another,--why do you remind me of it?
+No, my dear Hakim, if I marry at all, I will marry to be free.’
+
+‘An impossibility,’ said Honain.
+
+‘My mother was free till she was a queen and a slave. I intend to end as
+she began. You know what she was.’
+
+Honain knew well, but he was too politic not to affect ignorance.
+
+‘The daughter of a bandit,’ continued the Princess, ‘who fought by the
+side of her father. That is existence! I must be a robber. ‘Tis in the
+blood. I want my fate foretold, Honain. You are an astrologer; do it.’
+
+‘I have already cast your nativity. Your star is à comet.’
+
+‘That augurs well; brilliant confusion and erratic splendour. I wish
+I were a star,’ added the Princess in a deep rich voice, and with a
+pensive air; ‘a star in the clear blue sky, beautiful and free. Honain,
+Honain, the gazelle has broken her chain, and is eating my roses.’
+
+Alroy rushed forward and seized the graceful truant. Honain shot him an
+anxious look; the Princess received the chain from the hand of Alroy,
+and cast at him a scrutinising glance.
+
+‘What splendid eyes the poor beast has got!’ exclaimed the Princess.
+
+‘The gazelle?’ inquired the physician.
+
+‘No, your slave,’ replied the Princess. ‘Why, he blushes. Were he not
+deaf as well as dumb, I could almost believe he understood me.’
+
+‘He is modest,’ replied Honain, rather alarmed; ‘and is frightened at
+the liberty he has taken.’
+
+‘I like modesty,’ said the Princess; ‘it is interesting. I am modest;
+you think so?’
+
+‘Certainly,’ said Honain.
+
+‘And interesting?’
+
+‘Very.’
+
+‘I detest an interesting person. After all, there is nothing like plain
+dulness.’
+
+‘Nothing,’ said Honain.
+
+‘The day flows on so serenely in such society.’
+
+‘It does,’ said Honain.
+
+‘No confusion; no scenes.’
+
+‘None.’
+
+‘I make it a rule only to have ugly slaves.’
+
+‘You are quite right.’
+
+‘Honain, will you ever contradict me? You know very well I have the
+handsomest slaves in the world.’
+
+‘Every one knows it.’
+
+‘And, do you know, I have taken a great fancy to your new purchase, who,
+according to your account, is eminently qualified for the post. Why, do
+you not agree with me?’
+
+‘Why, yes; I doubt not your Highness would find him eminently qualified,
+and certainly few things would give me greater pleasure than offering
+him for your acceptance; but I got into such disgrace by that late
+affair of the Circassian, that----’
+
+‘Oh! leave it to me,’ said the Princess.
+
+‘Certainly,’ said the physician, turning the conversation; ‘and when
+the young King of Karasmé arrives at Bagdad, you can offer him to his
+majesty as a present.’
+
+‘Delightful! and the king is really handsome and young as well as brave;
+but has he any taste?’
+
+‘You have enough for both.’
+
+‘If he would but make war against the Greeks!’
+
+‘Why so violent against the poor Greeks?’
+
+‘You know they are Giaours. Besides, they might beat him, and then I
+should have the pleasure of being taken prisoner.’
+
+‘Delightful!’
+
+‘Charming! to see Constantinople, and marry the Emperor.’
+
+‘Marry the Emperor!’
+
+‘To be sure. Of course he would fall in love with me.’
+
+‘Of course.’
+
+‘And then, and then, I might conquer Paris!’
+
+‘Paris!’
+
+‘You have been at Paris?’[34]
+
+‘Yes.’
+
+‘The men are shut up there,’ said the Princess with a smile, ‘are they
+not? and the women do what they like?’
+
+‘You will always do what you like,’ said Honain, rising.
+
+‘You are going?’
+
+‘My visits must not be too long.’
+
+‘Farewell, dear Honain!’ said the Princess, with a melancholy air. ‘You
+are the only person who has an idea in all Bagdad, and you leave me. A
+miserable lot is mine, to feel everything, and be nothing. These books
+and flowers, these sweet birds, and this fair gazelle: ah! poets may
+feign as they please, but how cheerfully would I resign all these
+elegant consolations of a captive life for one hour of freedom! I wrote
+some verses on myself yesterday; take them, and get them blazoned for me
+by the finest scribe in the city; letters of silver on a violet ground
+with a fine flowing border; I leave the design to you. Adieu! Come
+hither, mute.’ Alroy advanced to her beckon, and knelt. ‘There, take
+that rosary for thy master’s sake, and those dark eyes of thine.’
+
+The companions withdrew, and reached their boat in silence. It was
+sunset. The musical and sonorous voice of the Muezzin resounded from
+the innumerable minarets of the splendid city. Honain threw back the
+curtains of the barque. Bagdad rose before them in huge masses of
+sumptuous dwellings, seated amid groves and gardens. An infinite
+population, summoned by the invigorating twilight, poured forth in all
+directions. The glowing river was covered with sparkling caiques, the
+glittering terraces with showy groups. Splendour, and power, and luxury,
+and beauty were arrayed before them in their most captivating forms, and
+the heart of Alroy responded to their magnificence. ‘A glorious vision!’
+said the Prince of the Captivity.
+
+‘Very different from Hamadan,’ said the physician of the Caliph.
+
+‘To-day I have seen wonders,’ said Alroy.
+
+‘The world is opening to you,’ said Honain.
+
+Alroy did not reply; but after some minutes he said, in a hesitating
+voice, ‘Who was that lady?’
+
+‘The Princess Schirene,’ replied Honain, ‘the favourite daughter of the
+Caliph. Her mother was a Georgian and a Giaour.’
+
+The moonlight fell upon the figure of Alroy lying on a couch; his face
+was hidden by his arm. He was motionless, but did not sleep.
+
+He rose and paced the chamber with agitated steps; sometimes he stopped,
+and gazed on the pavement, fixed in abstraction. He advanced to the
+window, and cooled his feverish brow in the midnight air.
+
+An hour passed away, and the young Prince of the Captivity remained
+fixed in the same position. Suddenly he turned to a tripod of porphyry,
+and, seizing a rosary of jewels, pressed it to his lips.
+
+‘The Spirit of my dreams, she comes at last; the form for which I have
+sighed and wept; the form which rose upon my radiant vision when I shut
+my eyes against the jarring shadows of this gloomy world.
+
+‘Schirene! Schirene! here in this solitude I pour to thee the passion
+long stored up: the passion of my life, no common life, a life full of
+deep feeling and creative thought. O beautiful! O more than beautiful!
+for thou to me art as a dream unbroken: why art thou not mine? why lose
+a moment in our glorious lives, and balk our destiny of half its bliss?
+
+‘Fool, fool, hast thou forgotten? The rapture of a prisoner in his cell,
+whose wild fancy for a moment belies his fetters! The daughter of the
+Caliph and a Jew!
+
+‘Give me my fathers’ sceptre.
+
+‘A plague on talismans! Oh! I need no inspiration but her memory,
+no magic but her name. By heavens! I will enter this glorious city a
+conqueror, or die.
+
+‘Why, what is Life? for meditation mingles ever with my passion: why,
+what is Life? Throw accidents to the dogs, and tear off the painted
+mask of false society! Here am I a hero; with a mind that can devise all
+things, and a heart of superhuman daring, with youth, with vigour, with
+a glorious lineage, with a form that has made full many a lovely
+maiden of our tribe droop her fair head by Hamadan’s sweet fount, and I
+am--nothing!
+
+‘Out on Society! ‘twas not made for me. I’ll form my own, and be the
+deity I sometimes feel.
+
+‘We make our fortunes, and we call them Fate. Thou saidst well, Honain.
+Most subtle Sadducee! The saintly blood flowed in my fathers’ veins,
+and they did nothing; but I have an arm formed to wield a sceptre, and I
+will win one.
+
+‘I cannot doubt my triumph. Triumph is a part of my existence. I am
+born for glory, as a tree is born to bear its fruit, or to expand
+its flowers. The deed is done. ‘Tis thought of, and ‘tis done. I will
+confront the greatest of my diademed ancestors, and in his tomb. Mighty
+Solomon! he wedded Pharaoh’s daughter. Hah! what a future dawns upon my
+hope. An omen, a choice omen!
+
+‘Heaven and earth are mingling to form my fortunes. My mournful
+youth, which I have so often cursed, I hail thee: thou wert a glorious
+preparation; and when feeling no sympathy with the life around me,
+I deemed myself a fool, I find that I was a most peculiar being. By
+heavens, I am joyful; for the first time in my life I am joyful. I could
+laugh, and fight, and drink. I am new-born; I am another being; I am
+mad!
+
+‘O Time, great Time! the world belies thy fame. It calls thee swift.
+Methinks thou art wondrous slow. Fly on, great Time, and on thy coming
+wings bear me my sceptre!
+
+‘All is to be. It is a lowering thought. My fancy, like a bright and
+wearied bird, will sometimes flag and fall, and then I am lost. The
+young King of Karasmé, a youthful hero! Would he had been Alschiroch! My
+heart is sick even at the very name. Alas! my trials have not yet begun.
+Jabaster warned me: good, sincere Jabaster! His talisman presses on my
+frantic heart, and seems to warn me. I am in danger. Braggart to
+stand here, filling the careless air with idle words, while all is
+unaccomplished. I grow dull. The young King of Karasmé! Why, what am I
+compared to this same prince? Nothing, but in my thoughts. In the full
+bazaar, they would not deem me worthy even to hold his stirrup or
+his slipper---- Oh! this contest, this constant, bitter, never-ending
+contest between my fortune and my fancy! Why do I exist? or, if
+existing, why am I not recognised as I would be?
+
+‘Sweet voice, that in Jabaster’s distant cave de-scendedst from thy holy
+home above, and whispered consolation, breathe again! Again breathe thy
+still summons to my lonely ear, and chase away the thoughts that hover
+round me; thoughts dark and doubtful, like fell birds of prey hovering
+around a hero in expectation of his fall, and gloating on their triumph
+over the brave. There is something fatal in these crowded cities. Faith
+flourishes in solitude.’
+
+He threw himself upon the couch, and, leaning down his head, seemed lost
+in meditation. He started up, and, seizing his tablets, wrote upon them
+these words:
+
+‘Honain, I have been the whole night like David in the wilderness of
+Ziph; but, by the aid of the Lord, I have conquered. I fly from this
+dangerous city upon his business, which I have too much neglected.
+Attempt not to discover me, and accept my gratitude.’
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER VI.
+
+     _The Learned Rabbi Zimri._
+
+A SCORCHING sun, a blue and burning sky, on every side lofty ranges of
+black and barren mountains, dark ravines, deep caverns, unfathomable
+gorges! A solitary being moved in the distance. Faint and toiling, a
+pilgrim slowly clambered up the steep and stony track.
+
+The sultry hours moved on; the pilgrim at length gained the summit of
+the mountain, a small and rugged table-land, strewn with huge masses
+of loose and heated, rock. All around was desolation: no spring, no
+herbage; the bird and the insect were alike mute. Still it was the
+summit: no loftier peaks frowned in the distance; the pilgrim stopped,
+and breathed with more facility, and a faint smile played over his
+languid and solemn countenance.
+
+He rested a few minutes; he took from his wallet some locusts and wild
+honey, and a small skin of water. His meal was short as well as simple.
+An ardent desire to reach his place of destination before nightfall
+urged him to proceed. He soon passed over the table-land, and commenced
+the descent of the mountain. A straggling olive-tree occasionally
+appeared, and then a group, and soon the groups swelled into a grove.
+His way wound through the grateful and unaccustomed shade. He emerged
+from the grove, and found that he had proceeded down more than half
+the side of the mountain. It ended precipitously in a dark and narrow
+ravine, formed on the other side by an opposite mountain, the lofty
+steep of which was crested by a city gently rising on a gradual slope.
+
+Nothing could be conceived more barren, wild, and terrible than the
+surrounding scenery, unillumined by a single trace of culture. The city
+stood like the last gladiator in an amphitheatre of desolation.
+
+It was surrounded by a lofty turreted wall, of an architecture to which
+the pilgrim was unaccustomed: gates with drawbridge and portcullis,
+square towers, and loopholes for the archer. Sentinels, clothed in steel
+and shining in the sunset, paced, at regular intervals, the cautious
+wall, and on a lofty tower a standard waved, a snowy standard, with a
+red, red cross!
+
+The Prince of the Captivity at length beheld the lost capital of his
+fathers.[35]
+
+A few months back, and such a spectacle would have called forth all the
+latent passion of Alroy; but time and suffering, and sharp experience,
+had already somewhat curbed the fiery spirit of the Hebrew Prince. He
+gazed upon Jerusalem, he beheld the City of David garrisoned by the
+puissant warriors of Christendom, and threatened by the innumerable
+armies of the Crescent. The two great divisions of the world seemed
+contending for a prize, which he, a lonely wanderer, had crossed the
+desert to rescue.
+
+If his faith restrained him from doubting the possibility of his
+enterprise, he was at least deeply conscious that the world was a very
+different existence from what he had fancied amid the gardens of
+Hamadan and the rocks of Caucasus, and that if his purpose could be
+accomplished, it could only be effected by one means. Calm, perhaps
+somewhat depressed, but full of pious humiliation, and not deserted by
+holy hope, he descended into the Valley of Jehoshaphat, and so, slaking
+his thirst at Siloah, and mounting the opposite height, David Alroy
+entered Jerusalem by the gate of Zion.[36]
+
+He had been instructed that the quarter allotted to his people was near
+this entrance. He inquired the direction of the sentinel, who did not
+condescend to answer him. An old man, in shabby robes, who was passing,
+beckoned to him.
+
+‘What want you, friend?’ inquired Alroy.
+
+‘You were asking for the quarter of our people. You must be à stranger,
+indeed, in Jerusalem, to suppose that a Frank would speak to a Jew. You
+were lucky to get neither kicked nor cursed.’
+
+‘Kicked and cursed! Why, these dogs----’
+
+‘Hush! hush! for the love of God,’ said his new companion, much alarmed.
+‘Have you lent money to their captain that you speak thus? In Jerusalem
+our people speak only in a whisper.’
+
+‘No matter: the cure is not by words. Where is our quarter?’
+
+‘Was the like ever seen! Why, he speaks as if he were a Frank. I save
+him from having his head broken by a gauntlet, and----’
+
+‘My friend, I am tired. Our quarter?’
+
+‘Whom may you want?’
+
+‘The Chief Rabbi.’
+
+‘You bear letters to him?’
+
+‘What is that to you?’
+
+‘Hush! hush! You do not know what Jerusalem is, young man. You must not
+think of going on in this way. Where do you come from?’
+
+‘Bagdad.’
+
+‘Bagdad! Jerusalem is not Bagdad. A Turk is a brute, but a Christian is
+a demon.’
+
+‘But our quarter, our quarter?’
+
+‘Hush! you want the Chief Rabbi?’
+
+‘Ay! ay!’
+
+‘Rabbi Zimri?’
+
+‘It may be so. I neither know nor care.’
+
+‘Neither knows nor cares! This will never do; you must not go on in this
+way at Jerusalem. You must not think of it.’
+
+‘Fellow, I see thou art a miserable prattler. Show me our quarter, and I
+will pay thee well, or be off.’
+
+‘Be off! Art thou a Hebrew? to say “be off� to any one. You come from
+Bagdad! I tell you what, go back to Bagdad. You will never do for
+Jerusalem.’
+
+‘Your grizzled beard protects you. Old fool, I am a pilgrim just
+arrived, wearied beyond expression, and you keep me here listening to
+your flat talk!’
+
+‘Flat talk! Why! what would you?’
+
+‘Lead me to the Rabbi Zimri, if that be his name.’
+
+‘If that be his name! Why, every one knows Rabbi Zimri, the Chief Rabbi
+of Jerusalem, the successor of Aaron. We have our temple yet, say what
+they like. A very learned doctor is Rabbi Zimri.’
+
+‘Wretched driveller. I am ashamed to lose my patience with such a
+dotard.’
+
+‘Driveller! dotard! Why, who are you?’
+
+‘One you cannot comprehend. Without another word, lead me to your
+chief.’
+
+‘Chief! you have not far to go. I know no one of the nation who holds
+his head higher than I do here, and they call me Zimri.’
+
+‘What, the Chief Rabbi, that very learned doctor?’
+
+‘No less; I thought you had heard of him.’
+
+‘Let us forget the past, good Zimri. When great men play the incognito,
+they must sometimes hear rough phrases. It is the Caliph’s lot as well
+as yours. I am glad to make the acquaintance of so great a doctor.
+Though young, and roughly habited, I have seen the world a little, and
+may offer next Sabbath in the synagogue more dirhems than you would
+perhaps suppose. Good and learned Zimri, I would be your guest.’
+
+‘A very worshipful young man! And he speaks low and soft now! But it was
+lucky I was at hand. Good, what’s your name?’
+
+‘David.’
+
+‘A very honest name, good David. It was lucky I was at hand when you
+spoke to the sentinel, though. A Jew speak to a Frank, and a sentinel
+too! Hah! hah! hah! that is good. How Rabbi Maimon will laugh! Faith it
+was very lucky, now, was not it?’
+
+‘Indeed, most fortunate.’
+
+‘Well that is candid! Here! this way. ‘Tis not far. We number few, sir,
+of our brethren here, but a better time will come, a better time will
+come.’
+
+‘I think so. This is your door?’
+
+‘An humble one. Jerusalem is not Bagdad, but you are welcome.’
+
+‘King Pirgandicus[37] entered them,’ said Rabbi Maimon, ‘but no one
+since.’
+
+‘And when did he live?’ inquired Alroy. ‘His reign is recorded in the
+Talmud,’ answered Rabbi Zimri, ‘but in the Talmud there are no dates.’
+‘A long while ago?’ asked Alroy. ‘Since the Captivity,’ answered Rabbi
+Maimon. ‘I doubt that,’ said Rabbi Zimri, ‘or why should he be called
+king?’
+
+‘Was he of the house of David?’ said Alroy.
+
+‘Without doubt,’ said Rabbi Maimon; ‘he was one of our greatest kings,
+and conquered Julius Caesar.’[38]
+
+‘His kingdom was in the northernmost parts of Africa,’ said Rabbi Zimri,
+‘and exists to this day, if we could but find it.’
+
+‘Ay, truly,’ added Rabbi Maimon, ‘the sceptre has never departed out of
+Judah; and he rode always upon a white elephant.’
+
+‘Covered with cloth of gold,’ added Rabbi Zimri. ‘And he visited the
+Tombs of the Kings?’[39] inquired Alroy.
+
+‘Without doubt,’ said Rabbi Maimon. ‘The whole account is in the
+Talmud.’
+
+‘And no one can now find them?’ ‘No one,’ replied Rabbi Zimri: ‘but,
+according to that learned doctor, Moses Hallevy, they are in a valley in
+the mountains of Lebanon, which was sealed up by the Archangel Michael.’
+
+‘The illustrious Doctor Abarbanel, of Babylon,’ said Rabbi Maimon,
+‘gives one hundred and twenty reasons in his commentary on the Gemara to
+prove that they sunk under the earth at the taking of the Temple.’
+
+‘No one reasons like Abarbanel of Babylon,’ said Rabbi Zimri.
+
+‘The great Rabbi Akiba, of Pundebita, has answered them all,’ said Rabbi
+Maimon, ‘and holds that they were taken up to heaven.’
+
+‘And which is right?’ inquired Rabbi Zimri.
+
+‘Neither,’ said Rabbi Maimon.
+
+‘One hundred and twenty reasons are strong proof,’ said Rabbi Zimri.
+
+‘The most learned and illustrious Doctor Aaron Mendola, of Granada,’
+said Rabbi Maimon, ‘has shown that we must look for the Tombs of the
+Kings in the south of Spain.’
+
+‘All that Mendola writes is worth attention,’ said Rabbi Zimri.
+
+‘Rabbi Hillel,[40] of Samaria, is worth two Mendolas any day,’ said
+Rabbi Maimon.
+
+‘‘Tis a most learned doctor,’ said Rabbi Zimri; ‘and what thinks he?’
+
+‘Hillel proves that there are two Tombs of the Kings,’ said Rabbi
+Maimon, ‘and that neither of them are the right ones.’
+
+‘What a learned doctor!’ exclaimed Rabbi Zimri.
+
+‘And very satisfactory,’ remarked Alroy.
+
+‘These are high subjects,’ continued Maimon, his blear eyes twinkling
+with complacency. ‘Your guest, Rabbi Zimri, must read the treatise of
+the learned Shimei, of Damascus, on “Effecting Impossibilities.�’
+
+‘That is a work!’ exclaimed Zimri.
+
+‘I never slept for three nights after reading that work,’ said Rabbi
+Maimon. ‘It contains twelve thousand five hundred and thirty-seven
+quotations from the Pentateuch, and not a single original observation.’
+
+‘There were giants in those days,’ said Rabbi Zimri; ‘we are children
+now.’
+
+‘The first chapter makes equal sense, read backward or forward,’
+continued Rabbi Maimon. ‘Ichabod!’ exclaimed Rabbi Zimri. ‘And the
+initial letter of every section is a cabalistical type of a king of
+Judah.’
+
+‘The temple will yet be built,’ said Rabbi Zimri. ‘Ay, ay! that is
+learning!’ exclaimed Rabbi Maimon; ‘but what is the great treatise on
+“Effecting Impossibilities� to that profound, admirable, and----’
+
+‘Holy Rabbi!’ said a youthful reader of the synagogue, who now entered,
+‘the hour is at hand.’
+
+‘You don’t say so! Learned Miamon, I must to the synagogue. I could sit
+here all day listening to you. Come, David, the people await us.’
+
+Zimri and Alroy quitted the house, and proceeded along the narrow hilly
+streets to the chief temple of the Hebrews.
+
+‘It grieves the venerable Maimon much that he cannot join us,’ said
+Rabbi Zimri. ‘You have doubtless heard of him at Bagdad; a most learned
+doctor.’ Alroy bowed in silence.
+
+‘He bears his years well. You would hardly believe that he was my
+master.’
+
+‘I perceive that you inherit much of his erudition.’
+
+‘You are kind. If he have breathed one year, Rabbi Maimon will be a
+hundred and ten next Passover.’
+
+‘I doubt it not.’
+
+‘When he is gathered to his fathers, a great light will be extinguished
+in Israel. You wanted to know something about the Tombs of the Kings; I
+told you he was your man. How full he was! His mind, sir, is an egg.’
+
+‘A somewhat ancient one. I fear his guidance will hardly bring me the
+enviable fortune of King Pirgandicus.’
+
+‘Between ourselves, good David, talking of King Pirgandicus, I cannot
+help fancying that the learned Maimon made a slight mistake. I hold
+Pirgandicus was only a prince. It was after the Captivity, and I know no
+authority for any of our rulers since the destruction assuming a higher
+title. Clearly a prince, eh? But, though I would whisper it to no
+one but you, I think our worthy friend grows a little old. We should
+remember his years, sir. A hundred and ten next Passover. ‘Tis a great
+burden.’
+
+‘Ay! with his learning added, a very fearful burden indeed!’
+
+‘You have been a week in Jerusalem, and have not yet visited our
+synagogue. It is not of cedar and ivory, but it is still a temple. This
+way. It is only a week that you have been here? Why, you look another
+man! I shall never forget our first meeting: you did not know me. That
+was good, eh? And when I told you I was the chief Rabbi Zimri, how you
+changed! You have quite regained your appetite. Ah! ‘tis pleasant to
+mix once more with our own people. To the left. So! we must descend a
+little. We hold our meetings in an ancient cemetery. You have a finer
+temple, I warrant me, in Bagdad. Jerusalem is not Bagdad. But this has
+its conveniences. ‘Tis safe, and we are not very rich, nor wish to seem
+so.’
+
+A long passage brought them to a number of small, square, low
+chambers[41] leading into each other. They were lighted by brass lamps,
+placed at intervals in vacant niches, that once held corpses, and
+which were now soiled by the smoky flame. Between two and three
+hundred individuals were assembled in these chambers, at first scarcely
+distinguishable by those who descended from the broad daylight; but
+by degrees the eyesight became accustomed to the dim and vaporous
+atmosphere, and Al-roy recognised in the final and more illumined
+chamber a high cedar cabinet, the type of the ark, and which held the
+sacred vessels and the sanctified copy of the law.
+
+Standing in lines, with their heads mystically covered,[42] the forlorn
+remnant of Israel, captives in their ancient city, avowed, in spite of
+all their sufferings, their fidelity to their God, and, notwithstanding
+all the bitterness of hope delayed, their faith in the fulfilment of his
+promises. Their simple service was completed, their prayers were
+read, their responses made, their law exhibited, and their charitable
+offerings announced by their high priest. After the service, the
+venerable Zimri, opening a volume of the Talmud, and fortified by the
+opinions of all those illustrious and learned doctors, the heroes of
+his erudite conversations with the aged Maimon, expounded the law to the
+congregation of the people.[43]
+
+‘It is written,’ said the Rabbi, ‘“Thou shalt have none other God but
+me.� Now know ye what our father Abraham said when Nimrod ordered him to
+worship fire? “Why not water,� answered Abraham, “which can put out fire?
+why not clouds, which can pour forth water? why not the winds, which can
+produce clouds? why not God, which can create winds?�’
+
+A murmur of approbation sounded throughout the congregation.
+
+‘Eliezer,’ said Zimri, addressing himself to a young Rabbi, ‘it is
+written, that he took a rib from Adam when he was asleep. Is God then a
+robber?’
+
+The young Rabbi looked puzzled, and cast his eyes on the ground. The
+congregation was perplexed and a little alarmed.
+
+‘Is there no answer?’ said Zimri.
+
+‘Rabbi,’ said a stranger, a tall, swarthy African pilgrim, standing in
+a corner, and enveloped in a red mantle, over which a lamp threw a
+flickering light; ‘Rabbi, some robbers broke into my house last night,
+and stole an earthen pipkin, but they left a golden vase in its stead.’
+
+‘It is well said; it is well said,’ exclaimed the congregation. The
+applause was loud.
+
+‘Learned Zimri,’ continued the African, ‘it is written in the Gemara,
+that there was a youth in Jerusalem who fell in love with a beautiful
+damsel, and she scorned him. And the youth was so stricken with his
+passion that he could not speak; but when he beheld her, he looked at
+her imploringly, and she laughed. And one day the youth, not knowing
+what to do with himself, went out into the desert; and towards night
+he returned home, but the gates of the city were shut. And he went down
+into the valley of Jehoshaphat, and entered the tomb of Absalom and
+slept;[44] and he dreamed a dream; and next morning he came into the
+city smiling. And the maiden met him, and she said, “Is that thou; art
+thou a laugher?� and he answered, “Behold, yesterday being disconsolate,
+I went out of the city into the desert, and I returned home, and
+the gates of the city were shut, and I went down into the valley of
+Jehoshaphat, and I entered the tomb of Absalom, and I slept, and I
+dreamed a dream, and ever since then I have laughed.� And the damsel
+said, “Tell me thy dream.� And he answered and said, “I may not tell my
+dream only to my wife, for it regards her honour.� And the maiden grew
+sad and curious, and said, “I am thy wife, tell me thy dream.� And
+straightway they went and were married and ever after they both laughed.
+Now, learned Zimri, what means this tale, an idle jest for a master of
+the law, yet it is written by the greatest doctor of the Captivity?’
+
+‘It passeth my comprehension,’ said the chief Rabbi.
+
+Rabbi Eliezer was silent; the congregation groaned.
+
+‘Now hear the interpretation,’ said the African. ‘The youth is our
+people, and the damsel is our lost Sion, and the tomb of Absalom proves
+that salvation can only come from the house of David. Dost thou hear
+this, young man?’ said the African, coming forward and laying his hand
+on Alroy. ‘I speak to thee, because I have observed a deep attention in
+thy conduct.’
+
+The Prince of the Captivity started, and shot a glance at the dark
+visage before him, but the glance read nothing. The upper part of the
+countenance of the African was half concealed by masses of dark matted
+hair, and the lower by his uncouth robes. A flashing eye was its only
+characteristic, which darted forth like lightning out of a black cloud.
+
+‘Is my attention the only reason that induces you to address me?’
+inquired Alroy.
+
+‘Whoever gave all his reasons?’ replied the African, with a laughing
+sneer.
+
+‘I seek not to learn them. Suffice it, stranger, that how much soever
+you may mean, as much I can understand.’
+
+‘‘Tis well. Learned Zimri, is this thy pupil? I congratulate thee.
+I will match him against the hopeful Eliezer.’ So saying, the lofty
+African stalked out of the chamber. The assembly also broke up. Alroy
+would willingly have immediately followed the African, and held some
+further and more private conversation with him; but some minutes
+elapsed, owing to the officious attentions of Zimri, before he could
+escape; and, when he did, his search after the stranger was vain. He
+inquired among the congregation, but none knew the African. He was no
+man’s guest and no man’s debtor, and apparently had never before been
+seen.
+
+The trumpet was sounding to close the gates, as Alroy passed the Zion
+entrance. The temptation was irresistible. He rushed out, and ran for
+more than one hundred yards without looking back, and when he did, he
+had the satisfaction of ascertaining that he was fairly shut out for the
+night. The sun had set, still the Mount of Olives was flushed with the
+reflection of his dying beams, but Jehoshaphat at its feet was in deep
+shadow.
+
+He wandered among the mountains for some time, beholding Jerusalem from
+a hundred different points of view, and watching the single planets and
+clustering constellations that gradually burst into beauty, or gathered
+into light. At length, somewhat exhausted, he descended into the vale.
+The scanty rill of Siloah[45] looked like a thread of silver winding in
+the moonlight. Some houseless wretches were slumbering under the arch
+of its fountain. Several isolated tombs of considerable size[46] rose at
+the base of Olivet, and the largest of these Alroy entered. Proceeding
+through a narrow passage, he entered a small square chamber. On each
+side was an empty sarcophagus of granite, one with its lid broken.
+Between these the Prince of the Captivity laid his robe, and, wearied by
+his ramble, soon soundly slept.
+
+After some hours he woke. He fancied that he had been wakened by the
+sound of voices. The chamber was not quite dark. A straggling moonbeam
+fought its way through an open fretwork pattern in the top of the tomb,
+and just revealed the dim interior. Suddenly a voice spoke, a strange
+and singular voice.
+
+‘Brother, brother, the sounds of the night begin.’
+
+Another voice answered,
+
+‘Brother, brother, I hear them, too.’
+
+‘The woman in labour!’
+
+‘The thief at his craft!’
+
+‘The sentinel’s challenge!’
+
+‘The murderer’s step!’
+
+‘Oh! the merry sounds of the night!’
+
+‘Brother, brother, let us come forth and wander about the world.’
+
+‘We have seen all things. I’ll lie here and listen to the baying hound.
+‘Tis music for a tomb.’
+
+‘Choice and rare. You are idle. I like to sport in the starry air. Our
+hours are few, they should be fair.’
+
+‘What shall we see, Heaven or Earth?’ ‘Hell for me, ‘tis more amusing.’
+‘As for me, I am sick of Hades.’ ‘Let us visit Solomon!’ ‘In his unknown
+metropolis?’
+
+‘That will be rare.’
+
+‘But where, oh! where?’
+
+‘Even a spirit cannot tell. But they say, but they say, I dare not
+whisper what they say.’
+
+‘Who told you?’
+
+‘No one. I overheard an Afrite whispering to a female Ghoul he wanted to
+seduce.’
+
+‘Hah! hah! hah! hah! choice pair, choice pair! We are more ethereal.’
+
+‘She was a beauty in her way. Her eyes were luminous, though somewhat
+dank, and her cheek tinged with carnation caught from infant blood.’
+
+‘Oh! gay; oh! gay; what said they?’
+
+‘He was a deserter without leave from Solomon’s body-guard. The trull
+wriggled the secret out.’
+
+‘Tell me, kind brother.’
+
+‘I’ll show, not tell.’
+
+‘I pr’ythee tell me.’
+
+‘Well, then, well. In Genthesma’s gloomy cave there is a river none has
+reached, and you must sail, and you must sail---- Brother!’
+
+‘Ay.’
+
+‘Methinks I smell something too earthly.’
+
+‘What’s that?’
+
+‘The breath of man.’
+
+‘Scent more fatal than the morning air! Away, away!’
+
+In the range of mountains that lead from Olivet to the river Jordan is
+the great cavern of Genthesma, a mighty excavation formed by the
+combined and immemorial work of Nature and of Art; for on the high
+basaltic columns are cut strange characters and unearthly forms,[47] and
+in many places the natural ornaments have been completed by the hands of
+the sculptor into symmetrical entablatures and fanciful capitals, the
+work, they say, of captive Dives and conquered Afrites for the great
+king.
+
+It was midnight; the cold full moon showered it brilliancy upon this
+narrow valley, shut in on all sides by black and barren mountains.   A
+single being stood at the entrance of the cave.
+
+It was Alroy. Desperate and determined, after listening to the spirits
+in the tomb, he resolved to penetrate the mysteries of Genthesma.  He
+took from his girdle a flint and steel, with which he lighted a torch
+and then he entered.
+
+The cavern narrowed as he cautiously advanced, and soon he found himself
+at the head of an evidently artificial gallery.  A crowd of bats rushed
+forward and extinguished his torch [48]  He leant down to relight it and
+in so doing observed that he had trod upon an artificial pavement.
+
+The gallery was of great extent, with a gradual declination [49] Being
+in a straight line with the mouth of the cavern, the moonlit scene was
+long visible, but Alroy, on looking round, now perceived that the
+exterior was shut out by the eminence that he had left behind him.  The
+sides of the gallery were covered with strange and sculptured forms.
+
+The Prince of the Captivity proceeded along this gallery for nearly two
+hours. A distant murmur of falling water, which might have been
+distinguished nearly from the first, increased in sound as he advanced,
+and now, from the loud roar and dash at hand, he felt that he was on the
+brink of some cataract.  It as very dark. His heart trembled. He felt
+his footing ere he ventured to advance. The spray suddenly leaped
+forward and extinguished his torch.
+
+His eminent danger filled him with terror, and he receded some paces,
+but in vain endeavoured to reillumine his torch, which was soaked with
+water.
+
+His courage deserted him. Energy and exertion seemed hopeless. He was
+about to deliver himself up to despair, when and expanding lustre
+attracted his attention in the opposing gloom.
+
+A small and bright red cloud seemed sailing towards him.  It opened,
+discharged from its bosom as silvery star, and dissolved again into
+darkness. But the star remained, the silvery star, and threw a long line
+of tremulous light upon the vast and raging rapid, which now, fleet and
+foaming, revealed itself on all sides to the eye of Alroy.
+
+The beautiful interposition in his favour re-animated the adventurous
+pilgrim. A dark shadow in the foreground, breaking the line of light
+shed by the star upon the waters, attracted his attention. He advanced,
+regained his former footing, and more nearly examined it. It was a boat,
+and in the boat, mute and immovable, sat one of those vast, singular,
+and hidden forms which eh had observed sculptured on the walls of the
+gallery.
+
+David Alry, committing his fortunes to the God of Israel, leapt into the
+boat.
+
+And at the same moment the Afrite, for it was one of those dread
+beings,[50] raised the oars, and the barque moved.  The falling waters
+suddenly parted in the long line of the  star’s reflection, and the
+barque glided through their high and severed masses.
+
+In this wise they proceeded for a few minutes, until they entered a
+beautiful and moonlit lake.  In the distance was mountainous country.
+Alroy examined his companion with a feeling of curiosity not unmixed
+with terror. It was remarkable that Alroy could never succeed in any way
+in attracting his notice. The Afrite seemed totally unconscious of the
+presence of his passenger. At length the boat reached the opposite shore
+of the lake, and the Prince of the Captivity debarked.
+
+He debarked at the head of an avenue of colossal lions of red
+granite,[51] extending far as the eye could reach, and ascending the
+side of the mountain, which was cut into a flight of magnificent
+steps. The easy ascent was in consequence soon accomplished, and Alroy,
+proceeding along the avenue of lions, soon gained the summit of the
+mountain.
+
+To his infinite astonishment he beheld Jerusalem. That strongly-marked
+locality could not be mistaken: at his feet were Jehoshaphat, Kedron,
+Siloah; he stood upon Olivet; before him was Zion. But in all other
+respects, how different was the landscape from the one that he had gazed
+upon a few days back, for the first time! The surrounding hills
+sparkled with vineyards, and glowed with summer palaces, and voluptuous
+pavilions, and glorious gardens of pleasure. The city, extending all
+over Mount Sion, was encompassed with a wall of white marble, with
+battlements of gold; a gorgeous mass of gates and pillars, and gardened
+terraces; lofty piles of rarest materials, cedar, and ivory, and
+precious stones; and costly columns of the richest workmanship and the
+most fanciful orders, capitals of the lotus and the palm, and flowing
+friezes of the olive and the vine.
+
+And in the front a mighty Temple rose, with inspiration in its very
+form; a Temple so vast, so sumptuous, that there needed no priest to
+tell us that no human hand planned that sublime magnificence!
+
+‘God of my fathers!’ said Alroy, ‘I am a poor, weak thing, and my life
+has been a life of dreams and visions, and I have sometimes thought my
+brain lacked a sufficient master; where am I? Do I sleep or live? Am I a
+slumberer or a ghost? This trial is too much.’ He sank down, and hid
+his face in his hands: his over-exerted mind appeared to desert him: he
+wept.
+
+Many minutes elapsed before Alroy grew composed. His wild bursts of
+weeping sank into sobs, and the sobs died off into sighs. And at length,
+calm from exhaustion, he again looked up, and lo! the glorious city was
+no more! Before him was a moon-lit plain, over which the avenue of
+lions still advanced, and appeared to terminate only in the mountainous
+distance.
+
+This limit the Prince of the Captivity at length reached, and stood
+before a stupendous portal, cut out of the solid rock, four hundred feet
+in height, and supported by clusters of colossal Caryatides.[52] Upon
+the portal were engraven some Hebrew characters, which upon examination
+proved to be the same as those upon the talisman of Jabaster. And so,
+taking from his bosom that all-precious and long-cherished deposit,
+David Alroy, in obedience to his instructions, pressed the signet
+against the gigantic portal.
+
+The portal opened with a crash of thunder louder than an earthquake.
+Pale, panting, and staggering, the Prince of the Captivity entered an
+illimitable hall, illumined by pendulous balls of glowing metal. On each
+side of the hall, sitting on golden thrones, was ranged a line of kings,
+and, as the pilgrim entered, the monarchs rose, and took off their
+diadems, and waved them thrice, and thrice repeated, in solemn chorus,
+‘All hail, Alroy! Hail to thee, brother king! Thy crown awaits thee!’
+
+The Prince of the Captivity stood trembling, with his eyes fixed upon
+the ground, and leaning breathless against a column. And when at length
+he had a little recovered himself, and dared again to look up, he found
+that the monarchs were re-seated; and, from their still and vacant
+visages, apparently unconscious of his presence. And this emboldened
+him, and so, staring alternately at each side of the hall, but with a
+firm, perhaps desperate step, Alroy advanced.
+
+And he came to two thrones which were set apart from the others in the
+middle of the hall. On one was seated a noble figure, far above the
+common stature, with arms folded and downcast eyes. His feet rested upon
+a broken sword and a shivered sceptre, which told that he was a monarch,
+in spite of his discrowned head.
+
+And on the opposite throne was a venerable personage, with a long
+flowing beard, and dressed in white raiment. His countenance
+was beautiful, although ancient. Age had stolen on without its
+imperfections, and time had only invested it with a sweet dignity and
+solemn grace. The countenance of the king was upraised with a seraphic
+gaze, and, as he thus looked up on high, with eyes full of love, and
+thanksgiving, and praise, his consecrated fingers seemed to touch the
+trembling wires of a golden harp.
+
+And further on, and far above the rest, upon a throne that stretched
+across the hall, a most imperial presence straightway flashed upon the
+startled vision of Alroy. Fifty steps of ivory, and each step guarded
+by golden lions,[53] led to a throne of jasper. A dazzling light blazed
+forth from the glittering diadem and radiant countenance of him who sat
+upon the throne, one beautiful as a woman, but with the majesty of a
+god. And in one hand he held a seal, and in the other a sceptre.
+
+And when Alroy had reached the foot of the throne, he stopped, and his
+heart misgave him. And he prayed for some minutes in silent devotion,
+and, without daring to look up, he mounted the first step of the throne,
+and the second, and the third, and so on, with slow and faltering feet,
+until he reached the forty-ninth step.
+
+The Prince of the Captivity raised his eyes. He stood before the monarch
+face to face. In vain Alroy attempted to attract his attention, or to
+fix his gaze. The large dark eyes, full of supernatural lustre, appeared
+capable of piercing all things, and illuminating all things, but they
+flashed on without shedding a ray upon Alroy.
+
+Pale as a spectre, the pilgrim, whose pilgrimage seemed now on the point
+of completion, stood cold and trembling before the object of all his
+desires and all his labours. But he thought of his country, his people,
+and his God; and, while his noiseless lips breathed the name of Jehovah,
+solemnly he put forth his arm, and with a gentle firmness grasped the
+unresisting sceptre of his great ancestor.
+
+And, as he seized it, the whole scene vanished from his sight!
+
+Hours or years might have passed away, so far as the sufferer was
+concerned, when Alroy again returned to self-consciousness. His eyes
+slowly opened, he cast around a vacant stare, he was lying in the cavern
+of Genthesma. The moon had set, but the morn had not broken. A single
+star glittered over the brow of the black mountains. He faintly moved
+his limbs; he would have raised his hand to his bewildered brain, but
+found that it grasped a sceptre. The memory of the past returned to him.
+He tried to rise, and found that he was reposing in the arms of a human
+being. He turned his head; he met the anxious gaze of Jabaster!
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER VII.
+
+     _Conquest of the Seljuks_
+
+YOUR face is troubled, uncle.’ ‘So is my mind.’ ‘All may go well.’
+‘Miriam, we have seen the best. Prepare yourself for sorrow, gentle
+girl. I care not for myself, for I am old, and age makes heroes of us
+all. I have endured, and can endure more. As we approach our limit, it
+would appear that our minds grow callous. I have seen my wealth, raised
+with the labours of a thoughtful life, vanish in a morn: my people, a
+fragile remnant, nevertheless a people, dispersed, or what is worse. I
+have wept for them, although no tear of selfish grief has tinged this
+withered cheek. And, were I but alone, ay! there’s the pang. The solace
+of my days is now my sorrow.’
+
+‘Weep not for me, dear uncle. Rather let us pray that our God will not
+forsake us.’
+
+‘We know not when we are well. Our hours stole tranquilly along, and
+then we murmured. Prospering, we murmured, and now we are rightly
+stricken. The legend of the past is Israel’s bane. The past is a dream;
+and, in the waking present, we should discard the enervating shadow. Why
+should we be free? We murmured against captivity. This _is_ captivity:
+this damp, dim cell, where we are brought to die.
+
+‘O! youth, rash youth, thy being is destruction. But yesterday a child,
+it seems but yesterday I nursed him in these arms, a thoughtless child,
+and now our house has fallen by his deeds. I will not think of it;
+‘twill make me mad.’
+
+‘Uncle, dearest uncle, we have lived together, and we will die together,
+and both in love; but, I pray you, speak no harsh word of David.’
+
+‘Shall I praise him?’
+
+‘Say nothing. What he has done, if done in grief, has been done all in
+honour. Would you that he had spared Alschiroch?’
+
+‘Never! I would have struck him myself. Brave boy, he did his duty; and
+I, I, Miriam, thy uncle, at whom they wink behind his back and call him
+niggard, was I wanting in that hour of trial? Was my treasure spared to
+save my people? Did I shrink from all the toil and trouble of that time?
+A trying time, my Miriam, but compared with this, the building of the
+Temple----’
+
+‘You were then what you have ever been, the best and wisest. And since
+our fathers’ God did not forsake us, even in that wilderness of wildest
+woe, I offer gratitude in present faith, and pay him for past mercies by
+my prayers for more.’
+
+‘Well, well, life must end. The hour approaches when we must meet our
+rulers and mock trial; precious justice that begins in threats and ends
+in torture. You are silent, Miriam.’
+
+‘I am speaking to my God.’
+
+‘What is that noise? A figure moves behind the dusky grate. Our gaoler.
+No, no, it is Caleb! Faithful child, I fear you have perilled much.’
+
+‘I enter with authority, my lord, and bear good tidings.’
+
+‘He smiles! Is’t possible? Speak on, speak on!’
+
+‘Alroy has captured the harem of our Governor, as they journeyed from
+Bagdad to this city, guarded by his choicest troops. And he has sent to
+offer that they shall be exchanged for you and for your household. And
+Hassan has answered that his women shall owe their freedom to nothing
+but his sword. But, in the meantime, it is agreed between him and the
+messenger of your nephew, that both companies of prisoners shall be
+treated with all becoming courtesy. You, therefore, are remanded to
+your palace, and the trumpet is now sounding before the great mosque
+to summon all the host against Alroy, whom Hassan has vowed to bring to
+Hamadan dead or alive.’
+
+‘The harem of the Governor, guarded too by his choicest troops! ‘Tis a
+great deed. He did remember us. Faithful boy! The harem of the Governor!
+his choicest troops! ‘Tis a very great deed. Me-thinks the Lord is with
+him. He has his great father’s heart. Only think of David, a child! I
+nursed him, often. Caleb! Can this be David, our David, a child, a girl?
+Yet he struck Alschiroch! Miriam! where is she? Worthy Caleb, look to
+your mistress; she has fallen. Quite gone! Fetch water. ‘Tis not very
+pure, but we shall be in our palace soon. The harem of the Governor! I
+can’t believe it. Sprinkle, sprinkle. David take them prisoners! Why,
+when they pass, we are obliged to turn our heads, and dare not look.
+More water: I’ll rub her hand. ‘Tis warmer! Her eyes open! Miriam,
+choice news, my child! The harem of the Governor! I’ll not believe it!
+
+‘Once more within our walls, Caleb. Life is a miracle. I feel young
+again. This is home; and yet I am a prisoner. You said the host were
+assembling; he can have no chance. Think you, Caleb, he has any chance?
+I hope he will die. I would not have him taken. I fear their tortures.
+We will die too; we will all die. Now I am out of that dungeon,
+me-thinks I could even fight. Is it true that he has joined with
+robbers?’
+
+‘I saw the messenger, and learnt that he first repaired to some bandits
+in the ruins in the desert. He had become acquainted with them in his
+pilgrimage. They say their leader is one of our people.’
+
+‘I am glad of that. He can eat with him. I would not have him eat
+unclean things with the Ishmaelites.’
+
+‘Lord, sir! our people gather to him from all quarters. ‘Tis said that
+Jabaster, the great Cabalist, has joined him from the mountains with ten
+thousand men.’
+
+‘The great Jabaster! then there is some chance. I know Jabaster well. He
+is too wise to join a desperate cause. Art sure about Jabaster? ‘Tis
+a great name, a very potent spirit. I have heard such things of that
+Jabaster, sir, would make you stare like Saul before the spirit! Only
+think of our David, Caleb, making all this noise! I am full of hope. I
+feel not like a prisoner. He beat the harem guard, and, now he has got
+Jabaster, he will beat them all.’
+
+‘The messenger told me he captured the harem, only to free his uncle and
+his sister.’
+
+‘He ever loved me; I have done my duty to him; I think I have. Jabaster!
+why, man, the name is a spell I There are men at Bagdad who will get up
+in the night to join Jabaster. I hope David will follow his counsels
+in all things. I would I had seen his servant, I could have sent him a
+message.’
+
+‘Lord, sir! the Prince Alroy has no great need of counsellors, I can
+tell you. ‘Tis said he bears the sceptre of great Solomon, which he
+himself obtained in the unknown tombs of Palestine.’
+
+‘The sceptre of Solomon! could I but believe it! ‘Tis an age of wonders!
+Where are we? Call for Miriam, I’ll tell her this. Only think of David,
+a mere child, our David with the sceptre of Solomon! and Jabaster too! I
+have great faith. The Lord confound his enemies!’
+
+‘Gentle Rachel, I fear I trouble you; sweet Beruna, I thank you for your
+zeal. I am better now; the shock was great. These are strange tidings,
+maidens.’
+
+‘Yes, dear lady! who would have thought of your brother turning out a
+Captain?’
+
+‘I am sure I always thought he was the quietest person in the world,’
+said Beruna, ‘though he did kill Alschiroch.’
+
+‘One could never get a word out of him,’ said Rachel.
+
+‘He was always moping alone,’ said Beruna.
+
+‘And when one spoke to him he always turned away,’ said Leah.
+
+‘Or blushed,’ added Imra.
+
+‘Well, for my part,’ said the beautiful Bathsheba, ‘I always thought
+Prince David was a genius. He had such beautiful eyes!’
+
+‘I hope he will conquer Hassan,’ said Rachel.
+
+‘So do I,’ said Beruna.
+
+‘I wonder what he has done with the harem,’ said Leah.
+
+‘I don’t think he will dare to speak to them,’ said Imra.
+
+‘You are very much mistaken,’ said Bathsheba.
+
+‘Hark!’ said Miriam.
+
+‘‘Tis Hassan,’ said Bathsheba; ‘may he never return!’
+
+The wild drum of the Seljuks sounded, then a flourish of their fierce
+trumpets, and soon the tramp of horse. Behind the blinds of their
+chamber, Miriam and her maidens beheld the magnificent troop of
+tur-baned horsemen, who, glittering with splendid armour and bright
+shawls, and proudly bounding on their fiery steeds, now went forth to
+crush and conquer the only hope of Israel. Upon an Arab, darker than
+night, rode the superb Hassan, and, as he passed the dwelling of
+his late prisoners, whether from the exulting anticipation of coming
+triumph, or from a soft suspicion that, behind that lattice, bright
+eyes and brilliant faces were gazing on his state, the haughty but
+handsome Seljuk flourished his scimitar over his head, as he threw his
+managed steed into attitudes that displayed the skill of its rider.
+
+‘He is handsomer than Alschiroch,’ said Rachel.
+
+‘What a shawl!’ said Beruna.
+
+‘His scimitar was like lightning,’ said Leah.
+
+‘And his steed like thunder,’ said Imra.
+
+‘The evil eye fall on him!’ said Bathsheba.
+
+‘Lord,’ exclaimed Miriam, ‘remember David and all his afflictions!’
+
+The deserted city of the wilderness presented a very different
+appearance from that which met the astonished gaze of Alroy, when he
+first beheld its noble turrets, and wandered in its silent streets of
+palaces.
+
+Without the gates was pitched a numerous camp of those low black tents
+common among the Kourds and Turkmans; the principal street was full
+of busy groups engaged in all the preparations of warfare, and all the
+bustling expedients of an irregular and adventurous life; steeds were
+stalled in ruined chambers, and tall camels raised their still visages
+among the clustering columns, or crouched in kneeling tranquillity amid
+fallen statues and prostrate obelisks.
+
+Two months had scarcely elapsed since Alroy and Jabaster had sought
+Scherirah in his haunt, and announced to him their sacred mission. The
+callous heart of him, whose ‘mother was a Jewess,’ had yielded to their
+inspired annunciations. He embraced their cause with all the fervour
+of conversion, and his motley band were not long sceptical of a creed
+which, while it assuredly offered danger and adventure, held out the
+prospects of wealth and even empire. From the city of the wilderness
+the new Messiah sent forth his messengers to the neighbouring cities, to
+announce his advent to his brethren in captivity. The Hebrews, a
+proud and stiff-necked race, ever prone to rebellion, received the
+announcement of their favourite prince with transport. The descendant
+of David, and the slayer of Alschiroch, had double claims upon their
+confidence and allegiance, and the flower of the Hebrew youth in the
+neighbouring cities of the Caliphate repaired in crowds to pay their
+homage to the recovered sceptre of Solomon.
+
+The affair was at first treated by the government with contempt, and the
+sultan of the Seljuks contented himself with setting a price upon the
+head of the murderer of his brother; but, when several cities had been
+placed under contribution, and more than one Moslem caravan stopped,
+and plundered in the name of the God of Abraham, of Isaac, and of Jacob,
+orders were despatched from Bagdad to the new governor of Hamadan,
+Hassan Subah, to suppress the robbers, or the rebels, and to send David
+Alroy dead or alive to the capital.
+
+The Hebrew malcontents were well apprised by their less adventurous
+but still sympathising brethren of everything that took place at the
+head-quarters of the enemy. Spies arrived on the same day at the city
+of the wilderness, who informed Alroy that his uncle was thrown into
+a dungeon at Hamadan, and that a body of chosen troops were about to
+escort a royal harem from Bagdad into Persia.
+
+Alroy attacked the escort in person, utterly discomfited them, and
+captured their charge. It proved to be the harem of the Governor of
+Hamadan, and if for a moment the too sanguine fancy of the captor
+experienced a passing pang of disappointment, the prize at least
+obtained, as we have seen, the freedom and security of his dear though
+distant friends. This exploit precipitated the expedition which was
+preparing at Hamadan for his destruction. The enraged Hassan Subah
+started from his divan, seized his scimitar, and without waiting for the
+auxiliaries he had summoned from the neighbouring chieftains, called to
+horse, and at the head of two thousand of the splendid Seljuk cavalry,
+hurried to vindicate his love and satiate his revenge.
+
+Within the amphitheatre which he first entered as a prisoner, Alroy sat
+in council. On his right was Jabaster, Scherirah on his left. A youth,
+little his senior, but tall as a palm-tree, and strong as a young lion,
+was the fourth captain. In the distance, some standing, some reclining,
+were about fifty men completely armed.
+
+‘Are the people numbered, Abner?’ inquired Alroy of the youth.
+
+‘Even so; three hundred effective horsemen, and two thousand footmen;
+but the footmen lack arms.’
+
+‘The Lord will send them in good time,’ said Jabaster; ‘meanwhile let
+them continue to make javelins.’
+
+‘Trust in the Lord,’ murmured Scherirah, bending his head, with his eyes
+fixed on the ground.
+
+A loud shout was heard throughout the city. Alroy started from his
+carpet. The messenger had returned. Pale and haggard, covered with sweat
+and sand, the faithful envoy was borne into the amphitheatre almost upon
+the shoulders of the people. In vain the guard endeavoured to stem the
+passage of the multitude. They clambered up the tiers of arches,
+they filled the void and crumbling seats of the antique circus, they
+supported themselves upon each other’s shoulders, they clung to the
+capitals of the lofty columns. The whole multitude had assembled to
+hear the intelligence; the scene recalled the ancient purpose of the
+building, and Alroy and his fellow-warriors seemed like the gladiators
+of some old spectacle.
+
+‘Speak,’ said Alroy, ‘speak the worst. No news can be bitter to those
+whom the Lord will avenge.’
+
+‘Ruler of Israel! thus saith Hassan Subah,’ answered the messenger: ‘My
+harem shall owe their freedom to nothing but my sword. I treat not with
+rebels, but I war not with age or woman; and between Bostenay and his
+household on one side, and the prisoners of thy master on the other, let
+there be peace. Go, tell Alroy, I will seal it in his best blood. And
+lo! thy uncle and thy sister are again in their palace.’
+
+Alroy placed his hand for a moment to his eyes, and then instantly
+resuming his self-possession, he enquired as to the movements of the
+enemy.
+
+‘I have crossed the desert on a swift dromedary[54] lent to me by
+Shelomi of the Gate, whose heart is with our cause. I have not tarried,
+neither have I slept. Ere to-morrow’s sunset the Philistines will be
+here, led by Hassan Subah himself. The Lord of Hosts be with us! Since
+we conquered Canaan, Israel hath not struggled with such a power!’
+
+A murmur ran through the assembly. Men exchanged enquiring glances, and
+involuntarily pressed each other’s arms.
+
+‘The trial has come,’ said a middle-aged Hebrew, who had fought twenty
+years ago with Jabaster.
+
+‘Let me die for the Ark!’ said a young enthusiast of the band of Abner.
+
+‘I thought we should get into a scrape,’ whispered Kisloch the Kourd to
+Calidas the Indian. ‘What could have ever induced us to give up robbing
+in a quiet manner?’
+
+‘And turn Jews!’ said the Guebre, with a sneer.
+
+‘Look at Scherirah,’ said the Negro, grinning. ‘If he is not kissing the
+sceptre of Solomon!’
+
+‘I wish to heaven he had only hung Alroy the first time he met him,’
+said Calidas.
+
+‘Sons of the Covenant!’ exclaimed Alroy, ‘the Lord hath delivered them
+into our hands. To-morrow eve we march to Hamadan!’
+
+A cheer followed this exclamation.
+
+‘It is written,’ said Jabaster, opening a volume, ‘“Lo! I will defend
+this city, to save it, for mine own sake, and for my servant David’s
+sake.�
+
+‘“And it came to pass that night that the angel of the Lord went out,
+and smote in the camp of the Assyrians, an hundred four score and five
+thousand; and when they arose early in the morning, behold! they were
+all dead corpses.�
+
+‘Now, as I was gazing upon the stars this morn, and reading the
+celestial alphabet known to the true Cabalist,[55] behold! the star of
+the house of David and seven other stars moved, and met together, and
+formed into a circle. And the word they formed was a mystery to me; but
+lo! I have opened the book, and each star is the initial letter of each
+line of the Targum that I have now read to you. Therefore the fate of
+Sennacherib is the fate of Hassan Subah!’
+
+‘_“Trust in him at all times, ye people; pour out your heart before him.�
+ god is a refuge for us. Selah!_’
+
+At this moment a female form appeared on the very top of the
+amphitheatre, upon the slight remains of the upper most tier of which
+a solitary arch alone was left. The chorus instantly died away, every
+tongue was silent, every eye fixed. Hushed, mute, and immovable, even
+Kisloch and his companions were appalled as they gazed upon Esther the
+Prophetess.
+
+Her eminent position, her imposing action, the flashing of her immense
+eyes, her beautiful but awful countenance, her black hair, that hung
+almost to her knees, and the white light of the moon, just rising over
+the opposite side of the amphitheatre, and which threw a silvery flash
+upon her form, and seemed to invest her with some miraculous emanation,
+while all beneath her was in deep gloom,-these circumstances combined
+to render her an object of universal interest and attention, while in a
+powerful but high voice she thus addressed them:
+
+‘They come, they come! But will they go? Lo! hear ye this, O house of
+Jacob, which are called by the name of Israel, and are come forth out of
+the waters of Judah! I hear their drum in the desert, and the voice of
+their trumpets is like the wind of eve, but a decree hath gone forth,
+and it says, that a mortal shall be more precious than fine gold, yea, a
+man than the rich ore of Ophir.
+
+‘They come, they come! But will they go? I see the flash of their
+scimitars, I mark the prancing of their cruel steeds; but a decree hath
+gone forth, and it says, a gleaning shall be left among them, as in
+the shaking of the olive-tree; two or three berries on the top of the
+uppermost bough; four or five on the straggling branches.
+
+‘They come, they come! But will they go? Lo! a decree hath gone forth,
+and it says, Hamadan shall be to thee for a spoil, and desolation shall
+fall upon Babylon. And there shall the wild beasts of the desert lodge,
+and howling monsters shall fill their houses, and there shall the
+daughters of the ostrich dwell, and there shall the screech-owl pitch
+her tent, and there shall the night-raven lay her eggs, and there shall
+the satyrs hold their revels. And wolves shall howl to one another in
+their palaces, and dragons in their voluptuous pavilions. Her time is
+near at hand; her days shall not be prolonged; the reed and the lotus
+shall wither in her rivers; and the meadows by her canals shall be as
+the sands of the desert. For, is it a light thing that the Lord should
+send his servant to raise up the tribes of Jacob, and to restore the
+preserved of Israel? Sing, O heavens, and be joyful, O earth, and break
+forth into singing, O mountains, for the Lord hath comforted his people,
+and will have mercy upon his afflicted!’
+
+She ceased; she descended the precipitous side of the amphitheatre with
+rapid steps, vaulting from tier to tier, and bounding with wonderful
+agility from one mass of ruin to another. At length she reached the
+level; and then, foaming and panting, she rushed to Alroy, threw herself
+upon the ground, embraced his feet, and wiped off the dust from his
+sandals with her hair.
+
+The assembly broke into long and loud acclamations of supernatural
+confidence and sanguine enthusiasm. They beheld their Messiah wave his
+miraculous sceptre. They thought of Hassan Subah and his Seljuks only
+as of victims, and of to-morrow only as of a day which was to commence a
+new era of triumph, freedom, and empire!
+
+Hassan Subah after five days’ forced marches pitched his sumptuous
+pavilion in that beautiful Oasis, which had afforded such delightful
+refreshment to Alroy when a solitary pilgrim. Around for nearly a mile,
+were the tents of his warriors, and of the numerous caravan that had
+accompanied him, laden with water and provisions for his troops. Here,
+while he reposed, he also sought information as to the position of his
+enemy.
+
+A party of observation, which he had immediately despatched, returned
+almost instantly with a small caravan that had been recently plundered
+by the robbers. The merchant, a venerable and pious Moslem, was ushered
+into the presence of the Governor of Hamadan.
+
+‘From the robbers’ haunt?’ enquired Hassan.
+
+‘Unfortunately so,’ answered the merchant.
+
+‘Is it far?’
+
+‘A day’s journey.’
+
+‘And you quitted it?’
+
+‘Yesterday morn.’
+
+‘What is their force?’
+
+The merchant hesitated.
+
+‘Do they not make prisoners?’ enquired the Governor, casting a
+scrutinising glance at his companion.
+
+‘Holy Prophet! what a miserable wretch am I!’ exclaimed the venerable
+merchant, bursting into tears. ‘A faithful subject of the Caliph, I am
+obliged to serve rebels, a devout Moslem, I am forced to aid Jews! Order
+me to be hanged at once, my lord,’ continued the unfortunate merchant,
+wringing his hands. ‘Order me to be hanged at once. I have lived long
+enough.’
+
+‘What is all this?’ enquired Hassan; ‘speak, friend, without fear.’
+
+‘I am a faithful subject of the Caliph,’ answered the merchant; ‘I am a
+devout Moslem, but I have lost ten thousand dirhems.’
+
+‘I am sorry for you, sir; I also have lost something, but my losses are
+nothing to you, nor yours to me.’
+
+‘Accursed be the hour when these dogs tempted me! Tell me, is it sin to
+break faith with a Jew?’
+
+‘On the contrary, I could find you many reverend Mollahs, who will tell
+you that such a breach is the highest virtue. Come! come, I see how it
+is: you have received your freedom on condition of not betraying your
+merciful plunderers. Promises exacted by terror are the bugbears of
+fools. Speak, man, all you know. Where are they? What is their force?
+Are we supposed to be at hand?’
+
+‘I am a faithful subject of the Caliph, and I am bound to serve him,’
+replied the merchant; ‘I am a devout Moslem, and ‘tis my duty to destroy
+all Giaours, but I am also a man, and I must look after my own interest.
+Noble Governor, the long and the short is, these scoundrels have robbed
+me of ten thousand dirhems, as my slaves will tell you: at least, goods
+to that amount. No one can prove that they be worth less. It is true
+that I include in that calculation the fifty per cent. I was to make
+on my shawls at Hamadan, but still to me it is as good as ten thousand
+dirhems. Ask my slaves if such an assortment of shawls was ever yet
+beheld.’
+
+‘To the point, to the point. The robbers?’ ‘I am at the point. The
+shawls is the point. For when I talked of the shawls and the heaviness
+of my loss, you must know that the captain of the robbers--’
+
+‘Alroy?’
+
+‘A fierce young gentleman, I do not know how they call him: said the
+captain to me, “Merchant, you look gloomy.� “Gloomy,� I said, “you would
+look gloomy if you were a prisoner, and had lost ten thousand dirhems.�
+ “What, is this trash worth ten thousand dirhems?� said he. “With the
+fifty per cent. I was to make at Hamadan.� “Fifty per cent.,� said he;
+“you are an old knave.� “Knave! I should like to hear any one call me
+knave at Bagdad.� “Well, knave or not, you may get out of this scrape.�
+ “How?� “Why you are a respectable-looking man,� said he, “and are a good
+Moslem into the bargain, I warrant.� “That I am,� said I, “although you
+be a Jew: but how the faith is to serve me here I am sure I don’t
+know, unless the angel Gabriel, as in the fifty-fifth verse of the
+twenty-seventh chapter of the Koran----“’
+
+‘Tush, tush!’ exclaimed Hassan; ‘to the point.’
+
+‘I always am at the point, only you put me out. However, to make it
+as short as possible, the captain knows all about your coming, and is
+frightened out of his wits, although he did talk big; I could easily see
+that. And he let me go, you see, with some of my slaves, and gave me an
+order for five thousand dirhems on one Bostenay, of Hamadan (perhaps
+you know him; is he a good man?), on condition that I would fall in with
+you, and, Mohammed forgive me, tell you a lie!’
+
+‘A lie!’
+
+‘Yes, a lie; but these Jewish dogs do not understand what a truly
+religious man is, and when I began to tell the lie, I was soon put
+out. Now, noble Hassan, if a promise to a Jew be not binding on a true
+believer, and you will see me straight with the five thousand dirhems, I
+will betray everything at once.’
+
+‘Be easy about the five thousand dirhems, good man, and tell me all.’
+
+‘You will see me paid?’
+
+‘My honour upon it.’
+
+‘‘Tis well! Know then, the infamous dogs are very weak, and terrified
+at the news of your progress: one, whom I think they call Jabaster, has
+departed with the great majority of the people into the interior of the
+desert, about seven hundred strong. I heard so; but mind, I do not
+know it. The young man, whom you call Alroy, being wounded in a recent
+conflict, could not depart with them, but remains among the ruins with
+some female prisoners, some treasure, and about a hundred companions
+hidden in sepulchres. He gave me my freedom on condition that I should
+fall in with you, and assure you that the dogs, full five thousand
+strong, had given you the go-by in the night, and marched towards
+Hamadan. They wanted me to frighten you; it was a lie, and I could not
+tell it. And now you know the plain truth; and if it be a sin to break
+faith with an infidel, you are responsible for it, as well as for the
+five thousand dirhems, which, by-the-bye, ought to have been ten.’
+
+‘Where is your order?’
+
+‘‘Tis here,’ said the merchant, drawing it from his vest, ‘a very
+business-like document, drawn upon one Bostenay, whom they described as
+very rich, and who is here enjoined to pay me five thousand dirhems, if,
+in consequence of my information, Hassan Subah, that is yourself, return
+forthwith to Hamadan without attacking them.’
+
+‘Old Bostenay’s head shall answer for this.’
+
+‘I am glad of it. But were I you, I would make him pay me first.’
+
+‘Merchant,’ said Hassan, ‘have you any objection to pay another visit to
+your friend Alroy?’
+
+‘Allah forbid!’
+
+‘In my company?’
+
+‘That makes a difference.’
+
+‘Be our guide. The dirhems shall be doubled.’
+
+‘That will make up for the fifty per cent. I hardly like it; but in your
+company that makes a difference. Lose no time. If you push on, Alroy
+must be captured. Now or never! The Jewish dogs, to rifle a true
+believer!’
+
+‘Oglu,’ said Hassan to one of his officers. ‘To horse! You need not
+strike the tents. Can we reach the city by sunset, merchant?’
+
+‘An hour before, if you be off at once.’ ‘Sound the drums. To horse! to
+horse!’ The Seljuks halted before the walls of the deserted city. Their
+commander ordered a detachment to enter and reconnoitre. They returned
+and reported its apparent desolation. Hassan Subah, then directing
+that a guard should surround the walls to prevent any of the enemy from
+escaping, passed with his warriors through the vast portal into the
+silent street. The still magnificence of the strange and splendid scene
+influenced the temper even of this ferocious cavalry. They gazed around
+them with awe and admiration. The fierceness of their visages was
+softened, the ardour of their impulse stilled. A supernatural feeling
+of repose stole over their senses. No one brandished his scimitar, the
+fiery courser seemed as subdued as his lord, and no sound was heard but
+the melancholy, mechanical tramp of the disciplined march, unrelieved
+by martial music, inviolate by oath or jest, and unbroken even by the
+ostentatious caracoling of any showy steed.
+
+It was sunset; the star of eve glittered over the white Ionian fane that
+rose serene and delicate in the flashing and purple sky.
+
+‘This way, my lord!’ said the merchant guide, turning round to Hassan
+Subah, who, surrounded by his officers, led the van. The whole of the
+great way of the city was filled with the Seljukian warriors. Their ebon
+steeds, their snowy turbans, adorned with plumes of the black eagle and
+the red heron, their dazzling shawls, the blaze of their armour in
+the sunset, and the long undulating perspective of beautiful forms and
+brilliant colours, this regiment of heroes in a street of palaces. War
+had seldom afforded a more imposing or more picturesque spectacle.
+
+‘This way, my lord!’ said the merchant, pointing to the narrow turning
+that, at the foot of the temple, led through ruined streets to the
+amphitheatre.
+
+‘Halt!’ exclaimed a wild shrill voice. Each warrior suddenly arrested
+his horse.
+
+‘Who spoke?’ exclaimed Hassan Subah.
+
+‘I!’ answered a voice. A female form stood in the portico of the temple,
+with uplifted arms.
+
+‘And who art thou?’ enquired Hassan Subah, not a little disconcerted.
+
+‘Thine evil genius, Seljuk!’
+
+Hassan Subah, pale as his ivory battle-axe, did not answer; every man
+within hearing shuddered; still the dread woman remained immovable
+within the porch of the temple.
+
+‘Woman, witch, or goddess,’ at length exclaimed Hassan Subah, ‘what
+wouldst thou here?’
+
+‘Seljuk! behold this star. ‘Tis a single drop of light, yet who even
+of thy wild band can look upon it without awe? And yet thou worse than
+Sisera, thou comest to combat against those for whom even “the stars in
+their courses fought.�’
+
+‘A Jewish witch!’ exclaimed the Seljuk.
+
+‘A Jewish witch! Be it so; behold, then, my spell falls upon thee, and
+that spell is Destruction.
+
+‘Awake, awake, Deborah: awake, awake, utter a song; arise, Barak, and
+lead thy captivity captive, thou son of Abinoam!’
+
+Immediately the sky appeared to darken, a cloud of arrows and javelins
+broke from all sides upon the çlevoted Seljuks: immense masses of stone
+and marble were hurled from all directions, horses were stabbed by
+spears impelled by invisible hands, and riders fell to the ground
+without a struggle, and were trampled upon by their disordered and
+affrighted brethren.
+
+‘We are betrayed,’ exclaimed Hassan Subah, hurling a javelin at the
+merchant, but the merchant was gone. The Seljuks raised their famous war
+cry.
+
+‘Oglu, regain the desert,’ ordered the chieftain.
+
+But no sooner had the guard without the walls heard the war cry of
+their companions, than, alarmed, for their safety, they rushed to their
+assistance. The retreating forces of Subah, each instant diminishing as
+they retreated, were baffled in their project by the very eagerness of
+their auxiliaries. The unwilling contention of the two parties increased
+the confusion; and when the Seljuks, recently arrived, having at length
+formed into some order, had regained the gate, they found to their
+dismay that the portal was barricadoed and garrisoned by the enemy.
+Uninspired by the presence of their commander, who was in the rear, the
+puzzled soldiers were seized with a panic, and spurring their
+horses, dispersed in all directions of the city. In vain Hassan Subah
+endeavoured to restore order. The moment was past. Dashing with about
+thirty men to an open ground, which his quick eye had observed in his
+progress down the street, and dealing destruction with every blow, the
+dreaded Governor of Hamadan, like a true soldier, awaited an inevitable
+fate, not wholly despairing that some chance might yet turn up to
+extricate him from his forlorn situation.
+
+And now, as it were by enchantment, wild armed men seemed to arise from
+every part of the city. From every mass of ruin, from every crumbling
+temple and mouldering mansion, from every catacomb and cellar, from
+behind every column and every obelisk, upstarted some desperate warrior
+with a bloody weapon. The massacre of the Seljuks was universal. The
+horsemen dashed wildly about the ruined streets, pursued by crowds of
+footmen; sometimes, formed in small companies, the Seljuks charged and
+fought desperately; but, however stout might be their resistance to the
+open foe, it was impossible to withstand their secret enemies. They had
+no place of refuge, no power of gaining even a moment’s breathing time.
+If they retreated to a wall it instantly bristled with spears; if they
+endeavoured to form, in a court, they sank under the falling masses
+which were showered upon them. Strange shouts of denunciation blended
+with the harsh braying of horns, and the clang and clash of cymbals and
+tambours sounded in every quarter of the city.
+
+‘If we could only mount the walls, Ibrahim, and leap into the desert!’
+exclaimed Hassan Subah to one of his few remaining comrades; ‘‘tis our
+only chance. We die here like dogs! Could I but meet Alroy!’
+
+Three of the Seljuks dashed swiftly across the open ground in front,
+followed by several Hebrew horsemen.
+
+‘Smite all, Abner. Spare none, remember Amalek,’ exclaimed their
+youthful leader, waving his bloody scimitar.
+
+‘They are down; one, two, there goes the third. My javelin has done for
+him.’
+
+‘Your horse bleeds freely. Where’s Jabaster?’
+
+‘At the gates; my arm aches with slaughter. The Lord hath delivered them
+into our hands. Could I but meet their chieftain!’
+
+‘Turn, bloodhound, he is here,’ exclaimed Hassan Subah.
+
+‘Away, Abner, this affair is mine.’
+
+‘Prince, you have already slain your thousands.’
+
+‘And Abner his tens of thousands. Is it so? This business is for me
+only. Come on, Turk.’
+
+‘Art thou Alroy?’
+
+‘The same.’
+
+‘The slayer of Alschiroch?’
+
+‘Even so.’
+
+‘A rebel and a murderer.’
+
+‘What you please. Look to yourself.’
+
+The Hebrew Prince flung a javelin at the Seljuk. It glanced from the
+breastplate; but Hassan Subah staggered in his seat. Recovering, he
+charged Alroy with great force. Their scimitars crossed, and the blade
+of Hassan shivered.
+
+‘He who sold me that blade told me it was charmed, and could be broken
+only by a caliph,’ said Hassan Subah. ‘He was a liar.’
+
+‘As it may be,’ said Alroy, and he cut the Seljuk to the ground. Abner
+had dispersed his comrades. Alroy leaped from his fainting steed, and,
+mounting the ebon courser of his late enemy, dashed again into the
+thickest of the fight.
+
+The shades of night descended, the clamour gradually decreased, the
+struggle died away. A few unhappy Moslemin who had quitted their saddles
+and sought concealment among the ruins, were occasionally hunted out,
+and brought forward and massacred. Long ere midnight the last of the
+Seljuks had expired.[56]
+
+The moon shed a broad light upon the street of palaces crowded with
+the accumulated slain and the living victors. Fires were lit, torches
+illumined, the conquerors prepared the eager meal as they sang hymns of
+praise and thanksgiving.
+
+A procession approached. Esther the prophetess, clashing her cymbals,
+danced before the Messiah of Israel, who leant upon his victorious
+scimitar, surrounded by Jabaster, Abner, Scherirah, and his chosen
+chieftains. Who could now doubt the validity of his mission? The
+wide and silent desert rang with the acclamations of his enthusiastic
+votaries.
+
+Heavily the anxious hours crept on in the Jewish quarter of Hamadan.
+Again and again the venerable Bostenay discussed the chances of success
+with the sympathising but desponding elders. Miriam was buried in
+constant prayer. Their most sanguine hopes did not extend beyond the
+escape of their Prince.
+
+A fortnight had elapsed, and no news had been received of the progress
+of the expedition, when suddenly, towards sunset, a sentinel on a
+watch-tower announced the appearance of an armed force in the distance.
+The walls were instantly lined with the anxious inhabitants, the streets
+and squares filled with curious crowds. Exultation sat on the triumphant
+brow of the Moslemin; a cold tremor stole over the fluttering heart of
+the Hebrew.
+
+‘There is but one God,’ said the captain of the gate.
+
+‘And Mahomed is His prophet,’ responded a sentinel.
+
+‘To-morrow we will cut off the noses of all these Jewish dogs.’
+
+‘The sceptre has departed,’ exclaimed the despairing Bostenay.
+
+‘Lord, remember David!’ whispered Miriam, as she threw herself upon the
+court of the palace, and buried her face in ashes.
+
+The Mollahs in solemn procession advanced to the ramparts, to shed their
+benediction on the victorious Hassan Subah. The Muezzin ascended the
+minarets to watch the setting sun, and proclaim the power of Allah with
+renewed enthusiasm.
+
+‘I wonder if Alroy be dead or alive,’ said the captain of the gate.
+
+‘If he be alive, he will be impaled,’ responded a sentinel.
+
+‘If dead, the carcass will be given to the dogs,’ rejoined the captain;
+‘that is the practice.’
+
+‘Bostenay will be hung,’ said the sentinel.
+
+‘And his niece, too,’ answered the captain.
+
+‘Hem!’ said the sentinel. ‘Hassan Subah loves a black eye.’
+
+‘I hope a true Moslem will not touch a Jewess,’ exclaimed an indignant
+black eunuch.
+
+‘They approach. What a dust!’ said the captain of the gate.
+
+‘I see Hassan Subah!’ said the sentinel.
+
+‘So do I,’ said the eunuch, ‘I know his black horse.’
+
+‘I wonder how many dirhems old Bostenay is worth,’ said the captain.
+
+‘Immense!’ said the sentinel.
+
+‘No plunder, I suppose?’ said the eunuch.
+
+‘We shall see,’ said the captain; ‘at any rate, I owe a thousand to old
+Shelomi. We need not pay now, you know.’
+
+‘Certainly not,’ said the black eunuch. ‘The rebels.’
+
+A body of horsemen dashed forward. Their leader in advance reined in his
+fiery charger beneath the walls.
+
+‘In the name of the Prophet, who is that?’ exclaimed the captain of the
+gate, a little confused.
+
+‘I never saw him before,’ said the sentinel, ‘although he is in the
+Seljuk dress. ‘Tis some one from Bagdad, I guess.’
+
+A trumpet sounded.
+
+‘Who keeps the gate?’ called out the warrior.
+
+‘I am the captain of the gate,’ answered our friend.
+
+‘Open it, then, to the King of Israel.’
+
+‘To whom?’ enquired the astonished captain.
+
+‘To King David. The Lord hath delivered Hassan Subah and his host into
+our hands, and of all the proud Seljuks none remaineth. Open thy gates,
+I say, and lose no time. I am Jabaster, a lieutenant of the Lord; this
+scimitar is my commission. Open thy gates, and thou and thy people shall
+have that mercy which they have never shown; but if thou delayest one
+instant, thus saith the King our master, “I will burst open your portal,
+and smite, and utterly destroy all that you have, and spare them not;
+but slay both man and woman, infant and suckling, ox and sheep, camel
+and ass.�’
+
+‘Call forth the venerable Lord Bostenay,’ said the captain of the gate,
+with chattering teeth. ‘He will intercede for us.’
+
+‘And the gentle Lady Miriam,’ said the sentinel. ‘She is ever
+charitable.’
+
+‘I will head the procession,’ said the black eunuch; ‘I am accustomed to
+women.’
+
+The procession of Mollahs shuffled back to their college with profane
+precipitation; the sun set, and the astounded Muezzin stood with their
+mouths open, and quite forgot to announce the power of their Deity,
+and the validity of their Prophet. The people all called out for the
+venerable Lord Bostenay and the gentle Lady Miriam, and ran in crowds to
+see who could first kiss the hem of their garments.
+
+The principal gate of Hamadan opened into the square of the great
+mosque. Here the whole population of the city appeared assembled. The
+gates were thrown open; Jabaster and his companions mounted guard. The
+short twilight died away, the shades of night descended. The minarets
+were illumined,[57] the houses hung with garlands, the ramparts covered
+with tapestry and carpets.
+
+A clang of drums, trumpets, and cymbals announced the arrival of the
+Hebrew army. The people shouted, the troops without responded with a
+long cheer of triumph. Amid the blaze of torches, a youth waving his
+scimitar, upon a coal-black steed, bounded into the city, at the head
+of his guards, the people fell upon their knees, and shouted ‘Long live
+Alroy!’
+
+A venerable man, leading a beauteous maiden with downcast eyes,
+advanced. They headed a deputation of the chief inhabitants of the city.
+They came to solicit mercy and protection. At the sight of them, the
+youthful warrior leaped from his horse, flung away his scimitar, and
+clasping the maiden in his arms, exclaimed, ‘Miriam, my sister, this,
+this indeed is triumph!’
+
+‘Drink,’ said Kisloch the Kourd to Calidas the Indian; ‘you forget,
+comrade, we are no longer Moslemin.’
+
+‘Wine, methinks, has a peculiarly pleasant flavour in a golden cup,’
+said the Guebre. ‘I got this little trifle to-day in the Bazaar,’ he
+added, holding up a magnificent vase studded with gems.
+
+‘I thought plunder was forbidden,’ grinned the Negro.
+
+‘So it is,’ replied the Guebre; ‘but we may purchase what we please,
+upon credit.’
+
+‘Well, for my part, I am a moderate man,’ exclaimed Calidas the Indian,
+‘and would not injure even these accursed dogs of Turks. I have not cut
+my host’s throat, but only turned him into my porter, and content myself
+with his harem, his baths, his fine horses, and other little trifles.’
+
+‘What quarters we are in! There is nothing like a true Messiah!’
+exclaimed Kisloch, devoutly.
+
+‘Nothing,’ said Calidas; ‘though to speak truth, I did not much believe
+in the efficacy of Solomon’s sceptre, till his Majesty clove the head of
+the valiant Seljuk with it.’
+
+‘But now there’s no doubt of it,’ said the Guebre.
+
+‘We should indeed be infidels if we doubted now,’ replied the Indian.
+
+‘How lucky,’ grinned the Negro, ‘as I had no religion before, that I
+have now fixed upon the right one!’
+
+‘Most fortunate!’ said the Guebre. ‘What shall we do to amuse ourselves
+to-night?’
+
+‘Let us go to the coffee-houses and make the Turks drink wine,’ said
+Calidas the Indian.
+
+‘What say you to burning down a mosque?’ said Kisloch the Kourd.
+
+‘I had great fun with some Dervishes this morning,’ said the Guebre. ‘I
+met one asking alms with a wire run through his cheek,[58] so I caught
+another, bored his nose, and tied them both together!’
+
+‘Hah! hah! hah!’ burst the Negro.
+
+Asia resounded with the insurrection of the Jews, and the massacre of
+the Seljuks. Crowds of Hebrews, from the rich cities of Persia and the
+populous settlements on the Tigris and the Euphrates, hourly poured into
+Hamadan.
+
+The irritated Moslemin persecuted the brethren of the successful rebel,
+and this impolicy precipitated their flight. The wealth of Bagdad
+flowed into the Hebrew capital. Seated on the divan of Hassan Subah, and
+wielding the sceptre of Solomon, the King of Israel received the homage
+of his devoted subjects, and despatched his envoys to Syria and to
+Egypt. The well-stored magazines and arsenals of Hamadan soon converted
+the pilgrims into warriors. The city was unable to accommodate the
+increased and increasing population. An extensive camp, under the
+command of Abner, was formed without the walls, where the troops were
+daily disciplined, and where they were prepared for greater exploits
+than a skirmish in a desert.
+
+Within a month after the surrender of Hamadan, the congregation of the
+people assembled in the square of the great mosque, now converted into a
+synagogue. The multitude was disposed in ordered ranks, and the terrace
+of every house was crowded. In the centre of the square was an altar of
+cedar and brass, and on each side stood a company of priests guarding
+the victims, one young bullock, and two rams without blemish.
+
+Amid the flourish of trumpets, the gates of the synagogue opened, and
+displayed to the wondering eyes of the Hebrews a vast and variegated
+pavilion planted in the court. The holy remnant, no longer forlorn,
+beheld that tabernacle of which they had so long dreamed, once more
+shining in the sun, with its purple and scarlet hangings, its curtains
+of rare skins, and its furniture of silver and gold.
+
+A procession of priests advanced, bearing, with staves of cedar, run
+through rings of gold, a gorgeous ark, the work of the most cunning
+artificers of Persia. Night and day had they laboured, under the
+direction of Jabaster, to produce this wondrous spectacle. Once more
+the children of Israel beheld the cherubim. They burst into a triumphant
+hymn of thanksgiving, and many drew their swords, and cried aloud to be
+led against the Canaanites.
+
+From the mysterious curtains of the tabernacle, Alroy came forward,
+leading Jabaster. They approached the altar. And Alroy took robes from
+the surrounding priests, and put them upon Jabaster, and a girdle, and
+a breastplate of jewels. And Alroy took a mitre, and placed it upon the
+head of Jabaster, and upon the mitre he placed a crown; and pouring oil
+upon his head, the pupil anointed the master High Priest of Israel.
+
+The victims were slain, the sin-offering burnt. Amid clouds of incense,
+bursts of music, and the shouts of a devoted people; amid odour, and
+melody, and enthusiasm, Alroy mounted his charger, and at the head of
+twenty thousand men, departed to conquer Media.
+
+The extensive and important province of Aderbijan, of which Hamadan was
+the capital, was formed of the ancient Media. Its fate was decided
+by one battle. On the plain of Nehauend, Alroy met the hastily-raised
+levies of the Atabek of Kermanshah, and entirely routed them. In the
+course of a month, every city of the province had acknowledged the
+supremacy of the new Hebrew monarch, and, leaving Abner to complete the
+conquest of Louristan, Alroy entered Persia.
+
+The incredible and irresistible progress of Alroy roused Togrul, the
+Turkish Sultan of Persia, from the luxurious indolence of the palaces
+of Nishapur. He summoned his emirs to meet him at the imperial city of
+Rhey, and crush, by one overwhelming effort, the insolent rebel.
+
+Religion, valour, and genius, alike inspired the arms of Alroy, but he
+was, doubtless, not a little assisted by the strong national sympathy
+of his singular and scattered people, which ever ensured him prompt
+information of all the movements of his enemy. Without any preparation,
+he found agents in every court, and camp, and cabinet; and, by their
+assistance, he anticipated the designs of his adversaries, and turned
+even their ingenuity to their confusion. The imperial city of Rhey was
+surprised in the night, sacked, and burnt to the ground. The scared
+and baffled emirs who escaped, flew to the Sultan Togrul, tearing their
+beards, and prophesying the approaching termination of the world. The
+palaces of Nishapur resounded with the imprecations of their master,
+who, cursing the Jewish dogs, and vowing a pilgrimage to Mecca, placed
+himself at the head of a motley multitude of warriors, and rushed upon
+the plains of Irak, to exterminate Alroy.
+
+The Persian force exceeded the Hebrew at least five times in number.
+Besides a large division of Seljuks, the Caucasus had poured forth its
+strange inhabitants to swell the ranks of the Faithful. The wild tribes
+of the Bactiari were even enlisted, with their fatal bows, and the
+savage Turkmans, tempted by the sultan’s gold, for a moment yielded
+their liberty, and shook their tall lances in his ranks.
+
+But what is a wild Bactiari, and what is a savage Turkman, and what
+even a disciplined and imperious Seljuk, to the warriors of the God of
+Abraham, of Isaac, and of Jacob? At the first onset, Alroy succeeded in
+dividing the extended centre of Togrul, and separating the greater part
+of the Turks from their less disciplined comrades. At the head of his
+Median cavalry, the Messiah charged and utterly routed the warriors of
+the Caucasus. The wild tribes of the Bactiari discharged their arrows
+and fled, and the savage Turkmans plundered the baggage of their own
+commander.
+
+The Turks themselves fought desperately; but, deserted by their allies,
+and surrounded by an inspired foe, their efforts were unavailing, and
+their slaughter terrible. Togrul was slain while heading a desperate and
+fruitless charge, and, after his fall, the battle resembled a massacre
+rather than a combat. The plain was glotted with Seljuk gore. No quarter
+was given or asked. Twenty thousand chosen troops fell on the side
+of the Turks; the rest dispersed and gained the mountains. Leaving
+Scherirah to restore order, Alroy the next morning pushed on to Nishapur
+at the head of three thousand horsemen, and summoned the city ere the
+inhabitants were apprised of the defeat and death of their sultan. The
+capital of Persia escaped the fate of Rhey by an inglorious treaty and
+a lavish tribute. The treasures of the Chosroes and the Gasnevides
+were despatched to Hamadan, on which city day dawned, only to bring
+intelligence of a victory or a conquest.
+
+While Alroy dictated peace on his own terms in the palaces of Nishapur,
+Abner, having reduced Louristan, crossed the mountains, and entered
+Persia with the reinforcements he had received from Jabaster. Leaving
+the government and garrisoning of his new conquests to this valiant
+captain, Alroy, at the head of the conquerors of Persia, in consequence
+of intelligence received from Hamadan, returned by forced marches to
+that city.
+
+Leaving the army within a day’s march of the capital, Alroy, accompanied
+only by his staff, entered Hamadan in the evening, and, immediately
+repairing to the citadel, summoned Jabaster to council. The night was
+passed by the king and the high priest in deep consultation. The next
+morning, a decree apprised the inhabitants of the return of their
+monarch, of the creation of the new ‘Kingdom of the Medes and Persians,’
+of which Hamadan was declared the capital, and Abner the viceroy, and
+of the intended and immediate invasion of Syria, and re-conquest of the
+Land of Promise.
+
+The plan of this expedition had been long matured, and the preparations
+to effect it were considerably advanced. Jabaster had not been idle
+during the absence of his pupil. One hundred thousand warriors were now
+assembled[59] at the capital of the kingdom of the Medes and Persians;
+of these the greater part were Hebrews, but many Arabs, wearied of the
+Turkish yoke, and many gallant adventurers from the Caspian, easily
+converted from a vague idolatry to a religion of conquest, swelled the
+ranks of the army of the Lord of Hosts.
+
+The plain of Hamadan was covered with tents, the streets were filled
+with passing troops, the bazaars loaded with military stores; long
+caravans of camels laden with supplies every day arrived from
+the neighbouring towns; each instant some high-capped Tatar with
+despatches[60] rushed into the city and galloped his steed up the steep
+of the citadel. The clang of arms, the prance of horses, the flourish
+of warlike music, resounded from all quarters. The business and the
+treasure of the world seemed, as it were in an instant, to have become
+concentrated in Hamadan. Every man had some great object; gold glittered
+in every hand. All great impulses were stirring; all the causes of human
+energy were in lively action. Every eye sparkled, every foot trod firm
+and fast. Each man acted as if the universal fate depended upon his
+exertions; as if the universal will sympathised with his particular
+desire. A vast population influenced by a high degree of excitement is
+the most sublime of spectacles.
+
+The commander of the Faithful raised the standard of the Prophet on the
+banks of the Tigris. It was the secret intelligence of this intended
+event that had recalled Alroy so suddenly from Persia. The latent
+enthusiasm of the Moslemin was excited by the rare and mystic ceremony,
+and its effects were anticipated by previous and judicious preparations.
+The Seljuks of Bagdad alone amounted to fifty thousand men; the Sultan
+of Syria contributed the warriors who had conquered the Arabian princes
+of Damascus and Aleppo; while the ancient provinces of Asia Minor, which
+formed the rich and powerful kingdom of Seljukian Roum, poured forth a
+myriad of that matchless cavalry, which had so often baffled the armies
+of the Cæsars. Never had so imposing a force been collected on the banks
+of the Tigris since the reign of Haroun Alraschid. Each day some warlike
+Atabek, at the head of his armed train, poured into the capital of the
+caliphs,[61] or pitched his pavilion on the banks of the river; each day
+the proud emir of some remote principality astonished or affrighted
+the luxurious Babylonians by the strange or uncouth warriors that had
+gathered round his standard in the deserts of Arabia, or on the shores
+of the Euxine. For the space of twenty miles, the banks of the river
+were, on either side, far as the eye could reach, covered with the
+variegated pavilions, the glittering standards, the flowing streamers
+and twinkling pennons of the mighty host, of which Malek, the Grand
+Sultan of the Seljuks, and Governor of the Caliph’s palace, was chief
+commander.
+
+Such was the power assembled on the plains of Asia to arrest the
+progress of the Hebrew Prince, and to prevent the conquest of the
+memorable land promised to the faith of his fathers, and forfeited by
+their infidelity. Before the walls of Hamadan, Alroy reviewed the army
+of Israel, sixty thousand heavy-armed footmen, thirty thousand archers
+and light troops, and twenty thousand cavalry. Besides these, there had
+been formed a body of ten thousand picked horsemen, styled the ‘Sacred
+Guard,’ all of whom had served in the Persian campaign. In their centre,
+shrouded in a case of wrought gold, studded with carbuncles, and carried
+on a lusty lance of cedar, a giant--for the height of Elnebar exceeded
+that of common men by three feet--bore the sceptre of Solomon. The
+Sacred Guard was commanded by Asriel, the brother of Abner.
+
+The army was formed into three divisions. All marched in solemn order
+before the throne of Alroy, raised upon the ramparts, and drooped their
+standards and lances as they passed their heroic leader. Bostenay, and
+Miriam, and the whole population of the city witnessed the inspiring
+spectacle from the walls. That same eve, Scherirah, at the head of forty
+thousand men, pushed on towards Bagdad, by Kermanshah; and Jabaster,
+who commanded in his holy robes, and who had vowed not to lay aside his
+sword until the rebuilding of the temple, conducted his division over
+the victorious plain of Nehauend. They were to concentrate at the pass
+of Kerrund, which conducted into the province of Bagdad, and await the
+arrival of the king.
+
+At the dawn of day, the royal division and the Sacred Guard, the whole
+under the command of Asriel, quitted the capital. Alroy still lingered,
+and for some hours the warriors of his staff might have been observed
+lounging about the citadel, or practising their skill in throwing the
+jerreed as they exercised their impatient chargers before the gates.
+
+The king was with the Lady Miriam, walking in the garden of their
+uncle. One arm was wound round her delicate waist, and with the other
+he clasped her soft and graceful hand. The heavy tears burst from her
+downcast eyes, and stole along her pale and pensive cheek. They walked
+in silence, the brother and the sister, before the purity of whose
+surpassing love even ambition vanished. He opened the lattice gate.
+They entered into the valley small and green; before them was the marble
+fountain with its columns and cupola, and in the distance the charger of
+Alroy and his single attendant.
+
+They stopped, and Alroy gathered flowers, and placed them in the hair of
+Miriam. He would have softened the bitterness of parting with a smile.
+Gently he relaxed his embracing arm, almost insensibly he dropped her
+quivering hand.
+
+‘Sister of my soul,’ he whispered, ‘when we last parted here, I was a
+fugitive, and now I quit you a conqueror.’
+
+She turned, she threw herself upon his neck, and buried her face in his
+breast.
+
+‘My Miriam, we shall meet at Bagdad.’
+
+He beckoned to her distant maidens; they advanced, he delivered Miriam
+into their arms. He pressed her hand to his lips, and, rushing to his
+horse, mounted and disappeared.
+
+A body of irregular cavalry feebly defended the pass of Kerrund. It
+was carried, with slight loss, by the vanguard of Scherirah, and the
+fugitives prepared the host of the caliph for the approach of the Hebrew
+army.
+
+Upon the plain of the Tigris the enemy formed into battle array. The
+centre was commanded by Malek, the Grand Sultan of the Seljuks himself;
+the right wing, headed by the Sultan of Syria, was protected by the
+river; and the left, under the Sultan of Roum, was posted upon the
+advantageous position of some irregular and rising ground. Thus proud
+in the number, valour, discipline, and disposition of his forces, Malek
+awaited the conqueror of Persia.
+
+The glittering columns of the Hebrews might even now be perceived
+defiling from the mountains, and forming at the extremity of the plain.
+Before nightfall the camp of the invaders was pitched within hearing of
+that of Malek. The moving lights in the respective tents might plainly
+be distinguished; and ever and anon the flourish of hostile music fell
+with an ominous sound upon the ears of the opposed foe-men. A few miles
+only separated those mighty hosts. Upon to-morrow depended, perhaps, the
+fortunes of ages. How awful is the eve of battle!
+
+Alroy, attended by a few chieftains, personally visited the tents of
+the soldiery, promising them on the morrow a triumph, before which the
+victories of Nehauend and Nishapur would sink into insignificance. Their
+fiery and excited visages proved at once their courage and their
+faith. The sceptre of Solomon was paraded throughout the camp in solemn
+procession. On the summit of a huge tumulus, perhaps the sepulchre
+of some classic hero, Esther, the prophetess, surrounded by the chief
+zealots of the host, poured forth her exciting inspirations. It was a
+grand picture, that beautiful wild girl, the groups of stern, devoted
+warriors, the red flame of the watch-fires mixing with the silver
+shadows of the moon as they illumined the variegated turbans and
+gleaming armour of her votaries!
+
+In the pavilion of Alroy, Jabaster consulted with his pupil on the
+conduct of the morrow.
+
+‘This is a different scene from the cavern of the Caucasus,’ said Alroy,
+as the high priest rose to retire.
+
+‘It has one great resemblance, sire; the God of our fathers is with us.’
+
+‘Ay! the Lord of Hosts. Moses was a great man. There is no career except
+conquest.’
+
+‘You muse.’
+
+‘Of the past. The present is prepared. Too much thought will mar it.’
+
+‘The past is for wisdom, the present for action, but for joy the future.
+The feeling that the building of the temple is at hand, that the Lord’s
+anointed will once again live in the house of David, absorbs my spirit;
+and, when I muse over our coming glory, in my fond ecstasy I almost lose
+the gravity that doth beseem my sacred office.’
+
+‘Jerusalem; I have seen it. How many hours to dawn?’
+
+‘Some three.’
+
+‘‘Tis strange I could sleep. I remember, on the eve of battle I was ever
+anxious. How is this, Jabaster?’
+
+‘Your faith, sire, is profound.’
+
+‘Yes, I have no fear. My destiny is not complete. Good night, Jabaster.
+See, Asriel, valiant priest. Pharez!’
+
+‘My lord!’
+
+‘Rouse me at the second watch. Good night, boy.’
+
+‘Good night, my lord.’
+
+‘Pharez! Be sure you rouse me at the second watch. Think you it wants
+three hours to dawn?’
+
+‘About three hours, my lord.’
+
+‘Well! at the second watch, remember; good night.’
+
+‘It is the second watch, my lord.’
+
+‘So soon! Have I slept? I feel fresh as an eagle. Call Scherirah, boy.’
+
+‘‘Tis strange I never dream now. Before my flight my sleep was ever
+troubled. Say what they like, man is made for action. My life is now
+harmonious, and sleep has now become what nature willed it, a solace,
+not a contest. Before, it was a struggle of dark passions and bright
+dreams, in whose creative fancy and fair vision my soul sought refuge
+from the dreary bale of daily reality.
+
+‘I will withdraw the curtains of my tent. O most majestic vision! And
+have I raised this host? Over the wide plain, far as my eye can range,
+their snowy tents studding the purple landscape, embattled legions
+gather round their flags to struggle for my fate. It is the agony of
+Asia.
+
+‘A year ago, upon this very spot, I laid me down to die, an unknown
+thing, or known and recognised only to be despised, and now the sultans
+of the world come forth to meet me. I have no fear. My destiny is not
+complete. And whither tends it? Let that power decide which hitherto has
+fashioned all my course.
+
+‘Jerusalem, Jerusalem! ever harping on Jerusalem. With all his lore,
+he is a narrow-minded zealot whose dreaming memory would fondly make
+a future like the past. O Bagdad, Bagdad, within thy glittering halls,
+there is a charm worth all his Cabala!
+
+‘Hah! Scherirah! The dawn is near at hand, the stars are still shining.
+The air is very pleasant. Tomorrow will be a great day, Scherirah, for
+Israel and for you. You lead the attack. A moment in my tent, my brave
+Scherirah!’
+
+The dawn broke; a strong column of the Hebrews, commanded by Scherirah,
+poured down upon the centre of the army of the caliph. Another column,
+commanded by Jabaster, attacked the left wing, headed by the Sultan
+of Roum. No sooner had Alroy perceived that the onset of Scherirah had
+succeeded in penetrating the centre of the Turks, than he placed himself
+at the head of the Sacred Guard, and by an irresistible charge completed
+their disorder and confusion. The division of the Sultan of Syria, and
+a great part of the centre, were entirely routed and driven into the
+river, and the remainder of the division of Malek was effectually
+separated from his left wing.
+
+But while to Alroy the victory seemed already decided, a far different
+fate awaited the division of Jabaster. The Sultan of Roum, posted in
+an extremely advantageous position, and commanding troops accustomed to
+the discipline of the Romans of Constantinople, received the onset of
+Jabaster without yielding, and not only repelled his attack, but finally
+made a charge which completely disordered and dispersed the column of
+the Hebrews. In vain Jabaster endeavoured to rally his troops, in vain
+he performed prodigies of valour, in vain he himself struck down the
+standard-bearer of the sultan, and once even penetrated to the pavilion
+of the monarch. His division was fairly routed. The eagerness of the
+Sultan of Roum to effect the annihilation of his antagonists prevented
+him from observing the forlorn condition of the Turkish centre. Had he,
+after routing the division of Jabaster, only attacked Alroy in the rear,
+the fortune of the day might have been widely different. As it was, the
+eagle eye of Alroy soon detected his inadvertence, and profited by his
+indiscretion. Leaving Ithamar to keep the centre in check, he charged
+the Sultan of Roum with the Sacred Guard, and afforded Jabaster an
+opportunity of rallying some part of his forces. The Sultan of Roum,
+perceiving that the day was lost by the ill-conduct of his colleagues,
+withdrew his troops, retreated in haste, but in good order to Bagdad,
+carried off the caliph, his harem, and some of his treasure, and
+effected his escape into Syria. In the meantime the discomfiture of
+the remaining Turkish army was complete. The Tigris was dyed with their
+blood, and the towns through which the river flowed were apprised of the
+triumph of Alroy by the floating corpses of his enemies. Thirty thousand
+Turks were slain in battle: among them the Sultans of Bagdad and Syria,
+and a vast number of atabeks, emirs, and chieftains. A whole division,
+finding themselves surrounded, surrendered on terms, and delivered up
+their arms. The camps and treasures of the three sultans were alike
+captured, and the troops that escaped so completely dispersed, that they
+did not attempt to rally, but, disbanded and desperate, prowled over and
+plundered the adjoining provinces. The loss of the division of Jabaster
+was also severe, but the rest of the army suffered little. Alroy himself
+was slightly wounded. The battle lasted barely three hours. Its results
+were immense. David Alroy was now master of the East.
+
+The plain was covered with the corpses of men and horses, arms and
+standards, and prostrate tents. Returning from the pursuit of the Sultan
+of Roum, Alroy ordered the trumpets to sound to arms, and, covered
+with gore and dust, dismounted from his charger, and stood before the
+pavilion of Malek, leaning on his bloody scimitar, and surrounded by his
+victorious generals.
+
+‘Ah, Jabaster!’ said the conqueror, giving his hand to the pontiff,
+‘‘twas well your troops had such a leader. No one but you could have
+rallied them.
+
+You must drill your lads a little before they again meet the Cappadocian
+cavalry. Brave Scherirah, we shall not forget our charge. Asriel, tell
+the guard, from me, that the victory of the Tigris was owing to their
+scimitars. Ithamar, what are our freshest troops?’
+
+‘The legion of Aderbijan, sire.’
+
+‘How strong can they muster?’
+
+‘It counts twelve thousand men: we might collect two-thirds.’
+
+‘Valiant Ithamar, take the Aderbijans and a division of the guards, push
+on towards Bagdad, and summon the city. If his Sultanship of Roum offer
+battle, take up a position, and he shall quickly have his desire. For
+the present, after these hasty marches and sharp fighting, the troops
+must rest. I think he will not tarry. Summon the city, and say that if
+any resistance be offered, I will make it as desolate as old Babylon.
+Treat with no armed force. Where is the soldier that saved me a cracked
+skull; his name Benaiah?’
+
+‘I wait your bidding, sire.’
+
+‘You’re a captain. Join the division of Ithamar, and win fresh laurels
+ere we meet again. Gentle Asriel, let your brother know our fortune.’
+
+‘Sire, several Tartars have already been despatched to Hamadan.’
+
+‘‘Tis well. Send another with these tablets to the Lady Miriam. Despatch
+the pavilion of Malek as a trophy for the town. Elnebar, Goliath of
+the Hebrews, you bore our sacred standard like a hero! How fares the
+prophetess? I saw her charging in our ranks, waving a sabre with her
+snowy arm, her long, dark hair streaming like a storm, from which her
+eyes flashed lightning.’
+
+
+‘The king bleeds,’ said Jabaster.
+
+‘Slightly. It will do me service. I am somewhat feverish. A kingdom
+for a draught of water! And now for our wounded friends. Asriel, do you
+marshal the camp. It is the Sabbath eve.[62] Time presses.’
+
+The dead were plundered, and thrown into the river, the encampment of
+the Hebrews completed. Alroy, with his principal officers, visited the
+wounded, and praised the valiant. The bustle which always succeeds a
+victory was increased in the present instance by the anxiety of the army
+to observe with grateful strictness the impending Sabbath.
+
+When the sun set, the Sabbath was to commence. The undulating horizon
+rendered it difficult to ascertain the precise moment of the setting.
+The crimson orb sunk behind the purple mountains, the sky was flushed
+with a rich and rosy glow. Then might be perceived the zealots, proud in
+their Talmudical lore, holding a skein of white silk in their hands,
+and announcing the approach of the Sabbath by their observation of
+its shifting tints. While the skein was yet golden, the forge of the
+armourer still sounded, the fire of the cook still blazed, still the
+cavalry led their steeds to the river, and still the busy footmen braced
+up their tents and hammered at their palisades. The skein of silk became
+rosy, the armourer worked with renewed energy, the cook puffed with
+increased zeal, the horsemen scampered from the river, the footmen cast
+an anxious glance at the fading twilight.
+
+The skein of silk became blue; a dim, dull, sepulchral, leaden tinge
+fell over its purity. The hum of gnats arose, the bat flew in circling
+whirls over the tents, horns sounded from all quarters, the sun had set,
+the Sabbath had commenced. ‘The forge was mute, the fire extinguished,
+the prance of horses and the bustle of men in a moment ceased. A deep, a
+sudden, an all-pervading stillness dropped over that mighty host. It
+was night; the sacred lamp of the Sabbath sparkled in every tent of the
+camp, which vied in silence and in brilliancy with the mute and glowing
+heavens.
+
+Morn came; the warriors assembled around the altar and the sacrifice.
+The high priest and his attendant Levites proclaimed the unity and the
+omnipotence of the God of Israel, and the sympathetic responses of his
+conquering and chosen people reechoed over the plain. They retired
+again to their tents, to listen to the expounding of the law; even
+the distance of a Sabbath walk was not to exceed that space which
+lies between Jerusalem and the Mourft of Olives. This was the distance
+between the temple and the tabernacle; it had been nicely measured, and
+every Hebrew who ventured forth from the camp this day might be observed
+counting the steps of a Sabbath-day’s journey. At length the sun again
+set, and on a sudden fires blazed, voices sounded, men stirred, in
+the same enchanted and instantaneous manner that had characterised the
+stillness of the preceding eve. Shouts of laughter, bursts of music,
+announced the festivity of the coming night; supplies poured in from all
+the neighbouring villages, and soon the pious conquerors commemorated
+their late triumph in a round of banqueting.
+
+On the morrow, a Tatar arrived from Ithamar, informing Alroy that the
+Sultan of Roum had retreated into Syria, that Bagdad was undefended, but
+that he had acceded to the request of the inhabitants that a deputation
+should wait upon Alroy before the troops entered the city, and had
+granted a safe conduct for their passage.
+
+On the morrow, messengers announced the approach of the deputation. All
+the troops were under arms. Alroy directed that the suppliants should
+be conducted through the whole camp before they arrived at the royal
+pavilion, on each side of which the Sacred Guard was mustered in array.
+The curtains of his tent withdrawn displayed the conqueror himself,
+seated on a sumptuous divan. On his right hand stood Jabaster in his
+priestly robes, on his left Scherirah. Behind him, the giant Elnebar
+supported the sacred sceptre. A crowd of chieftains was ranged on each
+side of the pavilion.
+
+Cymbals sounded, muffled kettle-drums, and the faint flourish of
+trumpets; the commencement of the procession might be detected in the
+long perspective of the tented avenue. First came a company of beauteous
+youths, walking two by two, and strewing flowers; then a band of
+musicians in flowing robes of cloth of gold, plaintively sounding their
+silver trumpets. After these followed slaves of all climes, bearing
+a tribute of the most rare and costly productions of their countries:
+Negroes with tusks and teeth of the elephant, plumes of ostrich
+feathers, and caskets of gold dust; Syrians with rich armour; Persians
+with vases of atar-gul, and Indians with panniers of pearls of Ormuz,
+and soft shawls of Cachemire. Encircled by his children, each of whom
+held alternately a white or fawn-coloured gazelle, an Arab clothed in
+his blue bornouz, led by a thick cord of crimson silk a tall and tawny
+giraffe. Fifty stout men succeeded two by two, carrying in company a
+silver shield laden with gold coin, or chased goblets studded with gems.
+
+The clash of cymbals announced the presence of the robes of honour,[63]
+culled from the wardrobe of the commander of the Faithful; the silk of
+Aleppo and the brocade of Damascus, lined with the furs of the sable
+and the ermine, down from the breast of the swan, and the skins of white
+foxes.
+
+After these followed two grey dromedaries, with furniture of silver, and
+many caparisoned horses, each led by a groom in rich attire. The last
+of these was a snow-white steed, upon whose front was the likeness of a
+ruby star, a courser of the sacred stud of Solomon, and crossed only by
+the descendants of the Prophet.
+
+The muffled kettle-drums heralded the company of black eunuchs, with
+their scarlet vests and ivory battle-axes. They surrounded and shrouded
+from the vulgar gaze fourteen beautiful Circassian girls, whose
+brilliant visages and perfect forms were otherwise concealed by their
+long veils and ample drapery.
+
+The gorgeous procession, as they approached the conqueror, bowed humbly
+to Alroy, and formed in order on each side of the broad avenue. The
+deputation appeared; twelve of the principal citizens of Bagdad, with
+folded arms, and downcast eyes, and disordered raiment. Meekly and
+mutely each touched the earth with his hand, and kissed it in token of
+submission, and then, moving aside, made way for the chief envoy and
+orator of the company, Honain!
+
+Humbly, but gracefully, the physician of the caliph bowed before the
+conqueror of the East. His appearance and demeanour afforded a contrast
+to the aspect of his brother envoys; not less calm or contented his
+countenance, not less sumptuous or studied his attire, than when he
+first rescued Alroy in the bazaar of Bagdad from the grip of the false
+Abdallah.
+
+He spoke, and every sound was hushed before the music of his voice.
+
+‘Conqueror of the world, that destiny with which it is in vain to
+struggle has placed our lives and fortunes in your power. Your slaves
+offer for your approbation specimens of their riches; not as tribute,
+for all is yours; but to show you the products of security and peace,
+and to induce you to believe that mercy may be a policy as profitable
+to the conqueror as to the conquered; that it may be better to preserve
+than to destroy; and wiser to enjoy than to extirpate.
+
+‘Fate ordained that we should be born the slaves of the caliph; that
+same fate has delivered his sceptre into your hands. We offer you the
+same devotion that we yielded to him, and we entreat the same protection
+which he granted to us.
+
+‘Whatever may be your decision, we must bow to your decree with the
+humility that recognises superior force. Yet we are not without hope.
+We cannot forget that it is our good fortune not to be addressing
+a barbarous chieftain, unable to sympathise with the claims of
+civilisation, the creations of art, and the finer impulses of humanity.
+We acknowledge your irresistible power, but we dare to hope everything
+from a prince whose genius all acknowledge and admire, who has spared
+some portion of his youth from the cares of government and the pursuits
+of arms to the ennobling claims of learning, whose morality has been
+moulded by a pure and sublime faith, and who draws his lineage from a
+sacred and celebrated race, the unrivalled antiquity of which even the
+Prophet acknowledges.’
+
+He ceased: a buzz of approbation sounded throughout the pavilion, which
+was hushed instantly as the lips of the conqueror moved.
+
+‘Noble emir,’ replied Alroy, ‘return to Bagdad, and tell your
+fellow-subjects that the King of Israel grants protection to their
+persons, and security to their property.’
+
+‘And for their faith?’ enquired the envoy, in a lower voice.
+
+‘Toleration,’ replied Alroy, turning to Jabaster.
+
+‘Until further regulations,’ added the high priest.
+
+‘Emir,’ said Alroy, ‘the person of the caliph will be respected.’
+
+‘May it please your highness,’ replied Honain, ‘the Sultan of Roum has
+retired with our late ruler.’
+
+‘And his harem?’
+
+‘And his harem.’
+
+‘It was needless. We war not with women.’
+
+‘Men, as well as women, must acknowledge the gracious mercy of your
+highness.’
+
+‘Benomi,’ said Alroy, addressing himself to a young officer of the
+guard, ‘command the guard of honour that will attend this noble emir on
+his return. We soldiers deal only in iron, sir, and cannot vie with the
+magnificence of Bagdad, yet wear this dagger for the donor’s sake:’ and
+Alroy held out to Honain a poniard flaming with gems.
+
+The Envoy of Bagdad advanced, took the dagger, pressed it to his lips,
+and placed it in his vest.[64]
+
+‘Scherirah,’ continued Alroy, ‘this noble emir is your charge. See
+that a choice pavilion of the host be for his use, and that his train
+complain not of the rough customs of our camp.’
+
+‘May it please your highness,’ replied Honain, ‘I have fulfilled my
+office, and, with your gracious permission, would at once return. I have
+business only less urgent than the present, because it concerns myself.’
+
+‘As you will, noble emir. Benomi, to your post. Farewell, sir.’
+
+The deputation advanced, bowed, and retired. Alroy turned to Jabaster.
+
+‘No common person that, Jabaster?’
+
+‘A very gracious Turk, sire.’
+
+‘Think you he is a Turk?’
+
+‘By his dress.’
+
+‘It may be so. Asriel, break up the camp. We’ll march at once to
+Bagdad.’
+
+The chiefs dispersed to make the necessary arrangements for the march.
+The news that the army was immediately to advance to Bagdad soon
+circulated throughout the camp, and excited the most lively enthusiasm.
+Every hand was at work, striking the tents, preparing the arms and
+horses. Alroy retired to his pavilion. The curtains were drawn. He was
+alone, and plunged in profound meditation.
+
+‘Alroy!’ a voice sounded.
+
+He started, and looked up. Before him stood Esther the prophetess.
+
+‘Esther! is it thou?’
+
+‘Alroy! enter not into Babylon.’
+
+‘Indeed.’
+
+‘As I live, the Lord hath spoken it. Enter not into Babylon.’
+
+‘Not enjoy my fairest conquest, maiden?’
+
+‘Enter not into Babylon.’
+
+‘What affrights thee?’
+
+‘Enter not into Babylon.’
+
+‘I shall surely change the fortunes of my life without a cause.’
+
+‘The Lord hath spoken. Is not that a cause?’
+
+‘I am the Lord’s anointed. His warning has not reached me.’
+
+‘Now it reaches thee. Doth the king despise the prophetess of the Lord?
+It is the sin of Ahab.’
+
+‘Despise thee! Despise the mouth that is the herald of my victories!
+‘Twere rank blasphemy. Prophesy triumph, Esther, and Alroy will never
+doubt thy inspiration.’
+
+‘He doubts it now. I see he doubts it now. O my king, I say again, enter
+not into Babylon.’
+
+‘Beauteous maiden, those eyes flash lightning. Who can behold their wild
+and liquid glance, and doubt that Esther is inspired! Be calm, sweet
+girl, some dream disturbs thy fancy.’
+
+‘Alroy, Alroy, enter not into Babylon!’
+
+‘I have no fear, I bear a charmed life.’
+
+‘Ah me! he will not listen.’ All is lost!’
+
+‘All is gained, my beautiful.’
+
+‘I would we were upon the Holy Mount, and gazing on the stars of sacred
+Zion.’
+
+‘Esther,’ said Alroy, advancing, and gently taking her hand, ‘the
+capital of the East will soon unfold its marvels to thy sight. Prepare
+thyself for wonders. Girl, we are no longer in the desert. Forget thy
+fitful fancies. Come, choose a husband from my generals, child, and I
+will give a kingdom for thy dower. I would gladly see a crown upon that
+imperial brow. It well deserves one.’
+
+The prophetess turned her dark eyes full upon Alroy. What passed in her
+mind was neither evident nor expressed. She gazed intently upon the calm
+and inscrutable countenance of the conqueror, then flung away his hand,
+and rushed out of the pavilion.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER VIII.
+
+     _Bagdad and the Princess_
+
+THE waving of banners, the flourish of trumpets, the neighing of steeds,
+and the glitter of spears! On the distant horizon they gleam like the
+morning, when the gloom of the night shivers bright into day. Hark!
+the tramp of the foemen, like the tide of the ocean, flows onward and
+onward, and conquers the shore. From the brow of the mountain, like the
+rush of a river, the column defiling melts into the plain.
+
+Warriors of Judah! holy men that battle for the Lord! The land wherein
+your fathers wept, and touched their plaintive psalteries; the haughty
+city where your sires bewailed their cold and distant hearths; your
+steeds are prancing on its plain, and you shall fill its palaces.
+Warriors of Judah! holy men that battle for the Lord!
+
+March, onward march, ye valiant tribes, the hour has come, the hour has
+come! All the promises of ages, all the signs of sacred sages, meet in
+this ravishing hour. Where is now the oppressor’s chariot, where your
+tyrant’s purple robe? The horse and the rider are both overthrown, the
+horse and the rider are both overthrown!
+
+Rise, Rachel, from thy wilderness, arise, and weep no more. No more thy
+lonely palm-tree’s shade need shroud thy secret sorrowing. The Lord
+hath heard the widow’s sigh, the Lord hath stilled the widow’s tear. Be
+comforted, be comforted, thy children live again!
+
+Yes! yes! upon the bounding plain fleet Asriel glances like a star, and
+stout Scherirah shakes his spear by stern Jabaster’s scimitar. And He is
+there, the chosen one, hymned by prophetic harps, whose life is like the
+morning dew on Zion’s holy hill: the chosen one, the chosen one, that
+leads his race to victory; warriors of Judah! holy men that battle for
+the Lord!
+
+They come, they come, they come!
+
+The ramparts of the city were crowded with the inhabitants, the river
+sparkled with ten thousand boats, the bazaars were shut, the streets
+lined with the populace, and the terrace of every house covered with
+spectators. In the morning, Ithamar had entered with his division and
+garrisoned the city. And now the vanguard of the Hebrew army, after
+having been long distinguished in the distance, approached the walls. A
+large body of cavalry dashed forward at full speed from the main
+force. Upon a milk-white charger, and followed by a glittering train of
+warriors, amid the shouts of the vast multitude, Alroy galloped up to
+the gates.
+
+He was received by Ithamar and the members of the deputation, but Honain
+was not there. Accompanied by his staff and a strong detachment of the
+Sacred Guard, Alroy was conducted through the principal thoroughfares
+of the city, until he arrived at the chief entrance of the serail,
+or palace, of the caliph. The vast portal conducted him into a large
+quadrangular court, where he dismounted, and where he was welcomed by
+the captain of the eunuch guard. Accompanied by his principal generals
+and his immediate attendants, Alroy was then ushered through a suite of
+apartments which reminded him of his visit with Honain, until he arrived
+at the grand council-chamber of the caliphs.
+
+The conqueror threw himself upon the gorgeous divan of the commander of
+the Faithful.
+
+‘An easy seat after a long march,’ said Alroy, as he touched with his
+lips the coffee, which the chief of the eunuchs presented to him in a
+cup of transparent pink porcelain, studded with pearls.[65] ‘Itha-mar,
+now for your report. What is the temper of the city? Where is his
+Sultanship of Roum?’
+
+‘The city, sire, is calm, and I believe content. The sultan and the
+caliph are still hovering on the borders of the province.’
+
+‘So I supposed. Scherirah will settle that. Let the troops be encamped
+without the walls, the garrison, ten thousand strong, must be changed
+monthly. Ithamar, you are governor of the city: Asriel commands the
+forces. Worthy Jabaster, draw up a report of the civil affairs of
+the capital. Your quarters are the College of the Dervishes. Brave
+Scherirah, I cannot afford you a long rest. In three days you must have
+crossed the river with your division. It will be quick work. I foresee
+that they will not fight. Meet me all here in council by to-morrow’s
+noon. Farewell.’
+
+The chieftains retired, the high priest lingered.
+
+‘Were it not an intrusion, sire, I would fain entreat a moment’s
+audience.’
+
+‘My own Jabaster, you have but to speak.’
+
+‘Sire, I would speak of Abidan, as valiant a warrior as any in the
+host. It grieves me much, that by some fatality, his services seem ever
+overlooked.’
+
+‘Abidan! I know him well, a valiant man, but a dreamer, a dreamer.’
+
+‘A dreamer, sire! Believe me, a true son of Israel, and one whose faith
+is deep.’
+
+‘Good Jabaster, we are all true sons of Israel. Yet let me have
+men about me who see no visions in a mid-day sun. We must beware of
+dreamers.’
+
+‘Dreams are the oracles of God.’
+
+‘When God sends them. Very true, Jabaster. But this Abidan and the
+company with whom he consorts are filled with high-flown notions,
+caught from old traditions, which, if acted on, would render government
+impracticable; in a word, they are dangerous men.’
+
+‘The very flower of Israel! Some one has poisoned your sacred ear
+against them.’
+
+‘No one, worthy Jabaster. I have no counsellor except yourself. They may
+be the flower of Israel, but they are not the fruit. Good warriors, bad
+subjects: excellent means, by which we may accomplish greater ends.
+I’ll have no dreamers in authority. I must have practical men about
+me, practical men. See how Abner, Asriel, Ithamar, Medad, see how these
+conform to what surrounds them, yet invincible captains, invincible
+captains. But then they are practical men, Jabaster; they have eyes
+and use them. They know the difference of times and seasons. But this
+Abidan, he has no other thought but the rebuilding of the temple: a
+narrow-souled bigot, who would sacrifice the essence to the form. The
+rising temple soon would fall again with such constructors. Why, sir,
+what think you, this same Abidan preached in the camp against my entry
+into what the quaint fanatic chooses to call “Babylon,� because he had
+seen what he calls a vision.’
+
+‘There was a time your Majesty thought not so ill of visions.’
+
+‘Am I Abidan, sir? Are other men to mould their conduct or their
+thoughts by me? In this world I stand alone, a being of a different
+order from yourselves, incomprehensible even to you. Let this matter
+cease. I’ll hear no more and have heard too much. To-morrow at council.’
+
+The high priest withdrew in silence.
+
+‘He is gone; at length I am alone. I cannot bear the presence of these
+men, except in action. Their words, even their looks, disturb the still
+creation of my brooding thought. I am once more alone, and loneliness
+hath been the cradle of my empire. Now I do feel inspired. There needs
+no mummery now to work a marvel.
+
+‘The sceptre of Solomon! It may be so. What then? Here’s now the sceptre
+of Alroy. What’s that without his mind? The legend said that none should
+free our people but he who bore the sceptre of great Solomon. The legend
+knew that none could gain that sceptre, but with a mind to whose supreme
+volition the fortunes of the world would bow like fate. I gained it; I
+confronted the spectre monarchs in their sepulchre; and the same hand
+that grasped their shadowy rule hath seized the diadem of the mighty
+caliphs by the broad rushing of their imperial river.
+
+‘The world is mine: and shall I yield the prize, the universal and
+heroic prize, to realise the dull tradition of some dreaming priest,
+and consecrate a legend? He conquered Asia, and he built the temple. Are
+these my annals? Shall this quick blaze of empire sink to a glimmering
+and a twilight sway over some petty province, the decent patriarch of a
+pastoral horde? Is the Lord of Hosts so slight a God, that we must place
+a barrier to His sovereignty, and fix the boundaries of Omnipotence
+between the Jordan and the Lebanon? It is not thus written; and were it
+so, I’ll pit my inspiration against the prescience of my ancestors.
+I also am a prophet, and Bagdad shall be my Zion. The daughter of
+the Voice! Well, I am clearly summoned. I am the Lord’s servant, not
+Jabaster’s. Let me make His worship universal as His power; and where’s
+the priest shall dare impugn my faith, because His altars smoke on other
+hills than those of Judah?
+
+‘I must see Honain. That man has a great mind. He alone can comprehend
+my purpose. Universal empire must not be founded on sectarian prejudices
+and exclusive rights. Jabaster would massacre the Moslemin like Amalek;
+the Moslemin, the vast majority, and most valuable portion, of my
+subjects. He would depopulate my empire, that it might not be said that
+Ishmael shared the heritage of Israel. Fanatic! I’ll send him to conquer
+Judah. We must conciliate. Something must be done to bind the conquered
+to our conquering fortunes. That bold Sultan of Roum: I wish Abner had
+opposed him. To run off with the harem! I have half a mind to place
+myself at the head of the pursuing force, and---- Passion and policy
+alike combine: and yet Honain is the man; I might send him on a mission.
+Could we make terms? I detest treaties. My fancy flies from all other
+topics. I must see him. Could I but tell him all I think! This door,
+whither leads it? Hah! methinks I do remember yon glittering gallery!
+No one in attendance. The discipline of our palace is somewhat lax.
+My warriors are no courtiers. What an admirable marshal of the palace
+Honain would make! Silence everywhere. So! ‘tis well. These saloons I
+have clearly passed through before. Could I but reach the private portal
+by the river side, unseen or undetected! ‘Tis not impossible. Here are
+many dresses. I will disguise myself. Trusty scimitar, thou hast done
+thy duty, rest awhile. ‘Tis lucky I am beardless. I shall make a capital
+eunuch. So! a handsome robe. One dagger for a pinch, slippers powdered
+with pearls,66 a caftan of cloth of gold, a Cachemire girdle, and a
+pelisse of sables. One glance at the mirror. Good! I begin to look like
+the conqueror of the world!’
+
+It was twilight: a small and solitary boat, with a single rower, glided
+along the Tigris, and stopped at the archway of a house that descended
+into the river. It stopped, the boatman withdrew the curtains, and his
+single passenger disembarked, and ascended the stairs of the archway.
+
+The stranger reached the landing-place, and unfastening a golden grate,
+proceeded along a gallery, and entered a beautiful saloon of white and
+green marble, opening into gardens. No one was in the apartment; the
+stranger threw himself upon a silver couch, placed at the side of
+a fountain that rose from the centre of the chamber and fell into a
+porphyry basin. A soft whisper roused the stranger from his reverie, a
+soft whisper that faintly uttered the word ‘Honain.’ The stranger looked
+up, a figure, enveloped in a veil, that touched the ground, advanced
+from the gardens.
+
+‘Honain!’ said the advancing figure, throwing off the veil. ‘Honain! Ah!
+the beautiful mute returned!’
+
+A woman more lovely than the rosy morn, beheld an unexpected guest. They
+stood, the lady and the stranger, gazing on each other in silence.
+A man, with a light, entered the extremity of the hall. Carefully
+he closed the portal, slowly he advanced, with a subdued step; he
+approached the lady and the stranger.
+
+‘Alroy!’ said the astonished Honain, the light fell from his hand.
+
+‘Alroy!’ exclaimed the lady, with a bewildered air: she turned pale, and
+leant against a column.
+
+‘Daughter of the caliph!’ said the leader of Israel; and he advanced,
+and fell upon his knee, and stole her passive hand. ‘I am indeed that
+Alroy to whom destiny has delivered the empire of thy sire; but the
+Princess Schirene can have nothing to fear from one who values above
+all his victories this memorial of her goodwill;’ and he took from his
+breast a rosary of pearls and emeralds, and, rising slowly, left it in
+her trembling hand.
+
+The princess turned and hid her face in her arm, which reclined against
+the column.
+
+‘My kind Honain,’ said Alroy, ‘you thought me forgetful of the past; you
+thought me ungrateful. My presence here proves that I am not so. I come
+to enquire all your wishes. I come to gratify and to fulfil them, if
+that be in my power.’
+
+‘Sire,’ replied Honain, who had recovered from the emotion in which
+he rarely indulged, and from the surprise which seldom entrapped him,
+‘Sire, my wishes are slight. You see before you the daughter of my
+master. An interview, for which I fear I shall not easily gain that
+lady’s pardon, has made you somewhat acquainted with her situation and
+her sentiments. The Princess Schirene seized the opportunity of the
+late convulsions to escape from a mode of life long repugnant to all
+her feelings, and from a destiny at which she trembled. I was her only
+counsellor, and she may feel assured, a faithful, although perhaps an
+indiscreet one. The irresistible solicitation of the inhabitants that I
+should become their deputy to their conqueror prevented us from escaping
+as we had intended. Since then, from the movement of the troops, I have
+deemed it more prudent that we should remain at present here, although
+I have circulated the intelligence of my departure. In the kiosk of my
+garden, the princess is now a willing prisoner. At twilight she
+steals forth for the poor relaxation of my society, to listen to the
+intelligence which I acquire during the day in disguise. The history,
+sire, is short and simple. We are in your power: but instead of
+deprecating your interference, I now solicit your protection.’
+
+‘Dear Honain, ‘tis needless. The Princess Schirene has only to express
+a wish that it may be fulfilled. I came to speak with you on weighty
+matters, Honain, but I retire, for I am an intruder now. Tomorrow, if
+it please you, at this hour, and in this disguise, I will again repair
+hither. In the meantime, this lady may perchance express to you her
+wishes, and you will bear them to me. If an escort to any country, if
+any palace or province for her rule and residence---- But I will not
+offer to one who should command. Lady! farewell. Pardon the past!
+Tomorrow, good Honain! prythee let us meet. Good even!’
+
+‘The royal brow was clouded,’ said Ithamar to Asriel, as, departing from
+the council, they entered their magnificent barque.
+
+‘With thought; he has so much upon his mind, ‘tis wondrous how he bears
+himself.’
+
+‘I have seen him gay on the eve of battle, and lively though calm, with
+weightier matters than now oppress him. His brow was clouded, but not,
+me-thinks, with _thought_; one might rather say with _temper_. Mark you,
+how he rated Jabaster?’
+
+‘Roundly! The stern priest writhed under it; and as he signed the
+ordinance, shivered his reed in rage. I never saw a man more pale.’
+
+‘Or more silent. He looked like an embodied storm. I tell you what,
+Asriel, that stern priest loves not us.’
+
+‘Have you just discovered that secret, Ithamar? We are not of his
+school. Nor, in good faith, is our ruler. I am glad to see the king is
+so staunch about Abidan. Were he in council he would support Jabaster.’
+
+‘Oh! his mere tool. What think you of Scherirah?’
+
+‘I would not trust him. As long as there is fighting, he will meddle
+with nothing else; but, mark my words, Ithamar: in quiet times he will
+support the priest.’
+
+‘Medad will have a place in council. He is with us.’
+
+‘Heart and soul. I would your brother were here, Asriel: he alone could
+balance Jabaster. Alroy loves your brother like himself. Is it true that
+he marries the Lady Miriam?’
+
+‘So the king wishes. ‘Twill be a fine match for Abner.’
+
+‘The world is all before us. I wonder who will be viceroy of Syria.’
+
+‘When we conquer it. Not Scherirah. Mark my words, Ithamar: he never
+will have a government. You or I perchance. For my own part, I would
+rather remain as I am.’
+
+‘Yours is a good post; the best.’
+
+‘With the command of the city. It should go with the guard.’
+
+‘Well, then, help me in getting Syria, and you can ask for my command.’
+
+‘Agreed. Jabaster will have it that, in a Hebrew monarchy, the chief
+priest is in fact the grand vizir.’
+
+‘Alroy will be his own minister.’
+
+‘I am not so sure of that. He may choose to command the Syrian
+expedition in person; he must leave some head at Bagdad. Jabaster is no
+general.’
+
+‘Oh! none at all. Alroy will be glad to leave him at home. The Sultan of
+Roum may not be always so merciful.’
+
+‘Hah! hah! that was an escape!’
+
+‘By heavens! I thought it was all over. You made a fine charge.’
+
+‘I shall never forget it. I nearly ran over Jabaster.’
+
+‘Would that you had!’
+
+It is the tender twilight hour when maidens in their lonely bower sigh
+softer than the eve! The languid rose her head upraises, and listens to
+the nightingale, while his wild and thrilling praises from his trembling
+bosom gush: the languid rose her head upraises, and listens with a
+blush.
+
+In the clear and rosy air, sparkling with a single star, the sharp
+and spiry cypress-tree rises like a gloomy thought, amid the flow
+of revelry. A singing bird, a single star, a solemn tree, an odorous
+flower, are dangerous in the tender hour, when maidens in their twilight
+bower sigh softer than the eve!
+
+The daughter of the caliph comes forth to breathe the air: her lute her
+only company. She sits her down by a fountain’s side, and gazes on the
+waterfall. Her cheek reclines upon her arm, like fruit upon a graceful
+bough. Very pensive is the face of that bright and beauteous lady. She
+starts; a warm voluptuous lip presses her soft and idle hand. It is her
+own gazelle. With his large and lustrous eyes, more eloquent than many
+a tongue, the fond attendant mutely asks the cause of all her
+thoughtfulness.
+
+‘Ah! bright gazelle! Ah! bright gazelle!’ the princess cried, the
+princess cried; ‘thy lips are softer than the swan, thy lips are softer
+than the swan; but his breathed passion when they pressed, my bright
+gazelle! my bright gazelle!
+
+‘Ah! bright gazelle! Ah! bright gazelle!’ the princess cried, the
+princess cried; ‘thine eyes are like the stars of night, thine eyes are
+like the stars of night; but his glanced passion when they gazed, my
+bright gazelle! my bright gazelle!’
+
+She seized her lute, she wildly threw her fingers o’er its thrilling
+strings, and, gazing on the rosy sky, to borrow all its poetry, thus,
+thus she sang--thus, thus she sang:
+
+     He rose in beauty like the morn
+     That brightens in bur Syrian skies;
+     Dark passion glittered in his eyes,
+     And Empire sparkled in his form!
+
+     My soul! thou art the dusky earth,
+     On which his sunlight fell;
+     The dusky earth, that dim no longer,
+     Now breathes with light, now beams with love!
+
+     He rose in beauty, like the morn
+     That brightens in our Syrian skies;
+     Dark passion glittered in his eyes,
+     And Empire sparkled in his form!
+
+[Illustration: page174]
+
+‘Once more, once more! Ah! sing that strain once more!’
+
+The princess started and looked round. Before her stood Alroy. She rose,
+she would have retired; but, advancing, the conqueror stole her hand.
+
+‘Fair princess,’ said Alroy, ‘let it not be said that my presence
+banished at once beauty and music.’
+
+‘Sire, I doubt not that Honain awaits you. Let me summon him.’
+
+‘Lady, it is not with Honain that I would speak.’
+
+He seated himself by her side. His countenance was pale, his heart
+trembled.
+
+‘This garden,’ at length he observed in a low voice, ‘this garden, a
+brief, brief space has glided away since first I wandered within its
+beauteous limits, and yet those days seem like the distant memory of
+another life.’
+
+‘It is another life,’ said the princess. ‘Ourselves, the world, all
+forms and usages, all feelings and all habits, verily they have changed,
+as if we had breathed within another sphere.’
+
+‘‘Tis a great change.’
+
+‘Since first you visited my bright kiosk. Pretty bauble! I pray it may
+be spared.’
+
+‘It is sacred, like yourself.’
+
+‘You are a courteous conqueror.’
+
+‘I am no conqueror, fair Schirene, but a slave more lowly than when I
+first bowed humbly in your presence.’
+
+‘And bore away a token not forgotten. Your rosary is here.’
+
+‘Let me claim it. It has been my consolation in much peril, beauteous
+lady. On the eve of battle I wound it round my heart.’
+
+She held forth the rosary, and turned away her head. Her hand remained
+in his; he pressed it to his lips. His right arm retained her hand; he
+wound the other round her waist, as he fell upon his knee.
+
+‘O beautiful! O more than beautiful! for thou to me art like a dream
+unbroken,’ exclaimed the young leader of Israel, ‘let me, let me breathe
+my adoration. I offer thee not empire: I offer thee not wealth; I offer
+thee not all the boundless gratification of magnificent fancy,--these
+may be thine, but all these thou hast proved; but, if the passionate
+affections of a spirit which never has yielded to the power of woman or
+the might of man, if the deep devotion of the soul of Alroy, be deemed
+an offering meet for the shrine of thy surpassing loveliness, I worship
+thee, Schirene. I worship thee, I worship thee!
+
+‘Since I first gazed upon thee, since thy beauty first rose upon my
+presence like a star bright with my destiny, in the still sanctuary
+of my secret love, thy idol has ever rested. Then, then, I was a thing
+whose very touch thy creed might count a contumely. I have avenged the
+insults of long centuries in the best blood of Asia; I have returned,
+in glory and in pride, to claim my ancient sceptre; but sweeter far than
+vengeance, sweeter far than the quick gathering of my sacred tribes, the
+rush of triumph and the blaze of empire, is this brief moment of adoring
+love, wherein I pour the passion of my life!
+
+‘O my soul, my life, my very being! thou art silent, but thy silence is
+sweeter than others’ speech. Yield, yield thee, dear Schirene, yield to
+thy suppliant! Thy faith, thy father’s faith, thy native customs, these,
+these shall be respected, beauteous lady! Pharaoh’s daughter yielded her
+dusky beauty to my great ancestor. Thy face is like the bright inspiring
+day! Let it not be said that the daughter of the Nile shared Israel’s
+crown, the daughter of the Tigris spurned our sceptre. I am not Solomon,
+but I am one that, were Schirene the partner of my throne, would
+make his glowing annals read like a wearisome and misty tale to our
+surpassing lustre!’
+
+He ceased, the princess turned her hitherto hidden countenance, and
+bowed it on his heart. ‘O Alroy!’ she exclaimed, ‘I have no creed, no
+country, no life, but thee!’
+
+‘The king is late to-day.’
+
+‘Is it true, Asriel, there is an express from Hamadan?’
+
+‘Of no moment, Ithamar. I have private letters from Abner. All is
+quiet.’
+
+‘‘Tis much past the hour. When do you depart, Scherirah?’
+
+‘The troops are ready. I wait orders. This morning’s council will
+perchance decide.’
+
+‘This morning’s council is devoted to the settlement of the civil
+affairs of the capital,’ remarked Jabaster.
+
+‘Indeed!’ said Asriel. ‘Is your report prepared, Jabaster?’
+
+‘‘Tis here,’ replied the high priest. ‘The Hebrew legislator requires
+but little musing to shape his order. He has a model which time cannot
+destroy, nor thought improve.’
+
+Ithamar and Asriel exchanged significant glances. Scherirah looked
+solemn. There was a pause, which was broken by Asriel.
+
+‘‘Tis a noble city, this Bagdad. I have not yet visited your quarters,
+Jabaster. You are well placed.’
+
+‘As it may be. I hope we shall not tarry here long. The great point is
+still not achieved.’
+
+‘How far is it to the holy city?’ enquired Scherirah.
+
+‘A month’s march,’ replied Jabaster.
+
+‘And when you get there?’ enquired Ithamar.
+
+‘You may fight with the Franks,’ replied Asriel.
+
+‘Jabaster, how large is Jerusalem?’ enquired Ithamar. ‘Is it true, as
+I have sometimes heard, that it is not bigger than the serail here,
+gardens and all?’
+
+‘Its glory hath departed,’ replied the high priest; ‘the bricks have
+fallen, but we will rebuild with marble; and Zion, that is now without
+the Christian walls, shall yet sparkle, as in the olden time, with
+palaces and pavilions.’
+
+A flourish of trumpets, the portals flew open, and Alroy entered,
+leaning on the arm of the Envoy of Bagdad.
+
+‘Valiant leaders,’ said Alroy to the astonished chieftains, ‘in this
+noble stranger, you see one like yourselves entrusted with my unbounded
+confidence. Jabaster, behold thy brother!’
+
+‘Honain! art _thou_ Honain?’ exclaimed the pontiff starting from his
+seat. ‘I have a thousand messengers after thee.’ With a countenance
+alternately pallid with surprise and burning with affection, Jabaster
+embraced his brother, and, overpowered with emotion, hid his face on his
+shoulder.
+
+‘Sire,’ at length exclaimed the high priest, in a low and tremulous
+voice, ‘I must pray your pardon that for an instant in this character
+I have indulged in any other thoughts than those that may concern your
+welfare. Tis past: and you, who know all, will forgive me.’
+
+‘All that respects Jabaster must concern my welfare. He is the pillar of
+my empire;’ and holding forth his hand, Alroy placed the high priest on
+his right. ‘Scherirah, you depart this eve.’
+
+The rough captain bowed in silence.
+
+‘What is this?’ continued Alroy, as Jabaster offered him a scroll. ‘Ah!
+your report. “Order of the Tribes,� “Service of the Lévites,� “Princes
+of the People,� “Elders of Israel!� The day may come when this may
+be effected. At present, Jabaster, we must be moderate, and content
+ourselves with arrangements which may ensure that order shall be
+maintained, property respected, and justice administered. Is it true
+that a gang has rifled a mosque?’
+
+‘Sire! of that I would speak. They are no plunderers, but men, perhaps
+too zealous, who have read and who have remembered that “Ye shall
+utterly destroy all the places wherein the nations which ye shall
+possess, served their gods upon the high mountains, and upon the
+hill, and under every green tree. And ye shall overthrow their altars,
+and----“’
+
+‘Jabaster, is this a synagogue? Come I to a council of valiant statesmen
+or dreaming Rabbis? For a thousand years we have been quoting the laws
+we dared not practise. Is it with such aid that we captured Nishapur and
+crossed the Tigris? Valiant, wise Jabaster, thou art worthy of better
+things, and capable of all. I entreat thee, urge such matters for the
+last time. Are these fellows in custody?’
+
+‘They were in custody. I have freed them.’
+
+‘Freed them! Hang them! Hang them in the most public grove. Is this the
+way to make the Moslem a duteous subject? Jabaster! Israel honours
+thee; and I, its chief, know that one more true, more valiant, or more
+learned, crowds not around our standard; but I see, the caverns of the
+Caucasus are not a school for empire.’
+
+‘Sire, I had humbly deemed the school for empire was the law of Moses.’
+
+‘Ay! adapted to these times.’
+
+‘Can aught divine be changed?’
+
+‘Am I as tall as Adam? If man, the crown, the rose of all this fair
+creation, the most divine of all divine inventions, if Time have altered
+even this choicest of all godlike works, why shall it spare a law made
+but to rule his conduct? Good Jabaster, we must establish the throne of
+Israel, that is my mission, and for the means, no matter how, or where.
+Asriel, what news of Medad?’
+
+‘All is quiet between the Tigris and Euphrates. It would be better
+to recall his division, which has been much harassed. I thought of
+relieving him by Abidan.’
+
+‘I think so, too. We may as well keep Abidan out of the city. If the
+truth were known, I’ll wager some of his company plundered the mosque.
+We must issue a proclamation on that subject. My good Jabaster, we’ll
+talk over these matters alone. At present I will leave you with your
+brother. Scherirah, sup with me to-night; before you quit Asriel, come
+with me to my cabinet.’
+
+‘I must see the king!’
+
+‘Holy priest, his highness has retired. It is impossible.’
+
+‘I must see the king. Worthy Pharez, I take all peril on myself.’
+
+‘Indeed his highness’ orders are imperative. You cannot see him.’
+
+‘Knowest thou who I am?’
+
+‘One whom all pious Hebrews reverence.’
+
+‘I say I must see the king.’
+
+‘Indeed, indeed, holy Jabaster, it cannot be.’
+
+‘Shall Israel perish for a menial’s place? Go to; I _will_ see him.’
+
+‘Nay! if you _will_, I’ll struggle for my duty.’
+
+‘Touch not the Lord’s anointed. Dog, you shall suffer for this!’
+
+So saying, Jabaster threw aside Pharez, and, with the attendant clinging
+to his robes, rushed into the royal chamber.
+
+‘What is all this?’ exclaimed Alroy, starting from the divan. ‘Jabaster!
+Pharez, withdraw! How now, is Bagdad in insurrection?’
+
+‘Worse, much worse, Israel soon will be.’
+
+‘Ay!’
+
+‘My fatal brother has told me all, nor would I sleep, until I lifted up
+my voice to save thee.’
+
+‘Am I in danger?’
+
+‘In the wilderness, when the broad desert quivered beneath thy trembling
+feet, and the dark heavens poured down their burning torrents, thou wert
+less so. In that hour of death, One guarded thee, who never forgets His
+fond and faithful offspring, and now, when He has brought thee out of
+the house of bondage; now, when thy fortunes, like a noble cedar, swell
+in the air and shadow all the land; thou, the very leader of His people,
+His chosen one, for whom He hath worked such marvels, thy heart is
+turned from thy fathers’ God, and hankers after strange abominations.’
+
+Through the broad arch that led into the gardens of the serail, the
+moonlight fell upon the tall figure and the upraised arm of the priest;
+Alroy stood with folded arms at some distance, watching Jabaster as he
+spoke, with a calm but searching glance. Suddenly he advanced with a
+quick step, and, placing his hand upon Jabaster’s arm, said, in a low,
+enquiring tone, ‘You are speaking of this marriage?’
+
+‘Of that which ruined Solomon.’
+
+‘Listen to me, Jabaster,’ said Alroy, interrupting him, in a calm but
+peremptory tone, ‘I cannot forget that I am speaking to my master, as
+well as to my friend. The Lord, who knoweth all things, hath deemed me
+worthy of His mission. My fitness for this high and holy office was not
+admitted without proof. A lineage, which none else could offer, mystic
+studies shared by few, a mind that dared encounter all things, and a
+frame that could endure most, these were my claims. But no more of this.
+I have passed the great ordeal; the Lord of Hosts hath found me not
+unworthy of His charge; I have established His ancient people; His
+altars blaze with sacrifices; His priests are honoured, bear witness
+thou, Jabaster, His omnipotent unity is declared. What wouldst thou
+more?’
+
+‘All!’
+
+‘Then Moses knew you well. It is a stiff-necked people.’
+
+‘Sire, bear with me. If I speak in heat, I speak in zeal. You ask me
+what I wish: my answer is, a national existence, which we have not. You
+ask me what I wish: my answer is, the Land of Promise. You ask me what I
+wish: my answer is, Jerusalem. You ask me what I wish: my answer is, the
+Temple, all we have forfeited, all we have yearned after, all for
+which we have fought, our beauteous country, our holy creed, our simple
+manners, and our ancient customs.’
+
+‘Manners change with time and circumstances; customs may be observed
+everywhere. The ephod on thy breast proves our faith; and, for a
+country, is the Tigris less than Siloah, or the Euphrates inferior to
+the Jordan?’
+
+‘Alas! alas! there was a glorious prime when Israel stood aloof from
+other nations, a fair and holy thing that God had hallowed. We were
+then a chosen family, a most peculiar people, set apart for God’s entire
+enjoyment. All about us was solemn, deep, and holy. We shunned the
+stranger as an unclean thing that must defile our solitary sanctity,
+and, keeping to ourselves and to our God, our lives flowed on in one
+great solemn tide of deep religion, making the meanest of our multitude
+feel greater than the kings of other lands. It was a glorious time: I
+thought it had returned; but I awake from this, as other dreams.’
+
+‘We must leave off dreaming, good Jabaster, we must act. Were I, by any
+chance, to fall into one of those reveries, with which I have often lost
+the golden hours at Hamadan, or in our old cave, I should hear, some
+fine morning, his Sultanship of Roum rattling at my gates.’ Alroy smiled
+as he spoke; he would willingly have introduced a lighter tone into the
+dialogue, but the solemn countenance of the priest was not sympathetic
+with his levity.
+
+‘My heart is full, and yet I cannot speak: the memory of the past
+overpowers my thought. I had vainly deemed that my voice, inspired by
+the soul of truth, might yet preserve him; and now I stand here in his
+presence, silent and trembling, like a guilty thing. O, my prince! my
+pupil!’ said the priest, advancing, falling on his knee, and seizing the
+robe of Alroy, ‘by thy sacred lineage; by the sweet memory of thy ardent
+youth, and our united studies, by all thy zealous thoughts, and solemn
+musings, and glorious aspirations after fame; by all thy sufferings, and
+by all thy triumphs, and chiefly by the name of that great God, who
+hath elected thee his favoured child; by all the marvels of thy mighty
+mission, I do adjure thee! Arise, Alroy, arise and rouse thyself. The
+lure that snared thy fathers may trap thee, this Delilah may shear thy
+mystic locks. Spirits like thee act not by halves. Once fall out from
+the straight course before thee, and, though thou deemest ‘tis but to
+saunter ‘mid the summer trees, soon thou wilt find thyself in the dark
+depths of some infernal forest, where none may rescue thee!’
+
+‘What if I do inherit the eager blood of my great ancestor, at least
+I hold his sceptre. Shall aught of earthly power prevail against the
+supernatural sway of Heaven and Hades?’
+
+‘Sire, sire, the legend that came from Sinai is full of high
+instruction. But shape thy conduct by its oracles, and all were well. It
+says our people can be established only by him who rules them with the
+rod of Solomon. Sire, when the Lord offered his pleasure to that mighty
+king, thou knowest his deep discretion. Riches and length of days,
+empire and vengeance, these were not the choice of one to whom all
+accidents were proffered. The legend bears an inward spirit, as well
+as an outward meaning. The capture of the prize was a wise test of thy
+imperial fitness. Thou hast his sceptre, but, without his wisdom, ‘tis
+but a staff of cedar.’
+
+‘Hah! Art thou there? I am glad to see Jabaster politic. Hear me, my
+friend. What my feelings be unto this royal lady, but little matters.
+Let them pass, and let us view this question by the light wherein you
+have placed it, the flame of policy and not of passion. I am no traitor
+to the God of Israel, in whose name I have conquered, and in whose name
+I shall rule; but thou art a learned doctor, thou canst inform us.
+I have heard no mandate to yield my glorious empire for my meanest
+province. I am Lord of Asia, so would I have my long posterity. Our
+people are but a remnant, a feeble fraction of the teeming millions that
+own my sway. What I hold I can defend; but my children may not inherit
+the spirit of their sire. The Moslemin will recognise their rule with
+readier hearts, when they remember that a daughter of their caliphs gave
+them life. You see I too am politic, my good Jabaster!’
+
+‘The policy of the son of Kareah[67], ‘twas fatal. He preferred Egypt
+to Judah, and he suffered. Sire, the Lord hath blessed Judah: it is
+His land. He would have it filled by His peculiar people, so that His
+worship might ever flourish. For this He has, by many curious rites and
+customs, marked us out from all other nations, so that we cannot, at the
+same time, mingle with them and yet be true to Him. We must exist alone.
+To preserve that loneliness is the great end and essence of our law.
+What have we to do with Bagdad, or its people, where every instant we
+must witness some violation of our statutes? Can we pray with them?
+Can we eat with them? Alike in the highest duties, and the lowest
+occupations of existence, we cannot mingle. From the altar of our God to
+our domestic boards, we are alike separated from them. Sire, you may be
+King of Bagdad, but you cannot, at the same time, be a Jew.’
+
+‘I am what I am. I worship the Lord of Hosts. Perhaps, in His mercy, He
+will accept the days of Nishapur and the Tigris as a compensation for
+some slight relaxation in the ritual of the baker and the bath.’
+
+‘And mark my words: it was by the ritual of the baker and the bath that
+Alroy rose, and without it he will fall. The genius of the people, which
+he shared, raised him; and that genius has been formed by the law of
+Moses. Based on that law, he might indeed have handed down an empire
+to his long posterity; and now, though the tree of his fortunes seems
+springing up by the water-side, fed by a thousand springs, and its
+branches covered with dew, there is a gangrene in the sap, and to-morrow
+he may shrink like a shrivelled gourd. Alas! alas! for Israel! We
+have long fed on mallows; but to lose the vintage in the very day of
+fruition, ‘tis very bitter. Ah! when I raised thy exhausted form in
+the cavern of Genthesma, and the star of David beamed brightly in the
+glowing heavens upon thy high fulfilment, who could have dreamed of a
+night like this? Farewell, sire.’
+
+‘Stop, Jabaster! earliest, dearest friend, prythee, prythee stop!’
+
+The priest slowly turned, the prince hesitated.
+
+‘Part not in anger, good Jabaster.’
+
+‘In sorrow, sire, only in sorrow; but deep and terrible.’
+
+‘Israel is Lord of Asia, my Jabaster. Why should we fear?’
+
+‘Solomon built Tadmor in the wilderness, and his fleet brought gold from
+Ophir; and yet Alroy was born a slave.’
+
+‘But did not die one. The sultans of the world have fallen before me.
+I have no fear. Nay, do not go. At least you will give some credence to
+the stars, my learned Cabalist. See, my planet shines as brightly as
+my fortunes.’ Alroy withdrew the curtain, and with Jabaster stepped out
+upon the terrace. A beautiful star glittered on high. As they gazed, its
+colour changed, and a blood-red meteor burst from its circle, and fell
+into space. The conqueror and the priest looked at each other at the
+same time. Their countenances were pale, enquiring, and agitated.
+
+‘Sire,’ said Jabaster, ‘march to Judah.’
+
+‘It portends war,’ replied Alroy, endeavouring to recover himself.
+‘Perchance some troubles in Persia.’
+
+‘Troubles at home, no other. The danger is nigh. Look to thyself.’
+
+A wild scream was heard in the gardens. It sounded thrice.
+
+‘What is this?’ exclaimed Alroy, really agitated. ‘Rouse the guard,
+Jabaster, search the gardens.’
+
+‘‘Tis useless and may do harm. It was a spirit that shrieked.’
+
+‘What said it?’
+
+‘_Mené, Mené, Tekel, Upharsin!_’
+
+‘The old story, the priest against the king,’ said Honain to Alroy,
+when at his morrow’s interview, he had listened to the events of the
+preceding night. ‘My pious brother wishes to lead you back to the
+Theocracy, and is fearful that, if he prays at Bagdad instead of Zion,
+he may chance to become only the head of an inferior sect, instead of
+revelling in the universal tithes of a whole nation. As for the meteor,
+Scherirah must have crossed the river about the same time, and the
+Sultan of Roum may explain the bloody portent. For the shriek, as I
+really have no acquaintance with spirits, I must leave the miraculous
+communication to the favoured ears and initiated intelligences of your
+highness and my brother. It seems that it differed from “the Daughter
+of the Voice� in more respects than one, since it was not only extremely
+noisy, but, as it would appear, quite unintelligible except to the
+individual who had an interest in the interpretation, an ingenious
+one, I confess. When I enter upon my functions as your highness’s
+chamberlain, I will at least guarantee that your slumbers shall not be
+disturbed either by spirits or more unwelcome visitors.’
+
+‘Enter upon them at once, good Honain. How fares my Persian rose to-day,
+my sweet Schirene?’
+
+‘Feeding on your image in your absence. She spares no word to me, I do
+assure your highness.’
+
+‘Nay, nay, we know you are a general favourite with the sex, Honain.
+I’faith I’m jealous.’
+
+‘I would your highness had cause,’ said Honain, demurely.
+
+The approaching marriage between the King of the Hebrews and the
+Princess of Bagdad was published throughout Asia. Preparations were made
+on the plain of the Tigris for the great rejoicing. Whole forests
+were felled to provide materials for the buildings and fuel for the
+banqueting. All the governors of provinces and cities, all the chief
+officers and nobility of both nations, were specially invited, and daily
+arrived in state at Bagdad. Among them the Viceroy of the Medes and
+Persians, and his recent bride, the Princess Miriam, were conspicuous,
+followed by a train of nearly ten thousand persons.
+
+A throne, ascended by one hundred steps covered with crimson cloth, and
+crowned by a golden canopy, was raised in the middle of the plain; on
+each side was a throne less elevated, but equally gorgeous. In the front
+of these thrones an immense circus was described, formed by one
+hundred chartaks or amphitheatres, ample room for the admittance of the
+multitude being left between the buildings. These chartaks were covered
+with bright brocades and showy carpets; on each was hoisted a brilliant
+banner. In some of them were bands of choice musicians, in others
+companies of jugglers, buffoons, and storiers. Five chartaks on each
+side of the thrones were allotted for the convenience of the court;
+the rest were filled by the different trades of the city. In one the
+fruiterers had formed a beautiful garden, glowing with pomegranates and
+gourds and watermelons, oranges, almonds, and pistachio-nuts; in another
+the butchers exhibited their meats carved in fanciful shapes, and the
+skins of animals formed into ludicrous figures. Here assembled the
+furriers, all dressed in masquerade, like leopards, lions, tigers and
+foxes; and in another booth mustered the upholsterers, proud of a camel
+made of wood, and reeds, and cord, and painted linen, a camel which
+walked about as if alive, though ever and anon a curtain drawn aside
+discovered to the marvelling multitude the workman within, performing in
+his own piece. Further on might be perceived the cotton manufacturers,
+whose chartak was full of birds of all shapes and plumage, formed
+nevertheless of their curious plant; and, in the centre rose a lofty
+minaret, constructed of the same material, with the help of reeds,
+although every one imagined it to be built with bricks and mortar. It
+was covered with embroidered work, and on the top was placed a stork, so
+cunningly devised that the children pelted it with pistachio-nuts. The
+saddlers showed their skill in two litters, open at top, each carried on
+a dromedary, and in each a beautiful woman, who diverted the spectators
+with light balls of gilt leather, throwing them up both with their
+hands and feet. Nor were the mat-makers backward in the proof of their
+dexterity, since, instead of a common banner, they exhibited a large
+standard of reeds worked with two lines of writing in Kufic, proclaiming
+the happy names of Alroy and Schirene.
+
+But indeed in every chartak might be seen some wondrous specimens of the
+wealth of Bagdad, and of the ingenuity of its unrivalled artisans.
+
+Around this mighty circus, on every side for the space of many miles,
+the plain was studded with innumerable pavilions. At measured intervals
+were tables furnished with every species of provision, and attended by
+appointed servants; flagons of wine and jars of sherbets, mingled
+with infinite baskets of delicious fruits and trays of refreshing
+confectionery. Although open to all comers, so great and rapid was the
+supply, that these banqueting tables seemed ever laden; and that the
+joys of the people might be complete, they were allowed to pursue
+whatever pleasures they thought fit without any restraint, by
+proclamation, in these terms.
+
+‘_This is the time of feasting, pleasure, and rejoicing. Let no person
+reprimand or complain of another: let not the rich insult the poor, or
+the strong the weak: let no one ask another, “why have you done this
+_?�’
+
+Millions of people were collected in this Paradise. They rejoiced, they
+feasted, they frolicked, they danced, they sang. They listened to the
+tales of the Arabian story-teller, at once enchanted and enchanting,
+or melted to the strain of the Persian poet as he painted the moon-lit
+forehead of his heroine and the wasting and shadowy form of his
+love-sick hero; they beheld with amazement the feats of the juggler of
+the Ganges, or giggled at the practised wit and the practical buffoonery
+of the Syrian mime. And the most delighted could still spare a
+fascinating glance to the inviting gestures and the voluptuous grace of
+the dancing girls of Egypt.[68] Everywhere reigned melody and merriment,
+rarity and beauty. For once mankind forgot their cares, and delivered
+themselves up to infinite enjoyment.
+
+‘I grow courteous,’ said Kisloch the Kourd, assisting a party into one
+of the shows.
+
+‘And I humane,’ said Calidas the Indian. ‘Fellow, how dare you violate
+the proclamation, by thrashing that child?’ He turned to one of the
+stewards of the table, who was belabouring the unfortunate driver of a
+camel which had stumbled and in its fall had shivered its burden, two
+panniers of porcelain.
+
+‘Mind your own business, fellow,’ replied the steward, ‘and be thankful
+that for once in your life you can dine.’
+
+‘Is this the way to speak to an officer?’ said Calidas the Indian; ‘I
+have half a mind to cut your tongue out.’
+
+‘Never mind, little fellow,’ said the Guebre, ‘here is a dirhem for you.
+Run away and be merry.’
+
+‘A miracle!’ grinned the Negro; ‘he giveth alms.’
+
+‘And you are witty,’ rejoined the Guebre. ‘‘Tis a wondrous day.’
+
+‘What shall we do?’ said Kisloch.
+
+‘Let us dine,’ proposed the Negro.
+
+‘Ay! under this plane-tree,’ said Calidas. ‘‘Tis pleasant to be alone. I
+hate everybody but ourselves.’
+
+‘Here stop, you rascal,’ said the Guebre. ‘What’s your name?’
+
+‘I am a Hadgee,’ said our old friend Abdallah, the servant of the
+charitable merchant Ali, and who was this day one of the officiating
+stewards.
+
+‘Are you a Jew, you scoundrel?’ said the Guebre, ‘that is the only thing
+worth being. Bring some wine, you accursed Giaour!’
+
+‘Instantly,’ said Kisloch, ‘and a pilau.’ ‘And a gazelle stuffed with
+almonds,’ said Calidas. ‘And some sugar-plums,’ said the Negro. ‘Quick,
+you infernal Gentile, or I’ll send this javelin in your back,’ hallooed
+the Guebre.
+
+The servile Abdallah hastened away, and soon bustled back, bearing two
+flagons of wine, and followed by four servants, each with a tray covered
+with dainties.
+
+‘Where are you going, you accursed scoundrels?’ grumbled Kisloch; ‘wait
+upon the true believers.’ ‘We shall be more free alone,’ whispered
+Calidas. ‘Away, then, dogs,’ growled Kisloch. Abdallah and his
+attendants hurried off, but were soon summoned back.
+
+‘Why did you not bring Schiraz wine?’ asked Calidas, with an eye of
+fire.
+
+‘The pilau is overdone,’ thundered Kisloch. ‘You have brought a lamb
+stuffed with pistachio-nuts, instead of a gazelle with almonds,’ said
+the Guebre.
+
+‘Not half sugar-plums enough,’ said the Negro. ‘Everything is wrong,’
+said Kisloch. ‘Go, and get us a kabob.’
+
+In time, however, even this unmanageable crew were satisfied; and,
+seated under their plane-tree, and stuffing themselves with all the
+dainties of the East, they became more amiable as their appetites
+decreased. ‘A bumper, Calidas, and a song,’ said Kisloch. ‘‘Tis rare
+stuff,’ said the Guebre; ‘come, Cally, it should inspire you.’
+
+‘Here goes, then; mind the chorus.’
+
+     Drink, drink, deeply drink,
+     Never feel, and never think;
+     What’s love? what’s fame? a sigh, a smile.
+     Friendship? but a hollow wile.
+     If you’ve any thought or woe,
+     Drown them in the goblet’s flow.
+     Yes! dash them in this brimming cup;
+     Dash them in, and drink them up.
+     Drink, drink, deeply drink,
+     Never feel, and never think.
+
+‘Hark, the trumpets! The King and Queen! ‘The procession is coming.
+Let’s away.’
+
+‘Again! they must be near. Hurry, hurry, for good places.’
+
+‘Break all the cups and dishes. Come along!’
+
+The multitude from all quarters hurried to the great circus, amid the
+clash of ten thousand cymbals and the blast of innumerable trumpets.
+In the distance, issuing from the gates of Bagdad, might be discerned a
+brilliant crowd, the advance company of the bridal procession.
+
+There came five hundred maidens crowned with flowers, and beauteous as
+the buds that girt their hair. Their flowing robes were whiter than the
+swan, and each within her hand a palm-branch held. Followed these a
+band of bright musicians, clothed in golden robes, and sounding silver
+trumpets.
+
+Then five hundred youths, brilliant as stars, clad in jackets of
+white-fox skin, and alternately bearing baskets of fruit or flowers.
+
+Followed these a band of bright musicians, clothed in silver robes, and
+sounding golden trumpets.
+
+Six choice steeds, sumptuously caparisoned, each led by an Arab
+groom.[69]
+
+The household of Medad, in robes of crimson, lined with sable.
+
+The standard of Medad.
+
+Medad, on a coal-black Arab, followed by three hundred officers of his
+division, all mounted on steeds of pure race.
+
+Slaves, bearing the bridal present of Medad; six Damascus sabres of
+unrivalled temper.[70]
+
+Twelve choice steeds, sumptuously caparisoned, each led by an Anatolian
+groom.
+
+The household of Ithamar, in robes of violet, lined with ermine.
+
+The standard of Ithamar.
+
+Ithamar, on a snow-white Anatolian charger, followed by six hundred
+officers of his division, all mounted on steeds of pure race.
+
+Slaves bearing the marriage present of Ithamar; a golden vase of rubies
+borne on a violet throne.
+
+One hundred Negroes, their noses bored, and hung with rings of
+brilliants, playing upon wind instruments and kettle-drums.
+
+The standard of the City of Bagdad.
+
+The deputation from the citizens of Bagdad.
+
+Two hundred mules, with caparisons of satin, embroidered with gold,
+and adorned with small golden bells. These bore the sumptuous wardrobe,
+presented by the city to their princess. Each mule was attended by a
+girl, dressed like a Péri, with starry wings, and a man, masked as a
+hideous Dive.
+
+The standard of Egypt.
+
+The deputation from the Hebrews of Egypt, mounted on dromedaries, with
+silver furniture.
+
+Fifty slaves, bearing their present to the princess, with golden cords,
+a mighty bath of jasper, beautifully carved, the sarcophagus of some
+ancient temple, and purchased for an immense sum.
+
+The standard of Syria.
+
+The deputation from the Hebrews of the Holy Land, headed by Rabbi Zimri
+himself, each carrying in his hand his offering to the nuptial pair, a
+precious vase, containing earth from the Mount of Zion.
+
+The standard of Hamadan.
+
+The deputation from the citizens of Hamadan, headed by the venerable
+Bostenay himself, whose sumptuous charger was led by Caleb.
+
+The present of the city of Hamadan to David Al-roy, offered at his own
+suggestion; the cup in which the Prince of the Captivity carried his
+tribute, now borne full of sand.
+
+Fifty choice steeds, sumptuously caparisoned, each led by a Median or
+Persian groom.
+
+The household of Abner and Miriam, in number twelve hundred, clad in
+chain armour of ivory and gold.
+
+The standard of the Medes and Persians.
+
+Two white elephants, with golden litters, bearing the Viceroy and his
+Princess.
+
+The offering of Abner to Alroy; twelve elephants of state, with
+furniture embroidered with jewels, each tended by an Indian clad in
+chain armour of ivory and gold.
+
+The offering of Miriam to Schirene; fifty plants of roses from
+Rocnabad;[71] a white shawl of Cachemire fifty feet in length, which
+folded into the handle of a fan; fifty screens, each made of a feather
+of the roc;[72] and fifty vases of crystal full of exquisite perfumes,
+and each sealed with a talisman of precious stones.
+
+After these followed the eunuch guard.
+
+Then came the band of the serail, consisting of three hundred dwarfs,
+hideous indeed to behold, but the most complete musicians in the world.
+
+The steeds of Solomon, in number one hundred, each with a natural star
+upon its front, uncaparisoned, and led only by a bridle of diamonds.
+
+The household of Alroy and Schirene. Foremost, the Lord Honain riding
+upon a chestnut charger, shod with silver; the dress of the rider, pink
+with silver stars. From his rosy turban depended a tremulous aigrette of
+brilliants,73 blazing with a thousand shifting tints.
+
+Two hundred pages followed him; and then servants of both sexes,
+gorgeously habited, amounting to nearly two thousand, carrying rich
+vases, magnificent caskets, and costly robes. The treasurer and two
+hundred of his underlings came next, showering golden dirhems on all
+sides.
+
+The sceptre of Solomon borne by Asriel himself.
+
+A magnificent and lofty car, formed of blue enamel with golden wheels,
+and axletrees of turquoises and brilliants, and drawn by twelve
+snow-white and sacred horses, four abreast; in the car Alroy and
+Schirene.
+
+Five thousand of the Sacred Guard closed the procession.
+
+Amid the exclamations of the people, this gorgeous procession crossed
+the plain, and moved around the mighty circus. The conqueror and his
+bride ascended their throne; its steps were covered by the youths and
+maidens. On the throne upon their right sat the venerable Bostenay; on
+the left, the gallant Viceroy and his Princess. The chartaks on each
+side were crowded with the court.
+
+The deputations made their offerings, the chiefs and captains paid their
+homage, the trades of the city moved before the throne in order, and
+exhibited their various ingenuity. Thrice was the proclamation made,
+amid the sound of trumpets, and then began the games.
+
+A thousand horsemen dashed into the arena and threw the jerreed. They
+galloped at full speed; they arrested their fiery charges in mid course,
+and flung their long javelins at the minute but sparkling target, the
+imitative form of a rare and brilliant bird. The conquerors received
+their prizes from the hand of the princess herself, bright shawls, and
+jewelled daggers, and rosaries of gems. Sometimes the trumpets announced
+a prize from the vice-queen, sometimes from the venerable Bostenay,
+sometimes from the victorious generals, or the loyal deputations,
+sometimes from the united trades, sometimes from the City of Bagdad,
+sometimes from the City of Hamadan. The hours flew away in gorgeous and
+ceaseless variety.
+
+‘I would we were alone, my own Schirene,’ said Alroy to his bride.
+
+‘I would so too; and yet I love to see all Asia prostrate at the feet of
+Alroy.’
+
+‘Will the sun never set? Give me thy hand to play with.’
+
+‘Hush! See, Miriam smiles.’
+
+‘Lovest thou my sister, my own Schirene?’
+
+‘None dearer but thyself.’
+
+‘Talk not of my sister, but ourselves. Thinkest thou the sun is nearer
+setting, love?’
+
+‘I cannot see; thine eyes they dazzle me, they are so brilliant, sweet!’
+
+‘Oh, my soul! I could pour out my passion on thy breast.’
+
+‘Thou art very serious.’
+
+‘Love is ever so.’
+
+‘Nay, sweet! It makes me wild and fanciful. Now I could do such things,
+but what I know not. I would we had wings, and then we would fly away.’
+
+‘See, I must salute this victor in the games. Must I unloose thy hand!
+Dear hand, farewell! Think of me while I speak, my precious life. ‘Tis
+done. Give back thy hand, or else methinks I shall die. What’s this?’
+
+A horseman, in no holiday dress, but covered with dust, rushed into the
+circus, bearing in his hand a tall lance, on which was fixed a scroll.
+The marshals of the games endeavoured to prevent his advance, but he
+would not be stayed. His message was to the king alone. A rumour of news
+from the army circulated throughout the crowd. And news from the army it
+was. Another victory! Scherirah had defeated the Sultan of Roum, who was
+now a suppliant for peace and alliance. Sooth to say, the intelligence
+had arrived at dawn of day, but the courtly Honain had contrived that it
+should be communicated at a later and more effective moment.
+
+There scarcely needed this additional excitement to this glorious day.
+But the people cheered, the golden dirhems were scattered with renewed
+profusion, and the intelligence was received by all parties as a solemn
+ratification by Jehovah, or by Allah, of the morning ceremony.
+
+The sun set, the court rose, and returned in the same pomp to the
+serail. The twilight died away, a beacon fired on a distant eminence
+announced the entrance of Alroy and Schirene into the nuptial chamber,
+and suddenly, as by magic, the mighty city, every mosque, and minaret,
+and tower, and terrace, and the universal plain, and the numberless
+pavilions, and the immense circus, and the vast and winding river,
+blazed with light. From every spot a lamp, a torch, a lantern, tinted
+with every hue, burst forth; enormous cressets of silver radiancy beamed
+on the top of each chartak, and huge bonfires of ruddy flame started up
+along the whole horizon.
+
+For seven days and seven nights this unparalleled scene of rejoicing,
+though ever various, never ceased. Long, long was remembered the bridal
+feast of the Hebrew prince and the caliph’s daughter; long, long did the
+peasantry on the plains of Tigris sit down by the side of that starry
+river, and tell the wondrous tale to their marvelling posterity.
+
+Now what a glorious man was David Alroy, lord of the mightiest empire
+in the world, and wedded to the most beautiful princess, surrounded by
+a prosperous and obedient people, guarded by invincible armies, one on
+whom Earth showered all its fortune, and Heaven all its favour; and all
+by the power of his own genius!
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER IX.
+
+     _The Death of Jabaster_
+
+‘TWAS midnight, and the storm still raged; ‘mid the roar of the thunder
+and the shrieks of the wind, the floods of forky lightning each instant
+revealed the broad and billowy breast of the troubled Tigris. Jabaster
+stood gazing upon the wild scene from the gallery of his palace. His
+countenance was solemn, but disquieted.
+
+‘I would that he were here!’ exclaimed the high priest. ‘Yet why should
+I desire his presence, who heralds only gloom? Yet in his absence am I
+gay? I am nothing. This Bagdad weighs upon me like a cloak of lead: my
+spirit is dull and broken.’
+
+‘They say Alroy gives a grand banquet in the serail to-night, and toasts
+his harlot ‘mid the thunderbolts. Is there no hand to write upon the
+wall? He is found wanting, he is weighed, and is indeed found wanting.
+The parting of his kingdom soon will come, and then, I could weep, oh!
+I could weep, and down these stern and seldom yielding cheeks pour the
+wild anguish of my desperate woe. So young, so great, so favoured! But
+one more step a God, and now a foul Belshazzar!
+
+‘Was it for this his gentle youth was passed in musing solitude and
+mystic studies? Was it for this the holy messenger summoned his most
+religious spirit? Was it for this he crossed the fiery desert, and
+communed with his fathers in their tombs? Is this the end of all his
+victories and all his vast achievements? To banquet with a wanton!
+
+‘A year ago, this very night, it was the eve of battle, I stood within
+his tent to wait his final word. He mused awhile, and then he said,
+“Good night, Jabaster!� I believed myself the nearest to his heart, as
+he has ever been nearest to mine, but that’s all over. He never says,
+“Good night, Jabaster,� now. Why, what’s all this? Methinks I am a
+child.
+
+‘The Lord’s anointed is a prisoner now in the light grating of a bright
+kiosk, and never gazes on the world he conquered. Egypt and Syria, even
+farthest Ind, send forth their messengers to greet Alroy, the great, the
+proud, the invincible. And where is he? In a soft Paradise of girls and
+eunuchs, crowned with flowers, listening to melting lays, and the wild
+trilling of the amorous lute. He spares no hours to council; all is left
+to his prime favourites, of whom the leader is that juggling fiend I
+sometime called my brother.
+
+‘Why rest I here? Whither should I fly? Methinks my presence is still a
+link to decency. Should I tear off the ephod, I scarcely fancy ‘twould
+blaze upon another’s breast. He goes not to the sacrifice; they say he
+keeps no fast, observes no ritual, and that their festive fantasies will
+not be balked, even by the Sabbath. I have not seen him thrice since
+the marriage. Honain has told her I did oppose it, and she bears to me
+a hatred that only women feel. Our strong passions break into a thousand
+purposes: women have one. Their love is dangerous, but their hate is
+fatal.
+
+‘See! a boat bounding on the waters. On such a night, but one would dare
+to venture.’
+
+Now visible, now in darkness, a single lantern at the prow, Jabaster
+watched with some anxiety the slight bark buffeting the waves. A flash
+of lightning illumined the whole river, and tipped with a spectral light
+even the distant piles of building. The boat and the toiling figure
+of the single rower were distinctly perceptible. Now all again was
+darkness; the wind suddenly subsided; in a few minutes the plash of the
+oars was audible, and the boat apparently stopped beneath the palace.
+
+There was a knocking at the private portal.
+
+‘Who knocks?’ enquired Jabaster.
+
+‘A friend to Israel.’
+
+‘Abidan, by his voice. Art thou alone?’
+
+‘The prophetess is with me; only she.’
+
+‘A moment. I’ll open the gate. Draw the boat within the arch.’
+
+Jabaster descended from the gallery, and in a few moments returned with
+two visitors: the youthful prophetess Esther, and her companion, a
+man short in stature, but with a powerful and well-knit frame. His
+countenance was melancholy, and, with harshness in the lower part, not
+without a degree of pensive beauty in the broad clear brow and sunken
+eyes, unusual in Oriental visages.
+
+‘A rough night,’ said Jabaster.
+
+‘To those who fear it,’ replied Abidan. ‘The sun has brought so little
+joy to me, I care not for the storm.’
+
+‘What news?’
+
+‘Woe! woe! woe!’
+
+‘Thy usual note, my sister. Will the day never come when we may change
+it?’
+
+‘Woe! woe! woe! unutterable woe!’
+
+‘Abidan, how fares it?’
+
+‘Very well.’
+
+‘Indeed!’
+
+‘As it may turn out.’
+
+‘You are brief.’
+
+‘Bitter.’
+
+‘Have you been to court, that you have learnt to be so wary in your
+words, my friend?’
+
+‘I know not what may happen. In time we may all become courtiers, though
+I fear, Jabaster, we have done too much to be rewarded. I gave him my
+blood, and you something more, and now we are at Bagdad. ‘Tis a
+fine city. I wish to Heaven the shower of Sodom would rain upon its
+terraces.’
+
+‘I know thou hast something terrible to tell. I know it by that gloomy
+brow of thine, that lowers like the tempest. Speak out, man, I can bear
+the worst, for which I am prepared.’
+
+‘Take it, then. Alroy has proclaimed himself Caliph. Abner is made
+Sultan of Persia; Asriel, Ithamar, Medad, and the chief captains,
+Vizirs, Honain their chief. Four Moslem nobles are sworn into the
+council. The Princess goes to mosque in state next Friday; ‘tis said thy
+pupil doth accompany her.’
+
+‘I’ll not believe it! By the God of Sinai, I’ll not believe it! Were
+my own eye the accursed witness of the deed, I’d not believe it. Go to
+mosque! They play with thee, my good Abidan, they play with thee.’
+
+‘As it may be. Tis a rumour, but rumours herald deeds. The rest of my
+intelligence is true. I had it from my kinsman, stout Zalmunna. He left
+the banquet.’
+
+‘Shall I go to him? Methinks one single word, To mosque! only a rumour
+and a false one. I’ll never believe it; no, no, no, never, never! Is he
+not the Lord’s anointed? The ineffable curse upon this daughter ot the
+Moabite! No marvel that it thunders! By heavens, I’ll go and beard him
+in his orgies!’
+
+‘You know your power better than Abidan. You bearded him before his
+marriage, yet----’
+
+‘He married. Tis true. Honain, their chief. And I kept his ring! Honain
+is my brother. Have I ne’er a dagger to cut the bond of brotherhood?’
+
+‘We have all daggers, Jabaster, if we knew but how to use them.’
+
+‘‘Tis strange, we met after twenty years of severance. You were not
+in the chamber, Abidan. ‘Twas at council. We met after twenty years of
+severance. He is my brother. ‘Tis strange, I say: I felt that man shrink
+from my embrace.’
+
+‘Honain is a philosopher, and believes in sympathy. ‘Twould appear there
+was none between you. His system, then, absolves you from all ties.’
+
+‘You are sure the rest of the intelligence is true? I’ll not believe the
+mosque, the rest is bad enough.’
+
+‘Zalmunna left the banquet. Hassan Subah’s brother sat above him.’
+
+‘Subah’s brother! ‘Tis all over, then. Is he of the council?’
+
+‘Ay, and others.’
+
+‘Where now is Israel?’
+
+‘She should be in her tents.’
+
+‘Woe! woe! unutterable woe!’ exclaimed the prophetess, who, standing
+motionless at the back of the chamber, seemed inattentive to their
+conversation.
+
+Jabaster paced the gallery with agitated steps. Suddenly he stopped,
+and, walking up to Abidan, seized his arm, and looked him sternly in
+the face. ‘I know thy thoughts, Abidan,’ exclaimed the priest; ‘but it
+cannot be. I have dismissed, henceforth and for ever I have dismissed
+all feeling from my mind; now I have no brother, no friend, no pupil,
+and, I fear, no Saviour. Israel is all in all to me. I have no other
+life. ‘Tis not compunction, then, that stays my arm. My heart’s as hard
+as thine.’
+
+‘Why stays it then?’
+
+‘Because with him we fall. He is the last of all his sacred line. There
+is no other hand to grasp our sceptre.’
+
+‘_Our_ sceptre! what sceptre?’
+
+‘The sceptre of our kings.’
+
+‘Kings!’
+
+‘Ay, why dost thou look so dark?’
+
+‘How looked the prophet when the stiff-necked populace forsooth must
+have a king! Did he smile? Did he shout, and clap his hands, and cry,
+God save his Majesty! O, Jabaster! honoured, rare Jabaster! thou second
+Samuel of our lightheaded people! there was a time when Israel had no
+king except their God. Were we viler then? Did kings conquer Canaan? Who
+was Moses, who was Aaron, who was mighty Joshua? Was the sword of Gideon
+a kingly sword? Did the locks of Samson shade royal temples? Would a
+king have kept his awful covenant like solemn Jephtha? Royal words
+are light as air, when, to maintain them, you injure any other than a
+subject.
+
+‘Kings! why, what’s a king? Why should one man break the equal sanctity
+of our chosen race? Is their blood purer than our own? We are all the
+seed of Abraham. Who was Saul, and who was David? I never heard that
+they were a different breed from our fathers. Grant them devout, which
+they were not; and brave and wise, which other men were; have their
+posterity a patent for all virtues? No, Jabaster! thou ne’er didst err,
+but when thou placedst a crown upon this haughty stripling. What he did,
+a thousand might have done. ‘Twas thy mind inspired the deed. And now he
+is a king; and now Jabaster, the very soul of Israel, who should be our
+Judge and leader, Jabaster trembles in disgrace, while our unhallowed
+Sanhedrim is filled with Ammonites!’
+
+‘Abidan, thou hast touched me to the quick; thou hast stirred up
+thoughts that ever and anon, like strong and fatal vapours, have risen
+from the dark abyss of thought, and I have quelled them.’
+
+‘Let them rise, I say; let them drown the beams of that all-scorching
+sun we suffer under, that drinks all vegetation up, and makes us
+languish with a dull exhaustion!’
+
+‘Joy! joy! unutterable joy!’
+
+‘Hark! the prophetess has changed her note; and yet she hears us not.
+The spirit of the Lord is truly with her. Come, Jabaster, I see thy
+heart is opening to thy people’s sufferings; thy people, my Jabaster,
+for art not thou our Judge? At least, thou shalt be.’
+
+‘Can we call back the Theocracy? Is’t possible?’
+
+‘But say the word, and it is done, Jabaster. Nay, stare not. Dost thou
+think there are no true hearts in Israel? Dost thou suppose thy children
+have beheld, without a thought, the foul insults poured on thee; thee,
+their priest, their adored high priest, one who recalls the best days
+of the past, the days of their great Judges? But one word, one single
+movement of that mitred head, and---- But I speak unto a mind that feels
+more than I can express. Be silent, tongue, thou art a babbling
+counsellor. Jabaster’s patriot soul needs not the idle schooling of a
+child. If he be silent, ‘tis that his wisdom deems that the hour is not
+ripe, but when her leader speaks, Israel will not be slack.’
+
+‘The Moslemin in council! We know what must come next. Our national
+existence is in its last agony. Methinks the time is very ripe, Abidan.’
+
+‘Why, so we think, great sir; and say the word, and twenty thousand
+spears will guard the Ark. I’ll answer for my men. Stout Scherirah looks
+grimly on the Moabites. A word from thee, and the whole Syrian army will
+join our banner, the Lion of Judah, that shall be our flag. The tyrant
+and his satraps, let them die, and then the rest must join us. We’ll
+proclaim the covenant, and, leaving Babylon to a bloody fate, march on
+to Zion!’
+
+‘Zion, his youthful dream, Zion!’
+
+‘You muse!’
+
+‘King or no king, he is the Lord’s anointed. Shall this hand, that
+poured the oil on his hallowed head, wash out the balmy signet with his
+blood? Must I slay him? Shall this kid be seethed even in its mother’s
+milk?’
+
+‘His voice is low, and yet his face is troubled. How now, sir?’
+
+‘What art thou? Ah! Abidan, trusty, stanch Abidan! You see, Abidan, I
+was thinking, my good Abidan, all this may be the frenzy of a revel.
+Tomorrow’s dawn may summon cooler counsels. The tattle of the table, it
+is sacred. Let us forget it; let us pass it over. The Lord may turn his
+heart. Who knows, who knows, Abidan!’
+
+‘Noble sir, a moment since your mind was like your faith, firm and
+resolved, and now----’
+
+‘School me not, school me not, good Abidan. There is that within my mind
+you cannot fathom; some secret sorrows which are all my own. Leave
+me, good friend, leave me awhile. When Israel calls me I shall not be
+wanting. Be sure of that, Abidan, be sure of that. Nay, do not go; the
+night is very rough, and the fair prophetess should not again stem the
+swelling river. I’ll to my closet, and will soon return.’
+
+Jabaster quitted the gallery, and entered a small apartment. Several
+large volumes, unclasped and open, were lying on various parts of the
+divan. Before them stood his brazen cabalistic table. He closed
+the chamber with a cautious air. He advanced into the centre of the
+apartment. He lifted up his hands to heaven, and clasped them with an
+expression almost of agony.
+
+‘Is it come to this?’ he muttered in a tone of deep oppression. ‘Is it
+come to this? What is’t I have heard? what done? Down, tempting devil,
+down! O life! O glory! O my country, my chosen people, and my sacred
+creed! why do we live, why act? Why have we feeling for aught that’s
+famous, or for aught that’s holy? Let me die! let, let me die! The
+torture of existence is too great.’
+
+He flung himself upon the couch; he buried his awful countenance in his
+robes. His mighty heart was convulsed with passion. There did he lie,
+that great and solemn man, prostrate and woe-begone.
+
+‘The noisy banquet lingers in my ear; I love to be alone.’
+
+‘With me?’
+
+‘Thou art myself; I have no other life.’
+
+‘Sweet bird! It is now a caliph.’
+
+‘I am what thou wiliest, soul of my sweet existence! Pomp and dominion,
+fame and victory, seem now but flawed and dimly-shaded gems compared
+with thy bright smile!’
+
+‘My plaintive nightingale, shall we hunt to-day?’
+
+‘Alas! my rose, I would rather lie upon this lazy couch, and gaze upon
+thy beauty!’
+
+‘Or sail upon the cool and azure lake, in some bright barque, like to a
+sea-nymph’s shell, and followed by the swans?’
+
+‘There is no lake so blue as thy deep eye; there is no swan so white as
+thy round arm!’
+
+‘Or shall we launch our falcons in the air, and bring the golden
+pheasant to our feet?’
+
+‘I am the golden pheasant at thy feet; why wouldst thou richer prey?’
+
+‘Rememberest thou thy earliest visit to this dear kiosk, my gentle mute?
+There thou stoodst with folded arms and looks demure as day, and ever
+and anon with those dark eyes stealing a glance which made my cheek
+quite pale. Methinks I see thee even yet, shy bird. Dost know, I was so
+foolish when it quitted me, dost know I cried?’
+
+‘Ah, no! thou didst not cry?’
+
+‘Indeed, I think I did.’
+
+‘Tell me again, my own Schirene, indeed didst cry?’
+
+‘Indeed I did, my soul!’
+
+‘I would those tears were in some crystal vase, I’d give a province for
+the costly urn.’
+
+She threw her arms around his neck and covered his face with kisses.
+
+Sunset sounded from the minarets. They arose and wandered together in
+the surrounding paradise. The sky was tinted with a pale violet flush,
+a single star floating by the side of the white moon, that beamed with a
+dim lustre, soft and shapely as a pearl.
+
+‘Beautiful!’ exclaimed the pensive Schirene, as she gazed upon the star.
+‘O, my Alroy, why cannot we ever live alone, and ever in a paradise?’
+
+‘I am wearied of empire,’ replied Alroy with a smile, ‘let us fly!’
+
+‘Is there no island, with all that can make life charming, and yet
+impervious to man? How little do we require! Ah! if these gardens,
+instead of being surrounded by hateful Bagdad, were only encompassed by
+some beautiful ocean!’
+
+‘My heart, we live in a paradise, and are seldom disturbed, thanks to
+Honain!’
+
+‘But the very consciousness that there are any other persons existing
+besides ourselves is to me painful. Every one who even thinks of you
+seems to rob me of a part of your being. Besides, I am weary of pomp and
+palaces. I should like to live in a sparry grot, and sleep upon a couch
+of sweet leaves!’
+
+This interesting discussion was disturbed by a dwarf, who, in addition
+to being very small and very ugly, was dumb. He bowed before the
+Princess; and then had recourse to a great deal of pantomimic action, by
+which she discovered that it was dinnertime. No other person could
+have ventured to disturb the royal pair, but this little being was a
+privileged favourite.
+
+So Alroy and Schirene entered the serail. An immense cresset-lamp, fed
+with perfumed oil, threw a soft light round the sumptuous chamber. At
+the end stood a row of eunuchs in scarlet dresses, and each holding a
+tall silver staff. The Caliph and the Sultana threw themselves upon
+a couch covered with a hundred cushions; on one side stood a group
+consisting of the captain of the guard and other officers of the
+household, on the other, of beautiful female slaves magnificently
+attired.
+
+The line of domestics at the end of the apartment opened, and a body of
+slaves advanced, carrying trays of ivory and gold, and ebony and silver,
+covered with the choicest dainties, curiously prepared. These were
+in turn offered to the Caliph and the Sultana by their surrounding
+attendants. The Princess accepted a spoon made of a single pearl,
+the long, thin golden handle of which was studded with rubies, and
+condescended to partake of some saffron soup, of which she was fond.
+Afterwards she regaled herself with the breast of a cygnet, stuffed
+with almonds, and stewed with violets and cream. Having now a little
+satisfied her appetite, and wishing to show a mark of her favour to a
+particular individual, she ordered the captain of the guard instantly
+to send him the whole of the next course[74] with her compliments. Her
+attention was then engaged with a dish of those delicate ortolans that
+feed upon the vine-leaves of Schiraz, and with which the Governor of
+Nishapur took especial care that she should be well provided. Tearing
+the delicate birds to pieces with her still more delicate fingers, she
+insisted upon feeding Alroy, who of course yielded to her solicitations.
+In the meantime, they refreshed themselves with their favourite sherbet
+of pomegranates, and the golden wine of Mount Lebanon.[76] The Caliph,
+who could eat no more ortolans, although fed by such delicate fingers,
+was at length obliged to call for ‘rice,’ which was synonymous to
+commanding the banquet to disappear. The attendants now brought to each
+basins of gold, and ewers of rock crystal filled with rose water, with
+towels of that rare Egyptian linen which can be made only of the cotton
+that grows upon the banks of the Nile. While they amused themselves with
+eating sugar-plums, and drinking coffee flavoured with cinnamon, the
+female slaves danced before them in the most graceful attitudes to the
+melody of invisible musicians.
+
+‘My enchanting Schirene,’ said the Caliph, ‘I have dined, thanks to your
+attention, very well. These slaves of yours dance admirably, and are
+exceedingly beautiful. Your music, too, is beyond all praise; but, for
+my own part, I would rather be quite alone, and listening to one of your
+songs.’
+
+‘I have written a new one to-day. You shall hear it.’ So saying, she
+clapped her little white hands, and all the attendants immediately
+withdrew.
+
+‘The stars are stealing forth, and so will I. Sorry sight! to view
+Jabaster, with a stealthy step, skulk like a thing dishonoured! Oh! may
+the purpose consecrate the deed! the die is cast.’
+
+So saying, the High Priest, muffled up in his robe, emerged from his
+palace into the busy streets. It is at night that the vitality of
+Oriental life is most impressive. The narrow winding streets, crowded
+with a population breathing the now sufferable air, the illuminated
+coffee-houses, the groups of gay yet sober revellers, the music, and the
+dancing, and the animated recitals of the poet and the story-teller, all
+combine to invest the starry hours with a beguiling and even fascinating
+character of enjoyment and adventure.
+
+It was the night after the visit of Abidan and the prophetess. Jabaster
+had agreed to meet Abidan in the square of the great mosque two hours
+after sunset, and thither he now repaired.
+
+‘I am somewhat before my time,’ he said, as he entered the great square,
+over which the rising moon threw a full flood of light. A few dark
+shadows of human beings alone moved in the distance. The world was in
+the streets and coffee-houses. ‘I am somewhat before my time,’ said
+Jabaster. ‘Conspirators are watchful. I am anxious for the meeting, and
+yet I dread it. Since he broke this business, I have never slept. My
+mind is a chaos. I will not think. If ‘tis to be done, let it be done at
+once. I am more tempted to sheathe this dagger in Jabaster’s breast than
+in Alroy’s. If life or empire were the paltry stake, I would end a life
+that now can bring no joy, and yield authority that hath no charm; but
+Israel, Israel, thou for whom I have endured so much, let me forget
+Jabaster had a mother!
+
+‘But for this thought that links me with my God, and leads my temper to
+a higher state, how vain and sad, how wearisome and void, were this said
+world they think of! But for this thought, I could sit down and die.
+Yea! my great heart could crack, worn out, worn out; my mighty passions,
+with their fierce but flickering flame, sink down and die; and the
+strong brain that ever hath urged my course, and pricked me onward with
+perpetual thought, desert the rudder it so long hath held, like some
+baffled pilot in blank discomfiture, in the far centre of an unknown
+sea.
+
+‘Study and toil, anxiety and sorrow, mighty action, perchance Time, and
+disappointment, which is worse than all, have done their work, and not
+in vain. I am no longer the same Jabaster that gazed upon the stars of
+Caucasus. Methinks even they look dimmer than of yore. The glory of my
+life is fading. My leaves are sear, tinged, but not tainted. I am still
+the same in one respect; I have not left my God, in deed or thought. Ah!
+who art thou?’
+
+‘A friend to Israel.’
+
+‘I am glad that Israel hath a friend. Noble Abi-dan, I have well
+considered all that hath passed between us. Sooth to say, you touched
+upon a string I’ve played before, but kept it for my loneliness; a
+jarring tune, indeed a jarring tune, but so it is, and being so, let me
+at once unto your friends, Abi-dan.’
+
+‘Noble Jabaster, thou art what I deemed thee.’
+
+‘Abidan, they say the consciousness of doing justly is the best basis of
+a happy mind.’
+
+‘Even so.’
+
+‘And thou believest it?’
+
+‘Without doubt.’
+
+‘We are doing very justly?’
+
+‘‘Tis a weak word for such a holy purpose.’
+
+‘I am most wretched!’
+
+The High Priest and his companion entered the house of Abidan. Jabaster
+addressed the already assembled guests.
+
+‘Brave Scherirah, it joys me to find thee here. In Israel’s cause when
+was Scherirah wanting? Stout Zalmunna, we have not seen enough of each
+other: the blame is mine. Gentle prophetess, thy blessing!
+
+‘Good friends, why we meet here is known to all. Little did we dream of
+such a meeting when we crossed the Tigris. But that is nothing. We come
+to act, and not to argue. Our great minds, they are resolved: our solemn
+purpose requires no demonstration. If there be one among us who would
+have Israel a slave to Ishmael, who would lose all we have prayed
+for, all we have fought for, all we have won, and all for which we
+are prepared to die, if there be one among us who would have the Ark
+polluted, and Jehovah’s altar stained with a Gentile sacrifice, if there
+be one among us who does not sigh for Zion, who would not yield his
+breath to build the Temple and gain the heritage his fathers lost,
+why, let him go! There is none such among us: then stay, and free your
+country!’
+
+‘We are prepared, great Jabaster; we are prepared, all, all!’
+
+‘I know it; you are like myself. Necessity hath taught decision. Now for
+our plans. Speak, Zalmunna.’
+
+‘Noble Jabaster, I see much difficulty. Alroy no longer quits his
+palace. Our entrance unwatched is, you well know, impossible. What say
+you, Scherirah?’
+
+‘I doubt not of my men, but war against Alroy is, to say nought of
+danger, of doubtful issue.’
+
+‘I am prepared to die, but not to fail,’ said Abidan. ‘We must be
+certain. Open war I fear. The mass of the army will side with their
+leaders, and they are with the tyrant. Let us do the deed, and they must
+join us.’
+
+‘Is it impossible to gain his presence to some sacrifice in honour of
+some by-gone victory; what think ye?’
+
+‘I doubt much, Jabaster. At this moment he little wishes to sanction our
+national ceremonies with his royal person. The woman assuredly will
+stay him. And, even if he come, success is difficult, and therefore
+doubtful.’
+
+‘Noble warriors, list to a woman’s voice,’ exclaimed the prophetess,
+coming forward. ‘‘Tis weak, but with such instruments, even the
+aspirations of a child, the Lord will commune with his chosen people.
+There is a secret way by which I can gain the gardens of the palace.
+To-morrow night, just as the moon is in her midnight bower, behold the
+accursed pile shall blaze. Let Abidan’s troops be all prepared, and at
+the moment when the flames first ascend, march to the Seraglio gate as
+if with aid. The affrighted guard will offer no opposition. While
+the troops secure the portals, you yourselves, Zalmunna, Abidan, and
+Jabaster, rush to the royal chamber and do the deed. In the meantime,
+let brave Scherirah, with his whole division, surround the palace, as if
+unconscious of the mighty work. Then come you forward, show, if it need,
+with tears, the fated body to the soldiery, and announce the Theocracy.’
+
+‘It is the Lord who speaks,’ said Abidan, who was doubtless prepared for
+the proposition. ‘He has delivered them into our hands.’
+
+‘A bold plan,’ said Jabaster, musing, ‘and yet I like it. ‘Tis quick,
+and that is something. I think ‘tis sure.’
+
+‘It cannot fail,’ exclaimed Zalmunna, ‘for if the flame ascend not,
+still we are but where we were.’
+
+‘I am for it,’ said Scherirah.
+
+‘Well, then,’ said Jabaster, ‘so let it be. Tomorrow’s eve will see us
+here again prepared. Good night.’
+
+‘Good night, holy Priest. How seem the stars, Jabaster?’
+
+‘Very troubled; so have they been some days. What they portend I know
+not.’
+
+‘Health to Israel.’
+
+‘Let us hope so. Good night, sweet friends.’
+
+‘Good night, holy Jabaster. Thou art our cornerstone.’
+
+‘Israel hath no other hope but in Jabaster.’
+
+‘My Lord,’ said Abidan, ‘remain, I pray, one moment.’
+
+‘What is’t? I fain would go.’
+
+‘Alroy must die, my Lord, but dost thou think a single death will seal
+the covenant?’
+
+‘The woman?’
+
+‘Ay! the woman! I was not thinking of the woman. Asriel, Ithamar,
+Medad?’
+
+‘Valiant soldiers! doubt not we shall find them useful instruments. I
+do not fear such loose companions. They follow their leaders, like other
+things born to obey. Having no head themselves, they must follow us who
+have.’
+
+‘I think so too. There is no other man who might be dangerous?’
+
+Zalmunna and Scherirah cast their eyes upon the ground. There was a dead
+silence, broken by the prophetess.
+
+‘A judgment hath gone forth against Honain!’ ‘Nay! he is Lord Jabaster’s
+brother,’ said Abidan.
+
+‘It is enough to save a more inveterate foe to Israel, if such there
+be.’
+
+‘I have no brother, Sir. The man you speak of I will not slay, since
+there are others who may do that deed. And so again, good night.’
+
+It was the dead of night, a single lamp burned in the chamber, which
+opened into an arched gallery that descended by a flight of steps into
+the gardens of the Serail.
+
+A female figure ascended the flight with slow and cautious steps. She
+paused on the gallery, she looked around, one foot was in the chamber.
+
+She entered. She entered a chamber of small dimensions, but richly
+adorned. In the farthest corner was a couch of ivory, hung with a gauzy
+curtain of silver tissue, which, without impeding respiration, protected
+the slumberer from the fell insects of an Oriental night. Leaning
+against an ottoman was a large brazen shield of ancient fashion, and
+near it some helmets and curious weapons.
+
+‘An irresistible impulse hath carried me into this chamber!’ exclaimed
+the prophetess. ‘The light haunted me like a spectre; and wheresoever I
+moved, it seemed to summon me.
+
+‘A couch and a slumberer!’
+
+She approached the object, she softly withdrew the curtain. Pale and
+panting, she rushed back, yet with a light step. She beheld Alroy!
+
+For a moment she leant against the wall, overpowered by her emotions.
+Again she advanced, and gazed on her unconscious victim.
+
+‘Can the guilty sleep like the innocent? Who would deem this gentle
+slumberer had betrayed the highest trust that ever Heaven vouchsafed to
+favoured man? He looks not like a tyrant and a traitor: calm his brow,
+and mild his placid breath! His long dark hair, dark as the raven’s
+wing, hath broken from its fillet, and courses, like a wild and stormy
+night, over his pale and moon-lit brow. His cheek is delicate, and yet
+repose hath brought a flush; and on his lip there seems some word of
+love, that will not quit it. It is the same Alroy that blessed our
+vision when, like the fresh and glittering star of morn, he rose up in
+the desert, and bringing joy to others, brought to me only----
+
+‘Oh! hush my heart, and let thy secret lie hid in the charnel-house of
+crushed affections. Hard is the lot of woman: to love and to conceal is
+our sharp doom! O bitter life! O most unnatural lot! Man made society,
+and made us slaves. And so we droop and die, or else take refuge in idle
+fantasies, to which we bring the fervour that is meant for nobler ends.
+
+‘Beauteous hero! whether I bear thee most hatred or most love I cannot
+tell. Die thou must; yet I feel I should die with thee. Oh! that
+to-night could lead at the same time unto our marriage bed and funeral
+pyre. Must that white bosom bleed? and must those delicate limbs be
+hacked and handled by these bloody butchers? Is that justice? They lie,
+the traitors, when they call thee false to our God. Thou art thyself a
+god, and I could worship thee! See those beauteous lips; they move. Hark
+to the music!’
+
+‘Schirene, Schirene!’
+
+‘There wanted but that word to summon back my senses. Fool! whither is
+thy fancy wandering? I will not wait for tardy justice. I will do the
+deed myself. Shall I not kill my Sisera?’ She seized a dagger from the
+ottoman, a rare and highly-tempered blade. Up she raised it in the air,
+and dashed it to his heart with superhuman force. It struck against the
+talisman which Jabaster had given to Alroy, and which, from a lingering
+superstition, he still wore; it struck, and shivered into a thousand
+pieces. The Caliph sprang from his couch; his eyes met the prophetess,
+standing over him in black despair, with the hilt of the dagger in her
+hand.
+
+‘What is all this? Schirene! Who art thou? Esther!’ He jumped from
+the couch, called to Pharez, and seized her by both hands. ‘Speak!’ he
+continued. ‘Art thou Esther? What dost thou here?’
+
+She broke into a wild laugh; she wrestled with his grasp, and pulled him
+towards the gallery. He beheld the chief tower of the Serail in flames.
+Joining her hands together, grasping them both in one of his, and
+dragging her towards the ottoman, he seized a helmet and flung it upon
+the mighty shield. It sounded like a gong. Pharez started from his
+slumbers, and rushed into the chamber.
+
+‘Pharez! Treason! treason! Send instant orders that the palace gates be
+opened on no pretence whatever. Go, fly! See the captain himself. Summon
+the household. Order all to arms. Speed, for our lives!’
+
+The whole palace was now roused. Alroy delivered Esther, exhausted,
+and apparently senseless, to a guard of eunuchs. Slaves and attendants
+poured in from all directions. Soon arrived Schirene, with dishevelled
+hair and hurried robes, attended by a hundred maidens, each bearing a
+torch.
+
+‘My soul, what ails thee?’
+
+‘Nothing, sweetest; all will soon be well,’ replied Alroy, picking up,
+and examining the fragments of the shivered dagger, which he had just
+discovered.
+
+‘My life has been attempted; the palace is in flames; I suspect the city
+is in insurrection. Look to your mistress, maidens!’ Schirene fell into
+their arms. ‘I will soon be back.’ So saying, he hurried to the grand
+court.
+
+Several thousand persons, for the population of the Serail and its
+liberties was very considerable, were assembled in the grand court;
+eunuchs, women, pages, slaves, and servants, and a few soldiers; all
+in confusion and alarm, fire raging within, and mysterious and terrible
+outcries without. A cry of ‘The Caliph! the Caliph!’ announced the
+arrival of Alroy, and produced a degree of comparative silence.
+
+‘Where is the captain of the guard?’ he exclaimed. ‘That’s well. Open
+the gates to none. Who will leap the wall and bear a message to Asriel?
+You? That’s well too. To-morrow you shall yourself command. Where’s
+Mesrour? Take the eunuch guard and the company of gardeners,76 and
+suppress the flames at all cost. Pull down the intervening buildings.
+Abidan’s troop arrived with succour, eh! I doubt it not. I expected
+them. Open to none. They force an entrance, eh! I thought so. So that
+javelin has killed a traitor. Feed me with arms. I’ll keep the gate.
+Send again to Asriel. Where’s Pharez?’
+
+‘By your side, my lord.’
+
+‘Run to the Queen, my faithful Pharez, and tell her that all’s well. I
+wish it were! Didst ever hear a din so awful? Methinks all the tambours
+and cymbals of the city are in full chorus. Foul play, I guess. Oh! for
+Asriel! Has Pharez returned?’
+
+‘I am by your side, my lord.’
+
+‘How’s the Queen?’
+
+‘She would gladly join your side.’
+
+‘No, no! Keep the gates there. Who says they are making fires before
+them? Tis true. We must sally, if the worst come to the worst, and die
+at least like soldiers. O Asriel! Asriel!’
+
+‘May it please your Highness, the troops are pouring in from all
+quarters.’
+
+‘‘Tis Asriel.’
+
+‘No, your Highness, ‘tis not the guard. Methinks they are Scherirah’s
+men.’
+
+‘Hum! What it all is, I know not; but very foul play I do not doubt.
+Where’s Honain?’
+
+‘With the Queen, Sire.’
+
+‘‘Tis well. What’s that shout?’
+
+‘Here’s the messenger from Asriel. Make way! way!’
+
+‘Well! how is’t, Sir?’
+
+‘Please your Highness, I could not reach the guard.’
+
+‘Could not reach the guard! God of my fathers! who should let thee?’
+
+‘Sire, I was taken prisoner.’
+
+‘Prisoner! By the thunder of Sinai, are we at war? Who made thee
+prisoner?’
+
+‘Sire, they have proclaimed thy death.’
+
+‘Who?’
+
+‘The council of the Elders. So I heard. Abidan, Zalmunna----’
+
+‘Rebels and dogs! Who else?’
+
+‘The High Priest.’
+
+‘Hah! Is it there? Pharez, fetch me some drink. Is it true Scherirah has
+joined them?’
+
+‘His force surrounds the Serail. No aid can reach us without cutting
+through his ranks.’
+
+‘Oh! that I were there with my good guard! Are we to die here like rats,
+fairly murdered? Cowardly knaves! Hold out, hold out, my men! ‘Tis sharp
+work, but some of us will smile at this hereafter. Who stands by Alroy
+to-night bravely and truly, shall have his heart’s content to-morrow.
+Fear not: I was not born to die in a civic broil. I bear a charmed life.
+So to it.’
+
+‘Go to the Caliph, good Honain, I pray thee, go. I can support myself,
+he needs thy counsel. Bid him not expose his precious life. The wicked
+men! Asriel must soon be here. What sayest thou?’
+
+‘There is no fear. Their plans are ill-devised. I have long expected
+this stormy night, and feel even now more anxious than alarmed.’
+
+‘‘Tis at me they aim; it is I whom they hate. The High Priest, too! Ay,
+ay! Thy proud brother, good Honain, I have ever felt he would not rest
+until he drove me from this throne, my right; or washed my hated name
+from out our annals in my life’s blood. Wicked, wicked Jabaster! He
+frowned upon me from the first, Honain. Is he indeed thy brother?’
+
+‘I care not to remember. He aims at something further than thy life; but
+Time will teach us more than all our thoughts.’
+
+The fortifications of the Serail resisted all the efforts of the rebels.
+Scherirah remained in his quarters, with his troops under arms, and
+recalled the small force that he had originally sent out as much to
+watch the course of events as to assist Abidan. Asriel and Ithamar
+poured down their columns in the rear of that chieftain, and by dawn a
+division of the guard had crossed the river, the care of which had been
+entrusted to Scherirah, and had thrown themselves into the palace. Alroy
+sallied forth at the head of these fresh troops. His presence decided a
+result which was perhaps never doubtful. The division of Abidan fought
+with the desperation that became their fortunes. The carnage was
+dreadful, but their discomfiture complete. They no longer acted
+in masses, or with any general system. They thought only of
+self-preservation, or of selling their lives at the dearest cost. Some
+dispersed, some escaped. Others entrenched themselves in houses, others
+fortified the bazaar. All the horrors of war in the streets were now
+experienced. The houses were in flames, the thoroughfares flowed with
+blood.
+
+At the head of a band of faithful followers, Abidan proved himself, by
+his courage and resources, worthy of success. At length, he was alone,
+or surrounded only by his enemies. With his back against a building in a
+narrow street, where the number of his opponents only embarrassed them,
+the three foremost of his foes fell before his irresistible scimitar.
+The barricaded door yielded to the pressure of the multitude. Abidan
+rushed up the narrow stairs, and, gaining a landing-place, turned
+suddenly round, and cleaved the skull of his nearest pursuer. He hurled
+the mighty body at his followers, and, retarding their advance, himself
+dashed onward, and gained the terrace of the mansion. Three soldiers of
+the guard followed him as he bounded from terrace to terrace. One, armed
+with a javelin, hurled it at the chieftain. The weapon slightly wounded
+Abidan, who, drawing it from his arm, sent it back to the heart of its
+owner. The two other soldiers, armed only with swords, gained upon him.
+He arrived at the last terrace in the cluster of buildings. He stood
+at bay on the brink of the precipice. He regained his breath. They
+approached him. He dodged them in their course. Suddenly, with admirable
+skill, he flung his scimitar edgewise at the legs of his farthest
+foe, who stopped short, roaring with pain. The chieftain sprang at the
+foremost, and hurled him down into the street below, where he was dashed
+to atoms. A trap-door offered itself to the despairing eye of the
+rebel. He descended and found himself in a room filled with women. They
+screamed, he rushed through them, and descending a Staircase, entered a
+chamber tenanted by a bed-ridden old man. The ancient invalid enquired
+the cause of the uproar, and died of fright before he could receive
+an answer, at the sight of the awful being before him, covered with
+streaming blood. Abidan secured the door, washed his blood-stained face,
+and disguising himself in the dusty robes of the deceased Armenian,
+sallied forth to watch the fray. The obscure street was silent. The
+chieftain proceeded unmolested. At the corner he found a soldier holding
+a charger for his captain. Abidan, unarmed, seized a poniard from the
+soldier’s belt, stabbed him to the heart, and vaulting on the steed,
+galloped towards the river. No boat was to be found; he breasted the
+stream upon the stout courser. He reached the opposite bank. A company
+of camels were reposing by the side of a fountain. Alarm had dispersed
+their drivers. He mounted the fleetest in appearance; he dashed to the
+nearest gate of the city. The guard at the gate refused him a passage.
+He concealed his agitation. A marriage procession, returning from the
+country, arrived. He rushed into the centre of it, and overset the bride
+in her gilded wagon. In the midst of the confusion, the shrieks, the
+oaths, and the scuffle, he forced his way through the gate, scoured over
+the country, and never stopped until he had gained the desert.
+
+The uproar died away. The shouts of warriors, the shrieks of women, the
+wild clang of warfare, all were silent. The flames were extinguished,
+the carnage ceased. The insurrection was suppressed, and order restored.
+The city, all the houses of which were closed, was patrolled by the
+conquering troops, and by sunset the conqueror himself, in his hall of
+state, received the reports and the congratulations of his chieftains.
+The escape of Abidan seemed counterbalanced by the capture of Jabaster.
+After performing prodigies of valour, the High Priest had been
+overpowered, and was now a prisoner in the Serail. The conduct of
+Scherirah was not too curiously criticised; a commission was appointed
+to enquire into the mysterious affair; and Alroy retired to the bath[77]
+to refresh himself after the fatigues of the victory which he could not
+consider a triumph.
+
+As he reposed upon his couch, melancholy and exhausted, Schirene was
+announced. The Princess threw herself upon his neck and covered him with
+embraces. His heart yielded to her fondness, his spirit became lighter,
+his depression melted away.
+
+‘My ruby!’ said Schirene, and she spoke in a low smothered voice, her
+face hidden and nestled in his breast. ‘My ruby! dost thou love me?’
+
+He smiled in fondness as he pressed her to his heart.
+
+‘My ruby, thy pearl is so frightened, it dare not look upon thee. Wicked
+men! ‘tis I whom they hate, ‘tis I whom they would destroy.’
+
+‘There is no danger, sweet. ‘Tis over now. Speak not, nay, do not think
+of it.’
+
+‘Ah! wicked men! There is no joy on earth while such things live.
+Slay Alroy, their mighty master, who, from vile slaves, hath made them
+princes! Ungrateful churls! I am so alarmed, I ne’er shall sleep again.
+What! slay my innocent bird, my pretty bird, my very heart! I’ll not
+believe it. It is I whom they hate. I am sure they will kill me. You
+shall never leave me, no, no, no, no! You shall not leave me, love,
+never, never! Didst hear a noise? Methinks they are even here, ready to
+plunge their daggers in our hearts, our soft, soft hearts! I think you
+love me, child; indeed, I think you do!’
+
+‘Take courage, heart! There is no fear, my soul; I cannot love thee
+more, or else I would.’
+
+‘All joy is gone! I ne’er shall sleep again. O my soul! art thou
+indeed alive? Do I indeed embrace my own Alroy, or is it all a wild and
+troubled dream, and are my arms clasped round a shadowy ghost, myself a
+spectre in a sepulchre? Wicked, wicked men! Can it indeed be true? What,
+slay Alroy! my joy, my only life! Ah! woe is me; our bright felicity
+hath fled for ever!’
+
+‘Not so, sweet child; we are but as we were. A few quick hours, and all
+will be as bright as if no storm had crossed our sunny days.’
+
+‘Hast seen Asriel? He says such fearful things!’
+
+‘How now?’
+
+‘Ah me! I am desolate. I have no friend.’
+
+‘Schirene!’
+
+‘They will have my blood. I know they will have my blood.’
+
+‘Indeed, an idle fancy.’
+
+‘Idle! Ask Asriel, question Ithamar. Idle! ‘tis written in their
+tablets, their bloody scroll of rapine and of murder. Thy death led only
+to mine, and, had they hoped my bird would but have yielded his gentle
+mate, they would have spared him. Ay! ay! ‘tis I whom they hate, ‘tis I
+whom they would destroy. This form, I fear it has lost its lustre, but
+still ‘tis thine, and once thou saidst thou lovedst it; this form was to
+have been hacked and mangled; this ivory bosom was to have been ripped
+up and tortured, and this warm blood, that flows alone for thee,
+that fell Jabaster was to pour its tide upon the altar of his ancient
+vengeance. He ever hated me!’
+
+‘Jabaster! Schirene! Where are we, and what are we? Life, life, they
+lie, that call thee Nature! Nature never sent these gusts of agony. Oh!
+my heart will break. I drove him from my thought, and now she calls him
+up, and now must I remember he is my-prisoner! God of heaven, God of my
+fathers, is it come to this? Why did he not escape? Why must Abidan, a
+common cut-throat, save his graceless life, and this great soul, this
+stern and mighty being---- Ah me! I have lived long enough. Would they
+had not failed, would----’
+
+‘Stop, stop, Alroy! I pray thee, love, be calm. I came to soothe thee,
+not to raise thy passions. I did not say Jabaster willed thy death,
+though Asriel says so; ‘tis me he wars against; and if indeed Jabaster
+be a man so near thy heart, if he indeed be one so necessary to thy
+prosperity, and cannot live in decent order with thy slave that’s here,
+I know my duty, Sir. I would not have thy fortunes farred to save my
+single heart, although I think ‘twill break. I will go, I will die,
+and deem the hardest accident of life but sheer prosperity if it profit
+thee.’
+
+‘O Schirene! what wouldst thou? This, this is torture.’
+
+‘To see thee safe and happy; nothing more.’
+
+‘I am both, if thou art.’
+
+‘Care not for me, I am nothing.’
+
+‘Thou art all to me.’
+
+‘Calm thyself, my soul. It grieves me much that when I came to soothe I
+have only galled thee. All’s well, all’s well. Say that Jabaster lives.
+What then? He lives, and may he prove more duteous than before; that’s
+all.’
+
+‘He lives, he is my prisoner, he awaits his doom. It must be given.’
+
+‘Yes, yes!’
+
+‘Shall we pardon?’
+
+‘My lord will do that which it pleases him.’
+
+‘Nay, nay, Schirene, I pray thee be more kind. I am most wretched.
+Speak, what wouldst thou?’
+
+‘If I must speak, I say at once, his life.’
+
+‘Ah me!’
+
+‘If our past loves have any charm, if the hope ot future joy, not less
+supreme, be that which binds thee to this shadowy world, as it does me,
+and does alone, I say his life, his very carnal life. He stands between
+us and our loves, Alroy, and ever has done. There is no happiness if
+Jabaster breathe; nor can I be the same Schirene to thee as I have been,
+if this proud rebel live to spy my conduct.’
+
+‘Banish him, banish him!’
+
+‘To herd with rebels. Is this thy policy?’
+
+‘O Schirene! I love not this man, although me-thinks I should: yet didst
+thou know but all!’
+
+‘I know too much, Alroy. From the first he has been to me a hateful
+thought. Come, come, sweet bird, a boon, a boon unto thy own Schirene,
+who was so frightened by these wicked men! I fear it has done more
+mischief than thou deemest. Ay! robbed us of our hopes. It may be so. A
+boon, a boon! It is not much I ask: a traitor’s head. Come, give me thy
+signet ring. It will not; nay, then, I’ll take it. What, resist! I know
+thou oft hast told me a kiss could vanquish all denial. There it is.
+Is’t sweet? Shalt have another, and another too. I’ve got the ring!
+Farewell, my lovely bird, I’ll soon return to pillow in thy nest.’
+
+‘She has got the ring! What’s this? what’s this? Schirene! art gone?
+Nay, surely not. She jests. Jabaster! A traitor’s head! What ho! there.
+Pharez, Pharez!’
+
+‘My lord.’
+
+‘Passed the Queen that way?’
+
+‘She did, my lord.’
+
+‘In tears?’
+
+‘Nay! very joyful!’
+
+‘Call Honain, quick as my thought. Honain! Honain! He waits without. I
+have seen the best of life, that’s very sure. My heart is cracking. She
+surely jests! Hah! Honain. Pardon these distracted looks. Fly to the
+Armoury! fly, fly!’
+
+‘For what, my lord?’
+
+‘Ay! for what, for what! My brain it wanders. Thy brother, thy great
+brother, the Queen, the Queen has stolen my signet ring, that is, I gave
+it her. Fly, fly! or in a word, Jabaster is no more. He is gone. Pharez!
+your arm; I swoon!’
+
+‘His Highness is sorely indisposed to-day.’
+
+‘They say he swooned this morn.’
+
+‘Ay, in the bath.’
+
+‘No, not in the bath. ‘Twas when he heard of Jabaster’s death.’
+
+‘How died he, Sir?’
+
+‘Self-strangled. His mighty heart could not endure disgrace, and thus he
+ended all his glorious deeds.’
+
+‘A great man!’
+
+‘We shall not soon see his match. The Queen had gained his pardon, and
+herself flew to the Armoury to bear the news; alas! too late.’
+
+‘These are strange times. Jabaster dead!’
+
+‘A very great event.’
+
+‘Who will be High Priest?’
+
+‘I doubt if the appointment will be filled up.’
+
+‘Sup you with the Lord Ithamar to-night?’
+
+‘I do.’
+
+‘I also. We’ll go together. The Queen had gained his pardon. Hum! ‘tis
+strange.’
+
+‘Passing so. They say Abidan has escaped?’
+
+‘I hear it. Shall we meet Medad to-night?’
+
+‘‘Tis likely.’
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER X.
+
+     _The Fall of Alroy_
+
+SHE comes not yet! her cheerful form, not yet it sparkles in our
+mournful sky. She comes not yet! the shadowy stars seem sad and
+lustreless without their Queen. She comes not yet!’
+
+‘_WE ARE THE WATCHERS OF THE MOON,[78] AND LIVE IN LONELINESS TO HERALD
+LIGHT._’
+
+‘She comes not yet! her sacred form, not yet it summons to our holy
+feast. She comes not yet! our brethren far wait mute and motionless the
+saintly beam. She comes not yet!’
+
+‘_WE ARE THE WATCHERS OF THE MOON, AND LIVE IN LONELINESS TO HERALD
+LIGHT_.’
+
+‘She comes, she comes! her beauteous form sails with soft splendour in
+the glittering air. She comes, she comes! The beacons fire, and tell the
+nation that the month begins! She comes, she comes!’
+
+‘_WE ARE THE WATCHERS OF THE MOON, TO TELL THE NATION THAT THE MONTH
+BEGINS_.’
+
+Instantly the holy watchers fired the beacons on the mountain top, and
+anon a thousand flames blazed round the land. From Caucasus to Lebanon,
+on every peak a crown of light.
+
+‘Sire! a Tatar has arrived from Hamadan, who will see none but thyself.
+I have told him your Highness was engaged, and sent him to the Lord
+Honain; but all denial is lost upon him. And as I thought perhaps the
+Lady Miriam----’
+
+‘From Hamadan? You did well, Pharez. Admit him.’
+
+The Tatar entered.
+
+‘Well, Sir; good news, I hope!’
+
+‘Sire, pardon me, the worst. I come from the Lord Abner, with orders to
+see the Caliph, and none else.’
+
+‘Well, Sir, you see the Caliph. Your mission? What of the Viceroy?’
+
+‘Sire, he bade me tell thee, that, the moment the beacon that announced
+the Feast of the New Moon was fired on Caucasus, the dreaded monarch of
+Karasmé, the great Alp Arslan, entered thy kingdom, and now overruns all
+Persia.’
+
+‘Hah! and Abner?’
+
+‘Is in the field, and prays for aid.’
+
+‘He shall have it. This is indeed great news! When left you Hamadan?’
+
+‘Night and day I have journeyed upon the swiftest dromedary. The third
+morn sees me at Bagdad.’
+
+‘You have done your duty. See this faithful courier be well tended,
+Pharez. Summon the Lord Honain.’
+
+‘Alp Arslan! Hah! a very famous warrior. The moment the beacon was
+fired. No sudden impulse then, but long matured. I like it not.’
+
+‘Sire,’ said Pharez, re-entering, ‘a Tatar has arrived from the
+frontiers of the province, who will see none but thyself. I have told
+him your Highness was deeply busied, and as methinks he brings but the
+same news, I----’
+
+‘‘Tis very likely; yet never _think_, good Pharez. I’ll see the man.’
+The Tatar entered.
+
+‘Well, Sir, how now! from whom?’
+
+‘From Mozul. The Governor bade me see the Caliph and none else, and tell
+your Highness that the moment the beacon that announced the Feast of the
+New Moon was fired on the mountains, the fell rebel Abidan raised the
+standard of Judah in the province, and proclaimed war against your
+Majesty.’
+
+‘In any force?’
+
+‘The royal power keeps within their walls.’
+
+‘Sufficient answer. Part of the same movement. We shall have some
+trouble. Hast summoned Honain?’
+
+‘I have, Sire.’
+
+‘Go, see this messenger be duly served, and, Pharez, come hither: let
+none converse with them. You understand?’
+
+‘Your Highness may assure yourself.’
+
+‘Abidan come to life. He shall not escape so well this time. I must see
+Scherirah. I much suspect----what’s this? More news!’
+
+A third Tatar entered.
+
+‘May it please your Highness, this Tatar has arrived from the Syrian
+frontier.’
+
+‘Mischief in the wind, I doubt not. Speak out, knave!’
+
+‘Sire! pardon me; I bear but sad intelligence.’
+
+‘Out with the worst!’
+
+‘I come from the Lord Medad.’
+
+‘Well! has he rebelled? It seems a catching fever.’
+
+‘Ah! no, dread Sire, Lord Medad has no thought but for thy glory. Alas!
+alas! he has now to guard it against fearful odds. Lord Medad bade me
+see the Caliph and none else, and tell your Highness, that the moment
+the beacon which announced the Feast of the New Moon was fired on
+Lebanon, the Sultan of Roum and the old Arabian Caliph unfurled the
+standard of their Prophet, in great array, and are now marching towards
+Bagdad.’
+
+‘A clear conspiracy! Has Honain arrived? Summon a council of the Vizirs
+instantly. The world is up against me. Well! I’m sick of peace. They
+shall not find me napping!’
+
+‘You see, my lords,’ said Alroy, ere the council broke up, ‘we must
+attack them singly. There can be no doubt of that. If they join, we must
+combat at great odds. ‘Tis in detail that we must route them. I will
+myself to Persia. Ithamar must throw himself between the Sultan and
+Abidan, Medad fall back on Ithamar. Scherirah must guard the capital.
+Honain, you are Regent. And so farewell. I shall set off to-night.
+Courage, brave companions. ‘Tis a storm, but many a cedar survives the
+thunderbolt.’
+
+The council broke up.
+
+‘My own Scherirah!’ said the Caliph, as they retired, ‘stay awhile.
+I would speak with you alone. Honain,’ continued Alroy, following the
+Grand Vizir out of the chamber, and leaving Scherirah alone, ‘Honain, I
+have not yet interchanged a word with you in private. What think you of
+all this?’
+
+‘Sire, I am prepared for the worst, but hope the best.’
+
+‘‘Tis wise. If Abner could only keep that Karasmian in check! I am about
+to speak with Scherirah alone. I do suspect him much.’
+
+‘I’ll answer for his treason.’
+
+‘Hah! I do suspect him. Therefore I give him no command. I would not
+have him too near his old companion, eh? We will garrison the city with
+his rebels.’
+
+‘Sire, these are not moments to be nice. Scherirah is a valiant captain,
+a very valiant captain, but lend me thy signet ring, I pray thee, Sire.’
+
+Alroy turned pale.
+
+‘No, Sir, it has left me once, and never shall again. You have touched
+upon a string that makes me sad. There is a burden on my conscience,
+why, or what, I know not. I am innocent, you know I am innocent,
+Honain!’
+
+‘I’ll answer for your Highness. He who has enough of the milk of human
+kindness to spare a thing like Scherirah, when he stands in his way, may
+well be credited for the nobler mercy that spared his better.’
+
+‘Ah me! there’s madness in the thought. Why is he not here? Had I
+but followed; tush! tush! Go see the Queen, and tell her all that has
+happened. I’ll to Scherirah.’
+
+The Caliph returned.
+
+‘Thy pardon, brave Scherirah; in these moments my friends will pardon
+lapse of courtesy.’
+
+‘Your Highness is too considerate.’
+
+‘You see, Scherirah, how the wind blows, brave heart. There’s much to
+do, no doubt. I am in sad want of some right trusty friend, on whose
+devoted bosom I can pillow all my necessities. I was thinking of sending
+you against this Arslan, but perhaps ‘tis better that I should go
+myself. These are moments one should not seem to shrink, and yet we know
+not how affairs may run; no, we know not. The capital, the surrounding
+province: one disaster and these false Moslemin may rise against us. I
+should stay here, but if I leave Scherirah, I leave myself. I feel that
+deeply; ‘tis a consolation. It may be that I must fall back upon the
+city. Be prepared, Scherirah. Let me fall back upon supporting friends.
+You have a great trust. Oh! use it wisely! Worthily I am sure you must
+do.’
+
+‘Your Highness may rest assured I have no other thought but for your
+weal and glory. Doubt not my devotion, Sire. I am not one of those
+mealy-mouthed youths, full of their own deeds and lip-worship, Sire, but
+I have a life devoted to your service, and ready at all times to peril
+all things.’
+
+‘I know that, Scherirah, I know it; I feel it deeply. What think you of
+these movements?’
+
+‘They are not ill combined, and yet I doubt not your Majesty will prove
+your fortunes most triumphant.’
+
+‘Think you the soldiery are in good cue?’ ‘I’ll answer for my own.
+They are rough fellows, like myself, a little too blunt, perhaps, your
+Highness. We are not holiday guards, but we know our duty, and we will
+do it.’
+
+‘That’s well, that’s all I want. I shall review the troops before I
+go. Let a donative be distributed among them; and, ‘by-the-bye, I have
+always forgotten it, your legion should be called the Legion of Syria.
+We owe our fairest province to their arms.’
+
+‘I shall convey to them your Highness’ wish. Were it possible, ‘twould
+add to their devotion.’
+
+‘I do not wish it. They are my very children. Sup at the Serail
+to-night, Scherirah. We shall be very private. Yet let us drink together
+ere we part. We are old friends, you know. Hast not forgotten our ruined
+city?’
+
+Alroy entered the apartment of Schirene. ‘My soul! thou knowest all?’
+
+She sprang forward and threw her arms around his neck.
+
+‘Fear not, my life, we’ll not disgrace our Queen. ‘Twill be quick work.
+Two-thirds of them have been beaten before, and for the new champion,
+our laurels must not fade, and his blood shall nourish fresh ones.’
+
+‘Dearest, dearest Alroy, go not thyself, I pray thee. May not Asriel
+conquer?’
+
+‘I hope so, in my company. For a time we part, a short one. ‘Tis our
+first parting: may it be our last!’
+
+‘Oh! no, no, no: oh! say not we must part.’
+
+‘The troops are under arms; to-morrow’s dawn will hear my trumpet.’
+
+‘I will not quit thee, no! I will not quit thee. What business
+has Schirene without Alroy? Hast thou not often told me I am thy
+inspiration? In the hour of danger shall I be wanting? Never! I will not
+quit thee; no, I will not quit thee.’
+
+‘Thou art ever present in my thoughts, my soul. In the battle I shall
+think of her for whom alone I conquer.’
+
+‘Nay, nay, I’ll go, indeed I must, Alroy. I’ll be no hindrance, trust
+me, sweet boy, I will not. I’ll have no train, no, not a single maid.
+Credit me, I know how a true soldier’s wife should bear herself. I’ll
+watch thee sleeping, and I’ll tend thee wounded, and when thou goest
+forth to combat I’ll gird thy sabre round thy martial side, and whisper
+triumph with victorious kisses.’
+
+‘My own Schirene, there’s victory in thine eyes. We’ll beat them, girl.’
+
+‘Abidan, doubly false Abidan! would he were doubly hanged! Ere she
+died, the fatal prophetess foretold this time, and gloated on his future
+treachery.’
+
+‘Think not of him.’
+
+‘And the Karasmian; think you he is very strong?’ ‘Enough, love, for our
+glory. He is a potent warrior: I trust that Abner will not rob us of our
+intended victory.’
+
+‘So you triumph, I care not by whose sword. Dost go indeed to-morrow?’
+
+‘At break of dawn. I pray thee stay, my sweet!’ ‘Never! I will not quit
+thee. I am quite prepared. At break of dawn? ‘Tis near on midnight now.
+I’ll lay me down upon this couch awhile, and travel in my litter. Art
+sure Alp Arslan is himself in the field?’
+
+‘Quite sure, my sweet.’
+
+‘Confusion on his crown! We’ll conquer. Goes Asriel with us?’ ‘Ay!’
+
+‘That’s well; at break of dawn. I’m somewhat drowsy. Methinks I’ll sleep
+awhile.’
+
+‘Do, my best heart; I’ll to my cabinet, and at break of dawn I’ll wake
+thee with a kiss.’
+
+The Caliph repaired to his cabinet, where his secretaries were occupied
+in writing. As he paced the chamber, he dictated to them the necessary
+instructions.
+
+‘Who is the officer on guard?’
+
+‘Benaiah, Sire.’
+
+‘I remember him. He saved me a broken skull upon the Tigris. This is for
+him. The Queen accompanies us. She is his charge. These papers for the
+Vizir. Let the troops be under arms by daybreak. This order of the
+day for the Lord Asriel. Send this instantly to Hamadan. Is the Tatar
+despatched to Medad? ‘Tis well. You have done your duty. Now to rest.
+Pharez?’
+
+‘My lord.’
+
+‘I shall not sleep to-night. Give me my drink. Go rest, good boy. I have
+no wants. Good night.’
+
+‘Good night, my gracious lord!’
+
+‘Let me ponder! I am alone. I am calm, and yet my spirit is not quick.
+I am not what I was. Four-and-twenty hours ago who would have dreamed of
+this? All at stake again! Once more in the field, and struggling at once
+for empire and existence! I do lack the mighty spirit of my former days.
+I am not what I was. I have little faith. All about me seems changed,
+and dull, and grown mechanical. Where are those flashing eyes and
+conquering visages that clustered round me on the battle eve, round me,
+the Lord’s anointed? I see none such. They are changed, as I am. Why!
+this Abidan was a host, and now he fights against me. She spoke of the
+prophetess; I remember that woman was the stirring trumpet of our ranks,
+and now where is she? The victim of my justice! And where is he, the
+mightier far, the friend, the counsellor, the constant guide, the master
+of my boyhood; the firm, the fond, the faithful guardian of all my
+bright career; whose days and nights were one unbroken study to make me
+glorious? Alas! I feel more like a doomed and desperate renegade than
+a young hero on the eve of battle, flushed with the memory of unbroken
+triumphs!
+
+‘Hah! what awful form art thou that risest from the dusky earth before
+me? Thou shouldst be one I dare not name, yet will: the likeness of
+Jabaster. Away! why frownest thou upon me? I did not slay thee. Do I
+live, or dream, or what? I see him, ay! I see thee. I fear thee not, I
+fear nothing. I am Alroy.
+
+‘Speak, oh speak! I do conjure thee, mighty spectre, speak. By all the
+memory of the past, although ‘tis madness, I do conjure thee, let me
+hear again the accents of my boyhood.’
+
+‘_Alroy, Alroy, Alroy_!’
+
+‘I listen, as to the last trump.’
+
+‘_Meet me on the plain of Nehauend._’
+
+‘‘Tis gone! As it spoke it vanished. It was Jabaster! God of my fathers,
+it was Jabaster! Life is growing too wild. My courage is broken! I
+could lie down and die. It was Jabaster! The voice sounds in my ear like
+distant thunder: “_Meet me on the plain of Nehauend_.� I’ll not fail
+thee, noble ghost, although I meet my doom. Jabaster! Have I seen
+Jabaster! Indeed! indeed! Methinks I’m mad. Hah! What’s that?’
+
+An awful clap of thunder broke over the palace, followed by a strange
+clashing sound that seemed to come from one of the chambers. The walls
+of the Serail rocked.
+
+‘An earthquake!’ exclaimed Alroy. ‘Would that the earth would open and
+swallow all! Hah! Pharez, has it roused thee, too? Pharez, we live in
+strange times.’
+
+‘Your Highness is very pale.’
+
+‘And so art thou, lad! Wouldst have me merry? Pale! we may well be pale,
+didst thou know all. Hah! that awful sound again! I cannot bear it,
+Pharez, I cannot bear it. I have borne many things, but this I cannot.’
+
+‘My lord, ‘tis in the Armoury.’
+
+‘Run, see. No, I’ll not be alone. Where’s Benaiah? Let him go. Stay with
+me, Pharez, stay with me. I pray thee stay, my child.’
+
+Pharez led the Caliph to a couch, on which Alroy lay pale and trembling.
+In a few minutes he inquired whether Benaiah had returned.
+
+‘Even now he comes, Sire.’
+
+‘Well, how is it?’
+
+‘Sire! a most awful incident. As the thunder broke over the palace, the
+sacred standard fell from its resting-place, and has shivered into a
+thousand pieces. Strange to say, the sceptre of Solomon can neither be
+found nor traced.’
+
+‘Say nothing of the past, as ye love me, lads. Let none enter the
+Armoury. Leave me, Benaiah, leave me, Pharez.’
+
+They retired. Alroy watched their departure with a glance of
+inexpressible anguish. The moment that they had disappeared, he flew to
+the couch, and throwing himself upon his knees, and, covering his face
+with his hands, burst into passionate tears, and exclaimed, ‘O! my God,
+I have deserted thee, and now thou hast deserted me!’
+
+Sleep crept over the senses of the exhausted and desperate Caliph. He
+threw himself upon the divan, and was soon buried in profound repose. He
+might have slept an hour; he awoke suddenly. From the cabinet in which
+he slept, you entered a vast hall, through a lofty and spacious
+arch, generally covered with drapery, which was now withdrawn. To the
+astonishment of Alroy, this presence-chamber appeared at this moment
+to blaze with light. He rose from his couch, he advanced; he perceived,
+with feelings of curiosity and fear, that the hall was filled with
+beings, terrible indeed to behold, but to his sight more terrible than
+strange. In the colossal and mysterious forms that lined the walls
+of the mighty chamber, and each of which held in its extended arm a
+streaming torch, he recognised the awful Afrites. At the end of the
+hall, upon a sumptuous throne, surrounded by priests and courtiers,
+there was seated a monarch, on whom Alroy had before gazed, Solomon the
+Great! Alroy beheld him in state and semblance the same Solomon, whose
+sceptre the Prince of the Captivity had seized in the royal tombs of
+Judah.
+
+The strange assembly seemed perfectly unconscious of the presence of the
+child of Earth, who, with a desperate courage, leant against a column of
+the arch, and watched, with wonder, their mute and motionless society.
+Nothing was said, nothing done. No one moved, no one, even by gesture,
+seemed sensible of the presence of any other apparition save himself.
+
+Suddenly there advanced from the bottom of the hall, near unto Alroy,
+a procession. Pages and dancing girls, with eyes of fire and voluptuous
+gestures, warriors with mighty arms, and venerable forms with ample
+robes and flowing beards. And, as they passed, even with all the
+activity of their gestures, they made no sound; neither did the
+musicians, whereof there was a great band playing upon harps and
+psalteries, and timbrels and cornets, break, in the slightest degree,
+the almighty silence.
+
+This great crowd poured on in beautiful order, the procession never
+terminating, yet passing thrice round the hall, bowing to him that was
+upon the throne, and ranging themselves in ranks before the Afrites.
+
+And there came in twelve forms, bearing a great seal: the stone green,
+and the engraven characters of living flame, and the characters were
+those on the talisman of Jabaster, which Alroy still wore next to his
+heart. And the twelve forms placed the great seal before Solomon, and
+humbled themselves, and the King bowed. At the same moment Alroy was
+sensible of a pang next to his heart. He instantly put his hand to the
+suffering spot, and lo! the talisman crumbled into dust.
+
+The procession ceased; a single form advanced. Recent experience alone
+prevented Alroy from sinking before the spectre of Jabaster. Such was
+the single form. It advanced, bearing the sceptre. It advanced, it knelt
+before the throne, it offered the sceptre to the crowned and solemn
+vision. And the form of Solomon extended its arm, and took the sceptre,
+and instantly the mighty assembly vanished!
+
+Alroy advanced immediately into the chamber, but all was dark and
+silent. A trumpet sounded. He recognised the note of his own soldiery.
+He groped his way to a curtain, and, pulling it aside, beheld the first
+streak of dawn.
+
+Once more upon his charger, once more surrounded by his legions, once
+more his senses dazzled and inflamed by the waving banners and the
+inspiring trumpets, once more conscious of the power still at his
+command, and the mighty stake for which he was about to play, Alroy in a
+great degree recovered his usual spirit and self-possession. His energy
+returned with his excited pulse, and the vastness of the impending
+danger seemed only to stimulate the fertility of his genius.
+
+He pushed on by forced marches towards Media, at the head of fifty
+thousand men. At the end of the second day’s march, fresh couriers
+arrived from Abner, informing him that, unable to resist the valiant
+and almost innumerable host of the King of Karasmé, he had entirely
+evacuated Persia, and had concentrated his forces in Louristan. Alroy,
+in consequence of this information, despatched orders to Scherirah, to
+join him with his division instantly, and leave the capital to its fate.
+
+They passed again the mountains of Kerrund, and joined Abner and the
+army of Media, thirty thousand strong, on the river Abzah. Here Alroy
+rested one night, to refresh his men, and on the ensuing morn pushed on
+to the Persian frontier, unexpectedly attacked the advanced posts of Alp
+Arslan, and beat them back with great loss into the province. But the
+force of the King of Karasmé was so considerable, that the Caliph did
+not venture on a general engagement, and therefore he fell back, and
+formed in battle array upon the neighbouring plain of Nehauend, the
+theatre of one of his earliest and most brilliant victories, where he
+awaited the hourly-expected arrival of Scherirah.
+
+The King of Karasmé, who was desirous of bringing affairs to an issue,
+and felt confident in his superior force, instantly advanced. In two or
+three days at farthest, it was evident that a battle must be fought that
+would decide the fate of the East.
+
+On the morn ensuing their arrival at Nehauend, while the Caliph was out
+hunting, attended only by a few officers, he was suddenly attacked by
+an ambushed band of Karasmians. Alroy and his companions defended
+themselves with such desperation that they at length succeeded in
+beating off their assailants, although triple their number. The leader
+of the Karasmians, as he retreated, hurled a dart at the Caliph, which
+must have been fatal, had not a young officer of the guard interposed
+his own breast, and received the deadly wound. The party, in confusion,
+returned with all speed to the camp, Alroy himself bearing the expiring
+victim of desperate loyalty and military enthusiasm.
+
+The bleeding officer was borne to the royal pavilion, and placed upon
+the imperial couch. The most skilful leech was summoned; he examined the
+wound, but shook his head. The dying warrior was himself sensible of his
+desperate condition. His agony could only be alleviated by withdrawing
+the javelin, which would occasion his immediate decease. He desired to
+be left alone with his Sovereign.
+
+‘Sire!’ said the officer, ‘I must die; and I die without a pang. To die
+in your service, I have ever considered the most glorious end. Destiny
+has awarded it to me;, and if I have not met my fate upon the field
+of battle, it is some consolation that my death has preserved the most
+valuable of lives. Sire! I have a sister.’
+
+‘Waste not thy strength, dear friend, in naming her. Rest assured I
+shall ever deem thy relatives my own.’
+
+‘I doubt it not. Would I had a thousand lives for such a master! I have
+a burden on my conscience, Sire, nor can I die in peace unless I speak
+of it.’
+
+‘Speak, speak freely. If thou hast injured any one, and the power or
+wealth of Alroy can redeem thy oppressed spirit, he will not spare, he
+will not spare, be assured of that.’
+
+‘Noble, noble master, I must be brief; for, although, while this javelin
+rests within my body, I yet may live, the agony is great. Sire, the deed
+of which I speak doth concern thee.’
+
+‘Ay!’
+
+‘I was on guard the day Jabaster died.’
+
+‘Powers of heaven! I am all ear. Speak on, speak on!’
+
+‘He died self-strangled, so they say?’
+
+‘So they ever told me.’
+
+‘Thou art innocent, thou art innocent! I thank my God, my King is
+innocent!’
+
+‘Rest assured of that, as there is hope in Israel. Tell me all.’
+
+‘The Queen came with the signet ring. To such authority I yielded way.
+She entered, and after her, the Lord Honain. I heard high words! I heard
+Jabaster’s voice. He struggled, yes! he struggled; but his mighty form,
+wounded and fettered, could not long resist. Foul play, foul play, Sire!
+What could I do against such adversaries? They left the chamber with
+a stealthy step. Her eyes met mine. I never could forget that fell and
+glittering visage.’
+
+‘Thou ne’er hast spoken of this awful end?’
+
+‘To none but thee. And why I speak it now I cannot tell, save that it
+seems some inspiration urges me; and methinks they who did this may do
+even feller works, if such there be.’
+
+‘Thou hast robbed me of all peace and hope of peace; and yet I thank
+thee. Now I know the worth of life. I have never loved to think of that
+sad day; and yet, though I have sometimes dreamed of villainous work,
+the worst were innocence to thy dread tale.’
+
+‘Tis told; and now I pray thee secure thy secret, by drawing from my
+agonised frame this javelin.’
+
+‘Trusty heart, ‘tis a sad office.’
+
+‘I die with joy if thou performest it.’
+
+‘‘Tis done.’
+
+‘God save Alroy.’
+
+While Alroy, plunged in thought, stood over the body of the officer,
+there arose a flourish of triumphant music, and a eunuch, entering
+the pavilion, announced the arrival of Schirene from Kerrund. Almost
+immediately afterwards, the Princess descending from her litter, entered
+the tent; Alroy tore off his robe, and threw it over the corpse.
+
+‘My own,’ exclaimed the Princess, as she ran up to the Caliph. ‘I have
+heard all. Be not alarmed for me. I dare look upon a corpse. You know I
+am a soldier’s bride. I am used to blood.’
+
+‘Alas!’
+
+‘Why so pale? Thou dost not kiss me! Has this unhinged thee so? ‘Tis a
+sad deed; and yet tomorrow’s dawn may light up thousands to as grim a
+fate. Why? thou tremblest! Alas! kind soul! The single death of this
+fond, faithful heart hath quite upset my love. Yet art thou used to
+battle. Why! this is foolishness. Art not glad to see me? What, not one
+smile! And I have come to fight for thee! I will be kissed!’
+
+She flung herself upon his neck. Alroy faintly returned her embrace, and
+bore her to a couch. He clapped his hands, and two soldiers entered and
+bore away the corpse.
+
+‘The pavilion, Schirene, is now fitter for thy presence. Rest thyself; I
+shall soon return.’ Thus speaking, he quitted her.
+
+He quitted her; but her humbled look of sorrowful mortification pierced
+to his heart. He thought of all her love and all her loveliness, he
+called to mind all the marvellous story of their united fortunes. He
+felt that for her and her alone he cared to live, that without her quick
+sympathy, even success seemed unendurable. His judgment fluctuated in
+an eddy of passion and reason. Passion conquered. He dismissed from his
+intelligence all cognizance of good and evil; he determined, under all
+circumstances, to cling ever to her; he tore from his mind all memory
+of the late disclosure. He returned to the pavilion with a countenance
+beaming with affection; he found her weeping, he folded her in his arms,
+he kissed her with a thousand kisses, and whispered between each kiss
+his ardent love.
+
+‘Twas midnight. Schirene reposed in the arms of Alroy. The Caliph, who
+was restless and anxious for the arrival of Scherirah, was scarcely
+slumbering when the sound of a voice thoroughly aroused him. He looked
+around; he beheld the spectre of Jabaster. His hair stood on end, his
+limbs seemed to loosen, a cold dew crept over his frame, as he gazed
+upon the awful form within a yard of his couch. Unconsciously he
+disembarrassed his arms of their fair burden, and, rising on the couch,
+leant forward.
+
+‘_Alroy, Alroy, Alroy_!’
+
+‘I am here.’
+
+‘_To-morrow Israel is avenged!_’
+
+‘Who is that?’ exclaimed the Princess, wakening.
+
+In a frenzy of fear, Alroy, quite forgetting the spectre, turned
+and pressed his hand over her eyes. When he again looked round the
+apparition was invisible.
+
+‘What wouldst thou, Alroy?’
+
+‘Nothing, sweet! A soldier’s wife must bear strange sights, yet I would
+save you some. One of my men, forgetful you were here, burst into my
+tent in such a guise as scarce would suit a female eye. I must away, my
+child. I’ll call thy slaves. One kiss! Farewell! but for a time.’
+
+‘“To-morrow Israel will be avenged.� What! in Karasmian blood? I have
+no faith. No matter. All is now beyond my influence. A rushing destiny
+carries me onward. I cannot stem the course, nor guide the vessel. How
+now! Who is the officer on guard?’
+
+‘Benomi, Sire, thy servant.’
+
+‘Send to the Viceroy. Bid him meet me here. Who is this?’
+
+‘A courier from the Lord Scherirah, Sire, but just arrived. He passed
+last night the Kerrund mountains, Sire, and will be with you by the
+break of day.’
+
+‘Good news. Go fetch Abner. Haste! He’ll find me here anon. I’ll visit
+the camp awhile. Well, my brave fellows, you have hither come to conquer
+again with Alroy. You have fought before, I warrant, on the plain of
+Nehauend. ‘Tis a rich soil, and shall be richer with Karasmian gore.’
+
+‘God save your Majesty! Our lives are thine.’
+
+‘Please you, my little ruler,’ said a single soldier, addressing Alroy;
+‘pardon my bluntness, but I knew you before you were a Caliph.’
+
+‘Stout heart, I like thy freedom. Pr’ythee say on.’
+
+‘I was a-saying, I hope you will lead us in the charge to-morrow. Some
+say you will not.’
+
+‘They say falsely.’
+
+‘I thought so. I’ll ever answer for my little ruler, but then the
+Queen?’
+
+‘Is a true soldier’s wife, and lives in the camp.’
+
+‘That’s brave! There, I told you so, comrades; you would not believe
+me, but I knew our little ruler before you did. I lived near the gate at
+Hamadan, please your Highness: old Shelomi’s son.’
+
+‘Give me thy hand; a real friend. What is’t ye eat here, boys? Let me
+taste your mess. I’faith I would my cook could dress me such a pilau!
+Tis admirable!’
+
+The soldiers gathered round their chieftain with eyes beaming with
+adoration. ‘Twas a fine picture, the hero in the centre, the various
+groups around, some conversing with him, some cooking, some making
+coffee, all offering him by word or deed some testimonial of their
+devotion, and blending with that devotion the most perfect frankness.
+
+‘We shall beat them, lads!’
+
+‘There is no fear with you, you always conquer.’
+
+‘I do my best, and so do you. A good general without good troops is
+little worth.’
+
+‘I’faith that’s true. One must have good troops. What think you of Alp
+Arslan?’
+
+‘I think he may give us as much trouble as all our other enemies
+together, and that’s not much.’
+
+‘Brave, brave! God save Alroy!’
+
+Benomi approached, and announced that the Viceroy was in attendance.
+
+‘I must quit you, my children,’ said Alroy. ‘We’ll sup once more
+together when we have conquered.’
+
+‘God save you, Sire; and we will confound your enemies.’
+
+‘Good night, my lads. Ere the dawn break we may have hot work.’
+
+‘We are ready, we are ready. God save Alroy.’
+
+‘They are in good cue, and yet ‘twas a different spirit that inspired
+our early days. That I strongly feel. These are men true to a leader who
+has never failed them, and confident in a cause that leads to plunder.
+They are but splendid mercenaries.
+
+No more. Oh! where are now the fighting men of Judah! Where are the men
+who, when they drew their scimitars, joined in a conquering psalm of
+holy triumph! Last eve of battle you would have thought the field a
+mighty synagogue. Priests and altars, flaming sacrifices, and smoking
+censers, groups of fiery zealots hanging with frenzy on prophetic lips,
+and sealing with their blood and holiest vows a solemn covenant to
+conquer Canaan. All is changed, as I am. How now, Abner? You are well
+muffled!’
+
+‘Is it true Scherirah is at hand?’
+
+‘I doubt not all is right. Would that the dawn would break!’
+
+‘The enemy is advancing. Some of their columns are in sight. My scouts
+have dodged them. They intend doubtless to form upon the plain.’
+
+‘They are in sight, eh! Then we will attack them at once ere they
+are formed. Rare, rare! We’ll beat them yet. Courage, dear brother.
+Scherirah will be here at dawn in good time, very good time: very, very
+good time.’
+
+‘I like the thought’
+
+‘The men are in good heart. At break of dawn, charge with thirty
+thousand cavalry upon their forming ranks. I’ll take the right, Asriel
+the left. It shall be a family affair, dear Abner. How is Miriam?’
+
+‘I heard this morn, quite well. She sends you her love and prayers. The
+Queen is here?’
+
+‘She came this eve. Quite well.’
+
+‘She must excuse all courtesy.’
+
+‘Say nothing. She is a soldier’s wife. She loves thee well, dear Abner.’
+
+‘I know that. I hope my sword may guard her children’s throne.’
+
+‘Well, give thy orders. Instant battle, eh?’
+
+‘Indeed I think so.’
+
+‘I’ll send couriers to hurry Scherirah. All looks well. Reserve the
+guard.’
+
+‘Ay, ay! Farewell, dear Sire. When we meet again, I trust your enemies
+may be your slaves!’
+
+At the first streak of dawn the Hebrew cavalry, with the exception
+of the Guard, charged the advancing columns of the Karasmians with
+irresistible force, and cut them in pieces. Alp Arslan rallied his
+troops, and at length succeeded in forming his main body in good order.
+Alroy and Asriel led on their divisions, and the battle now became
+general. It raged for several hours, and was on both sides well
+maintained. The slaughter of the Karasmians was great, but their stern
+character and superior numbers counterbalanced for a time all the
+impetuosity of the Hebrews and all the energy of their leaders. This
+day Alroy threw into the shade all his former exploits. Twelve times he
+charged at the head of the Sacred Guard, and more than once penetrated
+to the very pavilion of Alp Arslan.
+
+In vain he endeavoured singly, and hand to hand, to meet that famous
+chieftain. Both monarchs fought in the ranks, and yet Fate decided
+that their scimitars should never cross. Four hours before noon, it was
+evident to Alroy, that, unless Scherirah arrived, he could not prevail
+against the vast superiority of numbers. He was obliged early to call
+his reserve into the field, and although the number of the slain on
+the side of Arslan exceeded any in the former victories of the Hebrews,
+still the Karasmians maintained an immense front, which was constantly
+supplied by fresh troops. Confident in his numbers, and aware of the
+weakness of his antagonists, Arslan contented himself with acting on the
+defensive, and wearying his assailants by resisting their terrible and
+repeated charge.
+
+For a moment, Alroy at the head of the Sacred Guard had withdrawn from
+the combat. Abner and Asriel still maintained the fight, and the Caliph
+was at the same time preparing for new efforts, and watching with
+anxiety for the arrival of Scherirah. In the fifth hour, from an
+eminence he marked with exultation the advancing banners of his
+expected succours. Confident now that the day was won, he announced the
+exhilarating intelligence to his soldiers; and, while they were excited
+by the animating tidings, led them once more to the charge. It was
+irresistible; Scherirah seemed to have arrived only for the pursuit,
+only in time to complete the victory. What then was the horror, the
+consternation of Alroy, when Benaiah, dashing up to him, informed
+him that the long-expected succours consisted of the united forces of
+Scherirah and Abidan, and had attacked him in the rear. Human genius
+could afford no resource. The exhausted Hebrews, whose energies had been
+tasked to the utmost, were surrounded. The Karasmians made a general and
+simultaneous advance. In a few minutes the Hebrew army was thrown into
+confusion. The stoutest warriors threw away their swords in despair.
+Every one thought only of self-preservation. Even Abner fled towards
+Hamadan. Asriel was slain. Alroy, finding it was all over, rushed to his
+pavilion at the head of about three hundred of the guards, seized the
+fainting Schirene, threw her before him on his saddle, and cutting his
+way through all obstacles, dashed into the desert.
+
+For eight-and-forty hours they never stopped. Their band was soon
+reduced one-third. On the morning of the third day they dismounted
+and refreshed themselves at a well. Half only regained their saddles.
+Schirene never spoke. On they rushed again, each hour losing some
+exhausted co-mate. At length, on the fifth day, about eighty strong,
+they arrived at a grove of palm-trees. Here they dismounted. And Alroy
+took Schirene in his arms, and the shade seemed to revive her. She
+opened her eyes, and pressed his hand and smiled. He gathered her some
+dates, and she drank some water.
+
+‘Our toils will soon be over, sweetest,’ he whispered to her; ‘I have
+lost everything but thee.’
+
+Again they mounted, and, proceeding at a less rapid pace, they arrived
+towards evening at the ruined city, whither Alroy all this time had
+been directing his course. Dashing down the great street, they at length
+entered the old amphitheatre. They dismounted. Alroy made a couch with
+their united cloaks for Schirene. Some collected fuel, great store
+of which was found, and kindled large fires. Others, while it was yet
+light, chased the gazelles, and were sufficiently fortunate to provide
+their banquet, or fetched water from the well known to their leader.
+In an hour’s time, clustering round their fires in groups, and sharing
+their rude fare, you might have deemed them, instead of the discomfited
+and luxurious guards of a mighty monarch, the accustomed tenants of this
+wild abode.
+
+‘Come, my lads,’ said Alroy, as he rubbed his hands over the ascending
+flame, ‘at any rate, this is better than the desert.’
+
+After all his exertions, Alroy fell into profound and dreamless sleep.
+When he awoke, the sun had been long up. Schirene was still slumbering.
+He embraced her, and she opened her eyes and smiled.
+
+‘You are now a bandit’s bride,’ he said. ‘How like you our new life?’
+
+‘Well! with thee.’
+
+‘Rest here, my sweetest: I must rouse our men, and see how fortune
+speeds.’ So saying, and tripping lightly over many a sleeping form, he
+touched Benaiah.
+
+‘So! my brave captain of the guard, still napping! Come! stir, stir.’
+
+Benaiah jumped up with a cheerful face. ‘I am ever ready, Sire.’
+
+‘I know it; but remember I am no more a king, only a co-mate. Away with
+me, and let us form some order.’
+
+The companions quitted the amphitheatre and reconnoitred the adjoining
+buildings. They found many stores, the remains of old days, mats, tents,
+and fuel, drinking-bowls, and other homely furniture. They fixed upon
+a building for their stable, and others for the accommodation of their
+band. They summoned their companions to the open place, the scene of
+Hassan Subah’s fate, where Alroy addressed them and explained to them
+his plans. They were divided into companies; each man had his allotted
+duty. Some were placed on guard at different parts; some were sent out
+to the chase, or to collect dates from the Oasis; others led the horses
+to the contiguous pasture, or remained to attend to their domestic
+arrangements. The amphitheatre was cleared out. A rude but convenient
+pavilion was formed for Schirene. They covered its ground with
+mats, and each emulated the other in his endeavours to study her
+accommodation. Her kind words and inspiring smiles animated at the same
+time their zeal and their invention.
+
+They soon became accustomed to their rough but adventurous life. Its
+novelty pleased them, and the perpetual excitement of urgent necessity
+left them no time to mourn over their terrible vicissitudes. While Alroy
+lived, hope indeed never deserted their sanguine bosoms. And such was
+the influence of his genius, that the most desponding felt that to be
+discomfited with him, was preferable to conquest with another. They were
+a faithful and devoted band, and merry faces were not wanting when at
+night they assembled in the amphitheatre for their common meal.
+
+No sooner had Alroy completed his arrangements than he sent forth
+spies in all directions to procure intelligence, and especially to
+communicate, if possible, with Ithamar and Medad, provided that they
+still survived and maintained themselves in any force.
+
+A fortnight passed away without the approach of any stranger; at the end
+of which, there arrived four personages at their haunt, not very welcome
+to their chief, who, however, concealed his chagrin at their appearance.
+These were Kisloch the Kourd, and Calidas the Indian, and their
+inseparable companions, the Guebre and the Negro.
+
+‘Noble Captain,’ said Kisloch, ‘we trust that you will permit us to
+enlist in the band. This is not the first time we have served under your
+orders in this spot. Old co-mates, i’faith, who have seen the best and
+the worst. We suspected where you might be found, although, thanks to
+the ever felicitous invention of man, it is generally received that you
+died in battle. I hope your Majesty is well,’ added Kisloch, bowing to
+Schirene.
+
+‘You are welcome, friends,’ replied Alroy; ‘I know your worth. You have
+seen, as you say, the best and the worst, and will, I trust, see better.
+Died in battle, eh! that’s good.’
+
+‘‘Tis so received,’ said Calidas.
+
+‘And what news of our friends?’
+
+‘Not over good, but strange.’
+
+‘How so?’
+
+‘Hamadan is taken.’
+
+‘I am prepared; tell me all.’
+
+‘Old Bostenay and the Lady Miriam are borne prisoners to Bagdad.’
+
+‘Prisoners?’
+
+‘But so; all will be well with them, I trow. The Lord Honain is in high
+favour with the conqueror, and will doubtless protect them.’
+
+‘Honain in favour?’
+
+‘Even so. He made terms for the city, and right good ones.’
+
+‘Hah! he was ever dexterous. Well! if he save my sister, I care not for
+his favour.’
+
+‘There is no doubt. All may yet be well, Sir.’
+
+‘Let us act, not hope. Where’s Abner?’
+
+‘Dead.’
+
+‘How?’
+
+‘In battle.’
+
+‘Art sure?’
+
+‘I saw him fall, and fought beside him.’
+
+‘A soldier’s death is all our fortune now. I am glad he was not
+captured. Where’s Medad, Ithamar?’
+
+‘Fled into Egypt.’
+
+‘We have no force whatever, then?’
+
+‘None but your guards here.’
+
+‘They are strong enough to plunder a caravan. Honain, you say, in
+favour?’
+
+‘Very high. He’ll make good terms for us.’
+
+‘This is strange news.’
+
+‘Very, but true.’
+
+‘Well! you are welcome! Share our fare; ‘tis rough, and somewhat scanty;
+but we have feasted, and may feast again. Fled into Egypt, eh?’
+
+‘Ay! Sir.’
+
+‘Schirene, shouldst like to see the Nile?’
+
+‘I have heard of crocodiles.’
+
+If the presence of Kisloch and his companions were not very pleasing
+to Alroy, with the rest of the band they soon became great favourites.
+Their local knowledge, and their experience of desert life, made them
+valuable allies, and their boisterous jocularity and unceasing merriment
+were not unwelcome in the present monotonous existence of the fugitives.
+As for Alroy himself, he meditated an escape to Egypt. He determined
+to seize the first opportunity of procuring some camels, and then,
+dispersing his band, with the exception of Benaiah and a few faithful
+retainers, he trusted that, disguised as merchants, they might succeed
+in crossing Syria, and entering Africa by Palestine. With these plans
+and prospects, he became each day more cheerful and more sanguine as
+to the future. He had in his possession some valuable jewels, which he
+calculated upon disposing of at Cairo for a sum sufficient for all his
+purposes; and having exhausted all the passions of life while yet a
+youth, he looked forward to the tranquil termination of his existence in
+some poetic solitude with his beautiful companion.
+
+One evening, as they returned from the Oasis, Alroy guiding the camel
+that bore Schirene, and ever and anon looking up in her inspiring face,
+her sanguine spirit would have indulged in a delightful future.
+
+‘Thus shall we pass the desert, sweet,’ said Schirene. ‘Can this be
+toil?’
+
+‘There is no toil with love,’ replied Alroy.
+
+‘And we were made for love, and not for empire,’ rejoined Schirene.
+
+‘The past is a dream,’ said Alroy. ‘So sages teach us; but, until we
+act, their wisdom is but wind. I feel it now. Have we ever lived in
+aught but deserts, and fed on aught but dates? Methinks ‘tis very
+natural. But that I am tempted by the security of distant lands, I could
+remain here a free and happy outlaw. Time, custom, and necessity form
+our natures. When I first met Scherirah in these ruins, I shrank with
+horror from degraded man; and now I sigh to be his heir. We must not
+think!’
+
+‘No, love, we’ll only hope,’ replied Schirene; and they passed through
+the gates.
+
+The night was beautiful, the air was still warm and sweet. Schirene
+gazed upon the luminous heavens. ‘We thought not of these skies when
+we were at Bagdad,’ she exclaimed; ‘and yet, my life, what was the
+brightness of our palaces compared to these? All is left to us that man
+should covet, freedom, beauty, and youth. I do believe, ere long, Alroy,
+we shall look back upon the wondrous past as on another and a lower
+world. Would that this were Egypt! Tis my only wish.’
+
+‘And it shall soon be gratified. All will soon be arranged. A few brief
+days, and then Schirene will mount her camel for a longer ride than just
+to gather dates. You’ll make a sorry traveller, I fear!’
+
+‘Not I; I’ll tire you all.’
+
+They reached the circus, and seated themselves round the blazing fire.
+Seldom had Alroy, since his fall, appeared more cheerful. Schirene sang
+an Arab air to the band, who joined in joyous chorus. It was late
+ere they sought repose; and they retired to their rest, sanguine and
+contented.
+
+A few hours afterwards, at the break of dawn, Alroy was roused from
+his slumbers by a rude pressure on his breast. He started; a ferocious
+soldier was kneeling over him; he would have spurned him; he found his
+hand manacled. He would have risen; his feet were bound. He looked round
+for Schirene, and called her name; he was answered only by a shriek.
+The amphitheatre was filled with Karasmian troops. His own men were
+surprised and overpowered. Kisloch and the Guebre had been on guard. He
+was raised from the ground, and flung upon a camel, which was instantly
+trotted out of the circus. On every side he beheld a wild scene of
+disorder and dismay. He was speechless from passion and despair.
+The camel was dragged into the desert. A body of cavalry instantly
+surrounded it, and they set off at a rapid pace. The whole seemed the
+work of an instant.
+
+How many days had passed Alroy knew not. He had taken no account of
+time. Night and day were to him the same. He was in a stupor. But the
+sweetness of the air and the greenness of the earth at length partially
+roused his attention. He was just conscious that they had quitted the
+desert. Before him was a noble river; he beheld the Euphrates from
+the very spot he had first viewed it in his pilgrimage. The strong
+association of ideas called back his memory. A tear stole down his
+cheek; the bitter drop stole to his parched lips; he asked the nearest
+horseman for water. The guard gave him a wetted sponge, with which he
+contrived with difficulty to wipe his lips, and then he let it fall to
+the ground. The Karasmian struck him.
+
+They arrived at the river. The prisoner was taken from the camel and
+placed in a covered boat. After some hours they stopped and disembarked
+at a small village. Alroy was placed upon an ass with his back to its
+head. His clothes were soiled and tattered. The children pelted him with
+mud. An old woman, with a fanatic curse, placed a crown of paper on
+his brow. With difficulty his brutal guards prevented their victim
+from being torn to pieces. And in such fashion, towards noon of the
+fourteenth day, David Alroy again entered Bagdad.
+
+The intelligence of the capture of Alroy spread through the agitated
+city. The Moolahs bustled about as if they had received a fresh
+demonstration of the authenticity of the prophetic mission. All the
+Dervishes began begging. The men discussed affairs in the coffee-houses,
+and the women chatted at the fountains.[79]
+
+‘They may say what they like, but I wish him well,’ said a fair Arab,
+as she arranged her veil. ‘He may be an impostor, but he was a very
+handsome one.’
+
+‘All the women are for him, that’s the truth,’ responded a companion;
+‘but then we can do him no good.’
+
+‘We can tear their eyes out,’ said a third.
+
+‘And what do you think of Alp Arslan, truly?’ inquired a fourth.
+
+‘I wish he were a pitcher, and then I could break his neck,’ said a
+fifth.
+
+‘Only think of the Princess!’ said a sixth.
+
+‘Well! she has had a glorious time of it,’ said a seventh.
+
+‘Nothing was too good for her,’ said an eighth.
+
+‘I like true love,’ said a ninth.
+
+‘Well! I hope he will be too much for them all yet,’ said a tenth.
+
+‘I should not wonder,’ said an eleventh.
+
+‘He can’t,’ said a twelfth, ‘he has lost his sceptre.’
+
+‘You don’t say so?’ said a thirteenth.
+
+‘It is too true,’ said a fourteenth.
+
+‘Do you think he was a wizard?’ said a fifteenth. ‘I vow, if there be
+not a fellow looking at us behind those trees.’
+
+‘Impudent scoundrel!’ said a sixteenth. ‘I wish it were Alroy. Let us
+all scream, and put down our veils.’
+
+And the group ran away.
+
+Two stout soldiers were playing chess[80] in a coffee-house.
+
+‘May I slay my mother,’ said one, ‘but I cannot make a move. I fought
+under him at Nehauend; and though I took the amnesty, I have half a mind
+now to seize my sword and stab the first Turk that enters.’
+
+‘‘Twere but sheer justice,’ said his companion. ‘By my father’s
+blessing, he was the man for a charge. They may say what they like, but
+compared with him, Alp Arslan is a white-livered Giaour.’
+
+‘Here is confusion to him and to thy last move. There’s the dirhem, I
+can play no more. May I slay my mother, though, but I did not think he
+would let himself be taken.’
+
+‘By the blessing of my father, nor I; but then he was asleep.’
+
+‘That makes a difference. He was betrayed.’
+
+‘All brave men are. They say Kisloch and his set pocket their fifty
+thousand by the job.’
+
+‘May each dirhem prove a plague-spot!’
+
+‘Amen! Dost remember Abner?’
+
+‘May I slay my mother if I ever forget him. He spoke to his men like so
+many lambs. What has become of the Lady Miriam?’
+
+‘She is here.’
+
+‘That will cut Alroy.’
+
+‘He was ever fond of her. Dost remember she gained Adoram’s life?’
+
+‘Oh! she could do anything next to the Queen.’
+
+‘Before her, I say, before her. He has refused the Queen, he never
+refused the Lady Miriam.’
+
+‘Because she asked less.’
+
+‘Dost know it seemed to me that things never went on so well after
+Jabaster’s death?’
+
+‘So say I. There was a something, eh?’
+
+‘A sort of a peculiar, as it were, kind of something, eh?’
+
+‘You have well described it. Every man felt the same. I have often
+mentioned it to my comrades. Say what you like, said I, but slay my
+mother if ever since the old man strangled himself, things did not seem,
+as it were, in their natural propinquity. ‘Twas the phrase I used.’
+
+‘A choice one. Unless there is a natural propinquity, the best-arranged
+matters will fall out. However, the ass sees farther than his rider, and
+so it was with Alroy, the best commander I ever served under, all the
+same.’
+
+‘Let us go forth and see how affairs run.’
+
+‘Ay, do. If we hear any one abuse Alroy, we’ll cleave his skull.’
+
+‘That will we. There are a good many of our stout fellows about; we
+might do something yet.’
+
+‘Who knows?’
+
+A subterranean dungeon of the citadel of Bagdad held in its gloomy
+limits the late lord of Asia. The captive did not sigh, or weep, or
+wail. He did not speak. He did not even think. For several days he
+remained in a state of stupor. On the morning of the fourth day, he
+almost unconsciously partook of the wretched provision which his gaolers
+brought him. Their torches, round which the bats whirled and flapped
+their wings, and twinkled their small eyes, threw a ghastly glare over
+the nearer walls of the dungeon, the extremity of which defied the
+vision of the prisoner; and, when the gaolers retired, Alroy was in
+complete darkness.
+
+The image of the past came back to him. He tried in vain to penetrate
+the surrounding gloom. His hands were manacled, his legs also were
+loaded with chains. The notion that his life might perhaps have been
+cruelly spared in order that he might linger on in this horrible state
+of conscious annihilation filled him with frenzy. He would have dashed
+his fetters against his brow, but the chain restrained him. He flung
+himself upon the damp and rugged ground. His fall disturbed a thousand
+obscene things. He heard the quick glide of a serpent, the creeping
+retreat of the clustering scorpions, and the swift escape of the dashing
+rats. His mighty calamities seemed slight when compared with these petty
+miseries. His great soul could not support him under these noisome and
+degrading incidents. He sprang, in disgust, upon his feet, and stood
+fearful of moving, lest every step should introduce him to some new
+abomination. At length, exhausted nature was unable any longer to
+sustain him. He groped his way to the rude seat, cut in the rocky wall,
+which was his only accommodation. He put forth his hand. It touched the
+slimy fur of some wild animal, that instantly sprang away, its
+fiery eyes sparkling in the dark. Alroy recoiled with a sensation of
+woe-begone dismay. His shaken nerves could not sustain him under this
+base danger, and these foul and novel trials. He could not refrain from
+an exclamation of despair; and, when he remembered that he was now far
+beyond the reach of all human solace and sympathy, even all human aid,
+for a moment his mind seemed to desert him; and he wrung his hands in
+forlorn and almost idiotic woe. An awful thing it is, the failure of
+the energies of a master-mind. He who places implicit confidence in his
+genius will find himself some day utterly defeated and deserted. ‘Tis
+bitter! Every paltry hind seems but to breathe to mock you. Slow,
+indeed, is such a mind to credit that the never-failing resource can at
+least be wanting. But so it is. Like a dried-up fountain, the perennial
+flow and bright fertility have ceased, and ceased for ever. Then comes
+the madness of retrospection.
+
+Draw a curtain! draw a curtain! and fling it over this agonising
+anatomy.
+
+The days of childhood, his sweet sister’s voice and smiling love, their
+innocent pastimes, and the kind solicitude of faithful servants, all the
+soft detail of mild domestic life: these were the sights and memories
+that flitted in wild play before the burning vision of Alroy, and
+rose upon his tortured mind. Empire and glory, his sacred nation, his
+imperial bride; these, these were nothing. Their worth had vanished with
+the creative soul that called them into action. The pure sympathies
+of nature alone remained, and all his thought and grief, all his
+intelligence, all his emotion, were centred in his sister.
+
+It was the seventh morning. A guard entered at an unaccustomed hour,
+and, sticking a torch into a niche in the wall, announced that a person
+was without who had permission to speak to the prisoner. They were the
+first human accents that had met the ear of Alroy during his captivity,
+which seemed to him an age, a long dark period, that cancelled all
+things. He shuddered at the harsh tones. He tried to answer, but his
+unaccustomed lips refused their office. He raised his heavy arms, and
+endeavoured to signify his consciousness of what had been uttered. Yet,
+indeed, he had not listened to the message without emotion. He looked
+forward to the grate with strange curiosity; and, as he looked, he
+trembled. The visitor entered, muffled in a dark caftan. The guard
+disappeared; and the caftan falling to the ground, revealed Honain.
+
+‘My beloved Alroy,’ said the brother of Jabaster; and he advanced, and
+pressed him to his bosom. Had it been Miriam, Alroy might have at
+once expired; but the presence of this worldly man called back his
+worldliness. The revulsion of his feelings was wonderful. Pride, perhaps
+even hope, came to his aid; all the associations seemed to counsel
+exertion; for a moment he seemed the same Alroy.
+
+‘I rejoice to find at least thee safe, Honain.’
+
+‘I also, if my security may lead to thine.’
+
+‘Still whispering hope!’
+
+‘Despair is the conclusion of fools.’
+
+‘O Honain! ‘tis a great trial. I can play my part, and yet methinks
+‘twere better we had not again met. How is Schirene?’
+
+‘Thinking of thee.’
+
+‘Tis something that she can think. My mind has gone. Where’s Miriam?’
+
+‘Free.’
+
+‘That’s something. Thou hast done that. Good, good Honain, be kind to
+that sweet child, if only for my sake. Thou art all she has left.’
+
+‘She hath thee.’
+
+‘Her desolation.’
+
+‘Live and be her refuge.’
+
+‘How’s that? These walls! Escape? No, no; it is impossible.’
+
+‘I do not deem it so.’
+
+‘Indeed! I’ll do anything. Speak! Can we bribe? can we cleave their
+skulls? can we----’
+
+‘Calm thyself, my friend. There is no need of bribes, no need of
+bloodshed. We must make terms.’
+
+‘Terms! We might have made them on the plain of Nehauend. Terms! Terms
+with a captive victim?’
+
+‘Why victim?’
+
+‘Is Arslan then so generous?’
+
+‘He is a beast, more savage than the boar that grinds its tusks within
+his country’s forests.’
+
+‘Why speakest thou then of hope?’
+
+‘I spoke of certainty. I did not mention hope.’
+
+‘Dear Honain, my brain is weak; but I can bear strange things, or else
+I should not be here. I feel thy thoughtful friendship; but indeed there
+need no winding words to tell my fate. Pr’ythee speak out.’
+
+‘In a word, thy life is safe.’
+
+‘What! spared?’
+
+‘If it please thee.’
+
+‘Please me? Life is sweet. I feel its sweetness. I want but little.
+Freedom and solitude are all I ask. My life spared! I’ll not believe
+it. Thou hast done this deed, thou mighty man, that masterest all souls.
+Thou hast not forgotten me; thou hast not forgotten the days gone by,
+thou hast not forgotten thine own Alroy! Who calls thee worldly is a
+slanderer. O Honain! thou art too faithful!’
+
+‘I have no thought but for thy service, Prince.’
+
+‘Call me not Prince, call me thine own Alroy. My life spared! ‘Tis
+wonderful! When may I go? Let no one see me. Manage that, Honain. Thou
+canst manage all things. I am for Egypt. Thou hast been to Egypt, hast
+thou not, Honain?’
+
+‘A very wondrous land, ‘twill please thee much.’
+
+‘When may I go? Tell me when I may go. When may I quit this dark and
+noisome cell? ‘Tis worse than all their tortures, dear Honain. Air and
+light, and I really think my spirit never would break, but this
+horrible dungeon---- I scarce can look upon thy face, sweet friend. ‘Tis
+serious.’
+
+‘Wouldst thou have me gay?’
+
+‘Yes! if we are free.’
+
+‘Alroy! thou art a great spirit, the greatest that I e’er knew, have
+ever read of. I never knew thy like, and never shall.’
+
+‘Tush, tush, sweet friend, I am a broken reed, but still I am free. This
+is no time for courtly phrases. Let’s go, and go at once.’
+
+‘A moment, dear Alroy. I am no flatterer. What I said came from my
+heart, and doth concern us much and instantly. I was saying thou hast no
+common mind, Alroy; indeed thou hast a mind unlike all others. Listen,
+my Prince. Thou hast read mankind deeply and truly. Few have seen more
+than thyself, and none have so rare a spring of that intuitive knowledge
+of thy race, which is a gem to which experience is but a jeweller, and
+without which no action can befriend us.’
+
+‘Well, well!’
+
+‘A moment’s calmness. Thou hast entered Bagdad in triumph, and thou hast
+entered the same city with every contumely which the base spirit of our
+race could cast upon its victim. ‘Twas a great lesson.’
+
+‘I feel it so.’
+
+‘And teaches us how vile and valueless is the opinion of our
+fellow-men.’
+
+‘Alas! ‘tis true.’
+
+‘I am glad to see thee in this wholesome temper. ‘Tis full of wisdom.’
+
+‘The miserable are often wise.’
+
+‘But to believe is nothing unless we act. Speculation should only
+sharpen practice. The time hath come to prove thy lusty faith in this
+philosophy. I told thee we could make terms. I have made them. To-morrow
+it was doomed Alroy should die--and what a death! A death of infinite
+torture! Hast ever seen a man impaled?’[81]
+
+‘Hah!’
+
+‘To view it is alone a doom.’
+
+‘God of Heaven!’
+
+‘It is so horrible, that ‘tis ever marked, that when this direful
+ceremony occurs, the average deaths in cities greatly increase. ‘Tis
+from the turning of the blood in the spectators, who yet from some
+ungovernable madness cannot refrain from hurrying to the scene. I speak
+with some authority. I speak as a physician.’
+
+‘Speak no more, I cannot endure it.’
+
+‘To-morrow this doom awaited thee. As for Schirene----’
+
+‘Not for her, oh! surely not for her?’
+
+‘No, they were merciful. She is a Caliph’s daughter. ‘Tis not forgotten.
+The axe would close her life. Her fair neck would give slight trouble to
+the headsman’s art. But for thy sister, but for Miriam, she is a witch,
+a Jewish witch! They would have burnt her alive!’
+
+‘I’ll not believe it, no, no, I’ll not believe it: damnable, bloody
+demons! When I had power I spared all, all but----ah, me! ah, me! why
+did I live?’
+
+‘Thou dost forget thyself; I speak of that which was to have been,
+not of that which is to be. I have stepped in and communed with the
+conqueror. I have made terms.’
+
+‘What are they, what can they be?’
+
+‘Easy. To a philosopher like Alroy an idle ceremony.’
+
+‘Be brief, be brief.’
+
+‘Thou seest thy career is a great scandal to the Moslemin. I mark their
+weakness, and I have worked upon it. Thy mere defeat or death will not
+blot out the stain upon their standard and their faith. The public mind
+is wild with fantasies since Alroy rose. Men’s opinions flit to and fro
+with that fearful change that bodes no stable settlement of states.
+None know what to cling to, or where to place their trust. Creeds are
+doubted, authority disputed. They would gladly account for thy success
+by other than human means, yet must deny thy mission. There also is the
+fame of a fair and mighty Princess, a daughter of their Caliphs, which
+they would gladly clear. I mark all this, observe and work upon it. So,
+could we devise some means by which thy lingering followers could be for
+ever silenced, this great scandal fairly erased, and the public frame
+brought to a sounder and more tranquil pulse, why, they would concede
+much, much, very much.’
+
+‘Thy meaning, not thy means, are evident.’
+
+‘They are in thy power.’
+
+‘In mine? ‘Tis a deep riddle. Pr’ythee solve it.’
+
+‘Thou wilt be summoned at to-morrow’s noon before this Arslan. There
+in the presence of the assembled people who are now with him as much as
+they were with thee, thou wilt be accused of magic, and of intercourse
+with the infernal powers. Plead guilty.’
+
+‘Well! is there more?’
+
+‘Some trifle. They will then examine thee about the Princess. It is
+not difficult to confess that Alroy won the Caliph’s daughter by an
+irresistible spell, and now ‘tis broken.’
+
+‘So, so. Is that all?’
+
+‘The chief. Thou canst then address some phrases to the Hebrew
+prisoners, denying thy Divine mission, and so forth, to settle the
+public mind, observe, upon this point for ever.’
+
+‘Ay, ay, and then----?’
+
+‘No more, except for form. (Upon the completion of the conditions,
+mind, you will be conveyed to what land you please, with such amount of
+treasure as you choose.) There is no more, except, I say, for form, I
+would, if I were you [‘twill be expected), I would just publicly affect
+to renounce our faith, and bow before their Prophet.’
+
+‘Hah! Art thou there? Is this thy freedom? Get thee behind me, tempter!
+Never, never, never! Not a jot, not a jot: I’ll not yield a jot. Were
+my doom one everlasting torture, I’d spurn thy terms! Is this thy high
+contempt of our poor kind, to outrage my God! to prove myself the vilest
+of the vile, and baser than the basest? Rare philosophy! O Honain! would
+we had never met!’
+
+‘Or never parted. True. Had my word been taken, Alroy would ne’er have
+been betrayed.’
+
+‘No more; I pray thee, sir, no more. Leave me.’
+
+‘Were this a palace, I would. Harsh words are softened by a friendly
+ear, when spoken in affliction.’
+
+‘Say what they will, I am the Lord’s anointed. As such I should have
+lived, as such at least I’ll die.’
+
+‘And Miriam?’
+
+‘The Lord will not desert her: she ne’er deserted Him.’
+
+‘Schirene?’
+
+‘Schirene! why! for her sake alone I will die a hero. Shall it be said
+she loved a craven slave, a base impostor, a vile renegade, a villainous
+dealer in drugs and charms? Oh! no, no, no! if only for her sake, her
+sweet, sweet sake, my end shall be like my great life. As the sun I
+rose, like him I set. Still the world is warm with my bright fame, and
+my last hour shall not disgrace my noon, stormy indeed, but glorious!’
+
+Honain took the torch from the niche, and advanced to the grate. It
+was not fastened: he drew it gently open, and led forward a veiled and
+female figure. The veiled and female figure threw herself at the feet of
+Alroy, who seemed lost to what was passing. A soft lip pressed his hand.
+He started, his chains clanked.
+
+‘Alroy!’ softly murmured the kneeling female.
+
+‘What voice is that?’ wildly exclaimed the Prince of the Captivity. ‘It
+falls upon my ear like long-forgotten music. I’ll not believe it. No!
+I’ll not believe it. Art thou Schirene?’
+
+‘I am that wretched thing they called thy bride.’
+
+‘Oh! this indeed is torture! What impalement can equal this sharp
+moment? Look not on me, let not our eyes meet! They have met before,
+like to the confluence of two shining rivers blending in one great
+stream of rushing light. Bear off that torch, sir. Let impenetrable
+darkness cover our darker fortunes.’
+
+‘Alroy.’
+
+‘She speaks again. Is she mad, as I am, that thus she plays with agony?’
+
+‘Sire,’ said Honain advancing, and laying his hand gently on the arm of
+the captive, ‘I pray thee moderate this passion. Thou hast some faithful
+friends here, who would fain commune in calmness for thy lasting
+welfare.’
+
+‘Welfare! He mocks me.’
+
+‘I beseech, thee, Sire, be calm. If, indeed, I speak unto that great
+Alroy whom all men fear and still may fear, I pray remember, ‘tis not
+in palaces or in the battle-field alone that the heroic soul can conquer
+and command. Scenes like these are the great proof of a superior soul.
+While we live, our body is a temple where our genius pours forth its
+godlike inspiration, and while the altar is not overthrown, the deity
+may still work marvels. Then rouse thyself, great Sire; bethink thee
+that, a Caliph or a captive, there is no man within this breathing world
+like to Alroy. Shall such a being fall without a struggle, like some
+poor felon, who has naught to trust to but the dull shuffling accident
+of Chance? I, too, am a prophet, and I feel thou still wilt conquer.’
+
+‘Give me my sceptre, then, give me the sceptre! I speak to the wrong
+brother! It was not thou, it was not thou that gavest it me.’
+
+‘Gain it once more. The Lord deserted David for a time; still he
+pardoned him, and still he died a king.’
+
+‘A woman worked his fall.’
+
+‘But thee a woman raises. This great Princess, has she not suffered too?
+Yet her spirit is still unbroken. List to her counsel: it is deep and
+fond.’
+
+‘So was our love.’
+
+‘And is, my Alroy!’ exclaimed the Princess. ‘Be calm, I pray thee! For
+my sake be calm; I am calm for thine. Thou hast listened to all Honain
+has told thee, that wise man, my Alroy, who never erred.
+
+‘Tis but a word he counsels, an empty word, a most unmeaning form. But
+speak it, and thou art free, and Alroy and Schirene may blend again
+their glorious careers and lives of sweet fruition. Dost thou not
+remember when, walking in the garden of our joy, and palled with empire,
+how often hast thou sighed for some sweet isle unknown to man, where
+thou mightst pass thy days with no companion but my faithful self, and
+no adventures but our constant loves? O my beloved, that life may still
+be thine! And dost thou falter? Dost call thyself forlorn with such
+fidelity, and deem thyself a wretch, when Paradise with all its
+beauteous gates but woos thy entrance? Oh! no, no, no, no! thou hast
+forgot Schirene: I fear me much, thy over-fond Schirene, who doats upon
+thy image in thy chains more than she did when those sweet hands of
+thine were bound with gems and played with her bright locks!’
+
+‘She speaks of another world. I do remember something. Who has sent this
+music to a dungeon? My spirit softens with her melting words. My
+eyes are moist. I weep! ‘Tis pleasant. Sorrow is joy compared with my
+despair. I never thought to shed a tear again. My brain is cooler.’
+
+‘Weep, weep, I pray thee weep; but let me kiss away thy tears, my soul!
+Didst think thy Schirene had deserted thee? Ah! that was it that made
+my bird so sad. It shall be free, and fly in a sweet sky, and feed on
+flowers with its faithful mate. Ah me! I am once more happy with my boy.
+There was no misery but thy absence, sweet! Methinks this dungeon is our
+bright kiosk! Is that the sunbeam, or thy smile, my love, that makes the
+walls so joyful?’
+
+‘Did I smile? I’ll not believe it.’
+
+‘Indeed you did. Ah! see he smiles again. Why this is freedom! There is
+no such thing as sorrow. Tis a lie to frighten fools!’
+
+‘Why, Honain, what’s this? ‘Twould seem I am really joyful. There’s
+inspiration in her very breath. I am another being. Nay! waste not
+kisses on those ugly fetters.’
+
+‘Methinks they are gold.’
+
+They were silent. Schirene drew Alroy to his rough seat, and gently
+placing herself on his knees, threw her arms round his neck, and buried
+her face in his breast. After a few minutes she raised her head, and
+whispered in his ear in irresistible accents of sweet exultation, ‘We
+shall be free to-morrow!’
+
+‘To-morrow! is the trial so near?’ exclaimed the captive, with an
+agitated voice and changing countenance. ‘To-morrow!’ He threw Schirene
+aside somewhat hastily, and sprang from his seat. ‘To-morrow! would it
+were over! To-morrow! Methinks there is within that single word the fate
+of ages! Shall it be said to-morrow that Alroy---- Hah! what art thou
+that risest now before me? Dread, mighty spirit, thou hast come in time
+to save me from perdition. Take me to thy bosom, ‘tis not stabbed. They
+did not stab thee. Thou seest me here communing with thy murderers. What
+then? I am innocent. Ask them, dread ghost, and call upon their fiendish
+souls to say I am pure. They would make me dark as themselves, but shall
+not.’
+
+‘Honain, Honain!’ exclaimed the Princess in a terrible whisper as she
+flew to the Physician. ‘He is wild again. Calm him, calm him. Mark! how
+he stands with his extended arms, and fixed vacant eyes, muttering most
+awful words! My spirit fails me. It is too fearful.’
+
+The Physician advanced and stood by the side of Alroy, but in vain
+attempted to catch his attention. He ventured to touch his arm. The
+Prince started, turned round, and recognising him, exclaimed in a
+shrieking voice, ‘Off, fratricide!’
+
+Honain recoiled, pale and quivering. Schirene sprang to his arm. ‘What
+said he, Honain? Thou dost not speak. I never saw thee pale before. Art
+thou, too, mad?’
+
+‘Would I were!’
+
+‘All men are growing wild. I am sure he said something. I pray thee tell
+me what was it?’
+
+‘Ask him.’
+
+‘I dare not. Tell me, tell me, Honain!’
+
+‘That I dare not.’
+
+‘Was it a word?’
+
+‘Ay! a word to wake the dead. Let us begone.’
+
+‘Without our end? Coward! I’ll speak to him. My own Alroy,’ sweetly
+whispered the Princess, as she advanced before him.
+
+‘What, has the fox left the tigress! Is’t so, eh? Are there no
+judgments? Are the innocent only haunted? I am innocent! I did not
+strangle thee! He said rightly, “Beware, beware! they who did this may
+do even feller deeds.� And here they are quick at their damned work.
+Thy body suffered, great Jabaster, but me they would strangle body and
+soul!’
+
+The Princess shrieked, and fell into the arms of the advancing Honain,
+who bore her out of the dungeon.
+
+After the fall of Hamadan, Bostenay and Miriam had been carried
+prisoners to Bagdad. Through the interference of Honain, their
+imprisonment had been exempted from the usual hardships, but they
+were still confined to their chambers in the citadel. Hitherto all the
+endeavours of Miriam to visit her brother had been fruitless. Honain
+was the only person to whom she could apply for assistance, and he, in
+answer to her importunities, only regretted his want of power to aid
+her. In vain had she attempted, by the offer of some remaining jewels,
+to secure the co-operation of her guards, with whom her loveliness and
+the softness of her manners had already ingratiated her. She had not
+succeeded even in communicating with Alroy. But after the unsuccessful
+mission of Honain to the dungeon, the late Vizier visited the sister of
+the captive, and, breaking to her with delicate skill the intelligence
+of the impending catastrophe, he announced that he had at length
+succeeded in obtaining for her the desired permission to visit her
+brother; and, while she shuddered at the proximity of an event for
+which she had long attempted to prepare herself, Honain, with some
+modifications, whispered the means by which he flattered himself that it
+might yet be averted. Miriam listened to him in silence, nor could
+he, with all his consummate art, succeed in extracting from her the
+slightest indication of her own opinion as to their expediency. They
+parted, Honain as sanguine as the wicked ever are.
+
+As Miriam dreaded, both for herself and for Alroy, the shock of an
+unexpected meeting, she availed herself of the influence of Honain
+to send Caleb to her brother, to prepare him for her presence, and to
+consult him as to the desirable moment. Caleb found his late master
+lying exhausted on the floor of his dungeon. At first he would not speak
+or even raise his head, nor did he for a long time apparently recognise
+the faithful retainer of his uncle. But at length he grew milder, and
+when he fully comprehended who the messenger was, and the object of his
+mission, he at first seemed altogether disinclined to see his sister,
+but in the end postponed their meeting for the present, and, pleading
+great exhaustion, fixed for that sad interview the first hour of dawn.
+
+The venerable Bostenay had scarcely ever spoken since the fall of his
+nephew; indeed it was but too evident that his faculties, even if they
+had not entirely deserted him, were at least greatly impaired. He never
+quitted his couch; he took no notice of what occurred. He evinced no
+curiosity, scarcely any feeling. If indeed he occasionally did mutter an
+observation, it was generally of an irritable character, nor truly did
+he appear satisfied if anyone approached him, save Miriam, from
+whom alone he would accept the scanty viands which he ever appeared
+disinclined to touch. But his devoted niece, amid all her harrowing
+affliction, could ever spare to the protector of her youth a placid
+countenance, a watchful eye, a gentle voice, and a ready hand. Her
+religion and her virtue, the strength of her faith, and the inspiration
+of her innocence, supported this pure and hapless lady amid all her
+undeserved and unparalleled sorrows.
+
+It was long past midnight; the young widow of Abner reposed upon a couch
+in a soft slumber. The amiable Beruna and the beautiful Bathsheba, the
+curtains drawn, watched the progress of the night.
+
+‘Shall I wake her?’ said the beautiful Bathsheba. ‘Methinks the stars
+are paler! She bade me rouse her long before the dawn.’
+
+‘Her sleep is too benign! Let us not wake her,’ replied the amiable
+Beruna. ‘We rouse her only to sorrow.’
+
+‘May her dreams at least be happy;’ rejoined the beautiful Bathsheba.
+‘She sleeps tranquilly, as a flower.’
+
+‘The veil has fallen from her head,’ said the amiable Beruna. ‘I will
+replace it lightly on her brow. Is that well, my Bathsheba?’
+
+‘It is well, sweet Beruna. Her face shrouded by the shawl is like a
+pearl in its shell. See! she moves!’
+
+‘Bathsheba!’
+
+‘I am here, sweet lady.’
+
+‘Is it near dawn?’
+
+‘Not yet, sweet lady; it is yet night. It is long past the noon of
+night, sweet lady; methinks I scent the rising breath of morn; but still
+‘tis night, and the young moon shines like a sickle in the heavenly
+field, amid the starry harvest.’
+
+‘Beruna, gentle girl, give me thy arm. I’ll rise.’
+
+The maidens advanced, and gently raising their mistress, supported her
+to the window.
+
+‘Since our calamities,’ said Miriam, ‘I have never enjoyed such tranquil
+slumber. My dreams were slight, but soothing. I saw him, but he smiled.
+Have I slept long, sweet girls? Ye are very watchful.’
+
+‘Dear lady, let me bring thy shawl. The air is fresh----’
+
+‘But sweet; I thank thee, no. My brow is not so cool as to need a
+covering. ‘Tis a fair night!’
+
+Miriam gazed upon the wide prospect of the moonlit capital. The elevated
+position of the citadel afforded an extensive view of the mighty groups
+of buildings-each in itself a city, broken only by some vast and hooded
+cupola, the tall, slender, white minarets of the mosques, or the black
+and spiral form of some lonely cypress--through which the rushing
+Tigris, flooded with light, sent forth its broad and brilliant torrent.
+All was silent; not a single boat floated on the fleet river, not a
+solitary voice broke the stillness of slumbering millions. She gazed
+and, as she gazed, she could not refrain from contrasting the present
+scene, which seemed the sepulchre of all the passions of our race,
+with the unrivalled excitement of that stirring spectacle which Bagdad
+exhibited on the celebration of the marriage of Alroy. How different
+then, too, was her position from her present, and how happy! The only
+sister of a devoted brother, the lord and conqueror of Asia, the bride
+of his most victorious captain, one worthy of all her virtues, and whose
+youthful valour had encircled her brow with a diadem. To Miriam, exalted
+station had brought neither cares nor crimes. It had, as it were, only
+rendered her charity universal, and her benevolence omnipotent. She
+could not accuse herself, this blessed woman--she could not accuse
+herself, even in this searching hour of self-knowledge--she could not
+accuse herself, with all her meekness, and modesty, and humility, of
+having for a moment forgotten her dependence on her God, or her duty to
+her neighbour.
+
+But when her thoughts recurred to that being from whom they were indeed
+scarcely ever absent; and when she remembered him, and all his life,
+and all the thousand incidents of his youth, mysteries to the world, and
+known only to her, but which were indeed the prescience of his fame, and
+thought of all his surpassing qualities and all his sweet affection,
+his unrivalled glory and his impending fate, the tears, in silent agony,
+forced their way down her pale and pensive cheek. She bowed her head
+upon Bathsheba’s shoulder, and sweet Beruna pressed her quivering hand.
+
+The moon set, the stars grew white and ghastly, and vanished one by one.
+Over the distant plain of the Tigris, the scene of the marriage pomp,
+the dark purple horizon shivered into a rich streak of white and orange.
+The solemn strain of the Muezzin sounded from the minarets. Some one
+knocked at the door. It was Caleb.
+
+‘I am ready,’ said Miriam; and for a moment she covered her face with
+her right hand. ‘Think of me, sweet maidens; pray for me!’
+
+Leaning on Caleb, and lighted by a gaoler, bearing torches, Miriam
+descended the damp and broken stairs that led to the dungeon. She
+faltered as she arrived at the grate. She stopped, and leant against the
+cold and gloomy wall. The gaoler and Caleb preceded her. She heard the
+voice of Alroy. It was firm and sweet. Its accents reassured her. Caleb
+came forth with a torch, and held it to her feet; and, as he bent down,
+he said, ‘My lord bade me beg you to be of good heart, for he is.’
+
+The gaoler, having stuck his torch in the niche, withdrew. Miriam
+desired Caleb to stay without. Then, summoning up all her energies, she
+entered the dreadful abode. Alroy was standing to receive her. The
+light fell full upon his countenance. It smiled. Miriam could no longer
+restrain herself. She ran forward, and pressed him to her heart.
+
+‘O, my best, my long beloved,’ whispered Alroy; ‘such a meeting indeed
+leads captivity captive!’
+
+But the sister could not speak. She leant her head upon his shoulder,
+and closed her eyes, that she might not weep.
+
+‘Courage, dear heart; courage, courage!’ whispered the captive. ‘Indeed
+I am happy!’
+
+‘My brother, my brother!’
+
+‘Had we met yesterday, you would have found me perhaps a little vexed.
+But to-day I am myself again. Since I crossed the Tigris, I know not
+that I have felt such self-content. I have had sweet dreams, dear
+Miriam, full of solace. And, more than dreams, the Lord has pardoned me,
+I truly think.’
+
+‘O, my brother! your words are full of comfort; for, indeed, I too have
+dreamed, and dreamed of consolation. My spirit, since our fall, has
+never been more tranquil.’
+
+‘Indeed I am happy.’
+
+‘Say so again, my David; let me hear again these words of solace!’
+
+‘Indeed, ‘tis very true, my faithful friend. It is not spoken in
+kind mockery to make you joyous. For know, last eve, whether the Lord
+repented of his wrath, or whether some dreadful trials, of which I will
+not speak, and wish not to remember, had made atonement for my manifold
+sins, but so it was, that, about the time my angel Miriam sent her
+soothing message, a feeling of repose came over me, such as I long have
+coveted. Anon, I fell into a slumber, deep and sweet, and, instead of
+those wild and whirling images that of late have darted from my brain
+when it should rest, glimpses of empire and conspiracy, snatches of
+fierce wars and mocking loves, I stood beside our native fountain’s
+brink, and gathered flowers with my earliest friend. As I placed the
+fragrant captives in your flowing locks, there came Jabaster, that
+great, injured man, no longer stern and awful, but with benignant
+looks, and full of love. And he said, “David, the Lord hath marked thy
+faithfulness, in spite of the darkness of thy dungeon.� So he vanished.
+He spoke, my sister, of some strange temptations by heavenly aid
+withstood. No more of that. I awoke. And lo! I heard my name still
+called. Full of my morning dream, I thought it was you, and I answered,
+“Dear sister, art thou here?� But no one answered; and then, reflecting,
+my memory recognised those thrilling tones that summoned Alroy in
+Jabaster’s cave.’ ‘The Daughter of the Voice?’ ‘Even that sacred
+messenger. I am full of faith. The Lord hath pardoned me. Be sure of
+that.’
+
+‘I cannot doubt it, David. You have done great things for Israel; no one
+in these latter days has risen like you. If you have fallen, you were
+young, and strangely tempted.’
+
+‘Yet Israel, Israel! Did I not feel a worthier leader will yet arise, my
+heart would crack. I have betrayed my country!’
+
+‘Oh no, no, no! You have shown what we can do and shall do. Your memory
+alone is inspiration. A great career, although baulked of its end, is
+still a landmark of human energy. Failure, when sublime, is not without
+its purpose. Great deeds are great legacies, and work with wondrous
+usury. By what Man has done, we learn what Man can do; and gauge the
+power and prospects of our race.’
+
+‘Alas! there is no one to guard my name. ‘Twill be reviled; or worse,
+‘twill be forgotten.’
+
+‘Never! the memory of great actions never dies. The sun of glory, though
+awhile obscured, will shine at last. And so, sweet brother, perchance
+some poet, in some distant age, within whose veins our sacred blood may
+flow, his fancy fired with the national theme, may strike his harp to
+Alroy’s wild career, and consecrate a name too long forgotten?’
+
+‘May love make thee a prophetess!’ exclaimed Alroy, as he bent down his
+head and embraced her. ‘Do not tarry,’ he whispered. ‘‘Tis better that
+we should part in this firm mood.’
+
+She sprang from him, she clasped her hands. ‘We will not part,’ she
+exclaimed, with energy; ‘I will die with thee.’
+
+‘Blessed girl, be calm! Do not unman me.’
+
+‘I am calm. See! I do not weep. Not a tear, not a tear. They are all in
+my heart.’
+
+‘Go, go, my Miriam, angel of light. Tarry no longer; I pray thee go. I
+would not think of the past. Let all my mind be centred in the present.
+Thy presence calls back our bygone days, and softens me too much. My
+duty to my uncle. Go, dear one, go!’
+
+‘And leave thee, leave thee to----Oh! my David, thou hast seen, thou
+hast heard----Honain?’
+
+‘No more; let not that accursed name profane those holy lips. Raise not
+the demon in me.’
+
+‘I am silent. Yet ‘tis madness! Oh! my brother, thou hast a fearful
+trial.’
+
+‘The God of Israel is my refuge. He saved our fathers in the fiery
+furnace. He will save me.’
+
+‘I am full of faith. I pray thee let me stay.’
+
+‘I would be silent; I would be alone. I cannot speak, Miriam. I ask one
+favour, the last and dearest, from her who has never had a thought but
+for my wishes; blessed being, leave me.’
+
+‘I go. O Alroy, farewell! Let me kiss you. Again, once more! Let me
+kneel and bless you. Brother, beloved brother, great and glorious
+brother, I am worthy of you: I will not weep. I am prouder in this dread
+moment of your love than all your foes can be of their hard triumph!’
+
+Beruna and Bathsheba received their mistress when she returned to her
+chamber. They marked her desolate air. She was silent, pale, and cold.
+They bore her to her couch, whereon she sat with a most listless and
+unmeaning look; her quivering lips parted, her eyes fixed upon the
+ground in vacant abstraction, and her arms languidly folded before
+her. Beruna stole behind her, and supported her back with pillows, and
+Bathsheba, unnoticed, wiped the slight foam from her mouth. Thus Miriam
+remained for several hours, her faithful maidens in vain watching for
+any indication of her self-consciousness.
+
+Suddenly a trumpet sounded.
+
+‘What is that?’ exclaimed Miriam, in a shrill voice, and looking up with
+a distracted glance.
+
+Neither of them answered, since they were aware that it betokened the
+going forth of Alroy to his trial.
+
+Miriam remained in the same posture, and with the same expression of
+wild inquiry. Another trumpet sounded, and after that a shout of the
+people. Then she raised up her arms to heaven, and bowed her head, and
+died.
+
+‘Has the second trumpet sounded?’
+
+‘To be sure: run, run for a good place. Where is Abdallah?’
+
+‘Selling sherbet in the square. We shall find him. Has Alroy come
+forth?’
+
+‘Yes! he goes the other way. We shall be too late. Only think of
+Abdallah selling sherbet!’
+
+‘Father, let me go?’
+
+‘You will be in the way; you are too young; you will see nothing. Little
+boys should stay at home.’
+
+‘No, they should not. I will go. You can put me on your shoulders.’
+
+‘Where is Ibrahim? Where is Ali? We must all keep together. We shall
+have to fight for it. I wish Abdallah were here. Only think of his
+selling sherbet!’
+
+‘Keep straight forward. That is right. It is no use going that way. The
+bazaar is shut. There is Fakreddin, there is Osman Effendi. He has got a
+new page.’
+
+‘So he has, I declare; and a very pretty boy too.’
+
+‘Father, will they impale Alroy alive?’
+
+‘I am sure I do not know. Never ask questions, my dear. Little boys
+never should.’
+
+‘Yes, they should. I hope they will impale him alive. I shall be so
+disappointed if they do not.’
+
+‘Keep to the left. Dash through the Butchers’ bazaar: that is open. All
+right, all right. Did you push me, sir?’
+
+‘Suppose I did push you, sir, what then, sir?’
+
+‘Come along, don’t quarrel. That is a Karasmian. They think they are to
+do what they like. We are five to one, to be sure, but still there is
+nothing like peace and quiet. I wish Abdallah were here with his stout
+shoulders. Only think of his selling sherbet!’
+
+The Square of the Grand Mosque, the same spot where Jabaster met Abidan
+by appointment, was the destined scene of the pretended trial of Alroy.
+Thither by break of day the sight-loving thousands of the capital had
+repaired. In the centre of the square, a large circle was described by
+a crimson cord, and guarded by Karasmian soldiers. Around this the
+swelling multitude pressed like the gathering waves of ocean, but,
+whenever the tide set in with too great an impulse, the savage
+Karasmians appeased the ungovernable element by raising their
+battle-axes, and brutally breaking the crowns and belabouring the
+shoulders of their nearest victims. As the morning advanced, the
+terraces of the surrounding houses, covered with awnings, were crowded
+with spectators. All Bagdad was astir. Since the marriage of Alroy,
+there had never been such a merry morn as the day of his impalement.
+
+At one end of the circle was erected a magnificent throne. Half way
+between the throne and the other end of the circle, but further back,
+stood a company of negro eunuchs, hideous to behold, who, clothed in
+white, and armed with various instruments of torture, surrounded the
+enormous stakes, tall, thin, and sharp, that were prepared for the final
+ceremony.
+
+The flourish of trumpets, the clash of cymbals, and the wild beat of the
+tambour, announced the arrival of Alp Arslan from the Serail. An avenue
+to the circle had been preserved through the multitude. The royal
+procession might be traced as it wound through the populace, by the
+sparkling and undulating line of plumes of honour, and the dazzling
+forms of the waving streamers, on which were inscribed the names of
+Allah and the Prophet. Suddenly, amid the bursts of music, and
+the shouts of the spectators, many of whom on the terraces humbled
+themselves on their knees, Alp Arslan mounted the throne, around which
+ranged themselves his chief captains, and a deputation of the Mullahs,
+and Imams, and Cadis, and other principal personages of the city.
+
+The King of Karasmé was tall in stature, and somewhat meagre in form. He
+was fair, or rather sandy-coloured, with a red beard, and blue eyes,
+and a flat nose. The moment he was seated, a trumpet was heard in the
+distance from an opposite quarter, and it was soon understood throughout
+the assembly that the great captive was about to appear.
+
+A band of Karasmian guards first entered the circle, and ranged
+themselves round the cord, with their backs to the spectators. After
+them came fifty of the principal Hebrew prisoners, with their hands
+bound behind them, but evidently more for form than security. To these
+succeeded a small covered wagon drawn by mules, and surrounded by
+guards, from which was led forth, his legs relieved from their manacles,
+but his hands still in heavy chains, David Alroy!
+
+A universal buzz of blended sympathy, and wonder, and fear, and triumph
+arose, throughout the whole assembly. Each man involuntarily stirred.
+The vast populace moved to and fro in agitation. His garments soiled and
+tattered, his head bare, and his long locks drawn off his forehead, pale
+and thin, but still unsubdued, the late conqueror and Caliph of Bagdad
+threw around a calm and imperial glance upon those who were but recently
+his slaves.
+
+The trumpets again sounded, order was called, and a crier announced that
+his Highness Alp Arslan, the mighty Sovereign of Karasmé, their Lord,
+Protector, and King, and avenger of Allah and the Prophet, against all
+rebellious and evil-minded Jews and Giaours, was about to speak. There
+was a deep and universal silence, and then sounded a voice high as the
+eagle’s in a storm.
+
+‘David Alroy!’ said his conqueror, ‘you are brought hither this day
+neither for trial nor for judgment. Captured in arms against your
+rightful sovereign, you are of course prepared, like other rebels, for
+your doom. Such a crime alone deserves the most avenging punishments.
+What then do you merit, who are loaded with a thousand infamies, who
+have blasphemed Allah and the Prophet, and, by the practice of magic
+arts and the aid of the infernal powers, have broken the peace of
+kingdoms, occasioned infinite bloodshed, outraged all law, religion, and
+decency, misled the minds of your deluded votaries, and especially by a
+direct compact with Eblis, by horrible spells and infamous incantations,
+captivated the senses of an illustrious Princess, heretofore famous for
+the practice of every virtue, and a descendant of the Prophet himself.
+
+‘Behold these stakes of palm-wood, sharper than a lance! The most
+terrible retribution that human ingenuity has devised for the guilty
+awaits you. But your crimes baffle all human vengeance. Look forward
+for your satisfactory reward to those infernal powers by whose dark
+co-operation you have occasioned such disasters. Your punishment is
+public, that all men may know that the guilty never escape, and that,
+if your heart be visited by the slightest degree of compunction for
+your numerous victims, you may this day, by the frank confession of the
+irresistible means by which you seduced them, exonerate your victims
+from the painful and ignominious end with which, through your influence
+they are now threatened. Mark, O assembled people, the infinite mercy
+of the Vicegerent of Allah! He allows the wretched man to confess his
+infamy, and to save by his confession, his unfortunate victims. I have
+said it. Glory to Allah!’
+
+And the people shouted, ‘He has said it, he has said it! Glory to Allah!
+He is great, he is great! and Mahomed is his prophet!’
+
+‘Am I to speak?’ enquired Alroy, when the tumult had subsided. The
+melody of his voice commanded universal attention.
+
+Alp Arslan nodded his head in approbation.
+
+‘King of Karasmé! I stand here accused of many crimes. Now hear my
+answers. ‘Tis said I am a rebel. My answer is, I am a Prince as thou
+art, of a sacred race, and far more ancient. I owe fealty to no one but
+to my God, and if I have broken that I am yet to learn that Alp Arslan
+is the avenger of His power. As for thy God and Prophet, I know not
+them, though they acknowledge mine. ‘Tis well understood in every
+polity, my people stand apart from other nations, and ever will, in
+spite of suffering. So much for blasphemy; I am true to a deep faith
+of ancient days, which even the sacred writings of thy race still
+reverence. For the arts magical I practised, and the communion with
+infernal powers ‘tis said I held, know, King, I raised the standard of
+my faith by the direct commandment of my God, the great Creator of the
+universe. What need of magic, then? What need of paltering with petty
+fiends, when backed by His omnipotence? My magic was His inspiration.
+Need I prove why, with such aid, my people crowded round me? The time
+will come when from out our ancient seed, a worthier chief will rise,
+not to be quelled even by thee, Sire.
+
+‘For that unhappy Princess of whom something was said (with no great
+mercy, as it seemed to me), that lady is my wife, my willing wife; the
+daughter of a Caliph, still my wife, although your stakes may make her
+soon a widow. I stand not here to account for female fancies. Believe
+me, Sire, she gave her beauty to my raptured arms with no persuasions
+but such as became a soldier and a king. It may seem strange to thee
+upon thy throne that the flower of Asia should be plucked by one so vile
+as I am. Remember, the accidents of Fortune are most strange. I was not
+always what I am. We have met before. There was a day, and that too
+not long since, when, but for the treachery of some knaves I mark here,
+Fortune seemed half inclined to reverse our fates. Had I conquered, I
+trust I should have shown more mercy.’
+
+The King of Karasmé was the most passionate of men. He had made a speech
+according to the advice and instructions of his councillors, who had
+assured him that the tone he adopted would induce Alroy to confess all
+that he required, and especially to vindicate the reputation of the
+Princess Schirene, who had already contrived to persuade Alp Arslan that
+she was the most injured of her sex. The King of Karasmé stamped thrice
+on the platform of his throne, and exclaimed with great fire, ‘By my
+beard, ye have deceived me! The dog has confessed nothing!’
+
+All the councillors and chief captains, and the Mullahs, and the
+Imams, and the Cadis, and the principal personages of the city were
+in consternation. They immediately consulted together, and, after much
+disputation, agreed that, before they proceeded to extremities, it was
+expedient to prove what the prisoner would not confess. A venerable
+Sheikh, clothed in flowing robes of green, with a long white beard,
+and a turban like the tower of Babel, then rose. His sacred reputation
+procured silence while he himself delivered a long prayer, supplicating
+Allah and the Prophet to confound all blaspheming Jews and Giaours, and
+to pour forth words of truth from the mouths of religious men. And
+then the venerable Sheikh summoned all witnesses against David Alroy.
+Immediately advanced Kisloch the Kourd, to whom, being placed in an
+eminent position, the Cadi of Bagdad drawing forth a scroll from his
+velvet bag, read a deposition, wherein the worthy Kisloch stated that he
+first became acquainted with the prisoner, David Alroy, in some ruins in
+the desert, the haunt of banditti, of whom Alroy was the chief; that
+he, Kisloch, was a reputable merchant, and that his caravan had been
+plundered by these robbers, and he himself captured; that, on the second
+night of his imprisonment, Alroy appeared to him in the likeness of a
+lion, and on the third, of a bull with fiery eyes; that he was in the
+habit of constantly transforming himself; that he frequently raised
+spirits; that, at length, on one terrible night, Eblis himself came in
+great procession, and presented Alroy with the sceptre of Solomon Ben
+Daoud; and that the next day Alroy raised his standard, and soon after
+massacred Hassan Subah and his Seljuks, by the visible aid of many
+terrible demons.
+
+Calidas the Indian, the Guebre, and the Negro, and a few congenial
+spirits, were not eclipsed in the satisfactory character of their
+evidence by the luminous testimony of Kisloch the Kourd. The
+irresistible career of the Hebrew conqueror was undeniably accounted
+for, and the honour of Moslem arms and the purity of Moslem faith were
+established in their pristine glory and all their unsullied reputation.
+David Alroy was proved to be a child of Eblis, a sorcerer, and a dealer
+in charms and magical poisons. The people listened with horror and with
+indignation. They would have burst through the guards and torn him in
+pieces, had not they been afraid of the Karasmian battle-axes. So they
+consoled themselves with the prospect of his approaching tortures.
+
+The Cadi of Bagdad bowed himself before the King of Karasmé, and
+whispered at a respectful distance in the royal ear. The trumpets
+sounded, the criers enjoined silence, and the royal lips again moved.
+
+‘Hear, O ye people, and be wise. The chief Cadi is about to read
+the deposition of the royal Princess Schirene, chief victim of the
+sorcerer.’
+
+And the deposition was read, which stated that David Alroy possessed,
+and wore next to his heart, a talisman, given him by Eblis, the virtue
+of which was so great that, if once it were pressed to the heart of any
+woman, she was no longer mistress of her will. Such had been the unhappy
+fate of the daughter of the Commander of the Faithful.
+
+‘Is it so written?’ enquired the captive.
+
+‘It is so written,’ replied the Cadi, ‘and bears the imperial signature
+of the Princess.’
+
+‘It is a forgery.’
+
+The King of Karasmé started from his throne, and in his rage nearly
+descended its steps. His face was like scarlet, his beard was like a
+flame. A favourite minister ventured gently to restrain the royal robe.
+
+‘Kill the dog on the spot,’ muttered the King of Karasmé.
+
+‘The Princess is herself here,’ said the Cadi, ‘to bear witness to the
+spells of which she was a victim, but from which, by the power of Allah
+and the Prophet, she is now released.’
+
+Alroy started!
+
+‘Advance, royal Princess,’ said the Cadi, ‘and, if the deposition thou
+hast heard be indeed true, condescend to hold up the imperial hand that
+adorned it with thy signature.’
+
+A band of eunuchs near the throne gave way; a female figure veiled to
+her feet appeared. She held up her hand amid the breathless agitation of
+the whole assembly; the ranks of the eunuchs again closed; a shriek was
+heard, and the veiled figure disappeared.
+
+‘I am ready for thy tortures, King,’ said Alroy, in a tone of deep
+depression. His firmness appeared to have deserted him. His eyes were
+cast upon the ground. Apparently he was buried in profound thought, or
+had delivered himself up to despair.
+
+‘Prepare the stakes,’ said Alp Arslan.
+
+An involuntary, but universal, shudder might be distinguished through
+the whole assembly.
+
+A slave advanced and offered Alroy a scroll. He recognised the Nubian
+who belonged to Honain. His former minister informed him that he was
+at hand, that the terms he offered in the dungeon might even yet be
+granted; that if Alroy would, as he doubted not, as he entreated him,
+accept them, he was to place the scroll in his bosom, but that if
+he were still inexorable, still madly determined on a horrible and
+ignominious end, he was to tear the scroll and throw it in to the arena.
+Instantly Alroy took the scroll, and with great energy tore it into a
+thousand pieces. A puff of wind carried the fragments far and wide.
+The mob fought for these last memorials of David Alroy, and this little
+incident occasioned a great confusion.
+
+In the meantime the negroes prepared the instruments of torture and of
+death.
+
+‘The obstinacy of this Jewish dog makes me mad,’ said the King of
+Karasmé to his courtiers. ‘I will hold some parley with him before he
+dies.’ The favourite minister entreated his sovereign to be content;
+but the royal beard grew so red, and the royal eyes flashed forth such
+terrible sparks of fire, that even the favourite minister at length gave
+way.
+
+The trumpet sounded, the criers called silence, and the voice of Alp
+Arslan was again heard.
+
+‘Thou dog, dost see what is preparing for thee? Dost know what awaits
+thee in the halls of thy master Eblis? Can a Jew be influenced even by
+false pride? Is not life sweet? Is it not better to be my slipper-bearer
+than to be impaled?’
+
+‘Magnanimous Alp Arslan,’ replied Alroy in a tone of undisguised
+contempt; ‘thinkest thou that any torture can be equal to the
+recollection that I have been conquered by thee?’
+
+‘By my beard, he mocks me!’ exclaimed the Karasmian monarch, ‘he defies
+me! Touch not my robe. I will parley with him. Ye see no farther than a
+hooded hawk, ye sons of a blind mother. This is a sorcerer; he hath yet
+some master spell; he will yet save himself. He will fly into the air,
+or sink into the earth. He laughs at our tortures.’ The King of Karasmé
+precipitately descended the steps of his throne, followed by his
+favourite minister, and his councillors, and chief captains, and the
+Cadis, and the Mullahs, and the Imams, and the principal personages of
+the city.
+
+‘Sorcerer!’ exclaimed Alp Arslan, ‘insolent sorcerer! base son of a base
+mother! dog of dogs! dost thou defy us? Does thy master Eblis whisper
+hope? Dost thou laugh at our punishments? Wilt thou fly into the
+air? wilt thou sink into the earth? eh, eh? Is it so, is it so?’ The
+breathless monarch ceased, from the exhaustion of passion. He tore his
+beard out by the roots, he stamped with uncontrollable rage.
+
+‘Thou art wiser than thy councillors, royal Arslan; I do defy thee.
+My master, although not Eblis, has not deserted me. I laugh at thy
+punishments. Thy tortures I despise. I shall both sink into the earth
+and mount into the air. Art thou answered?’
+
+‘By my beard,’ exclaimed the enraged Arslan, ‘I am answered. Let Eblis
+save thee if he can;’ and the King of Karasmé, the most famous master
+of the sabre in Asia, drew his blade like lightning from its sheath,
+and took off the head of Alroy at a stroke. It fell, and, as it fell, a
+smile of triumphant derision seemed to play upon the dying features
+of the hero, and to ask of his enemies, ‘Where now are all your
+tortures?’[82]
+
+
+
+
+NOTES TO ALROY.
+
+[Footnote 1: page 4.--_We shall yet see an ass mount a ladder_.--Hebrew
+proverb.]
+
+[Footnote 2: page 12.--Our walls are hung with flowers you love. It is
+the custom of the Hebrews in many of their festivals, especially in
+the feast of the Tabernacle, to hang the walls of their chambers with
+garlands of flowers.]
+
+[Footnote 3: page 13.--_The traditionary tomb of Esther and Mordecai_.
+‘I accompanied the priest through the town over much ruin and rubbish
+to an enclosed piece of ground, rather more elevated than any in its
+immediate vicinity. In the centre was the Jewish tomb-a square building
+of brick, of a mosque-like form, with a rather elongated dome at the
+top. The door is in the ancient sepulchral fashion of the country, very
+small, consisting of a single stone of great thickness, and turning on
+its own pivots from one side. Its key is always in possession of
+the eldest of the Jews resident at Hamadan. Within the tomb are two
+sarcophagi, made of a very dark wood, carved with great intricacy of
+pattern and richness of twisted ornament, with a line of inscription in
+Hebrew,’ &c.--_Sir R. K. Porter’s Travels in Persia, vol. ii. p. 107_.]
+
+[Footnote 4: page 16.--_A marble fountain, the richly-carved cupola
+supported by twisted columns_. The vast magnificence and elaborate
+fancy of the tombs and fountains is a remarkable feature of Oriental
+architecture. The Eastern nations devote to these structures the richest
+and the most durable materials. While the palaces of Asiatic monarchs
+are in general built only of wood, painted in fresco, the rarest marbles
+are dedicated to the sepulchre and the spring, which are often richly
+gilt, and adorned even with precious stones.]
+
+[Footnote 5: page 17.--_The chorus of our maidens._ It is still the
+custom for the women in the East to repair at sunset in company to
+the fountain for their supply of water. In Egypt, you may observe at
+twilight the women descending the banks of the Nile in procession from
+every town and village. Their graceful drapery, their long veils not
+concealing their flashing eyes, and the classical forms of their vases,
+render this a most picturesque and agreeable spectacle.]
+
+[Footnote 6: page 24.--I describe the salty deserts of Persia, a
+locality which my tale required; but I have ventured to introduce here,
+and in the subsequent pages, the principal characteristics of the great
+Arabian deserts: the mirage, the simoom, the gazelle, the oasis.]
+
+[Footnote 7: page 28.--_Jackals and marten-cat._ At nightfall,
+especially in Asia Minor, the lonely horseman will often meet the
+jackals on their evening prowl. Their moaning is often heard during the
+night. I remember, when becalmed off Troy, the most singular screams
+were heard at intervals throughout the night, from a forest on the
+opposite shore, which a Greek sailor assured me proceeded from a
+marten-cat, which had probably found the carcass of some horse.]
+
+[Footnote 8: page 30. Elburz, or Elborus, the highest range of the
+Caucasus.]
+
+[Footnote 9: page 31.--_A circular and brazen table, sculptured with
+strange characters and mysterious figures; near it was a couch on which
+lay several volumes._ A cabalistic table, perhaps a zodiac. The
+books were doubtless _Sepher Happeliah_, the Book of Wonders; _Sepher
+Hakkaneh_, the Book of the Pen; and _Sepher Habbahir_, the Book of
+Light. This last unfolds the most sublime mysteries.]
+
+[Footnote 10: page 32.--_Answered the Cabalist._ ‘Simeon ben Jochai,
+who flourished in the second century, and was a disciple of Akibha, is
+called by the Jews the Prince of the Cabalists. After the suppression of
+the sedition in which his master had been so unsuccessful, he concealed
+himself in a cave, where, according to the Jewish historians, he
+received revelations, which he after-wards delivered to his disciples,
+and which they carefully preserved in the book called Sohar. His master,
+Akibha, who lived soon after the destruction of Jerusalem, was the
+author of the famous book Jezirah, quoted by the Jews as of Divine
+authority. When Akibha was far advanced in life, appeared the famous
+impostor Barchochebas, who, under the character of the Messiah, promised
+to deliver his countrymen from the power of the Emperor Adrian. Akibha
+espoused his cause, and afforded him the protection and support of his
+name, and an army of two hundred thousand men repaired to his standard.
+The Romans at first slighted the insurrection; but when they found the
+insurgents spread slaughter and rapine wherever they came, they sent out
+a military force against them. At. first, the issue of the contest
+was doubtful. The Messiah himself was not taken until the end of four
+years.’--Enfield, _Philosophy of the Jews_, vol. ii.
+
+‘Two methods of instruction were in use among the Jews; the one public,
+or _exoteric_; the other secret, or esoteric. The exoteric doctrine was
+that which was openly taught the people from the law of Moses and the
+traditions of the fathers. The esoteric was that which treated of the
+mysteries of the Divine nature, and other sublime subjects, and was
+known by the name of the Cabala. The latter was, after the manner of the
+Pythagorean and Egyptian mysteries, taught only to certain persons,
+who were bound, under the most solemn anathema, not to divulge it.
+Concerning the miraculous origin and preservation of the Cabala, the
+Jews relate many marvellous tales. They derive these mysteries from
+Adam, and assert that, while the first man was in Paradise, the angel
+Rasiel brought him a book from heaven, which contained the doctrines
+of heavenly wisdom, and that, when Adam received this book, angels came
+down to him to learn its contents, but that he refused to admit them to
+the knowledge of sacred things entrusted to him alone; that, after the
+Fall, this book was taken back into heaven; that, after many prayers
+and tears, God restored it to Adam, from whom it passed to Seth. In the
+degenerate age before the flood this book was lost, and the mysteries it
+contained almost forgotten; but they were restored by special revelation
+to Abraham, who committed them to writing in the book _Jezirah.’--Vide
+Enfield, vol. ii. p. 219_.
+
+‘The Hebrew word _Cabala,’_ says Dom Calmet, ‘signifies tradition, and
+the Rabbins, who are named Cabalists, apply themselves principally to
+the combination of certain words, numbers, and letters, by the means of
+which they boasted they could reveal the future, and penetrate the
+sense of the most difficult passages of Scripture. This science does not
+appear to have any fixed principles, but depends upon certain ancient
+traditions, whence its name Cabala. The Cabalists have a great number of
+names which they style sacred, by means of which they raise spirits, and
+affect to obtain supernatural intelligence.’--See Calmet, Art. _Cabala_.
+
+‘We spake before,’ says Lightfoot, ‘of the commonness of Magick among
+them, one singular means whereby they kept their own in delusion, and
+whereby they affronted ours. The general expectation of the nation of
+Messias coming when he did had this double and contrary effect, that it
+forwarded those that belonged to God to believe and receive the Gospel;
+and those that did not, it gave encouragement to some to take upon
+them they were Christ or some great prophet, and to others it gave some
+persuasion to be deluded by them. These deceivers dealt most of them
+with Magick, and that cheat ended not when Jerusalem ended, though one
+would have thought that had been a fair term of not further expecting
+Messias; but since the people were willing to be deceived by such
+expectation, there rose up deluders still that were willing to deceive
+them.’--Lightfoot, vol. ii. p. 371.
+
+For many curious details of the Cabalistic Magic, Vide Basnage, vol. v.
+p. 384, &c.]
+
+[Footnote 11: page 34.--_Read the stars no longer_. ‘The modern Jews,’
+says Basnage, ‘have a great idea of the influence of the stars.’ Vol.
+iv. p. 454. But astrology was most prevalent among the Babylonian
+Rabbins, of whom Jabaster was one. Living in the ancient land of the
+Chaldeans, these sacred sages imbibed a taste for the mystic lore of
+their predecessors. The stars moved, and formed letters and lines, when
+consulted by any of the highly-initiated of the Cabalists. This they
+styled the Celestial Alphabet.]
+
+[Footnote 12: page 38.--__The Daughter of the Voice. ‘Both the Talmudick
+and the latter Rabbins,’ says Lightfoot, ‘make frequent mention of _Bath
+Kol, or Filia Vocis_, or an echoing voice which served under the Second
+Temple for their utmost refuge of revelation. For when Urim and Thummim,
+the oracle, was ceased, and prophecy was decayed and gone, they had,
+as they say, certain strange and extraordinary voices upon certain
+extraordinary occasions, which were their warnings and advertisements
+in some special matters. Infinite instances of this might be adduced, if
+they might be believed. Now here it may be questioned why they called
+it _Bath Kol, the daughter of a voice,_ and not a voice itself? If the
+strictness of the Hebrew word Bath be to be stood upon, which always it
+is not, it may be answered, that it is called The Daughter of a Voice
+in relation to the oracles of Urim and Thummim. For whereas that was a
+voice given from off the mercy-seat, within the vail, and this, upon the
+decay of that oracle, came as it were in its place, it might not
+unfitly or improperly be called a _daughter_, or successor of that
+voice.’--Lightfoot, vol. i. pp. 485, 486. Consult also the learned
+Doctor, vol. ii. pp. 128, 129: ‘It was used for a testimony from heaven,
+but was indeed performed by magic art.’]
+
+[Footnote 13: page 44.--_The walls and turrets of an extensive city_.
+In Persia, and the countries of the Tigris and Euphrates, the traveller
+sometimes arrives at deserted cities of great magnificence and
+antiquity. Such, for instance, is the city of Anneh. I suppose Alroy to
+have entered one of the deserted capitals of the Seleucidae. They are in
+general the haunt of bandits.]
+
+[Footnote 14: page 49.--_Punctured his arm._ From a story told by an
+Arab.]
+
+[Footnote 15: page 52.--_The pilgrim could no longer sustain himself._
+An endeavor to paint the simoom.]
+
+[Footnote 16: page 54.--_By the holy stone._ The Caaba.--The Caaba is
+the same to the Mahomedan as the Holy Sepulchre to the Christian. It is
+the most unseemly, but the most sacred, part of the mosque at Mecca, and
+is a small, square stone building.]
+
+[Footnote 17: page 56.--_I am a Hakim;_ i.e. Physician, an almost sacred
+character in the East. As all Englishmen travel with medicine-chests,
+the Turks are not be wondered at for considering us physicians.]
+
+[Footnote 18: page 57.--_Threw their wanton jerreeds in the air_. The
+Persians are more famous for throwing the jerreed than any other nation.
+A Persian gentleman, while riding quietly by your side, will suddenly
+dash off at full gallop, then suddenly check his horse, and take a long
+aim with his lance with admirable precision. I should doubt, however,
+whether he could hurl a lance a greater distance or with greater force
+and effect than a Nubian, who will fix a mark at sixty yards with his
+javelin.]
+
+[Footnote 19: page 58.--_Some pounded coffee._ The origin of the use of
+coffee is obscure; but there is great reason to believe that it had not
+been introduced in the time of Alroy. When we consider that the life of
+an Oriental at the present day mainly consists in drinking coffee and
+smoking tobacco, we cannot refrain from asking ourselves, ‘What did
+he do before either of these comparatively modern inventions was
+discovered?’ For a long time, I was inclined to suspect that tobacco
+might have been in use in Asia before it was introduced into Europe; but
+a passage in old Sandys, in which he mentions the wretched tobacco smoke
+in Turkey, and accounts for it by that country being supplied with ‘the
+dregs of our markets,’ demonstrates that, in his time, there was no
+native growth in Asia. Yet the choicest tobaccos are now grown on the
+coast of Syria, the real Levant. But did the Asiatics smoke any other
+plant or substance before tobacco? In Syria, at the present day, they
+smoke a plant called _timbac_; the Chinese smoke opium; the artificial
+preparations for the hookah are known to all Indians. I believe,
+however, that these are all refinements, and for this reason, that
+in the classic writers, who were as well acquainted with the Oriental
+nations as ourselves, we find no allusion to the practice of smoking.
+The anachronism of the pipe I have not therefore ventured to commit, and
+that of coffee will, I trust, be pardoned.]
+
+[Footnote 20: page 58.--_Wilder gestures of the dancing girls._ These
+dancing girls abound throughout Asia. The most famous are the Almeh of
+Egypt, and the Nautch of India. These last are a caste, the first only a
+profession.]
+
+[Footnote 21: page 64.--_For thee the bastinado_. The bastinado is the
+common punishment of the East, and an effective and dreaded one. It is
+administered on the soles of the feet, the instrument a long cane or
+palm-branch. Public executions are very-rare.]
+
+[Footnote 22: page 73.--_A door of tortoise-shell and mother-of-pearl_.
+This elegant mode of inlay is common in Oriental palaces, and may be
+observed also in Alhambra, at Granada.]
+
+[Footnote 23: page 74.--_A vaulted, circular, and highly embossed roof,
+of purple, scarlet, and gold._ In the very first style of Saracenic
+architecture. See the Hall of the Ambassadors in Alhambra, and many
+other chambers in that exquisite creation.]
+
+[Footnote 24: page 74.--_Nubian eunuchs dressed in rich habits of
+scarlet and gold._ Thus the guard of Nubian eunuchs of the present Pacha
+of Egypt, Mehemet Ali, or rather Caliph, a title which he wishes to
+assume. They ride upon white horses.]
+
+[Footnote 25: page 74.--_A quadrangular court of roses._ So in Alhambra,
+‘The Court of Myrtles,’ leading to the Court of Columns, wherein is the
+famous Fountain of Lions.]
+
+[Footnote 26: page 75.--_An Abyssinian giant._ A giant is still a common
+appendage to an Oriental court even at the present day. See a very
+amusing story in the picturesque ‘Persian Sketches’ of that famous
+elchee, Sir John Malcolm.]
+
+[Footnote 27: page 75.--_Surrounded by figures of every rare quadruped._
+‘The hall of audience,’ says Gibbon, from Cardonne, speaking of the
+magnificence of the Saracens of Cordova, ‘was encrusted with gold and
+pearls, and a great basin in the centre was surrounded with the curious
+and costly figures of birds and quadrupeds.’-_Decline and Fall_, vol. x.
+p. 39.]
+
+[Footnote 28: page 76.--_A tree of gold and silver._ ‘Among the other
+spectacles of rare and stupendous luxury was a tree of gold and silver,
+spreading into eighteen large branches, on which, and on the lesser
+boughs, sat a variety of birds made of the same precious metals, as
+well as the leaves of the tree. While the machinery effected spontaneous
+motions, the several birds warbled their natural harmony.’-_Gibbon,_
+vol. x. p. 38, from Abulfeda, describing the court of the Caliphs of
+Bagdad in the decline of their power.]
+
+[Footnote 29: page 76.--_Four hundred men led as many white bloodhounds,
+with collars of gold and rubies_. I have somewhere read of an Indian or
+Persian monarch whose coursing was conducted in this gorgeous style: if
+I remember right, it was Mahmoud the Gaznevide.]
+
+[Footnote 30: page 76.--_A steed marked on its forehead with a star._
+The sacred steed of Solorhon.]
+
+[Footnote 31: page 78.--_Instead of water, each basin was replenished
+with the purest quicksilver._ ‘In a lofty pavilion of the gardens, one
+of those basins and fountains so delightful in a sultry climate,
+was replenished, not with water, but with the purest quicksilver.’
+--_Gibbon_, vol. x, from Cardonne.]
+
+[Footnote 32: page 78.-_Playing with a rosary of pearls and emeralds_.
+Moslems of rank are never without the rosary, sometimes of amber and
+rare woods, sometimes of jewels. The most esteemed is of that peculiar
+substance called Mecca wood.]
+
+[Footnote 33: page 78.--_The diamond hilt of a small poniard._ The
+insignia of a royal female.]
+
+[Footnote 34: page 83.--_You have been at Paris_. Paris was known to the
+Orientals at this time as a city of considerable luxury and importance.
+The Embassy from Haroun Alraschid to Charlemagne, at an earlier date, is
+of course recollected.]
+
+[Footnote 35: page 90.--_At length beheld the lost capital of his
+fathers._ The finest view of Jerusalem is from the Mount of Olives. It
+is little altered since the period when David Alroy is supposed to have
+gazed upon it, but it is enriched by the splendid Mosque of Omar, built
+by the Moslem conquerors on the supposed site of the temple, and which,
+with its gardens, and arcades, and courts, and fountains, may fairly be
+described as the most imposing of Moslem fanes. I endeavoured to enter
+it at the hazard of my life. I was detected, and surrounded by a crowd
+of turbaned fanatics, and escaped with difficulty; but I saw enough
+to feel that minute inspection would not belie the general character I
+formed of it from the Mount of Olives. I caught a glorious glimpse of
+splendid courts, and light aify gates of Saracenic triumph, flights of
+noble steps, long arcades, and interior gardens, where silver fountains
+spouted their tall streams amid the taller cypresses.]
+
+[Footnote 36: page 91.--_Entered Jerusalem by the gate of Zion_. The
+gate of Zion still remains, and from it you descend into the valley of
+Siloah.]
+
+[Footnote 37: page 94.-_ King Pirgandicus._ According to a Talmudical
+story, however, of which I find a note, this monarch was not a Hebrew
+but a Gentile, and a very wicked one. He once invited eleven famous
+doctors of the holy nation to supper. They were received in the most
+magnificent style, and were then invited, under pain of death, either
+to eat pork, to accept a pagan mistress, or to drink wine consecrated
+to idols. After long consultation, the doctors, in great tribulation,
+agreed to save their heads by accepting the last alternative, since
+the first and second were forbidden by Moses, and the last only by the
+Rabbins. The King assented, the doctors drank the impure wine, and,
+as it was exceedingly good, drank freely. The wine, as will sometimes
+happen, created a terrible appetite; the table was covered with dishes,
+and the doctors, heated by the grape, were not sufficiently careful of
+what they partook. In short, the wicked King Pirgandicus contrived that
+they should sup off pork, and being carried from the table quite tipsy,
+each of the eleven had the mortification of finding himself next morning
+in the arms of a pagan mistress. In the course of the year all the
+eleven died sudden deaths, and this visitation occurred to them, not
+because they had violated the law of Moses, but because they believed
+that the precepts of the Rabbins could be outraged with more impunity
+than the Word of God.]
+
+[Footnote 38: page 94.--_And conquered Julius Cæsar._ This classic hero
+often figures in the erratic pages of the Talmud.]
+
+[Footnote 39: page 94.--_The Tombs of the Kings._ The present pilgrim to
+Jerusalem will have less trouble than Alroy in discovering the Tombs of
+the Kings, though he probably would not as easily obtain the sceptre of
+Solomon. The tombs that bear this title are of the time of the Asmonean
+princes, and of a more ambitious character than any other of the
+remains. An open court, about fifty feet in breadth, and extremely
+deep, is excavated out of the rock. One side is formed by a portico, the
+frieze of which is sculptured in a good Syro-Greek style. There is no
+grand portal; you crawl into the tombs by a small opening on one of
+the sides. There are a few small chambers with niches, recesses, and
+sarcophagi, some sculptured in the same flowing style as the frieze.
+This is the most important monument at Jerusalem; and Dr. Clarke,
+who has lavished wonder and admiration on the tombs of Zachariah and
+Absalom, has declared the Tombs of the Kings to be one of the marvellous
+productions of antiquity.]
+
+[Footnote 40: Page 95.--‘_Rabbi Hillel_ was one of the most celebrated
+among the Jewish Doctors, both for birth, learning, rule, and children.
+He was of the seed of David by his mother’s side, being of the posterity
+of Shephatiah, the son of Abital, David’s wife. He was brought up in
+Babel, from whence he came up to Jerusalem at forty years old, and there
+studied the law forty years more under Shemaiah and Abtalion, and after
+them he was President of the Sanhedrim forty years more. The beginning
+of his Presidency is generally conceded upon to have been just one
+hundred ‘years before the Temple was destroyed; by which account he
+began eight-and-twenty years before our Saviour was born, and died
+when he was about twelve years old. He is renowned for his fourscore
+scholars.’--_Lightfoot,_ vol. ii. p. 2008.
+
+The great rival of Hillel was Shammai. Their controversies, and the
+fierceness of their partisans, are a principal feature of Rabbinical
+history. They were the same as the Scotists and Thomists. At last
+the Bath Kol interfered, and decided for Hillel, but in a spirit of
+conciliatory dexterity. The Bath Kol came forth and spake thus: ‘The
+words both of the one party and the other are the words of the living
+God, but the certain decision of the matter is according to the decrees
+of the school of Hillel. And henceforth, whoever shall transgress the
+decrees of the school of Hillel is punishable with death.’]
+
+[Footnote 41: page 97.--_A number of small, square, low chambers._ These
+excavated cemeteries, which abound in Palestine and Egypt, were often
+converted into places of worship by the Jews and early Christians.
+Sandys thus describes the Synagogue at Jerusalem in his time.]
+
+[Footnote 42: page 08.--_Their heads mystically covered._ The Hebrews
+cover their heads during their prayers with a sacred shawl.]
+
+[Footnote 43: page 98.--_Expounded the law to the congregation of the
+people._ The custom, I believe, even to the present day, among the
+Hebrews, a remnant of their old academies, once so famous.]
+
+[Footnote 44: page 99.--_The Valley of Jehoshaphat and the Tomb of
+Absalom._ In the Vale of Jehoshaphat, among many other tombs, are two
+of considerable size, and which, although of a corrupt Grecian
+architecture, are dignified by the titles of the tombs of Zachariah and
+Absalom.]
+
+[Footnote 45: page 101.--_The scanty rill of Siloah._ The sublime Siloah
+is now a muddy rill; you descend by steps to the fountain which is its
+source, and which is covered with an arch. Here the blind man received
+his sight; and, singular enough, to this very day the healing reputation
+of its waters prevails, and summons to its brink all those neighbouring
+Arabs who suffer from the ophthalmic affections not uncommon in this
+part of the world.]
+
+[Footnote 46: page 102.--_Several isolated tombs of considerable size_.
+There are no remains of ancient Jerusalem, or the ancient Jews. Some
+tombs there are which may be ascribed to the Asmonean princes; but all
+the monuments of David, Solomon, and their long posterity, have utterly
+disappeared.]
+
+[Footnote 47: page 103.--_Are cut strange characters and unearthly
+forms_. As at Benihassan, and many other of the sculptured catacombs of
+Egypt.]
+
+[Footnote 48: page 104.--_A crowd of bats rushed forward and
+extinguished his torch._ In entering the Temple of Dendara, our torches
+were extinguished by a crowd of bats.]
+
+[Footnote 49: page 104.--_The gallery was of great extent, with a
+gradual declination._ So in the great Egyptian tombs.]
+
+[Footnote 50: page 105.--_The Afrite, for it was one of those dread
+beings._ Beings of a monstrous form, the most terrible of all the orders
+of the Dives.]
+
+[Footnote 51: page 106.--_An avenue of colossal lions of red granite._
+An avenue of Sphinxes more than a mile in length connected the quarters
+of Luxoor and Carnak in Egyptian Thebes. Its fragments remain. Many
+other avenues of Sphinxes and lion-headed Kings may be observed in
+various parts of Upper Egypt.]
+
+[Footnote 52: page 107.--_A stupendous portal, cut out of the solid
+rock, four hundred feet in height, and supported by clusters of colossal
+Caryatides._ See the great rock temple of Ipsambul in Lower Nubia. The
+sitting colossi are nearly seventy feet in height. But there is a Torso
+of a statue of Rameses the Second at Thebes, vulgarly called the great
+Memnon, which measures upwards of sixty feet round the shoulders.]
+
+[Footnote 53: page 109.--_Fifty steps of ivory, and each step guarded by
+golden lions._ See 1st Kings, chap. x. 18-20.]
+
+[Footnote 54: page 120.--_Crossed the desert on a swift dromedary_. The
+difference between a camel and a dromedary is the difference between a
+hack and a thorough-bred horse. There is no other.]
+
+[Footnote 55: page 121.--_That celestial alphabet known to the true
+Cabalist_. See Note 11.]
+
+[Footnote 56: page 133.--_The last of the Seljuks had expired._ The
+Orientals are famous for their massacres: that of the Mamlouks by
+the present Pacha of Egypt, and of the Janissaries of the Sultan, are
+notorious. But one of the most terrible, and effected under the most
+difficult and dangerous circumstances, was the massacre of the Albanian
+Beys by the Grand Vizir, in the autumn of 1830. I was in Albania at the
+time.]
+
+[Footnote 57: page 136.--_ The minarets were illumined._ So, I remember,
+at Constantinople, at the commencement of 1831 at the departure of the
+Mecca caravan, and also at the annual fast of Ramadan.]
+
+[Footnote 58: page 138.--_One asking alms with a wire run through his
+cheek._ Not uncommon. These Dervishes frequent the bazaars.]
+
+[Footnote 59: page 142.--_One hundred thousand warriors were now
+assembled._ In countries where the whole population is armed, a vast
+military force is soon assembled. Barchochebas was speedily at the head
+of two hundred thousand fighting men, and held the Romans long in check
+under one of their most powerful emperors.]
+
+[Footnote 60: page 143.--_Some high-capped Tatar with despatches._ I
+have availed myself of a familiar character in Oriental life, but
+the use of a Tatar as a courier in the time of Alroy is, I fear, an
+anachronism.]
+
+[Footnote 61: page 144.--_Each day some warlike Atabek, at the head
+of his armed train, poured into the capital of the caliphs._ I was
+at Yanina, the capital of Albania, when the Grand Vizir summoned the
+chieftains of the country, and I was struck by their magnificent arrays
+each day pouring into the city.]
+
+[Footnote 62: page 153.--_It is the Sabbath etc_. ‘They began their
+Sabbath from sunset, and the same time of day they ended it.’--Talm.
+Hierosolym. in _Sheveith_, fol. 33, col. I. The eve of the Sabbath,
+or the day before, was called the day of the preparation for the
+Sabbath.--Luke xxiii. 54.
+
+‘And from the time of the evening sacrifice and forward, they began to
+fit themselves for the Sabbath, and to cease from their works, so as
+not to go to the barber, not to sit in judgment, &c.; nay, thenceforward
+they would not set things on working, which, being set a-work, would
+complete their business of themselves, unless it would be completed
+before the Sabbath came--_as wool was not put to dye, unless it
+could take colour while it was yet day! &c._--Talm. in Sab., par. I;
+Lightfoot, vol. i. p. 218.
+
+‘Towards sunsetting, when the Sabbath was now approaching, they lighted
+up the Sabbath lamp. Men and women were bound to have a lamp lighted
+up in their houses on the Sabbath, though they were never so poor--nay,
+though they were forced to go a-begging for oil for this purpose; and
+the lighting up of this lamp was a part of making the Sabbath a
+delight; and women were especially commanded to look to this
+business.’--Maimonides in Sab. par. 36.]
+
+[Footnote 63: page 156.--_The presence of the robes of honour_. These
+are ever carried in procession, and their number denotes the rank and
+quality of the chief, or of the individual to whom they are offered.]
+
+[Footnote 64: page 158.--_Pressed it to his lips, and placed it in his
+vest._ The elegant mode in which the Orientals receive presents.]
+
+[Footnote 65: page 164.--A cap of transparent pink porcelain, studded with pearls.
+Thus a great Turk, who afforded me hospitality, was accustomed to drink
+his coffee.]
+
+[Footnote 66: page 168.--_Slippers powdered with pearls_. The slippers
+in the East form a very fanciful portion of the costume. It is not
+uncommon to see them thus adorned and beautifully embroidered. In
+precious embroidery and enamelling the Turkish artists are unrivalled.]
+
+[Footnote 67: page 185.--_The policy of the son of Kareah. Vide_
+Jeremiah, chap. xlii.]
+
+[Footnote 68: page 191.--_The inviting gestures and the voluptuous grace
+of the dancing girls of Egypt._ A sculptor might find fine studies in
+the Egyptian Almeh.]
+
+[Footnote 69: page 194.--_Six choice steeds sumptuously
+caparisoned._ Led horses always precede a great man. I think there were
+usually twelve before the Sultan when he went to Mosque, which he did in
+public every Friday.]
+
+[Footnote 70: page 194.--_Six Damascus sabres of unrivalled temper._
+But sabres are not to be found at Damascus, any more than cheeses at
+Stilton, or oranges at Malta. The art of watering the blade is, however,
+practised, I believe, in Persia. A fine Damascus blade will fetch fifty
+or even one hundred guineas English.]
+
+[Footnote 71: page 195.--_Roses from Rocnabad_. A river in Persia famous
+for its bowery banks of roses.]
+
+[Footnote 72: page 195.--_Screens made of the feather of a roc._ The
+screens and fans in the East, made of the plumage of rare birds with
+jewelled handles, are very gorgeous.]
+
+[Footnote 73: page 196.--_A tremulous aigrette of brilliants._ Worn only
+by persons of the highest rank. The Sultan presented Lord Nelson after
+the battle of the Nile with an aigrette of diamonds.]
+
+[Footnote 74: page 211.--_ To send him the whole of the next course._
+These compliments from the tables of the great are not uncommon in
+the East. When at the head-quarters of the Grand Vizir at Yanina, his
+Highness sent to myself and my travelling companions a course from his
+table, singers and dancing girls.]
+
+[Footnote 75: page 212.--_The golden wine of Mount Lebanon_. A most
+delicious wine, from its colour, brilliancy, and rare flavour, justly
+meriting this title, is made on Lebanon; but it will not, unfortunately,
+bear exportation, and even materially suffers in the voyage from the
+coast to Alexandria.]
+
+[Footnote 76: page 221.--_And the company of gardeners_. These gardeners
+of the Serail form a very efficient body of police.]
+
+[Footnote 77: page 226.--Alroy retired to the bath. The bath is a
+principal scene of Oriental life. Here the Asiatics pass a great portion
+of their day. The bath consists of a long suite of chambers of various
+temperatures, in which the different processes of the elaborate ceremony
+are performed.]
+
+[Footnote 78: page 232.--_We are the watchers of the moon._ The feast of
+the New Moon is one of the most important festivals of the Hebrews.
+‘Our year,’ says the learned author of the ‘Rites and Ceremonies,’ ‘is
+divided into twelve lunar months, some of which consist of twenty-nine,
+others of thirty days, which difference is occasioned by the various
+appearance of the new moon, in point of time: for if it appeared on the
+30th day, the 29th was the last day of the precedent month; but if it
+did not appear till the 31st day, the 30th was the last day, and the
+31st the first of the subsequent month; and that was an intercalary
+moon, of all which take the following account.
+
+‘Our nation heretofore, not only observing the rules of some fixed
+calculation, also celebrated the feast of the New Moon, according to
+the phasis or first appearance of the moon, which was done in compliance
+with God’s command, as our received traditions inform us.
+
+‘Hence it came to pass that the first appearance was not to be
+determined only by rules of art, but also by the testimony of such
+persons as deposed before the Sanhedrim, or Great Senate, that they had
+seen the New Moon. So a committee of three were appointed from among the
+said Sanhedrim to receive the deposition of the parties aforesaid,
+who, after having calculated what time the moon might possibly appear,
+despatched some persons _into high and mountainous places, to observe
+and give their evidence accordingly, concerning the first appearance of
+the moon._
+
+‘As soon as the new moon was either consecrated or appointed to be
+observed, notice was given by the Sanhedrim to the rest of the nation
+what day had been fixed for the New Moon, or first day of the month,
+because that was to be the rule and measure according to which they were
+obliged to keep their feasts and fasts in every month respectively.
+
+‘This notice was given to them in time of peace, _by firing of beacons,
+set up for that purpose,_ which was looked upon as the readiest way
+of communication, but, in time of war, when all places were full of
+enemies, who made use of beacons to amuse our nation with, it was
+thought fit to discontinue it.’]
+
+[Footnote 79: page 263.--_The women chatted at the fountain_. The bath
+and the fountain are the favourite scenes of feminine conversation.]
+
+[Footnote 80: page 264.--_Playing chess._ On the walls of the palace of
+Amenoph the Second, called Medeenet Abuh, at Egyptian Thebes, the King
+is represented playing chess with the Queen. This monarch reigned long
+before the Trojan war.]
+
+[Footnote 81: page 272.--_Impaled._ A friend of mine witnessed this
+horrible punishment in Upper Egypt. The victim was a man who had
+secretly murdered nine persons. He held an official post, and invited
+travellers and pilgrims to his house, whom he regularly disposed of
+and plundered. I regret that I have mislaid his MS. account of the
+ceremony.]
+
+[Footnote 82: page 299.--In the _Germen Davidis of Gants_, translated
+into Latin by Vorstius, Lug. 1654, is an extract from a Hebrew MS.
+containing an account of Alroy. I subjoin a translation of a passage
+respecting his death.
+
+R. Maimonides deposes: That the Sultan asked him whether he were the
+Messiah, and that he answered him, “I am�; and that then the monarch
+inquired of him what sign he had. To this he replied that they might cut
+off his head and that he would return to life. Then the King commanded
+that his head should be cut off, and he died, having said previously
+to the monarch that the latter should not lack in his life the most
+grievous torments.
+
+Seven years before the incident quoted above, the Israelites had serious
+troubles on account of a son of Belial who called himself the Messiah,
+so that the tetrarch and the princes were justly incensed against the
+Jews, to such an extent, indeed, that they sent to the latter to inquire
+whether they desired the reign of the Messiah. The name of this accursed
+troubler was David El-David, _alias_ Alroy, who hailed from the city
+of Omadia, where were gathered about a thousand rich, honest, happy and
+decently-living families, whose tabernacle was the principal resort
+of those that dwelt in the neighbourhood of the river Sabbathion; and
+around them were gathered more than a hundred minor tabernacles.
+
+This city was on the border of the region of Media, and the dialect
+used there was the Targum. Thence to the region of Golan is a journey
+of fifty days. It is under the rule of Persia, to which it pays a
+heavy tribute every fifteen years, and one golden talent in addition.
+Moreover, this man David El-David was educated under the Prince of the
+Chaldean captivity, in the care of the eminent Scholiarch, in the city
+of Bagdad, who was preeminently wise in the Talmud and in all foreign
+sciences, as well as in all books of divination, magic, and Chaldean
+lore; This David El-David, out of the boldness and arrogance of his
+heart, lifted his hand against the ruling powers, and collected those
+Jews who dwelt in the neighbourhood of Mount Chophtan, seducing them to
+follow him into battle against all the neighbouring peoples. He showed
+them signs-of what value they knew not: there were men, indeed, who
+supported him on account of his magic art and of certain things to be
+done; others said that his great power came from the hand of God. Those
+who flocked to him called him the Messiah, lauding and extolling him.
+
+In another epoch of Persian history a certain Jew arose, calling himself
+the Messiah, and prospered greatly. A large part of the Israelitish
+population believed in him. But when the King indeed heard of all this
+pretender’s power, and that he proposed to join battle with him, he sent
+to the Jews who lived thereabouts and notified them that unless they
+deserted this man, and came oui; from all association with him, they
+certainly should be slain, every one of them, with the sword, and
+afterward the children and the women should perish. Then the whole
+population of Israel assembled, and argued with this man, and threw
+themselves down before him on the ground, strongly supplicating him,
+with clamour and tears, to depart from them. Why, indeed, should he
+put them and others in danger? Had not the King already sworn that they
+should perish by the sword, and wherefore should he bring affliction
+upon all the Jewish inhabitants of Persia? Responding, he said: “I have
+come to serve you, and ye will not have me. Whom do ye fear? Who dares
+stand in front of me, and what doth this Persian King that he dare not
+oppose me and my sword?� The Jews asked him what sign he had that he
+was the Messiah. He answered: “My mission prospers: the Messiah needs no
+other sign.� They answered that many had acted likewise, and that none
+had reached success. Then he drove them forth from his face with superb
+indignation.]
+
+
+
+
+
+End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of Alroy, by Benjamin Disraeli
+
+*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK ALROY ***
+
+***** This file should be named 20002-0.txt or 20002-0.zip *****
+This and all associated files of various formats will be found in:
+        http://www.gutenberg.org/2/0/0/0/20002/
+
+Produced by David Widger
+
+Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions
+will be renamed.
+
+Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no
+one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation
+(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without
+permission and without paying copyright royalties.  Special rules,
+set forth in the General Terms of Use part of this license, apply to
+copying and distributing Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works to
+protect the PROJECT GUTENBERG-tm concept and trademark.  Project
+Gutenberg is a registered trademark, and may not be used if you
+charge for the eBooks, unless you receive specific permission.  If you
+do not charge anything for copies of this eBook, complying with the
+rules is very easy.  You may use this eBook for nearly any purpose
+such as creation of derivative works, reports, performances and
+research.  They may be modified and printed and given away--you may do
+practically ANYTHING with public domain eBooks.  Redistribution is
+subject to the trademark license, especially commercial
+redistribution.
+
+
+
+*** START: FULL LICENSE ***
+
+THE FULL PROJECT GUTENBERG LICENSE
+PLEASE READ THIS BEFORE YOU DISTRIBUTE OR USE THIS WORK
+
+To protect the Project Gutenberg-tm mission of promoting the free
+distribution of electronic works, by using or distributing this work
+(or any other work associated in any way with the phrase “Project
+Gutenberg�), you agree to comply with all the terms of the Full Project
+Gutenberg-tm License (available with this file or online at
+http://gutenberg.org/license).
+
+
+Section 1.  General Terms of Use and Redistributing Project Gutenberg-tm
+electronic works
+
+1.A.  By reading or using any part of this Project Gutenberg-tm
+electronic work, you indicate that you have read, understand, agree to
+and accept all the terms of this license and intellectual property
+(trademark/copyright) agreement.  If you do not agree to abide by all
+the terms of this agreement, you must cease using and return or destroy
+all copies of Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works in your possession.
+If you paid a fee for obtaining a copy of or access to a Project
+Gutenberg-tm electronic work and you do not agree to be bound by the
+terms of this agreement, you may obtain a refund from the person or
+entity to whom you paid the fee as set forth in paragraph 1.E.8.
+
+1.B.  “Project Gutenberg� is a registered trademark.  It may only be
+used on or associated in any way with an electronic work by people who
+agree to be bound by the terms of this agreement.  There are a few
+things that you can do with most Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works
+even without complying with the full terms of this agreement.  See
+paragraph 1.C below.  There are a lot of things you can do with Project
+Gutenberg-tm electronic works if you follow the terms of this agreement
+and help preserve free future access to Project Gutenberg-tm electronic
+works.  See paragraph 1.E below.
+
+1.C.  The Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation (“the Foundation�
+ or PGLAF), owns a compilation copyright in the collection of Project
+Gutenberg-tm electronic works.  Nearly all the individual works in the
+collection are in the public domain in the United States.  If an
+individual work is in the public domain in the United States and you are
+located in the United States, we do not claim a right to prevent you from
+copying, distributing, performing, displaying or creating derivative
+works based on the work as long as all references to Project Gutenberg
+are removed.  Of course, we hope that you will support the Project
+Gutenberg-tm mission of promoting free access to electronic works by
+freely sharing Project Gutenberg-tm works in compliance with the terms of
+this agreement for keeping the Project Gutenberg-tm name associated with
+the work.  You can easily comply with the terms of this agreement by
+keeping this work in the same format with its attached full Project
+Gutenberg-tm License when you share it without charge with others.
+
+1.D.  The copyright laws of the place where you are located also govern
+what you can do with this work.  Copyright laws in most countries are in
+a constant state of change.  If you are outside the United States, check
+the laws of your country in addition to the terms of this agreement
+before downloading, copying, displaying, performing, distributing or
+creating derivative works based on this work or any other Project
+Gutenberg-tm work.  The Foundation makes no representations concerning
+the copyright status of any work in any country outside the United
+States.
+
+1.E.  Unless you have removed all references to Project Gutenberg:
+
+1.E.1.  The following sentence, with active links to, or other immediate
+access to, the full Project Gutenberg-tm License must appear prominently
+whenever any copy of a Project Gutenberg-tm work (any work on which the
+phrase “Project Gutenberg� appears, or with which the phrase “Project
+Gutenberg� is associated) is accessed, displayed, performed, viewed,
+copied or distributed:
+
+This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with
+almost no restrictions whatsoever.  You may copy it, give it away or
+re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included
+with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org
+
+1.E.2.  If an individual Project Gutenberg-tm electronic work is derived
+from the public domain (does not contain a notice indicating that it is
+posted with permission of the copyright holder), the work can be copied
+and distributed to anyone in the United States without paying any fees
+or charges.  If you are redistributing or providing access to a work
+with the phrase “Project Gutenberg� associated with or appearing on the
+work, you must comply either with the requirements of paragraphs 1.E.1
+through 1.E.7 or obtain permission for the use of the work and the
+Project Gutenberg-tm trademark as set forth in paragraphs 1.E.8 or
+1.E.9.
+
+1.E.3.  If an individual Project Gutenberg-tm electronic work is posted
+with the permission of the copyright holder, your use and distribution
+must comply with both paragraphs 1.E.1 through 1.E.7 and any additional
+terms imposed by the copyright holder.  Additional terms will be linked
+to the Project Gutenberg-tm License for all works posted with the
+permission of the copyright holder found at the beginning of this work.
+
+1.E.4.  Do not unlink or detach or remove the full Project Gutenberg-tm
+License terms from this work, or any files containing a part of this
+work or any other work associated with Project Gutenberg-tm.
+
+1.E.5.  Do not copy, display, perform, distribute or redistribute this
+electronic work, or any part of this electronic work, without
+prominently displaying the sentence set forth in paragraph 1.E.1 with
+active links or immediate access to the full terms of the Project
+Gutenberg-tm License.
+
+1.E.6.  You may convert to and distribute this work in any binary,
+compressed, marked up, nonproprietary or proprietary form, including any
+word processing or hypertext form.  However, if you provide access to or
+distribute copies of a Project Gutenberg-tm work in a format other than
+“Plain Vanilla ASCII� or other format used in the official version
+posted on the official Project Gutenberg-tm web site (www.gutenberg.org),
+you must, at no additional cost, fee or expense to the user, provide a
+copy, a means of exporting a copy, or a means of obtaining a copy upon
+request, of the work in its original “Plain Vanilla ASCII� or other
+form.  Any alternate format must include the full Project Gutenberg-tm
+License as specified in paragraph 1.E.1.
+
+1.E.7.  Do not charge a fee for access to, viewing, displaying,
+performing, copying or distributing any Project Gutenberg-tm works
+unless you comply with paragraph 1.E.8 or 1.E.9.
+
+1.E.8.  You may charge a reasonable fee for copies of or providing
+access to or distributing Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works provided
+that
+
+- You pay a royalty fee of 20% of the gross profits you derive from
+     the use of Project Gutenberg-tm works calculated using the method
+     you already use to calculate your applicable taxes.  The fee is
+     owed to the owner of the Project Gutenberg-tm trademark, but he
+     has agreed to donate royalties under this paragraph to the
+     Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation.  Royalty payments
+     must be paid within 60 days following each date on which you
+     prepare (or are legally required to prepare) your periodic tax
+     returns.  Royalty payments should be clearly marked as such and
+     sent to the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation at the
+     address specified in Section 4, “Information about donations to
+     the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation.�
+
+- You provide a full refund of any money paid by a user who notifies
+     you in writing (or by e-mail) within 30 days of receipt that s/he
+     does not agree to the terms of the full Project Gutenberg-tm
+     License.  You must require such a user to return or
+     destroy all copies of the works possessed in a physical medium
+     and discontinue all use of and all access to other copies of
+     Project Gutenberg-tm works.
+
+- You provide, in accordance with paragraph 1.F.3, a full refund of any
+     money paid for a work or a replacement copy, if a defect in the
+     electronic work is discovered and reported to you within 90 days
+     of receipt of the work.
+
+- You comply with all other terms of this agreement for free
+     distribution of Project Gutenberg-tm works.
+
+1.E.9.  If you wish to charge a fee or distribute a Project Gutenberg-tm
+electronic work or group of works on different terms than are set
+forth in this agreement, you must obtain permission in writing from
+both the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation and Michael
+Hart, the owner of the Project Gutenberg-tm trademark.  Contact the
+Foundation as set forth in Section 3 below.
+
+1.F.
+
+1.F.1.  Project Gutenberg volunteers and employees expend considerable
+effort to identify, do copyright research on, transcribe and proofread
+public domain works in creating the Project Gutenberg-tm
+collection.  Despite these efforts, Project Gutenberg-tm electronic
+works, and the medium on which they may be stored, may contain
+“Defects,� such as, but not limited to, incomplete, inaccurate or
+corrupt data, transcription errors, a copyright or other intellectual
+property infringement, a defective or damaged disk or other medium, a
+computer virus, or computer codes that damage or cannot be read by
+your equipment.
+
+1.F.2.  LIMITED WARRANTY, DISCLAIMER OF DAMAGES - Except for the “Right
+of Replacement or Refund� described in paragraph 1.F.3, the Project
+Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation, the owner of the Project
+Gutenberg-tm trademark, and any other party distributing a Project
+Gutenberg-tm electronic work under this agreement, disclaim all
+liability to you for damages, costs and expenses, including legal
+fees.  YOU AGREE THAT YOU HAVE NO REMEDIES FOR NEGLIGENCE, STRICT
+LIABILITY, BREACH OF WARRANTY OR BREACH OF CONTRACT EXCEPT THOSE
+PROVIDED IN PARAGRAPH F3.  YOU AGREE THAT THE FOUNDATION, THE
+TRADEMARK OWNER, AND ANY DISTRIBUTOR UNDER THIS AGREEMENT WILL NOT BE
+LIABLE TO YOU FOR ACTUAL, DIRECT, INDIRECT, CONSEQUENTIAL, PUNITIVE OR
+INCIDENTAL DAMAGES EVEN IF YOU GIVE NOTICE OF THE POSSIBILITY OF SUCH
+DAMAGE.
+
+1.F.3.  LIMITED RIGHT OF REPLACEMENT OR REFUND - If you discover a
+defect in this electronic work within 90 days of receiving it, you can
+receive a refund of the money (if any) you paid for it by sending a
+written explanation to the person you received the work from.  If you
+received the work on a physical medium, you must return the medium with
+your written explanation.  The person or entity that provided you with
+the defective work may elect to provide a replacement copy in lieu of a
+refund.  If you received the work electronically, the person or entity
+providing it to you may choose to give you a second opportunity to
+receive the work electronically in lieu of a refund.  If the second copy
+is also defective, you may demand a refund in writing without further
+opportunities to fix the problem.
+
+1.F.4.  Except for the limited right of replacement or refund set forth
+in paragraph 1.F.3, this work is provided to you ‘AS-IS’ WITH NO OTHER
+WARRANTIES OF ANY KIND, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO
+WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTIBILITY OR FITNESS FOR ANY PURPOSE.
+
+1.F.5.  Some states do not allow disclaimers of certain implied
+warranties or the exclusion or limitation of certain types of damages.
+If any disclaimer or limitation set forth in this agreement violates the
+law of the state applicable to this agreement, the agreement shall be
+interpreted to make the maximum disclaimer or limitation permitted by
+the applicable state law.  The invalidity or unenforceability of any
+provision of this agreement shall not void the remaining provisions.
+
+1.F.6.  INDEMNITY - You agree to indemnify and hold the Foundation, the
+trademark owner, any agent or employee of the Foundation, anyone
+providing copies of Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works in accordance
+with this agreement, and any volunteers associated with the production,
+promotion and distribution of Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works,
+harmless from all liability, costs and expenses, including legal fees,
+that arise directly or indirectly from any of the following which you do
+or cause to occur: (a) distribution of this or any Project Gutenberg-tm
+work, (b) alteration, modification, or additions or deletions to any
+Project Gutenberg-tm work, and (c) any Defect you cause.
+
+
+Section  2.  Information about the Mission of Project Gutenberg-tm
+
+Project Gutenberg-tm is synonymous with the free distribution of
+electronic works in formats readable by the widest variety of computers
+including obsolete, old, middle-aged and new computers.  It exists
+because of the efforts of hundreds of volunteers and donations from
+people in all walks of life.
+
+Volunteers and financial support to provide volunteers with the
+assistance they need, is critical to reaching Project Gutenberg-tm’s
+goals and ensuring that the Project Gutenberg-tm collection will
+remain freely available for generations to come.  In 2001, the Project
+Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation was created to provide a secure
+and permanent future for Project Gutenberg-tm and future generations.
+To learn more about the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation
+and how your efforts and donations can help, see Sections 3 and 4
+and the Foundation web page at http://www.pglaf.org.
+
+
+Section 3.  Information about the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive
+Foundation
+
+The Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation is a non profit
+501(c)(3) educational corporation organized under the laws of the
+state of Mississippi and granted tax exempt status by the Internal
+Revenue Service.  The Foundation’s EIN or federal tax identification
+number is 64-6221541.  Its 501(c)(3) letter is posted at
+http://pglaf.org/fundraising.  Contributions to the Project Gutenberg
+Literary Archive Foundation are tax deductible to the full extent
+permitted by U.S. federal laws and your state’s laws.
+
+The Foundation’s principal office is located at 4557 Melan Dr. S.
+Fairbanks, AK, 99712., but its volunteers and employees are scattered
+throughout numerous locations.  Its business office is located at
+809 North 1500 West, Salt Lake City, UT 84116, (801) 596-1887, email
+business@pglaf.org.  Email contact links and up to date contact
+information can be found at the Foundation’s web site and official
+page at http://pglaf.org
+
+For additional contact information:
+     Dr. Gregory B. Newby
+     Chief Executive and Director
+     gbnewby@pglaf.org
+
+
+Section 4.  Information about Donations to the Project Gutenberg
+Literary Archive Foundation
+
+Project Gutenberg-tm depends upon and cannot survive without wide
+spread public support and donations to carry out its mission of
+increasing the number of public domain and licensed works that can be
+freely distributed in machine readable form accessible by the widest
+array of equipment including outdated equipment.  Many small donations
+($1 to $5,000) are particularly important to maintaining tax exempt
+status with the IRS.
+
+The Foundation is committed to complying with the laws regulating
+charities and charitable donations in all 50 states of the United
+States.  Compliance requirements are not uniform and it takes a
+considerable effort, much paperwork and many fees to meet and keep up
+with these requirements.  We do not solicit donations in locations
+where we have not received written confirmation of compliance.  To
+SEND DONATIONS or determine the status of compliance for any
+particular state visit http://pglaf.org
+
+While we cannot and do not solicit contributions from states where we
+have not met the solicitation requirements, we know of no prohibition
+against accepting unsolicited donations from donors in such states who
+approach us with offers to donate.
+
+International donations are gratefully accepted, but we cannot make
+any statements concerning tax treatment of donations received from
+outside the United States.  U.S. laws alone swamp our small staff.
+
+Please check the Project Gutenberg Web pages for current donation
+methods and addresses.  Donations are accepted in a number of other
+ways including checks, online payments and credit card donations.
+To donate, please visit: http://pglaf.org/donate
+
+
+Section 5.  General Information About Project Gutenberg-tm electronic
+works.
+
+Professor Michael S. Hart is the originator of the Project Gutenberg-tm
+concept of a library of electronic works that could be freely shared
+with anyone.  For thirty years, he produced and distributed Project
+Gutenberg-tm eBooks with only a loose network of volunteer support.
+
+
+Project Gutenberg-tm eBooks are often created from several printed
+editions, all of which are confirmed as Public Domain in the U.S.
+unless a copyright notice is included.  Thus, we do not necessarily
+keep eBooks in compliance with any particular paper edition.
+
+
+Most people start at our Web site which has the main PG search facility:
+
+     http://www.gutenberg.org
+
+This Web site includes information about Project Gutenberg-tm,
+including how to make donations to the Project Gutenberg Literary
+Archive Foundation, how to help produce our new eBooks, and how to
+subscribe to our email newsletter to hear about new eBooks.
diff --git a/20002-0.zip b/20002-0.zip
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..7ffeffc
--- /dev/null
+++ b/20002-0.zip
diff --git a/20002-8.txt b/20002-8.txt
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..e878941
--- /dev/null
+++ b/20002-8.txt
@@ -0,0 +1,10936 @@
+The Project Gutenberg EBook of Alroy, by Benjamin Disraeli
+
+This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with
+almost no restrictions whatsoever.  You may copy it, give it away or
+re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included
+with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org
+
+
+Title: Alroy
+       The Prince Of The Captivity
+
+Author: Benjamin Disraeli
+
+Release Date: December 3, 2006 [EBook #20002]
+
+Language: English
+
+Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1
+
+*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK ALROY ***
+
+
+
+
+Produced by David Widger
+
+
+
+
+
+ALROY
+
+OR
+
+THE PRINCE OF THE CAPTIVITY
+
+
+By Benjamin Disraeli
+
+
+[Illustration: cover]
+
+[Illustration: alroy-frontis-174]
+
+[Illustration: frontis-label]
+
+
+AUTHOR'S PREFACE
+
+Being at Jerusalem in the year 1831, and visiting the traditionary
+tombs of the Kings of Israel, my thoughts recurred to a personage whose
+marvellous career had, even in boyhood, attracted my attention, as
+one fraught with the richest materials of poetic fiction. And I then
+commenced these pages that should commemorate the name of Alroy. In the
+twelfth century, when he arose, this was the political condition of the
+East:
+
+The Caliphate was in a state of rapid decay. The Seljukian Sultans, who
+had been called to the assistance of the Commanders of the Faithful, had
+become, like the Mayors of the palace in France, the real sovereigns of
+the Empire. Out of the dominions of the successors of the Prophet,
+they had carved four kingdoms, which conferred titles on four Seljukian
+Princes, to wit, the Sultan of Bagdad, the Sultan of Persia, the Sultan
+of Syria, and the Sultan of Roum, or Asia Minor.
+
+But these warlike princes, in the relaxed discipline and doubtful
+conduct of their armies, began themselves to evince the natural effects
+of luxury and indulgence. They were no longer the same invincible
+and irresistible warriors who had poured forth from the shores of the
+Caspian over the fairest regions of the East; and although they still
+contrived to preserve order in their dominions, they witnessed with
+ill-concealed apprehension the rising power of the Kings of Karasmé,
+whose conquests daily made their territories more contiguous.
+
+With regard to the Hebrew people, it should be known that, after the
+destruction of Jerusalem, the Eastern Jews, while they acknowledged
+the supremacy of their conquerors, gathered themselves together for all
+purposes of jurisdiction, under the control of a native ruler, a reputed
+descendant of David, whom they dignified with the title of 'The Prince
+of the Captivity.' If we are to credit the enthusiastic annalists of
+this imaginative people, there were periods of prosperity when the
+Princes of the Captivity assumed scarcely less state and enjoyed
+scarcely less power than the ancient Kings of Judah themselves. Certain
+it is that their power increased always in an exact proportion to the
+weakness of the Caliphate, and, without doubt, in some of the most
+distracted periods of the Arabian rule, the Hebrew Princes rose into
+some degree of local and temporary importance. Their chief residence was
+Bagdad, where they remained until the eleventh century, an age fatal
+in Oriental history, from the disasters of which the Princes of the
+Captivity were not exempt. They are heard of even in the twelfth
+century. I have ventured to place one at Hamadan, which was a favourite
+residence of the Hebrews, from being the burial-place of Esther and
+Mordecai.
+
+With regard to the supernatural machinery of this romance, it is
+Cabalistical and correct. From the Spirits of the Tombs to the sceptre
+of Solomon, authority may be found in the traditions of the Hebrews for
+the introduction of all these spiritual agencies.
+
+Grosvenor Gate: July, 1845.
+
+
+
+
+
+A L R O Y
+
+[Illustration: page001]
+
+
+CHAPTER I.
+
+    _A Great Day for Israel._
+
+THE cornets sounded a final flourish as the Prince of the Captivity
+dismounted from his white mule; his train shouted as if they were once
+more a people; and, had it not been for the contemptuous leer which
+played upon the countenances of the Moslem bystanders, it might have
+been taken for a day of triumph rather than of tribute.
+
+'The glory has not departed!' exclaimed the venerable Bostenay, as he
+entered the hall of his mansion. 'It is not as the visit of Sheba unto
+Solomon; nevertheless the glory has not yet departed. You have done
+well, faithful Caleb.' The old man's courage waxed more vigorous, as
+each step within his own walls the more assured him against the recent
+causes of his fear, the audible curses and the threatened missiles of
+the unbelieving mob.
+
+'It shall be a day of rejoicing and thanksgiving!' continued the Prince;
+'and look, my faithful Caleb, that the trumpeters be well served. That
+last flourish was bravely done. It was not as the blast before Jericho;
+nevertheless, it told that the Lord of Hosts was for us. How the
+accursed Ishmaelites started! Did you mark, Caleb, that tall Turk in
+green upon my left? By the sceptre of Jacob, he turned pale! Oh! it
+shall be a day of rejoicing and thanksgiving! And spare not the wine,
+nor the flesh-pots for the people. Look you to this, my child, for the
+people shouted bravely and with a stout voice. It was not as the great
+shout in the camp when the ark returned; nevertheless, it was boldly
+done, and showed that the glory had not yet departed. So spare not the
+wine, my son, and drink to the desolation of Ishmael in the juice which
+he dare not quaff.'
+
+'It has indeed been a great day for Israel!' exclaimed Caleb, echoing
+his master's exultation.
+
+'Had the procession been forbidden,' continued Bostenay, 'had it been
+reserved for me of all the princes to have dragged the accursed tribute
+upon foot, without trumpets and without guards, by this sceptre, my good
+Caleb, I really think that, sluggishly as this old blood now runs, I
+would---- But it is needless now to talk; the God of our fathers hath
+been our refuge.'
+
+'Verily, my lord, we were as David in the wilderness of Ziph; but now we
+are as the Lord's anointed in the stronghold of Engedi!'
+
+'The glory truly has not yet utterly departed,' resumed the Prince in a
+more subdued tone; 'yet if---- I tell you what, Caleb; praise the Lord
+that you are young.'
+
+'My Prince too may yet live to see the good day.'
+
+'Nay, my child, you misinterpret me. Your Prince has lived to see the
+evil day. 'Twas not of the coming that I thought when I bid you praise
+the Lord because you were young, the more my sin. I was thinking, Caleb,
+that if your hair was as mine, if you could recollect, like me, the
+days that are gone by, the days when it needed no bride to prove we
+were princes,«the glorious days when we led captivity captive; I was
+thinking, I say, my son, what a gainful heritage it is to be born after
+the joys that have passed away.'
+
+'My father lived at Babylon,' said Caleb. 'Oh! name it not! name it
+not!' exclaimed the old chieftain. 'Dark was the day that we lost that
+second Zion! We were then also slaves to the Egyptian; but verily we
+ruled over the realm of Pharaoh. Why, Caleb, Caleb, you who know all,
+the days of toil, the nights restless as a love-sick boy's, which it has
+cost your Prince to gain permission to grace our tribute-day with
+the paltry presence of half-a-dozen guards; you who know all my
+difficulties, who have witnessed all my mortifications, what would you
+say to the purse of dirhems, surrounded by seven thousand scimitars?'
+
+'Seven thousand scimitars!' 'Not one less; my father flourished one.'
+'It was indeed a great day for Israel!' 'Nay, that is nothing. When old
+Alroy was prince, old David Alroy, for thirty years, good Caleb, thirty
+long years we paid _no_ tribute to the Caliph.'
+
+'No tribute! no tribute for thirty years! What marvel then, my Prince,
+that the Philistines have of late exacted interest?'
+
+'Nay, that is nothing,' continued old Bostenay, unmindful of his
+servant's ejaculations. 'When Moctador was Caliph, he sent to the same
+Prince David, to know why the dirhems were not brought up, and David
+immediately called to horse, and, attended by all the chief people, rode
+to the palace, and told the Caliph that tribute was an acknowledgment
+made from the weak to the strong to insure protection and support; and,
+inasmuch as he and his people had garrisoned the city for ten years
+against the Seljuks, he held the Caliph in arrear.'
+
+'We shall yet see an ass mount a ladder,'[1] exclaimed Caleb, with
+uplifted eyes of wonder.
+
+'It is true, though,' continued the Prince; 'often have I heard my
+father tell the tale. He was then a child, and his mother held him up to
+see the procession return, and all the people shouted "The sceptre has
+not gone out of Jacob."'
+
+'It was indeed a great day for Israel.'
+
+'Nay, that is nothing. I could tell you such things! But we prattle; our
+business is not yet done. You to the people; the widow and the orphan
+are waiting. Give freely, good Caleb, give freely; the spoils of the
+Canaanite are no longer ours, nevertheless the Lord is still our God,
+and, after all, even this is a great day for Israel. And, Caleb, Caleb,
+bid my nephew, David Alroy, know that I would speak with him.'
+
+'I will do all promptly, good master! We wondered that our honoured
+lord, your nephew, went not up with the donation this day.'
+
+'Who bade you wonder? Begone, sir! How long are you to idle here? Away!
+
+'They wonder he went not up with the tribute to-day. Ay! surely, a
+common talk. This boy will be our ruin, a prudent hand to wield our
+shattered sceptre. I have observed him from his infancy; he should have
+lived in Babylon. The old Alroy blood flows in his veins, a stiff-necked
+race. When I was a youth, his grandsire was my friend; I had some
+fancies then myself. Dreams, dreams! we have fallen on evil days, and
+yet we prosper. I have lived long enough to feel that a rich caravan,
+laden with the shawls of India and the stuffs of Samarcand, if not
+exactly like dancing before the ark, is still a goodly sight. And our
+hard-hearted rulers, with all their pride, can they subsist without us?
+Still we wax rich. I have lived to see the haughty Caliph sink into a
+slave viler far than Israel. And the victorious and voluptuous Seljuks,
+even now they tremble at the dim mention of the distant name of Arslan.
+Yet I, Bostenay, and the frail remnant of our scattered tribes, still
+we exist, and still, thanks to our God! we prosper. But the age of power
+has passed; it is by prudence now that we must flourish. The gibe and
+jest, the curse, perchance the blow, Israel now must bear, and with a
+calm or even smiling visage. What then? For every gibe and jest, for
+every curse, I'll have a dirhem; and for every blow, let him look to it
+who is my debtor, or wills to be so. But see, he comes, my nephew! His
+grandsire was my friend. Methinks I look upon him now: the same Alroy
+that was the partner of my boyish hours. And yet that fragile form and
+girlish face but ill consort with the dark passions and the dangerous
+fancies, which, I fear, lie hidden in that tender breast. Well, sir?'
+
+'You want me, uncle?'
+
+'What then? Uncles often want what nephews seldom offer.'
+
+'I at least can refuse nothing; for I have naught to give.'
+
+'You have a jewel which I greatly covet.' 'A jewel! See my chaplet! You
+gave it me, my uncle; it is yours.'
+
+'I thank you. Many a blazing ruby, many a soft and shadowy pearl, and
+many an emerald glowing like a star in the far desert, I behold, my
+child. They are choice stones, and yet I miss a jewel far more precious,
+which, when I gave you this rich chaplet, David, I deemed you did
+possess.' 'How do you call it, sir?' 'Obedience.'
+
+'A word of doubtful import; for to obey, when duty is disgrace, is not a
+virtue.'
+
+'I see you read my thought. In a word, I sent for you to know, wherefore
+you joined me not to-day in offering our--our----'
+
+'Tribute.'
+
+'Be it so: tribute. Why were you absent?' 'Because it was a tribute; I
+pay none.' 'But that the dreary course of seventy winters has not erased
+the memory of my boyish follies, David, I should esteem you mad. Think
+you, because I am old, I am enamoured of disgrace, and love a house of
+bondage? If life were a mere question between freedom and slavery, glory
+and dishonour, all could decide. Trust me, there needs but little spirit
+to be a moody patriot in a sullen home, and vent your heroic spleen upon
+your fellow-sufferers, whose sufferings you cannot remedy. But of such
+stuff your race were ever made. Such deliverers ever abounded in the
+house of Alroy. And what has been the result? I found you and your
+sister orphan infants, your sceptre broken, and your tribes dispersed.
+The tribute, which now at least we pay like princes, was then exacted
+with the scourge and offered in chains. I collected our scattered
+people, I re-established our ancient throne, and this day, which you
+look upon as a day of humiliation and of mourning, is rightly considered
+by all a day of triumph and of feasting; for, has it not proved in the
+very teeth of the Ishmaelites, that the sceptre has not yet departed
+from Jacob?'
+
+'I pray you, uncle, speak not of these things. I would not willingly
+forget you are my kinsman, and a kind one. Let there not be strife
+between us. What my feelings are is nothing. They are my own: I cannot
+change them. And for my ancestors, if they pondered much, and achieved
+little, why then 'twould seem our pedigree is pure, and I am their true
+son. At least one was a hero.'
+
+'Ah! the great Alroy; you may well be proud of such an ancestor.'
+
+'I am ashamed, uncle, ashamed, ashamed.'
+
+'His sceptre still exists. At least, I have not betrayed him. And this
+brings me to the real purport of our interview. That sceptre I would
+return.'
+
+'To whom?'
+
+'To its right owner, to yourself.'
+
+'Oh! no, no, no; I pray you, I pray you not. I do entreat you, sir,
+forget that I have a right as utterly as I disclaim it. That sceptre
+you have wielded it wisely and well; I beseech you keep it. Indeed, good
+uncle, I have no sort of talent for all the busy duties of this post.'
+
+'You sigh for glory, yet you fly from toil.'
+
+'Toil without glory is a menial's lot.'
+
+'You are a boy; you may yet live to learn that the sweetest lot of life
+consists in tranquil duties and well-earned repose.'
+
+'If my lot be repose, I'll find it in a lair.'
+
+'Ah! David, David, there is a wildness in your temper, boy, that makes
+me often tremble. You are already too much alone, child. And for this,
+as well as weightier reasons, I am desirous that you should at length
+assume the office you inherit. What my poor experience can afford to aid
+you, as your counsellor, I shall ever proffer; and, for the rest, our
+God will not desert you, an orphan child, and born of royal blood.'
+
+'Pr'ythee, no more, kind uncle. I have but little heart to mount a
+throne, which only ranks me as the first of slaves.'
+
+'Pooh, pooh, you are young. Live we like slaves? Is this hall a servile
+chamber? These costly carpets, and these rich divans, in what proud
+harem shall we find their match? I feel not like a slave. My coffers are
+full of dirhems. Is that slavish? The wealthiest company of the caravan
+is ever Bostenay's. Is that to be a slave? Walk the bazaar of Bagdad,
+and you will find my name more potent than the Caliph's. Is that a badge
+of slavery?'
+
+'Uncle, you toil for others.'
+
+'So do we all, so does the bee, yet he is free and happy.'
+
+'At least he has a sting.'
+
+'Which he can use but once, and when he stings----'
+
+'He dies, and like a hero. Such a death is sweeter than his honey.'
+
+'Well, well, you are young, you are young. I once, too, had fancies.
+Dreams all, dreams all. I willingly would see you happy, child. Come,
+let that face brighten; after all, to-day is a great day. If you had
+seen what I have seen, David, you too would feel grateful. Come, let
+us feast. The Ishmaelite, the accursed child of Hagar, he does confess
+to-day that you are a prince; this day also you complete your eighteenth
+year. The custom of our people now requires that you should assume the
+attributes of manhood. To-day, then, your reign commences; and at
+our festival I will present the elders to their prince. For a while,
+farewell, my child. Array that face in smiles. I shall most anxiously
+await your presence.'
+
+'Farewell, sir.'
+
+He turned his head and watched his uncle as he departed: the bitter
+expression of his countenance gradually melted away as Bostenay
+disappeared: dejection succeeded to sarcasm; he sighed, he threw himself
+upon a couch and buried his face in his hands.
+
+Suddenly he arose and paced the chamber with an irregular and moody
+step. He stopped, and leant against a column. He spoke in a tremulous
+and smothered voice:
+
+'Oh! my heart is full of care, and my soul is dark with sorrow! What
+am I? What is all this? A cloud hangs heavy o'er my life. God of my
+fathers, let it burst!
+
+'I know not what I feel, yet what I feel is madness. Thus to be is not
+to live, if life be what I sometimes dream, and dare to think it might
+be. To breathe, to feed, to sleep, to wake and breathe again, again to
+feel existence without hope; if this be life, why then these brooding
+thoughts that whisper death were better?
+
+'Away! The demon tempts me. But to what? What nameless deed shall
+desecrate this hand? It must not be: the royal blood of twice two
+thousand years, it must not die, die like a dream. Oh! my heart is full
+of care, and my soul is dark with sorrow!
+
+'Hark! the trumpets that sound our dishonour. Oh, that they but sounded
+to battle! Lord of Hosts, let me conquer or die! Let me conquer like
+David; or die, Lord, like Saul!
+
+'Why do I live? Ah! could the thought that lurks within my secret heart
+but answer, not that trumpet's blast could speak as loud or clear.
+The votary of a false idea, I linger in this shadowy life, and feed on
+silent images which no eye but mine can gaze upon, till at length they
+are invested with all the terrible circumstance of life, and breathe,
+and act, and form a stirring world of fate and beauty, time, and death,
+and glory. And then, from out this dazzling wilderness of deeds, I
+wander forth and wake, and find myself in this dull house of bondage,
+even as I do now. Horrible! horrible!
+
+'God, of my fathers! for indeed I dare not style thee God of their
+wretched sons; yet, by the memory of Sinai, let me tell thee that some
+of the antique blood yet beats within these pulses, and there yet is one
+who fain would commune with thee face to face, commune and conquer.
+
+'And if the promise unto which we cling be not a cheat, why, let him
+come, come, and come quickly, for thy servant Israel, Lord, is now a
+slave so infamous, so woe-begone, and so contemned, that even when our
+fathers hung their harps by the sad waters of the Babylonian stream,
+why, it was paradise compared with what we suffer.
+
+'Alas! they do not suffer; they endure and do not feel. Or by this time
+our shadowy cherubim would guard again the ark. It is the will that is
+the father to the deed, and he who broods over some long idea, however
+wild, will find his dream was but the prophecy of coming fate.
+
+'And even now a vivid flash darts through the darkness of my mind.
+Methinks, methinks--ah! worst of woes to dream of glory in despair. No,
+no; I live and die a most ignoble thing; beauty and love, and fame and
+mighty deeds, the smile of women and the gaze of men, and the ennobling
+consciousness of worth, and all the fiery course of the creative
+passions, these are not for me, and I, Alroy, the descendant of sacred
+kings, and with a soul that pants for empire, I stand here extending my
+vain arm for my lost sceptre, a most dishonoured slave! And do I still
+exist? Exist! ay, merrily. Hark! Festivity holds her fair revel in these
+light-hearted walls. We are gay to-day; and yet, ere yon proud sun,
+whose mighty course was stayed before our swords that now he even does
+not deign to shine upon; ere yon proud sun shall, like a hero from a
+glorious field, enter the bright pavilion of his rest, there shall a
+deed be done.
+
+'My fathers, my heroic fathers, if this feeble arm cannot redeem your
+heritage; if the foul boar must still wallow in thy sweet vineyard,
+Israel, at least I will not disgrace you. No! let me perish. The house
+of David is no more; no more our sacred seed shall lurk and linger, like
+a blighted thing, in this degenerate earth. If we cannot flourish, 'why,
+then, we will die!'
+
+'Oh! say not so, my brother!'
+
+He turns, he gazes on a face beauteous as a starry night; his heart is
+full, his voice is low.
+
+'Ah, Miriam! thou queller of dark spirits! is it thou? Why art thou
+here?'
+
+'Why am I here? Are you not here? and need I urge a stronger plea? Oh!
+brother dear, I pray you come, and mingle in our festival. Our walls are
+hung with flowers you love;[2] I culled them by the fountain's side; the
+holy lamps are trimmed and set, and you must raise their earliest flame.
+Without the gate, my maidens wait, to offer you a robe of state. Then,
+brother dear, I pray you come and mingle in our festival.'
+
+'Why should we feast?'
+
+'Ah! is it not in thy dear name these lamps are lit, these garlands
+hung? To-day to us a prince is given, to-day----'
+
+'A prince without a kingdom.'
+
+'But not without that which makes kingdoms precious, and which full many
+a royal heart has sighed for, willing subjects, David.'
+
+'Slaves, Miriam, fellow-slaves.'
+
+'What we are, my brother, our God has willed; and let us bow and
+tremble.'
+
+'I will not bow, I cannot tremble.'
+
+'Hush, David, hush! It was this haughty spirit that called the vengeance
+of the Lord upon us.'
+
+'It was this haughty spirit that conquered Canaan.'
+
+'Oh, my brother, my dear brother! they told me the dark spirit had
+fallen on thee, and I came, and hoped that Miriam might have charmed it.
+What we may have been, Alroy, is a bright dream; and what we may be, at
+least as bright a hope; and for what we are, thou art my brother. In thy
+love I find present felicity, and value more thy chance embraces and thy
+scanty smiles than all the vanished splendour of our race, our gorgeous
+gardens, and our glittering halls.'
+
+'Who waits without there?'
+
+'Caleb.'
+
+'Caleb!'
+
+'My lord.'
+
+'Go tell my uncle that I will presently join the banquet. Leave me a
+moment, Miriam. Nay, dry those tears.'
+
+'Oh, Alroy! they are not tears of sorrow.'
+
+'God be with thee! Thou art the charm and consolation of my life.
+Farewell! farewell!
+
+'I do observe the influence of women very potent over me. 'Tis not
+of such stuff that they make heroes. I know not love, save that pure
+affection which doth subsist between me and this girl, an orphan and my
+sister. We are so alike, that when, last Passover, in mimicry she twined
+my turban round her head, our uncle called her David.
+
+'The daughters of my tribe, they please me not, though they are passing
+fair. Were our sons as brave as they are beautiful, we still might dance
+on Sion. Yet have I often thought that, could I pillow this moody brow
+upon some snowy bosom that were my own, and dwell in the wilderness,
+far from the sight and ken of man, and all the care and toil and
+wretchedness that groan and sweat and sigh about me, I might haply lose
+this deep sensation of overwhelming woe that broods upon by being. No
+matter! Life is but a dream, and mine must be a dull one.'
+
+Without the gates of Hamadan, a short distance from the city, was
+an enclosed piece of elevated ground, in the centre of which rose an
+ancient sepulchre, the traditionary tomb of Esther and Mordecai.[3] This
+solemn and solitary spot was an accustomed haunt of Alroy, and thither,
+escaping from the banquet, about an hour before sunset, he this day
+repaired.
+
+As he unlocked the massy gate of the burial-place, he heard behind him
+the trampling of a horse; and before he had again secured the entrance,
+some one shouted to him.
+
+He looked up, and recognised the youthful and voluptuous Alschiroch, the
+governor of the city, and brother of the sultan of the Seljuks. He
+was attended only by a single running footman, an Arab, a detested
+favourite, and notorious minister of his pleasures.
+
+'Dog!' exclaimed the irritated Alschiroch, 'art thou deaf, or obstinate,
+or both? Are we to call twice to our slaves? Unlock that gate!'
+'Wherefore?' inquired Alroy.
+
+'Wherefore! By the holy Prophet, he bandies questions with us! Unlock
+that gate, or thy head shall answer for it!'
+
+'Who art thou,' inquired Alroy, 'whose voice is so loud? Art thou some
+holiday Turk, who hath transgressed the orders of thy Prophet, and
+drunken aught but water? Go to, or I will summon thee before thy Cadi;'
+and, so saying, he turned towards the tomb.
+
+'By the eyes of my mother, the dog jeers us! But that we are already
+late, and this horse is like an untamed tiger, I would impale him on the
+spot. Speak to the dog, Mustapha! manage him!'
+
+'Worthy Hebrew,' said the silky Mustapha, advancing, 'apparently you are
+not aware that this is our Lord Alschiroch. His highness would fain walk
+his horse through the burial-ground of thy excellent people, as he is
+obliged to repair, on urgent matters, to a holy Santon, who sojourns on
+the other side of the hill, and time presses.'
+
+'If this be our Lord Alschiroch, thou doubtless art his faithful slave,
+Mustapha.'
+
+'I am, indeed, his poor slave. What then, young master?'
+
+'Deem thyself lucky that the gate is closed. It was but yesterday thou
+didst insult the sister of a servant of my house. I would not willingly
+sully my hands with such miserable blood as thine, out away, wretch,
+away!'
+
+'Holy Prophet! who is this dog?' exclaimed the astonished governor.
+
+''Tis the young Alroy,' whispered Mustapha, who had not at first
+recognised him; 'he they call their Prince; a most headstrong youth. My
+lord, we had better proceed.'
+
+'The young Alroy! I mark him. They must have a prince too! The young
+Alroy! Well, let us away, and, dog!' shouted Alschiroch, rising in his
+stirrups, and shaking his hand with a threatening air, 'dog! remember
+thy tribute!'
+
+Alroy rushed to the gate, but the massy lock was slow to open; and ere
+he could succeed, the fiery steed had borne Alschiroch beyond pursuit.
+
+An expression of baffled rage remained for a moment on his countenance;
+for a moment he remained with his eager eye fixed on the route of his
+vanished enemy, and then he walked slowly towards the tomb; but his
+excited temper was now little in unison with the still reverie in
+which he had repaired to the sepulchre to indulge. He was restless and
+disquieted, and at length he wandered into the woods, which rose on the
+summit of the burial-place.
+
+He found himself upon a brow crested with young pine-trees, in the midst
+of which rose a mighty cedar. He threw himself beneath its thick and
+shadowy branches, and looked upon a valley small and green; in the midst
+of which was a marble fountain, the richly-carved cupola,[4] supported
+by twisted columns, and banded by a broad inscription in Hebrew
+characters. The bases of the white pillars were covered with wild
+flowers, or hidden by beds of variegated gourds. The transparent sunset
+flung over the whole scene a soft but brilliant light.
+
+The tranquil hour, the beauteous scene, the sweetness and the stillness
+blending their odour and serenity, the gentle breeze that softly rose,
+and summoned forth the languid birds to cool their plumage in the
+twilight air, and wave their radiant wings in skies as bright---- Ah!
+what stern spirit will not yield to the soft genius of subduing eve?
+
+And Alroy gazed upon the silent loneliness of earth, and a tear stole
+down his haughty cheek.
+
+''Tis singular! but when I am thus alone at this still hour, I ever
+fancy I gaze upon the Land of Promise. And often, in my dreams, some
+sunny spot, the bright memorial of a roving hour, will rise upon my
+sight, and, when I wake, I feel as if I had been in Canaan. Why am I
+not? The caravan that bears my uncle's goods across the Desert would
+bear me too. But I rest here, my miserable life running to seed in
+the dull misery of this wretched city, and do nothing. Why, the old
+captivity was empire to our inglorious bondage. We have no Esther now
+to share their thrones, no politic Mordecai, no purple-vested Daniel. O
+Jerusalem, Jerusalem! I do believe one sight of thee would nerve me
+to the sticking-point. And yet to gaze upon thy fallen state, my uncle
+tells me that of the Temple not a stone remains. 'Tis horrible. Is there
+no hope?'
+
+'_The bricks are fallen, but we will rebuild with marble; the sycamores
+are cut down, but we will replace them with cedars._'
+
+'The chorus of our maidens, as they pay their evening visit to the
+fountain's side.[5] The burden is prophetic.
+
+'Hark again! How beautifully, upon the soft and flowing air, their sweet
+and mingled voices blend and float!'
+
+'_YET AGAIN I WILL BUILD THEE, AND THOU SHALT BE BUILT, O VIRGIN OF
+ISRAEL! YET AGAIN SHALT THOU DECK THYSELF WITH THY TABRETS, AND GO
+FORTH IN THE DANCE OF THOSE THAT MAKE MERRY. YET AGAIN SHALT THOU PLANT
+VINEYARDS ON THE MOUNTAINS OF SAMARIA._'
+
+'See! their white forms break through the sparkling foliage of the sunny
+shrubs as they descend, with measured step, that mild declivity. A
+fair society in bright procession: each one clothed in solemn drapery,
+veiling her shadowy face with modest hand, and bearing on her graceful
+head a graceful vase. Their leader is my sister.
+
+'And now they reach the fountain's side, and dip their vases in the
+water, pure and beauteous as themselves. Some repose beneath the marble
+pillars; some, seated 'mid the flowers, gather sweets, and twine them
+into garlands; and that wild girl, now that the order is broken, touches
+with light fingers her moist vase, and showers startling drops of
+glittering light on her serener sisters. Hark! again they sing.'
+
+'_O VINE OF SIBMAH! UPON THY SUMMER FRUITS, AND UPON THY VINTAGE, A
+SPOILER HATH FALLEN!_'
+
+A scream, a shriek, a long wild shriek, confusion, flight, despair!
+Behold! from out the woods a tur-baned man rushes, and seizes the leader
+of the chorus. Her companions fly on all sides, Miriam alone is left in
+the arms of Alschiroch.
+
+The water column wildly rising from the breast of summer ocean, in some
+warm tropic clime, when the sudden clouds too well discover that the
+holiday of heaven is over, and the shrieking sea-birds tell a time of
+fierce commotion, the column rising from the sea, it was not so wild as
+he, the young Alroy.
+
+Pallid and mad, he swift upsprang, and he tore up a tree by its lusty
+roots, and down the declivity, dashing with rapid leaps, panting
+and wild, he struck the ravisher on the temple with the mighty pine.
+Alschiroch fell lifeless on the sod, and Miriam fainting into her
+brother's arms.
+
+And there he stood, fixed and immovable, gazing upon his sister's
+deathly face, and himself exhausted by passion and his exploit,
+supporting her cherished but senseless body.
+
+One of the fugitive maidens appeared reconnoitring in the distance.
+When she observed her mistress in the arms of one of her own people, her
+courage revived, and, desirous of rallying her scattered companions, she
+raised her voice, and sang:
+
+_'HASTE, DAUGHTERS OF JERUSALEM; O! HASTE, FOR THE LORD HAS AVENGED US,
+AND THE SPOILER IS SPOILED._'
+
+And soon the verse was responded to from various quarters of the woods,
+and soon the virgins reassembled, singing,
+
+'_WE COME, O DAUGHTER OF JERUSALEM! WE COME; FOR THE LORD HAS AVENGED
+US, AND THE SPOILER IS SPOILED_.'
+
+They gathered round their mistress, and one loosened her veil, and
+another brought water from the fountain, and sprinkled her reviving
+countenance. And Miriam opened her eyes, and said, 'My brother!' And he
+answered, 'I am here.' And she replied in a low voice, 'Fly, David, fly;
+for the man you have stricken is a prince among the people.'
+
+'He will be merciful, my sister; and, doubtless, since he first erred,
+by this time he has forgotten my offence.'
+
+'Justice and mercy! Oh, my brother, what can these foul tyrants know
+of either! Already he has perhaps doomed you to some refined and
+procrastinated torture, already---- Ah! what unutterable woe is mine!
+fly, my brother, fly!'
+
+'Fly, fly, fly!'
+
+'There is no fear, my Miriam; would all his accursed race could trouble
+us as little as their sometime ruler. See, he sleeps soundly. But his
+carcass shall not defile our fresh fountain and our fragrant flowers.
+I'll stow it in the woods, and stroll here at night to listen to the
+jackals at their banquet.'
+
+'You speak wildly, David. What! No! It is impossible! He is not dead!
+You have not slain him!
+
+He sleeps, he is afraid. He mimics death that we may leave his side,
+and he may rise again in safety. Girls, look to him. David, you do not
+answer. Brother, dear brother, surely he has swooned! I thought he had
+fled. Bear water, maidens, to that terrible man. I dare not look upon
+him.'
+
+'Away! I'll look on him, and I'll triumph. Dead! Alschiroch dead! Why,
+but a moment since, this clotted carcass was a prince, my tyrant! So we
+can rid ourselves of them, eh? If the prince fall, why not the people?
+Dead, absolutely dead, and I his slayer! Hah! at length I am a man.
+This, this indeed is life. Let me live slaying!'
+
+'Woe! woe, our house is fallen! The wildness of his gestures frightens
+me. David, David, I pray thee cease. He hears me not; my voice,
+perchance, is thin. I am very faint. Maidens, kneel to your Prince, and
+soothe the madness of his passion.'
+
+'_SWEET IS THE VOICE OF A SISTER IN THE SEASON OF SORROW, AND WISE IS
+THE COUNSEL OF THOSE WHO LOVE US_.'
+
+'Why, this is my Goliath! a pebble or a stick, it is the same. The Lord
+of Hosts is with us. Rightly am I called David.'
+
+'_DELIVER US FROM OUR ENEMIES, O LORD! FROM THOSE WHO RISE UP AGAINST
+US, AND THOSE WHO LIE IN WAIT FOR US_.'
+
+[Illustration: page020]
+
+'Were but this blow multiplied, were but the servants of my uncle's
+house to do the same, why, we should see again the days of Elah! The
+Philistine, the foul, lascivious, damnable Philistine! and he must touch
+my sister! Oh! that all his tribe were here, all, all! I'd tie such
+firebrands to their foxes' tails, the blaze should light to freedom!'
+
+While he spoke, a maiden, who had not yet rejoined the company, came
+running towards them swiftly with an agitated countenance.
+
+'Fly,' she exclaimed, 'they come, they come!'
+
+Miriam was reclining in an attendant's arms, feeble and faint, but the
+moment her quick ear caught these words she sprang up, and seized her
+brother's arm.
+
+'Alroy! David! brother, dear brother! I beseech thee, listen, I am thy
+sister, thy Miriam; they come, they come, the hard-hearted, wicked men,
+they come, to kill, perhaps to torture thee, my tender brother. Rouse
+thyself, David; rouse thyself from this wild, fierce dream: save
+thyself, fly!'
+
+'Ah! is it thou, Miriam? Thou seest he sleepeth soundly. I was dreaming
+of noble purposes and mighty hopes. Tis over now. I am myself again.
+What wouldst thou?'
+
+'They come, the fierce retainers of this fallen man; they come to seize
+thee. Fly, David!'
+
+'And leave thee?'
+
+'I and my maidens, we have yet time to escape by the private way we
+entered, our uncle's garden. When in his house, we are for a moment
+safe, as safe as our poor race can ever be. Bostenay is so rich, so
+wise, so prudent, so learned in man's ways, and knows so well the
+character and spirit of these men, all will go right; I fear nothing.
+But thou, if thou art here, or to be found, thy blood alone will satiate
+them. If they be persuaded that thou hast escaped, as I yet pray thou
+mayest, their late master here, whom they could scarcely love, why, give
+me thy arm an instant, sweet Beruna. So, that's well. I was saying, if
+well bribed,--and they may have all my jewels,--why, very soon, he will
+be as little in their memories as he is now in life. I can scarcely
+speak; I feel my words wander, or seem to wander; I could swoon, but
+will not; nay! do not fear. I will reach home. These maidens are my
+charge. 'Tis in these crises we should show the worth of royal blood.
+I'll see them safe, or die with them.'
+
+'O! my sister, methinks I never knew I was a brother until this hour. My
+precious Miriam, what is life? what is revenge, or even fame and freedom
+without thee? I'll stay.'
+
+'_SWEET IS THE VOICE OF A SISTER IN THE SEASON OF SORROW, AND WISE IS
+THE COUNSEL OF THOSE WHO LOVE US_.'
+
+'Fly, David, fly!'
+
+'Fly! whither and how?'
+
+The neigh of a horse sounded from the thicket.
+
+'Ah! they come!' exclaimed the distracted Miriam.
+
+'_ALL THIS HAS COME UPON US, O LORD! YET HAVE WE NOT FORGOTTEN THEE,
+NEITHER HAVE WE DEALT FALSELY IN THY COVENANT_.'
+
+'Hark! again it neighs! It is a horse that calleth to its rider. I see
+it. Courage, Miriam! it is no enemy, but a very present friend in time
+of trouble. It is Alschiroch's courser. He passed me on it by the tomb
+ere sunset. I marked it well, a very princely steed.'
+
+_'BEHOLD, BEHOLD, A RAM IS CAUGHT IN THE THICKET BY HIS HORNS._'
+
+'Our God hath not forgotten us! Quick, maidens, bring forth the goodly
+steed. What! do you tremble? I'll be his groom.'
+
+'Nay! Miriam, beware, beware. It is an untamed beast, wild as the
+whirlwind. Let me deal with him.'
+
+He ran after her, dashed into the thicket, and brought forth the horse.
+
+Short time I ween that stately steed had parted from his desert home;
+his haughty crest, his eye of fire, the glory of his snorting nostril,
+betoken well his conscious pride, and pure nobility of race. His colour
+was like the sable night shining with a thousand stars, and he pawed the
+ground with his delicate hoof, like an eagle flapping its wing.
+
+Alroy vaulted on his back, and reined him with a master's hand.
+
+'Hah!' he exclaimed, 'I feel more like a hero than a fugitive. Farewell,
+my sister; farewell, ye gentle maidens; fare ye well, and cherish
+my precious Miriam. One embrace, sweet sister,' and he bent down and
+whispered, 'Tell the good Bostenay not to spare his gold, for I have a
+deep persuasion that, ere a year shall roll its heavy course, I shall
+return and make our masters here pay for this hurried ride and bitter
+parting. Now for the desert!'
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER II.
+
+     _The Slaying of an Ishmaelite_
+
+SPEED, fleetly speed, thou courser bold, and track the desert's
+trackless way. Beneath thee is the boundless earth, above thee is the
+boundless heaven, an iron soil and brazen sky. Speed, swiftly speed,
+thou courser bold, and track the desert's trackless way. Ah! dost thou
+deem these salty plains[6] lead to thy Yemen's happy groves, and
+dost thou scent on the hot breeze the spicy breath of Araby? A sweet
+delusion, noble steed, for this briny wilderness leads not to the happy
+groves of Yemen, and the breath thou scentest on the coming breeze is
+not the spicy breath of Araby.
+
+The day has died, the stars have risen, with all the splendour of a
+desert sky, and now the Night descending brings solace on her dewy wings
+to the fainting form and pallid cheek of the youthful Hebrew Prince.
+
+Still the courser onward rushes, still his mighty heart supports him.
+Season and space, the glowing soil, the burning ray, yield to the
+tempest of his frame, the thunder of his nerves, and lightning of his
+veins.
+
+Food or water they have none. No genial fount, no graceful tree, rise
+with their pleasant company. Never a beast or bird is there, in that
+hoary desert bare. Nothing breaks the almighty stillness. Even the
+jackal's felon cry might seem a soothing melody. A grey wild rat, with
+snowy whiskers, out of a withered bramble stealing, with a youthful
+snake in its ivory teeth, in the moonlight grins with glee. This is
+their sole society.
+
+Morn comes, the fresh and fragrant morn, for which even the guilty sigh.
+Morn comes, and all is visible. And light falls like a signet on the
+earth, and its face is turned like wax beneath a seal. Before them and
+also on their right was the sandy desert; but in the night they had
+approached much nearer to the mountainous chain, which bounded the
+desert on the left, and whither Alroy had at first guided the steed.
+
+The mountains were a chain of the mighty Elburz; and, as the sun rose
+from behind a lofty peak, the horse suddenly stopped and neighed, as if
+asking for water. But Alroy, himself exhausted, could only soothe him
+with caresses. And the horse, full of courage, understood his master,
+and neighed again more cheerfully.
+
+For an hour or two the Prince and his faithful companion proceeded
+slowly, but, as the day advanced, the heat became so oppressive, and
+the desire to drink so overwhelming, that Alroy again urged on the steed
+towards the mountains, where he knew that he should find a well. The
+courser dashed willingly forward, and seemed to share his master's
+desire to quit the arid and exhausting wilderness.
+
+More than once the unhappy fugitive debated whether he should not allow
+himself to drop from his seat and die; no torture that could await him
+at Hamadan but seemed preferable to the prolonged and inexpressible
+anguish which he now endured. As he rushed along, leaning on his
+bearer's neck, he perceived a patch of the desert that seemed of a
+darker colour than the surrounding sand. Here, he believed, might
+perhaps be found water. He tried to check the steed, but with difficulty
+he succeeded, and with still greater difficulty dismounted. He knelt
+down, and feebly raked up the sand with his hands. It was moist. He
+nearly fainted over his fruitless labour. At length, when he had dug
+about a foot deep, there bubbled up some water. He dashed in his hand,
+but it was salt as the ocean. When the horse saw the water his ears
+rose, but, when he smelt it, he turned away his head, and neighed most
+piteously.
+
+'Alas, poor beast!' exclaimed Alroy, 'I am the occasion of thy
+suffering, I, who would be a kind master to thee, if the world would let
+me. Oh, that we were once more by my own fair fountain! The thought is
+madness. And Miriam too! I fear I am sadly tender-hearted.' He leant
+against his horse's back, with a feeling of utter exhaustion, and burst
+into hysteric sobs.
+
+And the steed softly moaned, and turned its head, and gently rubbed its
+face against his arm, as if to solace him in his suffering. And strange,
+but Alroy was relieved by having given way to his emotion, and, charmed
+with the fondness of the faithful horse, he leant down and took water,
+and threw it over its feet to cool them, and wiped the foam from its
+face, and washed it, and the horse again neighed.
+
+And now Alroy tried to remount, but his strength failed him, and the
+horse immediately knelt down and received him. And the moment that the
+Prince was in his seat, the horse rose, and again proceeded at a rapid
+pace in their old direction. Towards sunset they were within a few miles
+of the broken and rocky ground into which the mountains descended; and
+afar off Alroy recognised the cupola of the long-expected well. With
+re-animated courage and rallied energies he patted his courser's neck,
+and pointed in the direction of the cupola, and the horse pricked up its
+ears, and increased its pace.
+
+Just us the sun set, they reached the well. Alroy jumped off the horse,
+and would have led it to the fountain, but the animal would not advance.
+It stood shivering with a glassy eye, and then with a groan fell down
+and died.
+
+Night brings rest; night brings solace; rest to the weary, solace to the
+sad. And to the desperate night brings despair.
+
+The moon has sunk to early rest; but a thousand stars are in the sky.
+The mighty mountains rise severe in the clear and silent air. In the
+forest all is still. The tired wind no longer roams, but has lightly
+dropped on its leafy couch, and sleeps like man. Silent all but the
+fountain's drip. And by the fountain's side a youth is lying.
+
+Suddenly a creature steals through the black and broken rocks. Ha, ha!
+the jackal smells from afar the rich corruption of the courser's clay.
+Suddenly and silently it steals, and stops, and smells. Brave banqueting
+I ween to-night for all that goodly company. Jackal, and fox, and
+marten-cat, haste ye now, ere morning's break shall call the vulture to
+his feast and rob you of your prey.
+
+The jackal lapped the courser's blood, and moaned with exquisite
+delight. And in a moment, a faint bark was heard in the distance. And
+the jackal peeled the flesh from one of the ribs, and again burst into a
+shriek of mournful ecstasy.
+
+Hark, their quick tramp! First six, and then three, galloping with
+ungodly glee. And a marten-cat came rushing down from the woods; but
+the jackals, fierce in their number, drove her away, and there she stood
+without the circle, panting, beautiful, and baffled, with her white
+teeth and glossy skin, and sparkling eyes of rabid rage.[7]
+
+Suddenly as one of the half-gorged jackals retired from the main corpse,
+dragging along a stray member by some still palpitating nerves, the
+marten-cat made a spring at her enemy, carried off his prey, and rushed
+into the woods.
+
+Her wild scream of triumph woke a lion from his lair. His mighty form,
+black as ebony, moved on a distant eminence, his tail flowed like a
+serpent. He roared, and the jackals trembled, and immediately ceased
+from their banquet, turning their heads in the direction of their
+sovereign's voice. He advanced; he stalked towards them. They retired;
+he bent his head, examined the carcass with condescending curiosity,
+and instantly quitted it with royal disdain. The jackals again collected
+around their garbage. The lion advanced to the fountain to drink. He
+beheld a man. His mane rose, his tail was wildly agitated, he bent over
+the sleeping Prince, he uttered an awful roar, which awoke Alroy.
+
+He awoke; his gaze met the flaming eyes of the enormous beast fixed upon
+him with a blended feeling of desire and surprise. He awoke, and from a
+swoon; but the dreamless trance had refreshed the exhausted energies of
+the desolate wanderer; in an instant he collected his senses, remembered
+all that had passed, and comprehended his present situation. He returned
+the lion a glance as imperious, and fierce, and scrutinsing, as his own.
+For a moment, their flashing orbs vied in regal rivalry; but at length
+the spirit of the mere animal yielded to the genius of the man. The
+lion, cowed, slunk away, stalked with haughty timidity through the
+rocks, and then sprang into the forest.
+
+Morn breaks; a silver light is shed over the blue and starry sky.
+Pleasant to feel is the breath of dawn. Night brings repose, but day
+brings joy.
+
+The carol of a lonely bird singing in the wilderness! A lonely bird that
+sings with glee! Sunny and sweet, and light and clear, its airy notes
+float through the sky, and trill with innocent revelry.
+
+The lonely youth on the lonely bird upgazes from the fountain's side.
+High in the air it proudly floats, balancing its crimson wings, and its
+snowy tail, long, delicate, and thin, shines like a sparkling meteor in
+the sun.
+
+The carol of a lonely bird singing in the wilderness! Suddenly it
+downward dashes, and thrice with circling grace it flies around the head
+of the Hebrew Prince. Then by his side it gently drops a bunch of fresh
+and fragrant dates.
+
+'Tis gone, 'tis gone! that cheerful stranger, gone to the palmy land it
+loves; gone like a bright and pleasant dream. A moment since and it was
+there, glancing in the sunny air, and now the sky is without a guest.
+Alas, alas! no more is heard the carol of that lonely bird singing in
+the wilderness.
+
+'As thou didst feed Elijah, so also hast thou fed me, God of my
+fathers!' And Alroy arose, and he took his turban and unfolded it,
+and knelt and prayed. And then he ate of the dates, and drank of the
+fountain, and, full of confidence in the God of Israel, the descendant
+of David pursued his flight.
+
+He now commenced the ascent of the mountainous chain, a wearisome and
+painful toil. Two hours past noon he reached the summit of the first
+ridge, and looked over a wild and chaotic waste full of precipices
+and ravines, and dark unfathomable gorges. The surrounding hills were
+ploughed in all directions by the courses of dried-up cataracts, and
+here and there a few savage goats browsed on an occasional patch of
+lean and sour pasture. This waste extended for many miles; the distance
+formed by a more elevated range of mountains, and beyond these, high in
+the blue sky, rose the loftiest peaks of Elburz,[8] shining with sharp
+glaciers of eternal snow.
+
+It was apparent that Alroy was no stranger in the scene of his flight.
+He had never hesitated as to his course, and now, after having rested
+for a short time on the summit, he descended towards the left by a
+natural but intricate path, until his progress was arrested by a black
+ravine. Scarcely half a dozen yards divided him from the opposite
+precipice by which it was formed, but the gulf beneath, no one could
+shoot a glance at its invisible termination without drawing back with a
+cold shudder.
+
+The Prince knelt down and examined the surrounding ground with great
+care. At length he raised a small square stone which covered a metallic
+plate, and, taking from his vest a carnelian talisman covered with
+strange characters, he knocked thrice upon the plate with the signet.
+A low solemn murmur sounded around. Presently the plate flew off, and
+Alroy pulled forth several yards of an iron chain, which he threw over
+to the opposite precipice. The chain fastened without difficulty to
+the rock, and was evidently constrained by some magnetic influence.
+The Prince, seizing the chain with both his hands, now swung across
+the ravine. As he landed, the chain parted from the rock, swiftly
+disappeared down the opposite aperture, and its covering closed with the
+same low, solemn murmur as before.
+
+Alroy proceeded for about a hundred paces through a natural cloister
+of basalt until he arrived at a large uncovered court of the same
+formation, which a stranger might easily have been excused for believing
+to have been formed and smoothed by art. In its centre bubbled up a
+perpetual spring, icy cold; the stream had worn a channel through the
+pavement, and might be traced for some time wandering among the rocks,
+until at length it leaped from a precipice into a gorge below, in a
+gauzy shower of variegated spray. Crossing the court, Alroy now entered
+a vast cavern.
+
+The cavern was nearly circular in form, lighted from a large aperture
+in the top. Yet a burning lamp, in a distant and murky corner, indicated
+that its inhabitant did not trust merely to this natural source of the
+great blessing of existence. In the centre of the cave was a circular
+and brazen table, sculptured with strange characters and mysterious
+figures: near it was a couch, on which lay several volumes.[9] Suspended
+from the walls were a shield, some bows and arrows, and other arms.
+
+As the Prince of the Captivity knelt down and kissed the vacant couch, a
+figure advanced from the extremity of the cavern into the light. He
+was a man of middle age, considerably above the common height, with
+a remarkably athletic frame, and a strongly-marked but majestic
+countenance. His black beard descended to his waist, over a dark red
+robe, encircled by a black girdle embroidered with yellow characters,
+like those sculptured on the brazen table. Black also was his turban,
+and black his large and luminous eye.
+
+The stranger advanced so softly, that Alroy did not perceive him, until
+the Prince again rose.
+
+'Jabaster!' exclaimed the Prince.
+
+'Sacred seed of David,' answered the Cabalist,[10] 'thou art expected. I
+read of thee in the stars last night. They spoke of trouble.'
+
+'Trouble or triumph, Time must prove which it is, great master. At
+present I am a fugitive and exhausted. The bloodhounds track me, but
+methinks I have baffled them now. I have slain an Ishmaelite.'
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER III
+
+     _The Hope of Israel_
+
+IT WAS midnight. Alroy slept upon the couch: his sleep was troubled.
+Jabaster stood by his side motionless, and gazing intently upon his
+slumbering guest.
+
+'The only hope of Israel,' murmured the Cabalist,' my pupil and my
+prince! I have long perceived in his young mind the seed of mighty
+deeds, and o'er his future life have often mused with a prophetic hope.
+The blood of David, the sacred offspring of a solemn race. There is a
+magic in his flowing veins my science cannot reach.
+
+'When, in my youth, I raised our standard by my native Tigris, and
+called our nation to restore their ark, why, we were numerous, wealthy,
+potent; we were a people then, and they flocked to it boldly. Did we
+lack counsel? Did we need a leader? Who can aver that Jabaster's brain
+or arm was ever wanting? And yet the dream dissolved, the glorious
+vision! Oh! when I struck down Marvan, and the Caliph's camp flung its
+blazing shadow over the bloody river, ah! then indeed I lived. Twenty
+years of vigil may gain a pardon that I then forgot we lacked the chief
+ingredient in the spell, the blood that sleeps beside me.
+
+'I recall the glorious rapture of that sacred strife amid the rocks of
+Caucasus. A fugitive, a proscribed and outlawed wretch, whose life is
+common sport, and whom the vilest hind may slay without a bidding. I,
+who would have been Messiah!
+
+'Burn thy books, Jabaster; break thy brazen tables; forget thy lofty
+science, Cabalist, and read the stars no longer.[11] But last night
+I stood upon the gulf which girds my dwelling: in one hand, I held my
+sacred talisman, that bears the name ineffable; in the other, the mystic
+record of our holy race. I remembered that I had evoked spirits, that I
+had communed with the great departed, and that the glowing heavens were
+to me a natural language. I recalled, as consolation to my gloomy soul,
+that never had my science been exercised but for a sacred or a noble
+purpose. And I remembered Israel, my brave, my chosen, and my antique
+race, slaves, wretched slaves. I was strongly tempted to fling me down
+this perilous abyss, and end my learning and my life together.
+
+'But, as I gazed upon the star of David, a sudden halo rose around its
+rays, and ever and anon a meteor shot from out the silver veil. I read
+that there was trouble in the holy seed; and now comes this boy, who has
+done a deed which----'
+
+'The ark, the ark! I gaze upon the ark!' 'The slumberer speaks; the
+words of sleep are sacred.' 'Salvation only from the house of David.'
+'A mighty truth; my life too well has proved it. 'He is more calm. It
+is the holy hour. I'll steal into the court, and gaze upon the star that
+sways the fortunes of his royal house.'
+
+The moonbeam fell upon the fountain; the pavement of the court was a
+flood of light; the rocks rose dark around. Jabaster, seated by the
+spring, and holding his talisman in his left hand, shaded his sight with
+the other as he gazed upon the luminous heavens.
+
+A shriek! his name was called. Alroy, wild and panting, rushed into the
+court with extended arms. The Cabalist started up, seized him, and held
+him in his careful grasp, foaming and in convulsions.
+
+'Jabaster, Jabaster!'
+
+'I am here, my child.'
+
+'The Lord hath spoken.'
+
+'The Lord is our refuge. Calm thyself, son of David, and tell me all.'
+
+'I have been sleeping, master; is it not so?'
+
+'Even so, my child. Exhausted by his flight and the exciting narrative
+of his exploit, my Prince lay down upon the couch and slumbered; but I
+fear that slumber was not repose.'
+
+'Repose and I have naught in common now. Farewell for ever to that fatal
+word. I am the Lord's anointed.'
+
+'Drink of the fountain, David: it will restore thee.'
+
+'Restore the covenant, restore the ark, restore the holy city.'
+
+'The Spirit of the Lord hath fallen upon him. Son of David, I adjure
+thee tell me all that hath passed. I am a Levite; in my hand I hold the
+name ineffable.'
+
+'Take thy trumpet then, summon the people, bid them swiftly raise again
+our temple. "The bricks have fallen, but we will rebuild with marble."
+Didst hear that chorus, sir?'
+
+'Unto thy chosen ear alone it sounded.'
+
+'Where am I? This is not our fountain. Yet thou didst say, "the
+fountain." Think me not wild. I know thee, I know all. Thou art
+not Miriam. Thou art jabaster; I am Alroy. But thou didst say, "the
+fountain," and it distracted me, and called back my memory to----
+
+'God of Israel, lo, I kneel before thee! Here, in the solitude of
+wildest nature, my only witness here this holy man, I kneel and vow,
+Lord! I will do thy bidding. I am young, O God! and weak; but thou,
+Lord, art all-powerful! What God is like to thee? Doubt not my courage,
+Lord; and fill me with thy spirit! but remember, remember her, O Lord!
+remember Miriam. It is the only worldly thought I have, and it is pure.'
+
+'Still of his sister! Calm thyself, my son.'
+
+'Holy master, thou dost remember when I was thy pupil in this cavern.
+Thou hast not forgotten those days of tranquil study, those sweet, long
+wandering nights of sacred science! I was dutiful, and hung upon each
+accent of thy lore with the devotion that must spring from love.'
+
+'I cannot weep, Alroy; but were it in my power, I would yield a tear of
+homage to the memory of those days.'
+
+'How calmly have we sat on some high brow, and gazed upon the stars!'
+
+''Tis very true, sweet child.'
+
+'And if thou e'er didst chide me, 'twas half in jest, and only for my
+silence.'
+
+'What would he now infer? No matter, he grows calmer. How solemn is his
+visage in the moonlight! And yet not Solomon, upon his youthful throne,
+could look more beautiful.'
+
+'I never told thee an untruth, Jabaster.'
+
+'My life upon thy faith.'
+
+'Fear not the pledge, and so believe me, on the mountain brow watching
+the starry heavens with thyself, I was not calmer than I feel, sir,
+now.'
+
+'I do believe thee.'
+
+'Then, Jabaster, believe as fully I am the Lord's anointed.'
+
+'Tell me all, my child.'
+
+'Know, then, that sleeping on the couch within, my sleep was troubled.
+Many dreams I had, indefinite and broken. I recall none of their images,
+except I feel a dim sensation 'twas my lot to live in brighter days than
+now rise on our race. Suddenly I stood upon a mountain tall and grey,
+and gazed upon the stars. And, as I gazed, a trumpet sounded. Its note
+thrilled through my soul. Never have I heard a sound so awful. The
+thunder, when it broke over the cavern here, and shivered the peak,
+whose ruins lie around us, was but a feeble worldly sound to this
+almighty music. My cheek grew pale, I panted even for breath. A
+flaming light spread over the sky, the stars melted away, and I beheld,
+advancing from the bursting radiancy, the foremost body of a mighty
+host.
+
+'Oh! not when Saul led forth our fighting men against the Philistine,
+not when Joab numbered the warriors of my great ancestor, did human
+vision gaze upon a scene of so much martial splendour. Chariots and
+cavalry, and glittering trains of plumed warriors too robust to need a
+courser's solace; streams of shining spears, and banners like a sunset;
+reverend priests swinging their perfumed censers, and prophets hymning
+with their golden harps a most triumphant future.
+
+'"Joy, joy," they say, "to Israel, for he cometh, he cometh in his
+splendour and his might, the great Messiah of our ancient hopes."
+
+'And, lo! a mighty chariot now appeared, drawn by strange beasts whose
+forms were half obscured by the bright flames on which they seemed to
+float. In that glorious car a warrior stood, proud and immovable his
+form, his countenance. Hold my hand, Jabaster, while I speak; that
+chieftain was myself!'
+
+'Proceed, proceed, my son.'
+
+'I started in my dream, and I awoke. I found myself upsitting on my
+couch. The pageantry had vanished. Naught was seen but the bright
+moonlight and the gloomy cave. And, as I sighed to think I e'er had
+wakened, and mused upon the strangeness of my vision, a still small
+voice descended from above and called, "Alroy!" I started, but I
+answered not. Methought it was my fancy. Again my name was called, and
+now I murmured, "Lord, I am here, what wouldst thou?" Naught responded,
+and soon great dread came over me, and I rushed out and called to thee,
+my master.'
+
+'It was "the Daughter of the Voice"[12] that spake. Since the Captivity
+'tis the only mode by which the saints are summoned. Oft have I heard
+of it, but never in these sad degenerate days has its soft aspiration
+fallen upon us. These are strange times and tidings. The building of the
+temple is at hand. Son of David, my heart is full. Let us to prayer!'
+
+Day dawned upon Jabaster, still musing in solitude among his rocks.
+Within the cavern, Alroy remained in prayer.
+
+Often and anxiously the Cabalist shot a glance at his companion, and
+then again relapsed into reverie.
+
+'The time is come that I must to this youth reveal the secrets of my
+early life. Much will he hear of glory, much of shame. Naught must I
+conceal, and naught gloss over.
+
+'I must tell how in the plains of Tigris I upraised the sacred standard
+of our chosen race, and called them from their bondage; how, despairing
+of his recreant fathers, and inspired by human power alone, I vainly
+claimed the mighty office for his sacred blood alone reserved. God of
+my fathers, grant that future service, the humble service of a
+contrite soul, may in the coming glory that awaits us, atone for past
+presumption!
+
+'But for him great trials are impending. Not lightly must that votary
+be proved, who fain would free a people. The Lord is faithful to his
+promise, but the Lord will choose his season and his minister. Courage,
+and faith, and deep humility, and strong endurance, and the watchful
+soul temptation cannot sully, these are the fruits we lay upon his
+altar, and meekly watch if some descending flame will vouchsafe to
+accept and brightly bless them.
+
+'It is written in the dread volume of our mystic lore, that not alone
+the Saviour shall spring from out our house of princes, but that none
+shall rise to free us, until, alone and unassisted, he have gained the
+sceptre which Solomon of old wielded within his cedar palaces.
+
+'That sceptre must he gain. This fragile youth, untried and delicate,
+unknowing in the ways of this strange world, where every step is danger,
+how much hardship, how much peril, what withering disappointment, what
+dull care, what long despondency, what never-ending lures, now lie in
+ambush for this gentle boy! O my countrymen, is this your hope? And I,
+with all my lore, and all my courage, and all my deep intelligence of
+man; unhappy Israel, why am I not thy Prince?
+
+'I check the blasphemous thought. Did not his great ancestor, as young
+and as untried, a beardless stripling, with but a pebble, a small
+smoothed stone, level a mailed giant with the ground, and save his
+people?
+
+'He is clearly summoned. The Lord is with him. Be he with the Lord, and
+we shall prosper.'
+
+It was at sunset, on the third day after the arrival of Alroy at the
+cave of the Cabalist, that the Prince of the Captivity commenced his
+pilgrimage in quest of the sceptre of Solomon.
+
+Silently the pilgrim and his master took their way to the brink of the
+ravine, and there they stopped to part, perhaps forever.
+
+'It is a bitter moment, Alroy. Human feelings are not for beings like
+us, yet they will have their way. Remember all. Cherish the talisman as
+thy life: nay! welcome death with it pressing against thy heart, rather
+than breathe without it. Be firm, be pious. Think of thy ancestors,
+think of thy God.'
+
+'Doubt me not, dear master; if I seem not full of that proud spirit,
+which was perhaps too much my wont, ascribe it not to fear, Jabaster,
+nor even to the pain of leaving thee, dear friend. But ever since that
+sweet and solemn voice summoned me so thrillingly, I know not how it is,
+but a change has come over my temper; yet I am firm, oh! firmer far than
+when I struck down the Ishmaelite. Indeed, indeed, fear not for me. The
+Lord, that knoweth all things, knows full well I am prepared even to the
+death. Thy prayers, Jabaster, and----'
+
+'Stop, stop. I do remember me. See this ring: 'tis a choice emerald.
+Thou mayst have wondered I should wear a bauble. Alroy, I had a brother
+once: still he may live. When we parted, this was the signal of his
+love: a love, my child, strong, though we greatly differed. Take it. The
+hour may come that thou mayst need his aid. It will command it. If he
+live, he prospers. I know his temper well. He was made for what the
+worldly deem prosperity. God be with thee, sacred boy: the God of our
+great fathers, the God of Abraham, of Isaac, and of Jacob!'
+
+They embraced.
+
+'We linger,' exclaimed the Cabalist, 'we linger. Oh! in vain we quell
+the feelings of our kind. God, God bless and be with thee! Art sure thou
+hast all? thy dagger and thy wallet? That staff has seen some service.
+I cut it on the Jordan. Ah! that I could be thy mate! 'Twould be nothing
+then. At the worst to die together. Such a fate seems sweeter now than
+parting. I'll watch thy star, my child. Thou weepest! And I too. Why!
+what is this? Am I indeed Jabaster? One more embrace, and so----we'll
+not say farewell, but only think it.'
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER IV.
+
+     _Alroy Falls Among Thieves_
+
+TRADITION taught that the sceptre of Solomon could be found only in the
+unknown sepulchres of the ancient Hebrew monarchs, and that none might
+dare to touch it but one of their descendants. Armed with the cabalistic
+talisman, which was to guide him in his awful and difficult researches,
+Alroy commenced his pilgrimage to the Holy City. At this time, the love
+of these sacred wanderings was a reigning passion among the Jews as well
+as the Christians.
+
+The Prince of the Captivity was to direct his course into the heart
+of those great deserts which, in his flight from Hamadan, he had only
+skirted. Following the track of the caravan, he was to make his way
+to Babylon, or Bagdad. From the capital of the caliphs, his journey
+to Jerusalem was one comparatively easy; but to reach Bagdad he must
+encounter hardship and danger, the prospect of which would have
+divested any one of hope, who did not conceive himself the object of an
+omnipotent and particular Providence.
+
+Clothed only in a coarse black frock, common among the Kourds, girded
+round his waist by a cord which held his dagger, his head shaven, and
+covered with a large white turban, which screened him from the heat, his
+feet protected only by slippers, supported by his staff, and bearing on
+his shoulders a bag of dried meat and parched corn, and a leathern skin
+of water, behold, toiling over the glowing sands of Persia, a youth
+whose life had hitherto been a long unbroken dream of domestic luxury
+and innocent indulgence.
+
+He travelled during the warm night or the early starlit morn. During the
+day he rested: happy if he could recline by the side of some
+charitable well, shaded by a palm-tree, or frighten a gazelle from its
+resting-place among the rough bushes of some wild rocks. Were these
+resources wanting, he threw himself upon the sand, and made an awning
+with his staff and turban.
+
+Three weeks had elapsed since he quitted the cavern of the Cabalist.
+Hitherto he had met with no human being. The desert became less arid.
+A scanty vegetation sprang up from a more genial soil; the ground broke
+into gentle undulations; his senses were invigorated with the odour
+of wild plants, and his sight refreshed by the glancing form of some
+wandering bird, a pilgrim like himself, but more at ease.
+
+Soon sprang up a grove of graceful palm-trees, with their tall thin
+stems, and bending feathery crowns, languid and beautiful. Around, the
+verdant sod gleamed like an emerald: silver streams, flowing from a
+bubbling parent spring, wound their white forms within the bright green
+turf. From the grove arose the softening song of doves, and showers of
+gay and sparkling butterflies, borne on their tinted wings of shifting
+light, danced without danger in the liquid air. A fair and fresh Oasis!
+
+Alroy reposed in this delicious retreat for two days, feeding on the
+living dates, and drinking of the fresh water. Fain would he have
+lingered, nor indeed, until he rested, had he been sufficiently
+conscious of his previous exertion. But the remembrance of his great
+mission made him restless, and steeled him to the sufferings which yet
+awaited him.
+
+At the dawn of the second day of his journey from the Oasis he beheld to
+his astonishment, faintly but distinctly traced on the far horizon, the
+walls and turrets of an extensive city.[13] Animated by this unexpected
+prospect, he continued his progress for several hours after sunrise. At
+length, utterly exhausted, he sought refuge from the overpowering heat
+beneath the cupola of the ruined tomb of some Moslem saint. At sunset
+he continued his journey, and in the morning found himself within a few
+miles of the city. He halted, and watched with anxiety for some evidence
+of its inhabitants. None was visible. No crowds or cavalcades issued
+from the gates. Not a single human being, not a solitary camel, moved in
+the vicinity.
+
+The day was too advanced for the pilgrim to proceed, but so great was
+his anxiety to reach this unknown settlement, and penetrate the mystery
+of its silence, that ere sunset Alroy entered the gates.
+
+A magnificent city, of an architecture with which he was unacquainted,
+offered to his entranced vision its gorgeous ruins and deserted
+splendour; long streets of palaces, with their rich line of lessening
+pillars, here and there broken by some fallen shaft, vast courts
+surrounded by ornate and solemn temples, and luxurious baths adorned
+with rare mosaics, and yet bright with antique gilding; now an arch of
+triumph, still haughty with its broken friezes; now a granite obelisk
+covered with strange characters, and proudly towering over a prostrate
+companion; sometimes a void and crumbling theatre, sometimes a long and
+elegant aqueduct, sometimes a porphyry column, once breathing with the
+heroic statue that now lies shivered at its base, all suffused with the
+warm twilight of an eastern eve.
+
+He gazed with wonder and admiration upon the strange and fascinating
+scene. The more he beheld, the more his curiosity was excited. He
+breathed with difficulty; he advanced with a blended feeling of
+eagerness and hesitation. Fresh wonders successively unfolded
+themselves. Each turn developed a new scene of still and solemn
+splendour. The echo of his step filled him with awe. He looked around
+him with an amazed air, a fluttering heart, and a changing countenance.
+All was silent: alone the Hebrew Prince stood amid the regal creation of
+the Macedonian captains. Empires and dynasties flourish and pass away;
+the proud metropolis becomes a solitude, the conquering kingdom even a
+desert; but Israel still remains, still a descendant of the most ancient
+kings breathed amid these royal ruins, and still the eternal sun could
+never rise without gilding the towers of living Jerusalem. A word, a
+deed, a single day, a single man, and we might be a nation.
+
+A shout! he turns, he is seized; four ferocious Kourdish bandits grapple
+and bind him.
+
+The bandits hurried their captive through a street which appeared to
+have been the principal way of the city. Nearly at its termination,
+they turned by a small Ionian temple, and, clambering over some fallen
+pillars, entered a quarter of the city of a more ruinous aspect than
+that which Alroy had hitherto visited. The path was narrow, often
+obstructed, and around were signs of devastation for which the exterior
+of the city had not prepared him.
+
+The brilliant but brief twilight of the Orient was fast fading away; a
+sombre purple tint succeeded to the rosy flush; the distant towers rose
+black, although defined, in the clear and shadowy air; and the moon,
+which, when he first entered, had studded the heavens like a small white
+cloud, now glittered with deceptive light.
+
+Suddenly, before them rose a huge pile. Oval in shape, and formed by
+tiers of arches, it was evidently much dilapidated, and one enormous,
+irregular, and undulating rent, extending from the top nearly to the
+foundation, almost separated the side to which Alroy and his companions
+advanced.
+
+Clambering up the remainder of this massive wall, the robbers and their
+prisoner descended into an immense amphitheatre, which seemed vaster in
+the shadowy and streaming moonlight. In it were groups of men, horses,
+and camels. In the extreme distance, reclining or squatting on mats and
+carpets, was a large assembly, engaged in a rough but merry banquet. A
+fire blazed at their side, its red and uncertain flame mingling with the
+white and steady moonbeam, and throwing a flickering light over their
+ferocious countenances, their glistening armour, ample drapery, and
+shawled heads.
+
+'A spy,' exclaimed the captors, as they dragged Alroy before the leader
+of the band.
+
+'Hang him, then,' said the chieftain, without even looking up.
+
+'This wine, great Scherirah, is excellent, or I am no true Moslem,'
+said a principal robber; 'but you are too cruel; I hate this summary
+punishment. Let us torture him a little, and extract some useful
+information.'
+
+'As you like, Kisloch,' said Scherirah; 'it may amuse us. Fellow, where
+do you come from? He cannot answer. Decidedly a spy. Hang him up.'
+
+The captors half untied the rope that bound Alroy, that it might serve
+him for a further purpose, when another of the gentle companions of
+Scherirah interfered.
+
+'Spies always answer, captain. He is more probably a merchant in
+disguise.'
+
+'And carries hidden treasure,' added Kisloch; 'these rough coats often
+cover jewels. We had better search him.'
+
+'Ah! search him,' said Scherirah, with his rough brutal voice; 'do what
+you like, only give me the bottle. This Greek wine is choice booty. Feed
+the fire, men. Are you asleep? And then Kisloch, who hates cruelty, can
+roast him if he likes.'
+
+The robbers prepared to strip their captive. 'Friends, friends!'
+exclaimed Alroy, 'for there is no reason why you should not be friends,
+spare me, spare me. I am poor, I am young, I am innocent. I am neither a
+spy nor a merchant. I have no plots, no wealth. I am a pilgrim.'
+
+'A decided spy,' exclaimed Scherirah; 'they are ever pilgrims.'
+
+'He speaks too well to speak truth,' exclaimed Kisloch.
+
+'All talkers are liars,' exclaimed Scherirah.
+
+'That is why Kisloch is the most eloquent of the band.'
+
+'A jest at the banquet may prove a curse in the field,' replied Kisloch.
+
+'Pooh!' exclaimed Scherirah. 'Fellows, why do you hesitate? Search the
+prisoner, I say!'
+
+They advanced, they seized him. In vain he struggled.
+
+'Captain,' exclaimed one of the band, 'he wears upon his breast a
+jewel!'
+
+'I told you so,' said the third robber.
+
+'Give it me,' said Scherirah.
+
+But Alroy, in despair at the thought of losing the talisman, remembering
+the injunctions of Jabaster, and animated by supernatural courage, burst
+from his searchers, and, seizing a brand from the fire, held them at
+bay.
+
+'The fellow has spirit,' said Scherirah, calmly. ''Tis pity it will cost
+him his life.'
+
+'Bold man,' exclaimed Alroy, 'for a moment hear me! I am a pilgrim,
+poorer than a beggar. The jewel they talk of is a holy emblem, worthless
+to you, to me invaluable, and to be forfeited only with my life. You
+may be careless of that. Beware of your own. The first man who advances
+dies. I pray you humbly, chieftain, let me go.'
+
+'Kill him,' said Scherirah.
+
+'Stab him!' exclaimed Kisloch.
+
+'Give me the jewel,' said the third robber.
+
+'The God of David be my refuge, then!' exclaimed Alroy.
+
+'He is a Hebrew, he is a Hebrew,' exclaimed Scherirah, jumping up.
+'Spare him, my mother was a Jewess.'
+
+The assailants lowered their arms, and withdrew a few paces. Alroy still
+remained upon his guard.
+
+'Valiant pilgrim,' said Scherirah, advancing, with a softened voice,
+'are you for the holy city?'
+
+'The city of my fathers.'
+
+'A perilous journey. And whence from?'
+
+'Hamadan.'
+
+'A dreary way. You need repose. Your name?'
+
+'David.'
+
+'David, you are among friends. Rest, and repose in safety. You hesitate.
+Fear not! The memory of my mother is a charm that always changes me!'
+Scherirah unsheathed his dagger, punctured his arm,[14] and, throwing
+away the weapon, offered the bleeding member to Alroy. The Prince of the
+Captivity touched the open vein with his lips.
+
+'My troth is pledged,' said the bandit; 'I can never betray him in whose
+veins my own blood is flowing.' So saying, he led Alroy to his carpet.
+
+'Eat,' David,' said Scherirah.
+
+'I will eat bread,' answered Alroy.
+
+'What! have you had so much meat lately that you will refuse this
+delicate gazelle that I brought down this morning with my own lance?
+'Tis food for a caliph.'
+
+'I pray you give me bread.'
+
+'Oh! bread if you like. But that a man should prefer bread to meat, and
+such meat as this, 'tis miraculous.'
+
+'A thousand thanks, good Scherirah; but with our people the flesh of the
+gazelle is forbidden. It is unclean. Its foot is _cloven_.'
+
+'I have heard of these things,' replied Scherirah, with a thoughtful
+air. 'My mother was a Jewess, and my father was a Kourd. Whichever be
+right, I hope to be saved.'
+
+'There is but one God, and Mahomed is his prophet!' exclaimed Kisloch;
+'though I drink wine. Your health, Hebrew.'
+
+'I will join you,' said to the third robber. 'My father was a Guebre,
+and sacrificed his property to his faith; and the consequence is, his
+son has got neither.'
+
+'As for me,' said a fourth robber, of very dark complexion and
+singularly small bright eyes, 'I am an Indian, and I believe in the
+great golden figure with carbuncle eyes, in the temple of Delhi.'
+
+'I have no religion,' said a tall negro in a red turban, grinning with
+his white teeth; 'they have none in my country; but if I had heard of
+your God before, Calidas, I would have believed in him.'
+
+'I almost wish I had been a Jew,' exclaimed Scherirah, musing. 'My
+mother was a good woman.' 'The Jews are very rich,' said the third
+robber. 'When you get to Jerusalem, David, you will see the Christians,'
+continued Scherirah.
+
+'The accursed Giaours,' exclaimed Kisloch, 'we are all against them.'
+
+'With their white faces,' exclaimed the negro. 'And their blue eyes,'
+said the Indian. 'What can you expect of men who live in a country
+without a sun?' observed the Guebre.
+
+Alroy awoke about two hours after midnight. His companions were in deep
+slumber. The moon had set, the fire had died away, a few red embers
+alone remaining; dark masses of shadow hung about the amphitheatre. He
+arose and cautiously stepped over the sleeping bandits. He was not
+in strictness a prisoner; but who could trust to the caprice of these
+lawless men? To-morrow might find him their slave, or their companion in
+some marauding expedition, which might make him almost retrace his steps
+to the Caucasus, or to Hamadan. The temptation to ensure his freedom
+was irresistible. He clambered up the ruined wall, descended into the
+intricate windings that led to the Ionic fane, that served him as a
+beacon, hurried through the silent and starry streets, gained the great
+portal, and rushed once more into the desert.
+
+A vague fear of pursuit made him continue his course many hours without
+resting. The desert again became sandy, the heat increased. The breeze
+that plays about the wilderness, and in early spring is often scented
+with the wild fragrance of aromatic plants, sank away. A lurid
+brightness suffused the heavens. An appalling stillness pervaded nature;
+even the insects were silent. For the first time in his pilgrimage,
+a feeling of deep despondency fell over the soul of Alroy. His energy
+appeared suddenly to have deserted him. A low hot wind began to rise,
+and fan his cheek with pestiferous kisses, and enervate his frame with
+its poisonous embrace. His head and limbs ached with a dull sensation,
+more terrible than pain; his sight was dizzy, his tongue swollen. Vainly
+he looked around for aid; vainly he extended his forlorn arms, and
+wrung them to the remorseless heaven, almost frantic with thirst. The
+boundless horizon of the desert disappeared, and the unhappy victim, in
+the midst of his torture, found himself apparently surrounded by bright
+and running streams, the fleeting waters of the false mirage!
+
+The sun became blood-red, the sky darker, the sand rose in fierce
+eddies, the moaning wind burst into shrieks and exhaled more ardent
+and still more malignant breath. The pilgrim could no longer sustain
+himself.[15] Faith, courage, devotion deserted him with his failing
+energies. He strove no longer with his destiny, he delivered himself
+up to despair and death. He fell upon one knee with drooping head,
+supporting himself by one quivering hand, and then, full of the anguish
+of baffled purposes and lost affections, raising his face and arm to
+heaven, thus to the elements he poured his passionate farewell.
+
+'O life! once vainly deemed a gloomy toil, I feel thy sweetness now!
+Farewell, O life, farewell my high resolves and proud conviction of
+almighty fame. My days, my short unprofitable days, melt into the past;
+and death, with which I struggle, horrible death, arrests me in this
+wilderness. O my sister, could thy voice but murmur in my ear one single
+sigh of love; could thine eye with its soft radiance but an instant
+blend with my dim fading vision, the pang were nothing. Farewell,
+Miriam! my heart is with thee by thy fountain's side. Fatal blast,
+bear her my dying words, my blessing. And ye too, friends, whose too
+neglected love I think of now, farewell! Farewell, my uncle; farewell,
+pleasant home, and Hamadan's serene and shadowy bowers! Farewell,
+Jabaster, and the mighty lore of which thou wert the priest and I the
+pupil! Thy talisman throbs on my faithful heart. Green earth and golden
+sun, and all the beautiful and glorious sights ye fondly lavish on
+unthinking man, farewell, farewell! I die in the desert: 'tis bitter. No
+more, oh! never more for me the hopeful day shall break, and the fresh
+breeze rise on its cheering wings of health and joy. Heaven and earth,
+water and air, my chosen country and my antique creed, farewell,
+farewell! And thou, too, city of my soul, I cannot name thee, unseen
+Jerusalem----'
+
+Amid the roar of the wind, the bosom of the earth heaved and opened,
+swift columns of sand sprang up to the lurid sky, and hurried towards
+their victim. With the clang of universal chaos, impenetrable darkness
+descended on the desert.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER V.
+
+     _Lord Honain Rescues Alroy_
+
+NOW our dreary way is over, now the desert's toil is past. Soon the
+river broadly flowing, through its green and palmy banks, to our
+wearied limbs shall offer baths 'which caliphs cannot buy. Allah-illah,
+Allah-hu. Allah-illah, Allah-hu.'
+
+'Blessed the man who now may bear a relic from our Prophet's tomb;
+blessed the man who now unfolds the treasures of a distant mart,
+jewels of the dusky East, and silks of farthest Samarcand. Allah-illah,
+Allah-hu. Allah-illah, Allah-hu.'
+
+'Him the sacred mosque shall greet with a reverence grave and
+low; him the busy Bezestein shall welcome with confiding smile. Holy
+merchant, now receive the double triumph of thy toil. Allah-illah,
+Allah-hu. Allah-illah, Allah-hu.'
+
+'The camel jibs, Abdallah! See, there is something in the track.'
+
+'By the holy stone,[16] a dead man. Poor devil! One should never make
+a pilgrimage on foot. I hate your humble piety. Prick the beast and he
+will pass the corpse.'
+
+'The Prophet preaches charity, Abdallah. He has favoured my enterprise,
+and I will practise his precept. See if he be utterly dead.'
+
+It was the Mecca caravan returning to Bagdad. The pilgrims were within
+a day's journey of the Euphrates, and welcomed their approach to fertile
+earth with a triumphant chorus. Far as the eye could reach, the long
+line of their straggling procession stretched across the wilderness,
+thousands of camels in strings, laden with bales of merchandise, and
+each company headed by an animal of superior size, leading with tinkling
+bells; groups of horsemen, clusters of litters; all the pilgrims
+armed to their teeth, the van formed by a strong division of Seljukian
+cavalry, and the rear protected by a Kourdish clan, who guaranteed the
+security of the pious travellers through their country.
+
+Abdallah was the favourite slave of the charitable merchant Ali. In
+obedience to his master's orders, he unwillingly descended from his
+camel, and examined the body of the apparently lifeless Alroy.
+
+'A Kourd, by his dress,' exclaimed Abdallah, with a sneer; 'what does he
+here?'
+
+'It is not the face of a Kourd,' replied Ali; 'perchance a pilgrim from
+the mountains.'
+
+'Whatever he be, he is dead,' answered the slave: 'I doubt not an
+accursed Giaour.'
+
+'God is great,' exclaimed Ali; 'he breathes; the breast of his caftan
+heaved.'
+
+''Twas the wind,' said Abdallah.
+
+''Twas the sigh of a human heart,' answered Ali.
+
+Several pilgrims who were on foot now gathered around the group.
+
+'I am a Hakim,'[17] observed a dignified Armenian. 'I will feel his
+pulse; 'tis dull, but it beats.'
+
+'There is but one God,' exclaimed Ali.
+
+'And Mahomed is his Prophet,' responded Abdallah. 'You do not believe in
+him, you Armenian infidel.'
+
+'I am a Hakim,' replied the dignified Armenian. 'Although an infidel,
+God has granted me skill to cure true believers. Worthy Ali, believe me,
+the boy may yet live.'
+
+'Hakim, you shall count your own dirhems if he breathe in my divan in
+Bagdad,' answered Ali; 'I have taken a fancy to the boy. God has sent
+him to me. He shall carry my slippers.'
+
+'Give me a camel, and I will save his life.'
+
+'We have none,' said the servant.
+
+'Walk, Abdallah,' said the master.
+
+'Is a true believer to walk to save the life of a Kourd? Master
+slipper-bearer shall answer for this, if there be any sweetness in the
+bastinado,' murmured Abdallah.
+
+The Armenian bled Alroy; the blood flowed slowly but surely. The Prince
+of the Captivity opened his eyes.
+
+'There is but one God,' exclaimed Ali.
+
+'The evil eye fall on him!' muttered Abdallah.
+
+The Armenian took a cordial from his vest, and poured it down his
+patient's throat. The blood flowed more freely.
+
+'He will live, worthy merchant,' said the physician.
+
+'And Mahomed is his Prophet,' continued Ali.
+
+'By the stone of Mecca, I believe it is a Jew,' shouted Abdallah.
+
+'The dog!' exclaimed Ali.
+
+'Pah!' said a negro slave, drawing back with disgust.
+
+'He will die,' said the Christian physician, not even binding up the
+vein.
+
+'And be damned,' said Abdallah, again jumping on his camel.
+
+The party rode on, the caravan proceeded. A Kourdish horseman galloped
+forward. He curbed his steed as he passed Alroy bleeding to death.
+
+'What accursed slave has wounded one of my clan?'
+
+The Kourd leaped off his horse, stripped off a slip of his blue shirt,
+stanched the wound, and carried the unhappy Alroy to the rear.
+
+The desert ceased, the caravan entered upon a vast but fruitful plain.
+In the extreme distance might be descried a long undulating line of
+palm-trees. The vanguard gave a shout, shook their tall lances in the
+air, and rattled their scimitars in rude chorus against their small
+round iron shields. All eyes sparkled, all hands were raised, all voices
+sounded, save those that were breathless from overpowering joy. After
+months wandering in the sultry wilderness, they beheld the great
+Euphrates.
+
+Broad and fresh, magnificent and serene, the mighty waters rolled
+through the beautiful and fertile earth. A vital breeze rose from their
+bosom. Every being responded to their genial influence. The sick were
+cured, the desponding became sanguine, the healthy and light-hearted
+broke into shouts of laughter, jumped from their camels, and embraced
+the fragrant earth, or, wild in their renovated strength, galloped over
+the plain, and threw their wanton jerreeds in the air,[18] as if to
+show that suffering and labour had not deprived them of that skill and
+strength, without which it were vain again to enter the haunts of their
+less adventurous brethren.
+
+The caravan halted on the banks of the broad river, glowing in the
+cool sunset. The camp was pitched, the plain glittered with tents. The
+camels, falling on their knees, crouched in groups, the merchandise
+piled up in masses by their sides. The unharnessed horses rushed
+neighing about the plain, tossing their glad heads, and rolling in the
+unaccustomed pasture. Spreading their mats, and kneeling towards Mecca,
+the pilgrims performed their evening orisons. Never was thanksgiving
+more sincere. They arose: some rushed into the river, some lighted
+lamps, some pounded coffee.[19] Troops of smiling villagers arrived with
+fresh provisions, eager to prey upon such light hearts and heavy purses.
+It was one of those occasions when the accustomed gravity of the Orient
+disappears. Long through the night the sounds of music and the shouts of
+laughter were heard on the banks of that starry river; long through the
+night you might have listened with enchantment to the wild tales of the
+storier, or gazed with fascination on the wilder gestures of the dancing
+girls.[20]
+
+The great bazaar of Bagdad afforded an animated and sumptuous spectacle
+on the day after the arrival of the caravan. All the rare and costly
+products of the world were collected in that celebrated mart: the shawls
+of Cachemire and the silks of Syria, the ivory, and plumes, and gold
+of Afric, the jewels of Ind, the talismans of Egypt, the perfumes and
+manuscripts of Persia, the spices and gums of Araby, beautiful horses,
+more beautiful slaves, cloaks of sable, pelisses of ermine, armour alike
+magnificent in ornament and temper, rare animals, still rarer birds,
+blue apes in silver collars, white gazelles bound by a golden chain,
+greyhounds, peacocks, paroquets. And everywhere strange, and busy, and
+excited groups; men of all nations, creeds, and climes: the sumptuous
+and haughty Turk, the graceful and subtle Arab, the Hebrew with his
+black cap and anxious countenance; the Armenian Christian, with his dark
+flowing robes, and mild demeanour, and serene visage. Here strutted
+the lively, affected, and superfine Persian; and there the Circassian
+stalked with his long hair and chain cuirass. The fair Georgian jostled
+the ebony form of the merchant of Dongola or Sennaar.
+
+Through the long, narrow, arched, and winding streets of the bazaar,
+lined on each side with loaded stalls, all was bustle, bargaining, and
+barter. A passenger approached, apparently of no common rank. Two pages
+preceded him, beautiful Georgian boys, clothed in crimson cloth, and
+caps of the same material, sitting tight to their heads, with long
+golden tassels. One bore a blue velvet bag, and the other a clasped and
+richly bound volume. Four footmen, armed, followed their master, who
+rode behind the pages on a milk-white mule. He was a man of middle age,
+eminently handsome. His ample robes concealed the only fault in
+his appearance, a figure which indulgence had rendered somewhat too
+exuberant. His eyes were large, and soft, and dark; his nose aquiline,
+but delicately moulded; his mouth small, and beautifully proportioned;
+his lip full and red; his teeth regular and dazzling white. His ebony
+beard flowed, but not at too great a length, in graceful and natural
+curls, and was richly perfumed; a delicate mustachio shaded his upper
+lip, but no whisker was permitted to screen the form and shroud the
+lustre of his oval countenance and brilliant complexion. Altogether, the
+animal perhaps predominated too much in the expression of the stranger's
+countenance; but genius beamed from his passionate eye, and craft lay
+concealed in that subtle lip. The dress of the rider was sumptuous. His
+turban, formed by a scarlet Cachemire shawl, was of great breadth, and
+concealing half of his white forehead, increased by the contrast the
+radiant height of the other. His under-vest was of white Damascus silk,
+stiff with silver embroidery, and confined by a girdle formed by a Brusa
+scarf of gold stuff, and holding a dagger, whose hilt appeared blazing
+with brilliants and rubies. His loose and exterior robe was of crimson
+cloth. His white hands sparkled with rings, and his ears glittered with
+pendulous gems.
+
+'Who is this?' asked an Egyptian merchant, in a low whisper, of the
+dealer whose stuffs he was examining.
+
+''Tis the Lord Honain,' replied the dealer. 'And who may he be?'
+continued the Egyptian. 'Is he the Caliph's son?'
+
+'A much greater man; his physician.' The white mule stopped at the very
+stall where this conversation was taking place. The pages halted, and
+stood on each side of their master, the footmen kept off the crowd.
+
+'Merchant,' said Honain, with a gracious smile of condescension, and
+with a voice musical as a flute, 'Merchant, did you obtain me my wish?'
+
+'There is but one God,' replied the dealer, who was the charitable
+Ali, 'and Mahomed is his Prophet. I succeeded, please your highness, in
+seeing at Aleppo the accursed Giaour, of whom I spoke, and behold,
+that which you desired is here.' So saying, Ali produced several Greek
+manuscripts, and offered them to his visitor.
+
+'Hah!' said Honain, with a sparkling eye, ''tis well; their cost?'
+
+'The infidel would not part with them under five hundred dirhems,'
+replied Ali.
+
+'Ibrahim, see that this worthy merchant receive a thousand.'
+
+'As many thanks, my Lord Honain.'
+
+The Caliph's physician bowed gracefully.
+
+'Advance, pages,' continued Honain; 'why this stoppage? Ibrahim, see
+that our way be cleared. What is all this?'
+
+A crowd of men advanced, pulling along a youth, who, almost exhausted,
+still singly struggled with his ungenerous adversaries.
+
+'The Cadi, the Cadi,' cried the foremost of them, who was Abdallah,
+'drag him to the Cadi.'
+
+'Noble lord,' cried the youth, extricating himself by a sudden struggle
+from the grasp of his captors, and seizing the robe of Honain, 'I am
+innocent and injured. I pray thy help.'
+
+'The Cadi, the Cadi,' exclaimed Abdallah; 'the knave has stolen my ring,
+the ring given me by my faithful Fatima on our marriage-day, and which I
+would not part with for my master's stores.'
+
+The youth still clung to the robe of Honain, and, mute from exhaustion,
+fixed upon him his beautiful and imploring eye.
+
+'Silence,' proclaimed Honain, 'I will judge this cause.'
+
+'The Lord Honain, the Lord Honain, listen to the Lord Honain!'
+
+'Speak, thou brawler; of what hast thou to complain?' said Honain to
+Abdallah.
+
+'May it please your highness,' said Abdallah, in a whining voice, 'I am
+the slave of your faithful servant, Ali: often have I had the honour of
+waiting on your highness. This young knave here, a beggar, has robbed
+me, while slumbering in a coffee-house, of a ring; I have my witnesses
+to prove my slumbering. 'Tis a fine emerald, may it please your
+highness, and doubly valuable to me as a love-token from my Fatima.
+No consideration in the world could induce me to part with it; and so,
+being asleep, here are three honest men who will prove the sleep, comes
+this little vagabond, may it please your highness, who while he pretends
+to offer me my coffee, takes him my finger, and slips off this precious
+ring, which he now wears upon his beggarly paw, and will not restore to
+me without the bastinado.'
+
+'Abdallah is a faithful slave, may it please your highness, and a
+Hadgee,' said Ali, his master.
+
+'And what sayest thou, boy?' inquired Honain.
+
+'That this is a false knave, who lies as slaves ever will.'
+
+'Pithy, and perhaps true,' said Honain.
+
+'You call me a slave, you young scoundrel?' exclaimed Abdallah; 'shall
+I tell you what you are? Why, your highness, do not listen to him a
+moment. It is a shame to bring such a creature into your presence; for,
+by the holy stone, and I am a Hadgee, I doubt little he is a Jew.'
+
+Honain grew somewhat pale, and bit his lip. He was perhaps annoyed that
+he had interfered so publicly in behalf of so unpopular a character as
+a Hebrew, but he was unwilling to desert one whom a moment before he had
+resolved to befriend, and he inquired of the youth where he had obtained
+the ring.
+
+'The ring was given to me by my dearest friend when I first set out upon
+an arduous pilgrimage not yet completed. There is but one person in the
+world, except the donor, to whom I would part with it, and with that
+person I am unacquainted. All this may seem improbable, but all this is
+true. I have truth alone to support me. I am destitute and friendless;
+but I am not a beggar, nor will any suffering induce me to become one.
+Feeling, from various circumstances, utterly exhausted, I entered a
+coffee-house and lay down, it may have been to die. I could not sleep,
+although my eyes were shut, and nothing would have roused me from a
+tremulous trance, which I thought was dying, but this plunderer here,
+who would not wait until death had permitted him quietly to possess
+himself of a jewel I value more than life.'
+
+'Show me the jewel.'
+
+The youth held up his hand to Honain, who felt his pulse, and then took
+off the ring.
+
+'O, my Fatima!' exclaimed Abdallah.
+
+'Silence, sir!' said Honain. 'Page, call a jeweller.'
+
+Honain examined the ring attentively. Whether he were near-sighted, or
+whether the deceptive light of the covered bazaar prevented him from
+examining it with ease, he certainly raised his hand to his brow, and
+for some moments his countenance was invisible.
+
+The jeweller arrived, and, pressing his hand to his heart, bowed before
+Honain.
+
+'Value this ring,' said Honain, in a low voice.
+
+The jeweller took the ring, viewed it in all directions with a
+scrutinising glance, held it to the light, pressed it to his tongue,
+turned it over and over, and finally declared that he could not sell
+such a ring under a thousand dirhems.
+
+'Whatever be the justice of the case,' said Honain to Abdallah, 'art
+thou ready to part with this ring for a thousand dirhems?'
+
+'Most certainly,' said Abdallah. 'And thou, lad, if the decision be in
+thy favour, wilt thou take for the ring double the worth at which the
+jeweller prizes it?'
+
+'My lord, I have spoken the truth. I cannot part with that ring for the
+palace of the Caliph.'
+
+'The truth for once is triumphant,' said Honain. 'Boy, the ring is
+thine; and for thee, thou knave,' turning to Abdallah, 'liar, thief, and
+slanderer!--for thee the bastinado,[21] which thou destinedst for
+this innocent youth. Ibrahim, see that he receives five hundred. Young
+pilgrim, thou art no longer destitute or friendless. Follow me to my
+palace.'
+
+The arched chamber was of great size and beautiful proportion. The
+ceiling, encrusted with green fretwork, and studded with silver stars,
+rested upon clustered columns of white and green marble. In the centre
+of a variegated pavement of the same material, a fountain rose and fell
+into a green porphyry basin, and by the side of the fountain, upon a
+couch of silver, reposed Honain.
+
+He raised his eyes from the illuminated volume on which he had been long
+intent; he clapped his hands, and a Nubian slave advanced, and, folding
+his arms upon his breast, bowed in silence before his lord. 'How fares
+the Hebrew boy, Analschar?'
+
+'Master, the fever has not returned. We gave him the potion; he
+slumbered for many hours, and has now awakened, weak but well.'
+
+'Let him rise and attend me.'
+
+The Nubian disappeared.
+
+'There is nothing stranger than sympathy,' soliloquised the physician
+of the Caliph, with a meditative air; 'all resolves itself into this
+principle, and I confess this learned doctor treats it deeply and well.
+An erudite spirit truly, and an eloquent pen; yet he refines too
+much. 'Tis too scholastic. Observation will teach us more than dogma.
+Meditating upon my passionate youth, I gathered wisdom. I have seen so
+much that I have ceased to wonder. However we doubt, there is a mystery
+beyond our penetration. And yet 'tis near our grasp. I sometimes deem a
+step, a single step, would launch us into light. Here comes my patient.
+The rose has left his cheek, and his deep brow is wan and melancholy.
+Yet 'tis a glorious visage, Meditation's throne; and Passion lingers in
+that languid eye. I know not why, a strong attraction draws me to this
+lone child.
+
+'Gentle stranger, how fares it with thee?'
+
+'Very well, my lord. I come to thank thee for all thy goodness. My only
+thanks are words, and those too weak; and yet the orphan's blessing is a
+treasure.'
+
+'You are an orphan, then'
+
+'I have no parent but my father's God.'
+
+'And that God is----'
+
+'The God of Israel.'
+
+'So I deemed. He is a Deity we all must honour; if he be the great
+Creator whom we all allow.'
+
+'He is what he is, and we are what we are, a fallen people, but faithful
+still.'
+
+'Fidelity is strength.'
+
+'Thy words are truth, and strength must triumph.'
+
+'A prophecy!'
+
+'Many a prophet is little honoured, till the future proves his
+inspiration.'
+
+'You are young and sanguine.'
+
+'So was my ancestor within the vale of Elah. But I speak unto a Moslem,
+and this is foolishness.'
+
+'I have read something, and can take your drift. As for my faith, I
+believe in truth, and wish all men to do the same. By-the-bye, might I
+inquire the name of him who is the inmate of my house?'
+
+'They call me David.'
+
+'David, you have a ring, an emerald cut with curious characters, Hebrew,
+I believe.'
+
+''Tis here.'
+
+'A fine stone, and this inscription means----'
+
+'A simple legend, "_Parted, but one_;" the kind memorial of a brother's
+love.'
+
+'Your brother?'
+
+'I never had a brother.'
+
+'I have a silly fancy for this ring: you hesitate. Search my palace, and
+choose the treasure you deem its match.'
+
+'Noble sir, the gem is little worth; but were it such might deck a
+Caliph's brow, 'twere a poor recompense for all thy goodness. This ring
+is a trust rather than a possession, and strange to say, although I
+cannot offer it to thee who mayst command, as thou hast saved, the life
+of its unhappy wearer, some stranger may cross my path to-morrow, and
+almost claim it as his own.'
+
+'And that stranger is----'
+
+'The brother of the donor.'
+
+'The brother of Jabaster?'
+
+'Jabaster!'
+
+'Even so. I am that parted brother.'
+
+'Great is the God of Israel! Take the ring. But what is this? the
+brother of Jabaster a turbaned chieftain! a Moslem! Say, but say, that
+thou hast not assumed their base belief; say, but say, that thou hast
+not become a traitor to our covenant, and I will bless the fortunes of
+this hour.'
+
+'I am false to no God. Calm thyself, sweet youth. These are higher
+questions than thy faint strength can master now. Another time we'll
+talk of this, my boy; at present of my brother and thyself. He lives and
+prospers?'
+
+'He lives in faith; the pious ever prosper.'
+
+'A glorious dreamer! Though our moods are different, I ever loved him.
+And thyself? Thou art not what thou seemest. Tell me all. Jabaster's
+friend can be no common mind. Thy form has heralded thy fame. Trust me.'
+
+'I am Alroy.'
+
+'What! the Prince of our Captivity?'
+
+'Even so.'
+
+'The slayer of Alschiroch?'
+
+'Ay!'
+
+'My sympathy was prophetic. I loved thee from the first. And what dost
+thou here? A price is set upon thy head: thou knowest it?'
+
+'For the first time; but I am neither astonished nor alarmed. I am upon
+the Lord's business.'
+
+'What wouldst thou?'
+
+'Free his people.'
+
+'The pupil of Jabaster: I see it all. Another victim to his reveries.
+I'll save this boy. David,--for thy name must not be sounded within this
+city,--the sun is dying. Let us to the terrace, and seek the solace of
+the twilight breeze.'
+
+'What is the hour, David?'
+
+'Near to midnight. I marvel if thy brother may read in the stars our
+happy meeting.'
+
+'Men read that which they wish. He is a learned Cabalist.'
+
+'But what we wish comes from above.'
+
+'So they say. We make our fortunes, and we call them Fate.'
+
+'Yet the Voice sounded, the Daughter of the Voice that summoned Samuel.'
+
+'You have told me strange things; I have heard stranger solved.'
+
+'My faith is a rock.'
+
+'On which you may split.'
+
+'Art thou a Sadducee?'
+
+'I am a man who knows men.'
+
+'You are learned, but different from Jabaster.'
+
+'We are the same, though different. Day and Night are both portions of
+Time.'
+
+'And thy portion is----'
+
+'Truth.'
+
+'That is, light.'
+
+'Yes; so dazzling that it sometimes seems dark.'
+
+'Like thy meaning.'
+
+'You are young.'
+
+'Is youth a defect?'
+
+'No, the reverse. But we cannot eat the fruit while the tree is in
+blossom.'
+
+'What fruit?'
+
+'Knowledge.'
+
+'I have studied.'
+
+'What?'
+
+'All sacred things.'
+
+'How know you that they are sacred?'
+
+'They come from God.'
+
+'So does everything. Is everything sacred?'
+
+'They are the deep expression of his will.'
+
+'According to Jabaster. Ask the man who prays in yonder mosque, and he
+will tell you that Jabaster's wrong.'
+
+'After all, thou art a Moslem?'
+
+'No.'
+
+'What then?'
+
+'I have told you, a man.'
+
+'But what dost thou worship?'
+
+'What is worship?'
+
+'Adoration due from the creature to the Creator.'
+
+'Which is he?'
+
+'Our God.'
+
+'The God of Israel?'
+
+'Even so.'
+
+'A frail minority, then, burn incense to him.'
+
+'We are the chosen people.'
+
+'Chosen for scoffs, and scorns, and contumelies. Commend me to such
+choice.'
+
+'We forgot Him, before He chastened us.'
+
+'Why did we?'
+
+'Thou knowest the records of our holy race.'
+
+'Yes, I know them; like all records, annals of blood.'
+
+'Annals of victory, that will dawn again.'
+
+'If redemption be but another name for carnage, I envy no Messiah.'
+
+'Art thou Jabaster's brother?' 'So our mother was wont to say: a meek
+and blessed woman.'
+
+'Lord Honain, thou art rich, and wise, and powerful. Thy fellow-men
+speak of thee only with praise or fear, and both are cheering. Thou
+hast quitted our antique ark; why, no matter. We'll not discuss it. 'Tis
+something; if a stranger, at least thou art not a renegade. The world
+goes well with thee, my Lord Honain. But if, instead of bows and
+blessings, thou, like thy brethren, wert greeted only with the cuff
+and curse; if thou didst rise each morning only to feel existence to
+be dishonour, and to find thyself marked out among surrounding men as
+something foul and fatal; if it were thy lot, like theirs, at best to
+drag on a mean and dull career, hopeless and aimless, or with no other
+hope or aim but that which is degrading, and all this, too, with a keen
+sense of thy intrinsic worth, and a deep conviction of superior race;
+why, then, perchance, Honain might even discover 'twere worth a struggle
+to be free and honoured.' 'I pray your pardon, sir; I thought you were
+Jabaster's pupil, a dreaming student. I see you have a deep ambition.'
+
+'I am a prince; and I fain would be a prince without my fetters.'
+
+'Listen to me, Alroy,' said Honain in a low voice, and he placed his
+arm around him, 'I am your friend. Our acquaintance is very brief: no
+matter, I love you; I rescued you in injury, I tended you in sickness,
+even now your life is in my power, I would protect it with my own. You
+cannot doubt me. Our affections are not under our own control; and mine
+are yours. The sympathy between us is entire. You see me, you see what I
+am; a Hebrew, though unknown; one of that despised, rejected, persecuted
+people, of whom you are the chief. I too would be free and honoured.
+Freedom and honour are mine, but I was my own messiah. I quitted in
+good time our desperate cause, but I gave it a trial. Ask Jabaster how I
+fought. Youth could be my only excuse for such indiscretion. I left
+this country; I studied and resided among the Greeks. I returned from
+Constantinople, with all their learning, some of their craft. No one
+knew me. I assumed their turban, and I am the Lord Honain. Take my
+experience, child, and save yourself much sorrow. Turn your late
+adventure to good account. No one can recognise you here. I will
+introduce you amongst the highest as my child by some fair Greek. The
+world is before you. You may fight, you may love, you may revel. War,
+and Women, and luxury are all at your command. With your person and
+talents you may be grand vizir. Clear your head of nonsense. In the
+present disordered state of the empire, you may even carve yourself out
+a kingdom, infinitely more delightful than the barren land of milk and
+honey. I have seen it, child; a rocky wilderness, where I would not let
+my courser graze.'
+
+He bent down, and fixed his eyes upon his companion with a scrutinising
+glance. The moonlight fell upon the resolved visage of the Prince of the
+Captivity.
+
+'Honain,' he replied, pressing his hand, 'I thank thee. Thou knowest not
+me, but still I thank thee.'
+
+'You are resolved, then, on destruction.'
+
+'On glory, eternal glory.'
+
+'Is it possible to succeed?'
+
+'Is it possible to fail?'
+
+'You are mad.'
+
+'I am a believer.'
+
+'Enough. You have yet one chance. My brother has saddled your enterprise
+with a condition, and an impossible one. Gain the sceptre of Solomon,
+and I will agree to be your subject. You will waste a year in this
+frolic. You are young, and can afford it. I trust you will experience
+nothing worse than a loss of time, which is, however, valuable. My duty
+will be, after all your sufferings, to send you forth on your adventures
+in good condition, and to provide you means for a less toilsome
+pilgrimage than has hitherto been your lot. Trust me, you will return to
+Bagdad to accept my offers. At present, the dews are descending, and we
+will return to our divan, and take some coffee.'
+
+Some few days after this conversation on the terrace, as Alroy was
+reclining in a bower, in the beautiful garden of his host, meditating
+on the future, some one touched him on the back. He looked up. It was
+Honain.
+
+'Follow me,' said the brother of Jabaster.
+
+The Prince rose, and followed him in silence. They entered the house,
+and, passing through the saloon already described, they proceeded down
+a long gallery, which terminated in an arched flight of broad steps
+leading to the river. A boat was fastened to the end of the stairs,
+floating on the blue line of the Tigris, bright in the sun.
+
+Honain now gave to Alroy a velvet bag, which he requested him to carry,
+and then they descended the steps and entered the covered boat; and,
+without any directions to the rower, they were soon skimming over the
+water. By the sound of passing vessels, and the occasional shouts of the
+boatmen, Alroy, although he could observe nothing, was conscious that
+for some time their course lay through a principal thoroughfare of
+the city; but by degrees the sounds became less frequent, and in time
+entirely died away, and all that caught his ear was the regular and
+monotonous stroke of their own oar.
+
+At length, after the lapse of nearly an hour from their entrance,
+the boat stopped, and was moored against a quay. The curtains were
+withdrawn, and Honain and his companion debarked.
+
+A low but extensive building, painted in white and gold arabesque, and
+irregular but picturesque in form, with many small domes, and tall thin
+towers, rose amid groves of cypress on the bank of the broad and silent
+river. The rapid stream had carried them far from the city, which was
+visible but distant. Around was no habitation, no human being. The
+opposite bank was occupied by enclosed gardens. Not even a boat passed.
+
+Honain, beckoning to Alroy to accompany him, but still silent, advanced
+to a small portal, and knocked. It was instantly opened by a single
+Nubian, who bowed reverently as the visitors passed him. They proceeded
+along a low and gloomy passage, covered with arches of fretwork, until
+they arrived at a door of tortoise-shell and mother-of-pearl.[22] Here
+Honain, who was in advance, turned round to Alroy, and said, 'Whatever
+happen, and whoever may address you, as you value your life and mine, do
+not speak.'
+
+The door opened, and they found themselves in a vast and gorgeous hall.
+Pillars of many-coloured marbles rose from a red and blue pavement
+of the same material, and supported a vaulted, circular, and
+highly-embossed roof of purple, scarlet, and gold.[23] Around a
+fountain, which rose fifty feet in height from an immense basin of
+lapis-lazuli, and reclining on small yellow Barbary mats, was a group
+of Nubian eunuchs, dressed in rich habits of scarlet and gold,[24]
+and armed with ivory battle-axes, the white handles worked in precious
+arabesque finely contrasting with the blue and brilliant blades.
+
+The commander of the eunuch-guard rose on seeing Honain, and pressing
+his hand to his head, mouth, and heart, saluted him. The physician of
+the Caliph, motioning Alroy to remain, advanced some paces in front of
+him, and entered into a whispering conversation with the eunuch. After
+a few minutes, this officer resumed his seat, and Honain, beckoning to
+Alroy to rejoin him, crossed the hall.
+
+Passing through an open arch, they entered a quadrangular court of
+roses,[25] each bed of flowers surrounded by a stream of sparkling
+water, and floating like an enchanted islet upon a fairy ocean. The
+sound of the water and the sweetness of the flowers blended together,
+and produced a lulling sensation, which nothing but his strong and
+strange curiosity might have enabled Alroy to resist. Proceeding along
+a cloister of light airy workmanship which connected the hall with the
+remainder of the buildings, they stood before a lofty and sumptuous
+portal.
+
+It was a monolith gate, thirty feet in height, formed of one block of
+green and red jasper, and cut into the fanciful undulating arch of the
+Saracens. The consummate artist had seized the advantage afforded to him
+by the ruddy veins of the precious stone, and had formed them in bold
+relief into two vast and sinuous serpents, which shot forth their
+crested heads and glittering eyes at Honain and his companion.
+
+The physician of the Caliph, taking his dagger from his girdle, struck
+the head of one of the serpents thrice. The massy portal opened with a
+whirl and a roar, and before them stood an Abyssinian giant,[26] holding
+in his leash a roaring lion.
+
+'Hush, Haroun!' said Honain to the animal, raising at the same time his
+arm; and the beast crouched in silence. 'Worthy Morgargon, I bring you
+a remembrance.' The Abyssinian showed his tusks, larger and whiter than
+the lion's, as he grinningly received the tribute of the courtly Honain;
+and he uttered a few uncouth sounds, but he could not speak, for he was
+a mute.
+
+The jasper portal introduced the companions to a long and lofty and
+arched chamber, lighted by high windows of stained glass, hung with
+tapestry of silk and silver, covered with prodigious carpets, and
+surrounded by immense couches. And thus through similar chambers they
+proceeded, in some of which were signs of recent habitation, until they
+arrived at another quadrangle nearly filled by a most singular fountain
+which rose from a basin of gold encrusted with pearls, and which was
+surrounded by figures of every rare quadruped[27] in the most costly
+materials. Here a golden tiger, with flaming eyes of ruby and flowing
+stripes of opal, stole, after some bloody banquet, to the refreshing
+brink; a camelopard raised its slender neck of silver from the centre
+of a group of every inhabitant of the forest; and brilliant bands of
+monkeys, glittering with precious stones, rested, in every variety of
+fantastic posture, on the margin of the basin.
+
+The fountain itself was a tree of gold and silver[28] spreading into
+innumerable branches, covered with every variety of curious birds, their
+plumage appropriately imitated by the corresponding tints of precious
+stones, which warbled in beautiful melody as they poured forth from
+their bills the musical and refreshing element.
+
+It was with difficulty that Alroy could refrain from an admiring
+exclamation, but Honain, ever quick, turned to him, with his finger
+pressed on his mouth, and quitting the quadrangle, they entered the
+gardens.
+
+Lofty terraces, dark masses of cypress, winding walks of acacia, in
+the distance an interminable paradise, and here and there a glittering
+pavilion and bright kiosk! Its appearance on the river had not prepared
+Alroy for the extent of the palace itself. It seemed infinite, and it
+was evident that he had only viewed a small portion of it. While they
+were moving on, there suddenly rose a sound of trumpets. The sound grew
+nearer and nearer, louder and louder: soon was heard the tramp of
+an approaching troop. Honain drew Alroy aside. A procession appeared
+advancing from a dark grove of cypress. Four hundred men led as many
+white bloodhounds with collars of gold and rubies.[29] Then came one
+hundred men, each with a hooded hawk; then six horsemen in rich dresses;
+after them a single horseman, mounted on a steed, marked on its forehead
+with a star.[30] The rider was middle-aged, handsome, and dignified. He
+was plainly dressed, but the staff of his hunting-spear was entirely of
+diamonds and the blade of gold.
+
+He was followed by a company of Nubian eunuchs, with their scarlet
+dresses and ivory battle-axes, and the procession closed.
+
+'The Caliph,' whispered Honain, when they had passed, placing at the
+same time his finger on his lip to prevent any inquiry. This was
+the first intimation that had reached Alroy of what he had already
+suspected, that he was a visitor to the palace of the Commander of the
+Faithful.
+
+The companions turned down a wild and winding walk, which, after some
+time, brought them to a small and gently sloping lawn, surrounded
+by cedar-trees of great size. Upon the lawn was a kiosk, a long and
+many-windowed building, covered with blinds, and further screened by
+an overhanging roof. The kiosk was built of white and green marble,
+the ascent to it was by a flight of steps the length of the building,
+alternately of white and green marble, and nearly covered with
+rose-trees. Honain went up these steps alone, and entered the kiosk.
+After a few minutes he looked out from the blinds and beckoned to Alroy.
+David advanced, but Honain, fearful of some indiscretion, met him, and
+said to him in a low whisper between his teeth, 'Remember you are deaf,
+a mute, and a eunuch.' Alroy could scarcely refrain from smiling, and
+the Prince of the Captivity and the physician of the Caliph entered
+the kiosk together. Two women, veiled, and two eunuchs of the guard,
+received them in an antechamber. And then they passed into a room which
+ran nearly the whole length of the kiosk, opening on one side to the
+gardens, and on the other supported by an ivory wall, with niches
+painted in green fresco, and in each niche a rose-tree. Each niche,
+also, was covered with an almost invisible golden grate, which confined
+a nightingale, and made him constant to the rose he loved. At the foot
+of each niche was a fountain, but, instead of water, each basin was
+replenished with the purest quicksilver.[31] The roof of the kiosk was
+of mother-of-pearl inlaid with tortoise-shell; the pavement, a mosaic of
+rare marbles and precious stones, representing the most delicious fruits
+and the most beautiful flowers. Over this pavement, a Georgian page
+flung at intervals refreshing perfumes. At the end of this elegant
+chamber was a divan of light green silk, embroidered with pearls,
+and covered with cushions of white satin and gold. Upon one of these
+cushions, in the middle of the divan, sat a lady, her eyes fixed in
+abstraction upon a volume of Persian poetry lying on her knees, one hand
+playing with a rosary of pearls and emeralds,[32] and the other holding
+a long gold chain, which imprisoned a white gazelle.
+
+The lady looked up as Honain and his companion entered. She was very
+young, as youthful as Alroy. Her long light brown hair, drawn off a high
+white forehead covered with blue veins, fell braided with pearls over
+each shoulder. Her eyes were large and deeply blue; her nose small, but
+high and aquiline. The fairness of her face was dazzling, and, when she
+looked up and greeted Honain, her lustrous cheeks broke into dimples,
+the more fascinating from their contrast with the general expression of
+her countenance, which was haughty and derisive. The lady was dressed
+in a robe of crimson silk girded round her waist by a green shawl, from
+which peeped forth the diamond hilt of a small poniard.[33] Her round
+white arms looked infinitely small, as they occasionally flashed forth
+from their large loose hanging sleeves. One was covered with jewels, and
+the right arm was quite bare.
+
+Honain advanced, and, bending, kissed the lady's proffered hand. Alroy
+fell into the background.
+
+'They told me that the Rose of the World drooped this morning,' said the
+physician, bending again as he smiled, 'and her slave hastened at her
+command to tend her.'
+
+'It was a south wind. The wind has changed, and the Rose of the World is
+better,' replied the lady laughing.
+
+Honain touched her pulse.
+
+'Irregular,' said the physician.
+
+'Like myself,' said the lady. 'Is that a new slave?'
+
+'A recent purchase, and a great bargain. He is good-looking, has the
+advantage of being deaf and dumb, and is harmless in every respect.'
+
+''Tis a pity,' replied the lady; 'it seems that all good-looking people
+are born to be useless. I, for instance.'
+
+'Yet rumour whispers the reverse,' remarked the physician.
+
+'How so?' inquired the lady.
+
+'The young King of Karasmé.'
+
+'Poh! I have made up my mind to detest him. A barbarian!'
+
+'A hero!'
+
+'Have you ever seen him?'
+
+'I have.'
+
+'Handsome?'
+
+'An archangel.'
+
+'And sumptuous?'
+
+'Is he not a conqueror? All the plunder of the world will be yours.'
+
+'I am tired of magnificence. I built this kiosk to forget it.'
+
+'It is not in the least degree splendid,' said Honain, looking round
+with a smile.
+
+'No,' answered the lady, with a self-satisfied air: 'here, at least, one
+can forget one has the misfortune to be a princess.'
+
+'It is certainly a great misfortune,' said the physician.
+
+'And yet it must be the only tolerable lot,' replied the lady.
+
+'Assuredly,' replied Honain.
+
+'For our unhappy sex, at least.'
+
+'Very unhappy.'
+
+'If I were only a man!'
+
+'What a hero you would be!'
+
+'I should like to live in endless confusion.'
+
+'I have not the least doubt of it.'
+
+'Have you got me the books?' eagerly inquired the Princess.
+
+'My slave bears them,' replied Honain.
+
+'Let me see them directly.'
+
+Honain took the bag from Alroy, and unfolded its contents; the very
+volumes of Greek romances which Ali, the merchant, had obtained for him.
+
+'I am tired of poetry,' said the Princess, glancing over the costly
+volumes, and tossing them away; 'I long to see the world.'
+
+'You would soon be tired of that,' replied the physician.
+
+'I suppose common people are never tired.' said the Princess.
+
+'Except with labour;' said the physician; 'care keeps them alive.'
+
+'What is care?' asked the Princess, with a smile.
+
+'It is a god,' replied the physician, 'invisible, but omnipotent. It
+steals the bloom from the cheek and lightness from the pulse; it takes
+away the appetite, and turns the hair grey.'
+
+'It is no true divinity, then,' replied the Princess, 'but an idol we
+make ourselves. I am a sincere Moslem, and will not worship it. Tell me
+some news, Honain.'
+
+'The young King of Karasmé----'
+
+'Again! the barbarian! You are in his pay. I'll none of him. To leave
+one prison, and to be shut up in another,--why do you remind me of it?
+No, my dear Hakim, if I marry at all, I will marry to be free.'
+
+'An impossibility,' said Honain.
+
+'My mother was free till she was a queen and a slave. I intend to end as
+she began. You know what she was.'
+
+Honain knew well, but he was too politic not to affect ignorance.
+
+'The daughter of a bandit,' continued the Princess, 'who fought by the
+side of her father. That is existence! I must be a robber. 'Tis in the
+blood. I want my fate foretold, Honain. You are an astrologer; do it.'
+
+'I have already cast your nativity. Your star is à comet.'
+
+'That augurs well; brilliant confusion and erratic splendour. I wish
+I were a star,' added the Princess in a deep rich voice, and with a
+pensive air; 'a star in the clear blue sky, beautiful and free. Honain,
+Honain, the gazelle has broken her chain, and is eating my roses.'
+
+Alroy rushed forward and seized the graceful truant. Honain shot him an
+anxious look; the Princess received the chain from the hand of Alroy,
+and cast at him a scrutinising glance.
+
+'What splendid eyes the poor beast has got!' exclaimed the Princess.
+
+'The gazelle?' inquired the physician.
+
+'No, your slave,' replied the Princess. 'Why, he blushes. Were he not
+deaf as well as dumb, I could almost believe he understood me.'
+
+'He is modest,' replied Honain, rather alarmed; 'and is frightened at
+the liberty he has taken.'
+
+'I like modesty,' said the Princess; 'it is interesting. I am modest;
+you think so?'
+
+'Certainly,' said Honain.
+
+'And interesting?'
+
+'Very.'
+
+'I detest an interesting person. After all, there is nothing like plain
+dulness.'
+
+'Nothing,' said Honain.
+
+'The day flows on so serenely in such society.'
+
+'It does,' said Honain.
+
+'No confusion; no scenes.'
+
+'None.'
+
+'I make it a rule only to have ugly slaves.'
+
+'You are quite right.'
+
+'Honain, will you ever contradict me? You know very well I have the
+handsomest slaves in the world.'
+
+'Every one knows it.'
+
+'And, do you know, I have taken a great fancy to your new purchase, who,
+according to your account, is eminently qualified for the post. Why, do
+you not agree with me?'
+
+'Why, yes; I doubt not your Highness would find him eminently qualified,
+and certainly few things would give me greater pleasure than offering
+him for your acceptance; but I got into such disgrace by that late
+affair of the Circassian, that----'
+
+'Oh! leave it to me,' said the Princess.
+
+'Certainly,' said the physician, turning the conversation; 'and when
+the young King of Karasmé arrives at Bagdad, you can offer him to his
+majesty as a present.'
+
+'Delightful! and the king is really handsome and young as well as brave;
+but has he any taste?'
+
+'You have enough for both.'
+
+'If he would but make war against the Greeks!'
+
+'Why so violent against the poor Greeks?'
+
+'You know they are Giaours. Besides, they might beat him, and then I
+should have the pleasure of being taken prisoner.'
+
+'Delightful!'
+
+'Charming! to see Constantinople, and marry the Emperor.'
+
+'Marry the Emperor!'
+
+'To be sure. Of course he would fall in love with me.'
+
+'Of course.'
+
+'And then, and then, I might conquer Paris!'
+
+'Paris!'
+
+'You have been at Paris?'[34]
+
+'Yes.'
+
+'The men are shut up there,' said the Princess with a smile, 'are they
+not? and the women do what they like?'
+
+'You will always do what you like,' said Honain, rising.
+
+'You are going?'
+
+'My visits must not be too long.'
+
+'Farewell, dear Honain!' said the Princess, with a melancholy air. 'You
+are the only person who has an idea in all Bagdad, and you leave me. A
+miserable lot is mine, to feel everything, and be nothing. These books
+and flowers, these sweet birds, and this fair gazelle: ah! poets may
+feign as they please, but how cheerfully would I resign all these
+elegant consolations of a captive life for one hour of freedom! I wrote
+some verses on myself yesterday; take them, and get them blazoned for me
+by the finest scribe in the city; letters of silver on a violet ground
+with a fine flowing border; I leave the design to you. Adieu! Come
+hither, mute.' Alroy advanced to her beckon, and knelt. 'There, take
+that rosary for thy master's sake, and those dark eyes of thine.'
+
+The companions withdrew, and reached their boat in silence. It was
+sunset. The musical and sonorous voice of the Muezzin resounded from
+the innumerable minarets of the splendid city. Honain threw back the
+curtains of the barque. Bagdad rose before them in huge masses of
+sumptuous dwellings, seated amid groves and gardens. An infinite
+population, summoned by the invigorating twilight, poured forth in all
+directions. The glowing river was covered with sparkling caiques, the
+glittering terraces with showy groups. Splendour, and power, and luxury,
+and beauty were arrayed before them in their most captivating forms, and
+the heart of Alroy responded to their magnificence. 'A glorious vision!'
+said the Prince of the Captivity.
+
+'Very different from Hamadan,' said the physician of the Caliph.
+
+'To-day I have seen wonders,' said Alroy.
+
+'The world is opening to you,' said Honain.
+
+Alroy did not reply; but after some minutes he said, in a hesitating
+voice, 'Who was that lady?'
+
+'The Princess Schirene,' replied Honain, 'the favourite daughter of the
+Caliph. Her mother was a Georgian and a Giaour.'
+
+The moonlight fell upon the figure of Alroy lying on a couch; his face
+was hidden by his arm. He was motionless, but did not sleep.
+
+He rose and paced the chamber with agitated steps; sometimes he stopped,
+and gazed on the pavement, fixed in abstraction. He advanced to the
+window, and cooled his feverish brow in the midnight air.
+
+An hour passed away, and the young Prince of the Captivity remained
+fixed in the same position. Suddenly he turned to a tripod of porphyry,
+and, seizing a rosary of jewels, pressed it to his lips.
+
+'The Spirit of my dreams, she comes at last; the form for which I have
+sighed and wept; the form which rose upon my radiant vision when I shut
+my eyes against the jarring shadows of this gloomy world.
+
+'Schirene! Schirene! here in this solitude I pour to thee the passion
+long stored up: the passion of my life, no common life, a life full of
+deep feeling and creative thought. O beautiful! O more than beautiful!
+for thou to me art as a dream unbroken: why art thou not mine? why lose
+a moment in our glorious lives, and balk our destiny of half its bliss?
+
+'Fool, fool, hast thou forgotten? The rapture of a prisoner in his cell,
+whose wild fancy for a moment belies his fetters! The daughter of the
+Caliph and a Jew!
+
+'Give me my fathers' sceptre.
+
+'A plague on talismans! Oh! I need no inspiration but her memory,
+no magic but her name. By heavens! I will enter this glorious city a
+conqueror, or die.
+
+'Why, what is Life? for meditation mingles ever with my passion: why,
+what is Life? Throw accidents to the dogs, and tear off the painted
+mask of false society! Here am I a hero; with a mind that can devise all
+things, and a heart of superhuman daring, with youth, with vigour, with
+a glorious lineage, with a form that has made full many a lovely
+maiden of our tribe droop her fair head by Hamadan's sweet fount, and I
+am--nothing!
+
+'Out on Society! 'twas not made for me. I'll form my own, and be the
+deity I sometimes feel.
+
+'We make our fortunes, and we call them Fate. Thou saidst well, Honain.
+Most subtle Sadducee! The saintly blood flowed in my fathers' veins,
+and they did nothing; but I have an arm formed to wield a sceptre, and I
+will win one.
+
+'I cannot doubt my triumph. Triumph is a part of my existence. I am
+born for glory, as a tree is born to bear its fruit, or to expand
+its flowers. The deed is done. 'Tis thought of, and 'tis done. I will
+confront the greatest of my diademed ancestors, and in his tomb. Mighty
+Solomon! he wedded Pharaoh's daughter. Hah! what a future dawns upon my
+hope. An omen, a choice omen!
+
+'Heaven and earth are mingling to form my fortunes. My mournful
+youth, which I have so often cursed, I hail thee: thou wert a glorious
+preparation; and when feeling no sympathy with the life around me,
+I deemed myself a fool, I find that I was a most peculiar being. By
+heavens, I am joyful; for the first time in my life I am joyful. I could
+laugh, and fight, and drink. I am new-born; I am another being; I am
+mad!
+
+'O Time, great Time! the world belies thy fame. It calls thee swift.
+Methinks thou art wondrous slow. Fly on, great Time, and on thy coming
+wings bear me my sceptre!
+
+'All is to be. It is a lowering thought. My fancy, like a bright and
+wearied bird, will sometimes flag and fall, and then I am lost. The
+young King of Karasmé, a youthful hero! Would he had been Alschiroch! My
+heart is sick even at the very name. Alas! my trials have not yet begun.
+Jabaster warned me: good, sincere Jabaster! His talisman presses on my
+frantic heart, and seems to warn me. I am in danger. Braggart to
+stand here, filling the careless air with idle words, while all is
+unaccomplished. I grow dull. The young King of Karasmé! Why, what am I
+compared to this same prince? Nothing, but in my thoughts. In the full
+bazaar, they would not deem me worthy even to hold his stirrup or
+his slipper---- Oh! this contest, this constant, bitter, never-ending
+contest between my fortune and my fancy! Why do I exist? or, if
+existing, why am I not recognised as I would be?
+
+'Sweet voice, that in Jabaster's distant cave de-scendedst from thy holy
+home above, and whispered consolation, breathe again! Again breathe thy
+still summons to my lonely ear, and chase away the thoughts that hover
+round me; thoughts dark and doubtful, like fell birds of prey hovering
+around a hero in expectation of his fall, and gloating on their triumph
+over the brave. There is something fatal in these crowded cities. Faith
+flourishes in solitude.'
+
+He threw himself upon the couch, and, leaning down his head, seemed lost
+in meditation. He started up, and, seizing his tablets, wrote upon them
+these words:
+
+'Honain, I have been the whole night like David in the wilderness of
+Ziph; but, by the aid of the Lord, I have conquered. I fly from this
+dangerous city upon his business, which I have too much neglected.
+Attempt not to discover me, and accept my gratitude.'
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER VI.
+
+     _The Learned Rabbi Zimri._
+
+A SCORCHING sun, a blue and burning sky, on every side lofty ranges of
+black and barren mountains, dark ravines, deep caverns, unfathomable
+gorges! A solitary being moved in the distance. Faint and toiling, a
+pilgrim slowly clambered up the steep and stony track.
+
+The sultry hours moved on; the pilgrim at length gained the summit of
+the mountain, a small and rugged table-land, strewn with huge masses
+of loose and heated, rock. All around was desolation: no spring, no
+herbage; the bird and the insect were alike mute. Still it was the
+summit: no loftier peaks frowned in the distance; the pilgrim stopped,
+and breathed with more facility, and a faint smile played over his
+languid and solemn countenance.
+
+He rested a few minutes; he took from his wallet some locusts and wild
+honey, and a small skin of water. His meal was short as well as simple.
+An ardent desire to reach his place of destination before nightfall
+urged him to proceed. He soon passed over the table-land, and commenced
+the descent of the mountain. A straggling olive-tree occasionally
+appeared, and then a group, and soon the groups swelled into a grove.
+His way wound through the grateful and unaccustomed shade. He emerged
+from the grove, and found that he had proceeded down more than half
+the side of the mountain. It ended precipitously in a dark and narrow
+ravine, formed on the other side by an opposite mountain, the lofty
+steep of which was crested by a city gently rising on a gradual slope.
+
+Nothing could be conceived more barren, wild, and terrible than the
+surrounding scenery, unillumined by a single trace of culture. The city
+stood like the last gladiator in an amphitheatre of desolation.
+
+It was surrounded by a lofty turreted wall, of an architecture to which
+the pilgrim was unaccustomed: gates with drawbridge and portcullis,
+square towers, and loopholes for the archer. Sentinels, clothed in steel
+and shining in the sunset, paced, at regular intervals, the cautious
+wall, and on a lofty tower a standard waved, a snowy standard, with a
+red, red cross!
+
+The Prince of the Captivity at length beheld the lost capital of his
+fathers.[35]
+
+A few months back, and such a spectacle would have called forth all the
+latent passion of Alroy; but time and suffering, and sharp experience,
+had already somewhat curbed the fiery spirit of the Hebrew Prince. He
+gazed upon Jerusalem, he beheld the City of David garrisoned by the
+puissant warriors of Christendom, and threatened by the innumerable
+armies of the Crescent. The two great divisions of the world seemed
+contending for a prize, which he, a lonely wanderer, had crossed the
+desert to rescue.
+
+If his faith restrained him from doubting the possibility of his
+enterprise, he was at least deeply conscious that the world was a very
+different existence from what he had fancied amid the gardens of
+Hamadan and the rocks of Caucasus, and that if his purpose could be
+accomplished, it could only be effected by one means. Calm, perhaps
+somewhat depressed, but full of pious humiliation, and not deserted by
+holy hope, he descended into the Valley of Jehoshaphat, and so, slaking
+his thirst at Siloah, and mounting the opposite height, David Alroy
+entered Jerusalem by the gate of Zion.[36]
+
+He had been instructed that the quarter allotted to his people was near
+this entrance. He inquired the direction of the sentinel, who did not
+condescend to answer him. An old man, in shabby robes, who was passing,
+beckoned to him.
+
+'What want you, friend?' inquired Alroy.
+
+'You were asking for the quarter of our people. You must be à stranger,
+indeed, in Jerusalem, to suppose that a Frank would speak to a Jew. You
+were lucky to get neither kicked nor cursed.'
+
+'Kicked and cursed! Why, these dogs----'
+
+'Hush! hush! for the love of God,' said his new companion, much alarmed.
+'Have you lent money to their captain that you speak thus? In Jerusalem
+our people speak only in a whisper.'
+
+'No matter: the cure is not by words. Where is our quarter?'
+
+'Was the like ever seen! Why, he speaks as if he were a Frank. I save
+him from having his head broken by a gauntlet, and----'
+
+'My friend, I am tired. Our quarter?'
+
+'Whom may you want?'
+
+'The Chief Rabbi.'
+
+'You bear letters to him?'
+
+'What is that to you?'
+
+'Hush! hush! You do not know what Jerusalem is, young man. You must not
+think of going on in this way. Where do you come from?'
+
+'Bagdad.'
+
+'Bagdad! Jerusalem is not Bagdad. A Turk is a brute, but a Christian is
+a demon.'
+
+'But our quarter, our quarter?'
+
+'Hush! you want the Chief Rabbi?'
+
+'Ay! ay!'
+
+'Rabbi Zimri?'
+
+'It may be so. I neither know nor care.'
+
+'Neither knows nor cares! This will never do; you must not go on in this
+way at Jerusalem. You must not think of it.'
+
+'Fellow, I see thou art a miserable prattler. Show me our quarter, and I
+will pay thee well, or be off.'
+
+'Be off! Art thou a Hebrew? to say "be off" to any one. You come from
+Bagdad! I tell you what, go back to Bagdad. You will never do for
+Jerusalem.'
+
+'Your grizzled beard protects you. Old fool, I am a pilgrim just
+arrived, wearied beyond expression, and you keep me here listening to
+your flat talk!'
+
+'Flat talk! Why! what would you?'
+
+'Lead me to the Rabbi Zimri, if that be his name.'
+
+'If that be his name! Why, every one knows Rabbi Zimri, the Chief Rabbi
+of Jerusalem, the successor of Aaron. We have our temple yet, say what
+they like. A very learned doctor is Rabbi Zimri.'
+
+'Wretched driveller. I am ashamed to lose my patience with such a
+dotard.'
+
+'Driveller! dotard! Why, who are you?'
+
+'One you cannot comprehend. Without another word, lead me to your
+chief.'
+
+'Chief! you have not far to go. I know no one of the nation who holds
+his head higher than I do here, and they call me Zimri.'
+
+'What, the Chief Rabbi, that very learned doctor?'
+
+'No less; I thought you had heard of him.'
+
+'Let us forget the past, good Zimri. When great men play the incognito,
+they must sometimes hear rough phrases. It is the Caliph's lot as well
+as yours. I am glad to make the acquaintance of so great a doctor.
+Though young, and roughly habited, I have seen the world a little, and
+may offer next Sabbath in the synagogue more dirhems than you would
+perhaps suppose. Good and learned Zimri, I would be your guest.'
+
+'A very worshipful young man! And he speaks low and soft now! But it was
+lucky I was at hand. Good, what's your name?'
+
+'David.'
+
+'A very honest name, good David. It was lucky I was at hand when you
+spoke to the sentinel, though. A Jew speak to a Frank, and a sentinel
+too! Hah! hah! hah! that is good. How Rabbi Maimon will laugh! Faith it
+was very lucky, now, was not it?'
+
+'Indeed, most fortunate.'
+
+'Well that is candid! Here! this way. 'Tis not far. We number few, sir,
+of our brethren here, but a better time will come, a better time will
+come.'
+
+'I think so. This is your door?'
+
+'An humble one. Jerusalem is not Bagdad, but you are welcome.'
+
+'King Pirgandicus[37] entered them,' said Rabbi Maimon, 'but no one
+since.'
+
+'And when did he live?' inquired Alroy. 'His reign is recorded in the
+Talmud,' answered Rabbi Zimri, 'but in the Talmud there are no dates.'
+'A long while ago?' asked Alroy. 'Since the Captivity,' answered Rabbi
+Maimon. 'I doubt that,' said Rabbi Zimri, 'or why should he be called
+king?'
+
+'Was he of the house of David?' said Alroy.
+
+'Without doubt,' said Rabbi Maimon; 'he was one of our greatest kings,
+and conquered Julius Caesar.'[38]
+
+'His kingdom was in the northernmost parts of Africa,' said Rabbi Zimri,
+'and exists to this day, if we could but find it.'
+
+'Ay, truly,' added Rabbi Maimon, 'the sceptre has never departed out of
+Judah; and he rode always upon a white elephant.'
+
+'Covered with cloth of gold,' added Rabbi Zimri. 'And he visited the
+Tombs of the Kings?'[39] inquired Alroy.
+
+'Without doubt,' said Rabbi Maimon. 'The whole account is in the
+Talmud.'
+
+'And no one can now find them?' 'No one,' replied Rabbi Zimri: 'but,
+according to that learned doctor, Moses Hallevy, they are in a valley in
+the mountains of Lebanon, which was sealed up by the Archangel Michael.'
+
+'The illustrious Doctor Abarbanel, of Babylon,' said Rabbi Maimon,
+'gives one hundred and twenty reasons in his commentary on the Gemara to
+prove that they sunk under the earth at the taking of the Temple.'
+
+'No one reasons like Abarbanel of Babylon,' said Rabbi Zimri.
+
+'The great Rabbi Akiba, of Pundebita, has answered them all,' said Rabbi
+Maimon, 'and holds that they were taken up to heaven.'
+
+'And which is right?' inquired Rabbi Zimri.
+
+'Neither,' said Rabbi Maimon.
+
+'One hundred and twenty reasons are strong proof,' said Rabbi Zimri.
+
+'The most learned and illustrious Doctor Aaron Mendola, of Granada,'
+said Rabbi Maimon, 'has shown that we must look for the Tombs of the
+Kings in the south of Spain.'
+
+'All that Mendola writes is worth attention,' said Rabbi Zimri.
+
+'Rabbi Hillel,[40] of Samaria, is worth two Mendolas any day,' said
+Rabbi Maimon.
+
+''Tis a most learned doctor,' said Rabbi Zimri; 'and what thinks he?'
+
+'Hillel proves that there are two Tombs of the Kings,' said Rabbi
+Maimon, 'and that neither of them are the right ones.'
+
+'What a learned doctor!' exclaimed Rabbi Zimri.
+
+'And very satisfactory,' remarked Alroy.
+
+'These are high subjects,' continued Maimon, his blear eyes twinkling
+with complacency. 'Your guest, Rabbi Zimri, must read the treatise of
+the learned Shimei, of Damascus, on "Effecting Impossibilities."'
+
+'That is a work!' exclaimed Zimri.
+
+'I never slept for three nights after reading that work,' said Rabbi
+Maimon. 'It contains twelve thousand five hundred and thirty-seven
+quotations from the Pentateuch, and not a single original observation.'
+
+'There were giants in those days,' said Rabbi Zimri; 'we are children
+now.'
+
+'The first chapter makes equal sense, read backward or forward,'
+continued Rabbi Maimon. 'Ichabod!' exclaimed Rabbi Zimri. 'And the
+initial letter of every section is a cabalistical type of a king of
+Judah.'
+
+'The temple will yet be built,' said Rabbi Zimri. 'Ay, ay! that is
+learning!' exclaimed Rabbi Maimon; 'but what is the great treatise on
+"Effecting Impossibilities" to that profound, admirable, and----'
+
+'Holy Rabbi!' said a youthful reader of the synagogue, who now entered,
+'the hour is at hand.'
+
+'You don't say so! Learned Miamon, I must to the synagogue. I could sit
+here all day listening to you. Come, David, the people await us.'
+
+Zimri and Alroy quitted the house, and proceeded along the narrow hilly
+streets to the chief temple of the Hebrews.
+
+'It grieves the venerable Maimon much that he cannot join us,' said
+Rabbi Zimri. 'You have doubtless heard of him at Bagdad; a most learned
+doctor.' Alroy bowed in silence.
+
+'He bears his years well. You would hardly believe that he was my
+master.'
+
+'I perceive that you inherit much of his erudition.'
+
+'You are kind. If he have breathed one year, Rabbi Maimon will be a
+hundred and ten next Passover.'
+
+'I doubt it not.'
+
+'When he is gathered to his fathers, a great light will be extinguished
+in Israel. You wanted to know something about the Tombs of the Kings; I
+told you he was your man. How full he was! His mind, sir, is an egg.'
+
+'A somewhat ancient one. I fear his guidance will hardly bring me the
+enviable fortune of King Pirgandicus.'
+
+'Between ourselves, good David, talking of King Pirgandicus, I cannot
+help fancying that the learned Maimon made a slight mistake. I hold
+Pirgandicus was only a prince. It was after the Captivity, and I know no
+authority for any of our rulers since the destruction assuming a higher
+title. Clearly a prince, eh? But, though I would whisper it to no
+one but you, I think our worthy friend grows a little old. We should
+remember his years, sir. A hundred and ten next Passover. 'Tis a great
+burden.'
+
+'Ay! with his learning added, a very fearful burden indeed!'
+
+'You have been a week in Jerusalem, and have not yet visited our
+synagogue. It is not of cedar and ivory, but it is still a temple. This
+way. It is only a week that you have been here? Why, you look another
+man! I shall never forget our first meeting: you did not know me. That
+was good, eh? And when I told you I was the chief Rabbi Zimri, how you
+changed! You have quite regained your appetite. Ah! 'tis pleasant to
+mix once more with our own people. To the left. So! we must descend a
+little. We hold our meetings in an ancient cemetery. You have a finer
+temple, I warrant me, in Bagdad. Jerusalem is not Bagdad. But this has
+its conveniences. 'Tis safe, and we are not very rich, nor wish to seem
+so.'
+
+A long passage brought them to a number of small, square, low
+chambers[41] leading into each other. They were lighted by brass lamps,
+placed at intervals in vacant niches, that once held corpses, and
+which were now soiled by the smoky flame. Between two and three
+hundred individuals were assembled in these chambers, at first scarcely
+distinguishable by those who descended from the broad daylight; but
+by degrees the eyesight became accustomed to the dim and vaporous
+atmosphere, and Al-roy recognised in the final and more illumined
+chamber a high cedar cabinet, the type of the ark, and which held the
+sacred vessels and the sanctified copy of the law.
+
+Standing in lines, with their heads mystically covered,[42] the forlorn
+remnant of Israel, captives in their ancient city, avowed, in spite of
+all their sufferings, their fidelity to their God, and, notwithstanding
+all the bitterness of hope delayed, their faith in the fulfilment of his
+promises. Their simple service was completed, their prayers were
+read, their responses made, their law exhibited, and their charitable
+offerings announced by their high priest. After the service, the
+venerable Zimri, opening a volume of the Talmud, and fortified by the
+opinions of all those illustrious and learned doctors, the heroes of
+his erudite conversations with the aged Maimon, expounded the law to the
+congregation of the people.[43]
+
+'It is written,' said the Rabbi, '"Thou shalt have none other God but
+me." Now know ye what our father Abraham said when Nimrod ordered him to
+worship fire? "Why not water," answered Abraham, "which can put out fire?
+why not clouds, which can pour forth water? why not the winds, which can
+produce clouds? why not God, which can create winds?"'
+
+A murmur of approbation sounded throughout the congregation.
+
+'Eliezer,' said Zimri, addressing himself to a young Rabbi, 'it is
+written, that he took a rib from Adam when he was asleep. Is God then a
+robber?'
+
+The young Rabbi looked puzzled, and cast his eyes on the ground. The
+congregation was perplexed and a little alarmed.
+
+'Is there no answer?' said Zimri.
+
+'Rabbi,' said a stranger, a tall, swarthy African pilgrim, standing in
+a corner, and enveloped in a red mantle, over which a lamp threw a
+flickering light; 'Rabbi, some robbers broke into my house last night,
+and stole an earthen pipkin, but they left a golden vase in its stead.'
+
+'It is well said; it is well said,' exclaimed the congregation. The
+applause was loud.
+
+'Learned Zimri,' continued the African, 'it is written in the Gemara,
+that there was a youth in Jerusalem who fell in love with a beautiful
+damsel, and she scorned him. And the youth was so stricken with his
+passion that he could not speak; but when he beheld her, he looked at
+her imploringly, and she laughed. And one day the youth, not knowing
+what to do with himself, went out into the desert; and towards night
+he returned home, but the gates of the city were shut. And he went down
+into the valley of Jehoshaphat, and entered the tomb of Absalom and
+slept;[44] and he dreamed a dream; and next morning he came into the
+city smiling. And the maiden met him, and she said, "Is that thou; art
+thou a laugher?" and he answered, "Behold, yesterday being disconsolate,
+I went out of the city into the desert, and I returned home, and
+the gates of the city were shut, and I went down into the valley of
+Jehoshaphat, and I entered the tomb of Absalom, and I slept, and I
+dreamed a dream, and ever since then I have laughed." And the damsel
+said, "Tell me thy dream." And he answered and said, "I may not tell my
+dream only to my wife, for it regards her honour." And the maiden grew
+sad and curious, and said, "I am thy wife, tell me thy dream." And
+straightway they went and were married and ever after they both laughed.
+Now, learned Zimri, what means this tale, an idle jest for a master of
+the law, yet it is written by the greatest doctor of the Captivity?'
+
+'It passeth my comprehension,' said the chief Rabbi.
+
+Rabbi Eliezer was silent; the congregation groaned.
+
+'Now hear the interpretation,' said the African. 'The youth is our
+people, and the damsel is our lost Sion, and the tomb of Absalom proves
+that salvation can only come from the house of David. Dost thou hear
+this, young man?' said the African, coming forward and laying his hand
+on Alroy. 'I speak to thee, because I have observed a deep attention in
+thy conduct.'
+
+The Prince of the Captivity started, and shot a glance at the dark
+visage before him, but the glance read nothing. The upper part of the
+countenance of the African was half concealed by masses of dark matted
+hair, and the lower by his uncouth robes. A flashing eye was its only
+characteristic, which darted forth like lightning out of a black cloud.
+
+'Is my attention the only reason that induces you to address me?'
+inquired Alroy.
+
+'Whoever gave all his reasons?' replied the African, with a laughing
+sneer.
+
+'I seek not to learn them. Suffice it, stranger, that how much soever
+you may mean, as much I can understand.'
+
+''Tis well. Learned Zimri, is this thy pupil? I congratulate thee.
+I will match him against the hopeful Eliezer.' So saying, the lofty
+African stalked out of the chamber. The assembly also broke up. Alroy
+would willingly have immediately followed the African, and held some
+further and more private conversation with him; but some minutes
+elapsed, owing to the officious attentions of Zimri, before he could
+escape; and, when he did, his search after the stranger was vain. He
+inquired among the congregation, but none knew the African. He was no
+man's guest and no man's debtor, and apparently had never before been
+seen.
+
+The trumpet was sounding to close the gates, as Alroy passed the Zion
+entrance. The temptation was irresistible. He rushed out, and ran for
+more than one hundred yards without looking back, and when he did, he
+had the satisfaction of ascertaining that he was fairly shut out for the
+night. The sun had set, still the Mount of Olives was flushed with the
+reflection of his dying beams, but Jehoshaphat at its feet was in deep
+shadow.
+
+He wandered among the mountains for some time, beholding Jerusalem from
+a hundred different points of view, and watching the single planets and
+clustering constellations that gradually burst into beauty, or gathered
+into light. At length, somewhat exhausted, he descended into the vale.
+The scanty rill of Siloah[45] looked like a thread of silver winding in
+the moonlight. Some houseless wretches were slumbering under the arch
+of its fountain. Several isolated tombs of considerable size[46] rose at
+the base of Olivet, and the largest of these Alroy entered. Proceeding
+through a narrow passage, he entered a small square chamber. On each
+side was an empty sarcophagus of granite, one with its lid broken.
+Between these the Prince of the Captivity laid his robe, and, wearied by
+his ramble, soon soundly slept.
+
+After some hours he woke. He fancied that he had been wakened by the
+sound of voices. The chamber was not quite dark. A straggling moonbeam
+fought its way through an open fretwork pattern in the top of the tomb,
+and just revealed the dim interior. Suddenly a voice spoke, a strange
+and singular voice.
+
+'Brother, brother, the sounds of the night begin.'
+
+Another voice answered,
+
+'Brother, brother, I hear them, too.'
+
+'The woman in labour!'
+
+'The thief at his craft!'
+
+'The sentinel's challenge!'
+
+'The murderer's step!'
+
+'Oh! the merry sounds of the night!'
+
+'Brother, brother, let us come forth and wander about the world.'
+
+'We have seen all things. I'll lie here and listen to the baying hound.
+'Tis music for a tomb.'
+
+'Choice and rare. You are idle. I like to sport in the starry air. Our
+hours are few, they should be fair.'
+
+'What shall we see, Heaven or Earth?' 'Hell for me, 'tis more amusing.'
+'As for me, I am sick of Hades.' 'Let us visit Solomon!' 'In his unknown
+metropolis?'
+
+'That will be rare.'
+
+'But where, oh! where?'
+
+'Even a spirit cannot tell. But they say, but they say, I dare not
+whisper what they say.'
+
+'Who told you?'
+
+'No one. I overheard an Afrite whispering to a female Ghoul he wanted to
+seduce.'
+
+'Hah! hah! hah! hah! choice pair, choice pair! We are more ethereal.'
+
+'She was a beauty in her way. Her eyes were luminous, though somewhat
+dank, and her cheek tinged with carnation caught from infant blood.'
+
+'Oh! gay; oh! gay; what said they?'
+
+'He was a deserter without leave from Solomon's body-guard. The trull
+wriggled the secret out.'
+
+'Tell me, kind brother.'
+
+'I'll show, not tell.'
+
+'I pr'ythee tell me.'
+
+'Well, then, well. In Genthesma's gloomy cave there is a river none has
+reached, and you must sail, and you must sail---- Brother!'
+
+'Ay.'
+
+'Methinks I smell something too earthly.'
+
+'What's that?'
+
+'The breath of man.'
+
+'Scent more fatal than the morning air! Away, away!'
+
+In the range of mountains that lead from Olivet to the river Jordan is
+the great cavern of Genthesma, a mighty excavation formed by the
+combined and immemorial work of Nature and of Art; for on the high
+basaltic columns are cut strange characters and unearthly forms,[47] and
+in many places the natural ornaments have been completed by the hands of
+the sculptor into symmetrical entablatures and fanciful capitals, the
+work, they say, of captive Dives and conquered Afrites for the great
+king.
+
+It was midnight; the cold full moon showered it brilliancy upon this
+narrow valley, shut in on all sides by black and barren mountains.   A
+single being stood at the entrance of the cave.
+
+It was Alroy. Desperate and determined, after listening to the spirits
+in the tomb, he resolved to penetrate the mysteries of Genthesma.  He
+took from his girdle a flint and steel, with which he lighted a torch
+and then he entered.
+
+The cavern narrowed as he cautiously advanced, and soon he found himself
+at the head of an evidently artificial gallery.  A crowd of bats rushed
+forward and extinguished his torch [48]  He leant down to relight it and
+in so doing observed that he had trod upon an artificial pavement.
+
+The gallery was of great extent, with a gradual declination [49] Being
+in a straight line with the mouth of the cavern, the moonlit scene was
+long visible, but Alroy, on looking round, now perceived that the
+exterior was shut out by the eminence that he had left behind him.  The
+sides of the gallery were covered with strange and sculptured forms.
+
+The Prince of the Captivity proceeded along this gallery for nearly two
+hours. A distant murmur of falling water, which might have been
+distinguished nearly from the first, increased in sound as he advanced,
+and now, from the loud roar and dash at hand, he felt that he was on the
+brink of some cataract.  It as very dark. His heart trembled. He felt
+his footing ere he ventured to advance. The spray suddenly leaped
+forward and extinguished his torch.
+
+His eminent danger filled him with terror, and he receded some paces,
+but in vain endeavoured to reillumine his torch, which was soaked with
+water.
+
+His courage deserted him. Energy and exertion seemed hopeless. He was
+about to deliver himself up to despair, when and expanding lustre
+attracted his attention in the opposing gloom.
+
+A small and bright red cloud seemed sailing towards him.  It opened,
+discharged from its bosom as silvery star, and dissolved again into
+darkness. But the star remained, the silvery star, and threw a long line
+of tremulous light upon the vast and raging rapid, which now, fleet and
+foaming, revealed itself on all sides to the eye of Alroy.
+
+The beautiful interposition in his favour re-animated the adventurous
+pilgrim. A dark shadow in the foreground, breaking the line of light
+shed by the star upon the waters, attracted his attention. He advanced,
+regained his former footing, and more nearly examined it. It was a boat,
+and in the boat, mute and immovable, sat one of those vast, singular,
+and hidden forms which eh had observed sculptured on the walls of the
+gallery.
+
+David Alry, committing his fortunes to the God of Israel, leapt into the
+boat.
+
+And at the same moment the Afrite, for it was one of those dread
+beings,[50] raised the oars, and the barque moved.  The falling waters
+suddenly parted in the long line of the  star's reflection, and the
+barque glided through their high and severed masses.
+
+In this wise they proceeded for a few minutes, until they entered a
+beautiful and moonlit lake.  In the distance was mountainous country.
+Alroy examined his companion with a feeling of curiosity not unmixed
+with terror. It was remarkable that Alroy could never succeed in any way
+in attracting his notice. The Afrite seemed totally unconscious of the
+presence of his passenger. At length the boat reached the opposite shore
+of the lake, and the Prince of the Captivity debarked.
+
+He debarked at the head of an avenue of colossal lions of red
+granite,[51] extending far as the eye could reach, and ascending the
+side of the mountain, which was cut into a flight of magnificent
+steps. The easy ascent was in consequence soon accomplished, and Alroy,
+proceeding along the avenue of lions, soon gained the summit of the
+mountain.
+
+To his infinite astonishment he beheld Jerusalem. That strongly-marked
+locality could not be mistaken: at his feet were Jehoshaphat, Kedron,
+Siloah; he stood upon Olivet; before him was Zion. But in all other
+respects, how different was the landscape from the one that he had gazed
+upon a few days back, for the first time! The surrounding hills
+sparkled with vineyards, and glowed with summer palaces, and voluptuous
+pavilions, and glorious gardens of pleasure. The city, extending all
+over Mount Sion, was encompassed with a wall of white marble, with
+battlements of gold; a gorgeous mass of gates and pillars, and gardened
+terraces; lofty piles of rarest materials, cedar, and ivory, and
+precious stones; and costly columns of the richest workmanship and the
+most fanciful orders, capitals of the lotus and the palm, and flowing
+friezes of the olive and the vine.
+
+And in the front a mighty Temple rose, with inspiration in its very
+form; a Temple so vast, so sumptuous, that there needed no priest to
+tell us that no human hand planned that sublime magnificence!
+
+'God of my fathers!' said Alroy, 'I am a poor, weak thing, and my life
+has been a life of dreams and visions, and I have sometimes thought my
+brain lacked a sufficient master; where am I? Do I sleep or live? Am I a
+slumberer or a ghost? This trial is too much.' He sank down, and hid
+his face in his hands: his over-exerted mind appeared to desert him: he
+wept.
+
+Many minutes elapsed before Alroy grew composed. His wild bursts of
+weeping sank into sobs, and the sobs died off into sighs. And at length,
+calm from exhaustion, he again looked up, and lo! the glorious city was
+no more! Before him was a moon-lit plain, over which the avenue of
+lions still advanced, and appeared to terminate only in the mountainous
+distance.
+
+This limit the Prince of the Captivity at length reached, and stood
+before a stupendous portal, cut out of the solid rock, four hundred feet
+in height, and supported by clusters of colossal Caryatides.[52] Upon
+the portal were engraven some Hebrew characters, which upon examination
+proved to be the same as those upon the talisman of Jabaster. And so,
+taking from his bosom that all-precious and long-cherished deposit,
+David Alroy, in obedience to his instructions, pressed the signet
+against the gigantic portal.
+
+The portal opened with a crash of thunder louder than an earthquake.
+Pale, panting, and staggering, the Prince of the Captivity entered an
+illimitable hall, illumined by pendulous balls of glowing metal. On each
+side of the hall, sitting on golden thrones, was ranged a line of kings,
+and, as the pilgrim entered, the monarchs rose, and took off their
+diadems, and waved them thrice, and thrice repeated, in solemn chorus,
+'All hail, Alroy! Hail to thee, brother king! Thy crown awaits thee!'
+
+The Prince of the Captivity stood trembling, with his eyes fixed upon
+the ground, and leaning breathless against a column. And when at length
+he had a little recovered himself, and dared again to look up, he found
+that the monarchs were re-seated; and, from their still and vacant
+visages, apparently unconscious of his presence. And this emboldened
+him, and so, staring alternately at each side of the hall, but with a
+firm, perhaps desperate step, Alroy advanced.
+
+And he came to two thrones which were set apart from the others in the
+middle of the hall. On one was seated a noble figure, far above the
+common stature, with arms folded and downcast eyes. His feet rested upon
+a broken sword and a shivered sceptre, which told that he was a monarch,
+in spite of his discrowned head.
+
+And on the opposite throne was a venerable personage, with a long
+flowing beard, and dressed in white raiment. His countenance
+was beautiful, although ancient. Age had stolen on without its
+imperfections, and time had only invested it with a sweet dignity and
+solemn grace. The countenance of the king was upraised with a seraphic
+gaze, and, as he thus looked up on high, with eyes full of love, and
+thanksgiving, and praise, his consecrated fingers seemed to touch the
+trembling wires of a golden harp.
+
+And further on, and far above the rest, upon a throne that stretched
+across the hall, a most imperial presence straightway flashed upon the
+startled vision of Alroy. Fifty steps of ivory, and each step guarded
+by golden lions,[53] led to a throne of jasper. A dazzling light blazed
+forth from the glittering diadem and radiant countenance of him who sat
+upon the throne, one beautiful as a woman, but with the majesty of a
+god. And in one hand he held a seal, and in the other a sceptre.
+
+And when Alroy had reached the foot of the throne, he stopped, and his
+heart misgave him. And he prayed for some minutes in silent devotion,
+and, without daring to look up, he mounted the first step of the throne,
+and the second, and the third, and so on, with slow and faltering feet,
+until he reached the forty-ninth step.
+
+The Prince of the Captivity raised his eyes. He stood before the monarch
+face to face. In vain Alroy attempted to attract his attention, or to
+fix his gaze. The large dark eyes, full of supernatural lustre, appeared
+capable of piercing all things, and illuminating all things, but they
+flashed on without shedding a ray upon Alroy.
+
+Pale as a spectre, the pilgrim, whose pilgrimage seemed now on the point
+of completion, stood cold and trembling before the object of all his
+desires and all his labours. But he thought of his country, his people,
+and his God; and, while his noiseless lips breathed the name of Jehovah,
+solemnly he put forth his arm, and with a gentle firmness grasped the
+unresisting sceptre of his great ancestor.
+
+And, as he seized it, the whole scene vanished from his sight!
+
+Hours or years might have passed away, so far as the sufferer was
+concerned, when Alroy again returned to self-consciousness. His eyes
+slowly opened, he cast around a vacant stare, he was lying in the cavern
+of Genthesma. The moon had set, but the morn had not broken. A single
+star glittered over the brow of the black mountains. He faintly moved
+his limbs; he would have raised his hand to his bewildered brain, but
+found that it grasped a sceptre. The memory of the past returned to him.
+He tried to rise, and found that he was reposing in the arms of a human
+being. He turned his head; he met the anxious gaze of Jabaster!
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER VII.
+
+     _Conquest of the Seljuks_
+
+YOUR face is troubled, uncle.' 'So is my mind.' 'All may go well.'
+'Miriam, we have seen the best. Prepare yourself for sorrow, gentle
+girl. I care not for myself, for I am old, and age makes heroes of us
+all. I have endured, and can endure more. As we approach our limit, it
+would appear that our minds grow callous. I have seen my wealth, raised
+with the labours of a thoughtful life, vanish in a morn: my people, a
+fragile remnant, nevertheless a people, dispersed, or what is worse. I
+have wept for them, although no tear of selfish grief has tinged this
+withered cheek. And, were I but alone, ay! there's the pang. The solace
+of my days is now my sorrow.'
+
+'Weep not for me, dear uncle. Rather let us pray that our God will not
+forsake us.'
+
+'We know not when we are well. Our hours stole tranquilly along, and
+then we murmured. Prospering, we murmured, and now we are rightly
+stricken. The legend of the past is Israel's bane. The past is a dream;
+and, in the waking present, we should discard the enervating shadow. Why
+should we be free? We murmured against captivity. This _is_ captivity:
+this damp, dim cell, where we are brought to die.
+
+'O! youth, rash youth, thy being is destruction. But yesterday a child,
+it seems but yesterday I nursed him in these arms, a thoughtless child,
+and now our house has fallen by his deeds. I will not think of it;
+'twill make me mad.'
+
+'Uncle, dearest uncle, we have lived together, and we will die together,
+and both in love; but, I pray you, speak no harsh word of David.'
+
+'Shall I praise him?'
+
+'Say nothing. What he has done, if done in grief, has been done all in
+honour. Would you that he had spared Alschiroch?'
+
+'Never! I would have struck him myself. Brave boy, he did his duty; and
+I, I, Miriam, thy uncle, at whom they wink behind his back and call him
+niggard, was I wanting in that hour of trial? Was my treasure spared to
+save my people? Did I shrink from all the toil and trouble of that time?
+A trying time, my Miriam, but compared with this, the building of the
+Temple----'
+
+'You were then what you have ever been, the best and wisest. And since
+our fathers' God did not forsake us, even in that wilderness of wildest
+woe, I offer gratitude in present faith, and pay him for past mercies by
+my prayers for more.'
+
+'Well, well, life must end. The hour approaches when we must meet our
+rulers and mock trial; precious justice that begins in threats and ends
+in torture. You are silent, Miriam.'
+
+'I am speaking to my God.'
+
+'What is that noise? A figure moves behind the dusky grate. Our gaoler.
+No, no, it is Caleb! Faithful child, I fear you have perilled much.'
+
+'I enter with authority, my lord, and bear good tidings.'
+
+'He smiles! Is't possible? Speak on, speak on!'
+
+'Alroy has captured the harem of our Governor, as they journeyed from
+Bagdad to this city, guarded by his choicest troops. And he has sent to
+offer that they shall be exchanged for you and for your household. And
+Hassan has answered that his women shall owe their freedom to nothing
+but his sword. But, in the meantime, it is agreed between him and the
+messenger of your nephew, that both companies of prisoners shall be
+treated with all becoming courtesy. You, therefore, are remanded to
+your palace, and the trumpet is now sounding before the great mosque
+to summon all the host against Alroy, whom Hassan has vowed to bring to
+Hamadan dead or alive.'
+
+'The harem of the Governor, guarded too by his choicest troops! 'Tis a
+great deed. He did remember us. Faithful boy! The harem of the Governor!
+his choicest troops! 'Tis a very great deed. Me-thinks the Lord is with
+him. He has his great father's heart. Only think of David, a child! I
+nursed him, often. Caleb! Can this be David, our David, a child, a girl?
+Yet he struck Alschiroch! Miriam! where is she? Worthy Caleb, look to
+your mistress; she has fallen. Quite gone! Fetch water. 'Tis not very
+pure, but we shall be in our palace soon. The harem of the Governor! I
+can't believe it. Sprinkle, sprinkle. David take them prisoners! Why,
+when they pass, we are obliged to turn our heads, and dare not look.
+More water: I'll rub her hand. 'Tis warmer! Her eyes open! Miriam,
+choice news, my child! The harem of the Governor! I'll not believe it!
+
+'Once more within our walls, Caleb. Life is a miracle. I feel young
+again. This is home; and yet I am a prisoner. You said the host were
+assembling; he can have no chance. Think you, Caleb, he has any chance?
+I hope he will die. I would not have him taken. I fear their tortures.
+We will die too; we will all die. Now I am out of that dungeon,
+me-thinks I could even fight. Is it true that he has joined with
+robbers?'
+
+'I saw the messenger, and learnt that he first repaired to some bandits
+in the ruins in the desert. He had become acquainted with them in his
+pilgrimage. They say their leader is one of our people.'
+
+'I am glad of that. He can eat with him. I would not have him eat
+unclean things with the Ishmaelites.'
+
+'Lord, sir! our people gather to him from all quarters. 'Tis said that
+Jabaster, the great Cabalist, has joined him from the mountains with ten
+thousand men.'
+
+'The great Jabaster! then there is some chance. I know Jabaster well. He
+is too wise to join a desperate cause. Art sure about Jabaster? 'Tis
+a great name, a very potent spirit. I have heard such things of that
+Jabaster, sir, would make you stare like Saul before the spirit! Only
+think of our David, Caleb, making all this noise! I am full of hope. I
+feel not like a prisoner. He beat the harem guard, and, now he has got
+Jabaster, he will beat them all.'
+
+'The messenger told me he captured the harem, only to free his uncle and
+his sister.'
+
+'He ever loved me; I have done my duty to him; I think I have. Jabaster!
+why, man, the name is a spell I There are men at Bagdad who will get up
+in the night to join Jabaster. I hope David will follow his counsels
+in all things. I would I had seen his servant, I could have sent him a
+message.'
+
+'Lord, sir! the Prince Alroy has no great need of counsellors, I can
+tell you. 'Tis said he bears the sceptre of great Solomon, which he
+himself obtained in the unknown tombs of Palestine.'
+
+'The sceptre of Solomon! could I but believe it! 'Tis an age of wonders!
+Where are we? Call for Miriam, I'll tell her this. Only think of David,
+a mere child, our David with the sceptre of Solomon! and Jabaster too! I
+have great faith. The Lord confound his enemies!'
+
+'Gentle Rachel, I fear I trouble you; sweet Beruna, I thank you for your
+zeal. I am better now; the shock was great. These are strange tidings,
+maidens.'
+
+'Yes, dear lady! who would have thought of your brother turning out a
+Captain?'
+
+'I am sure I always thought he was the quietest person in the world,'
+said Beruna, 'though he did kill Alschiroch.'
+
+'One could never get a word out of him,' said Rachel.
+
+'He was always moping alone,' said Beruna.
+
+'And when one spoke to him he always turned away,' said Leah.
+
+'Or blushed,' added Imra.
+
+'Well, for my part,' said the beautiful Bathsheba, 'I always thought
+Prince David was a genius. He had such beautiful eyes!'
+
+'I hope he will conquer Hassan,' said Rachel.
+
+'So do I,' said Beruna.
+
+'I wonder what he has done with the harem,' said Leah.
+
+'I don't think he will dare to speak to them,' said Imra.
+
+'You are very much mistaken,' said Bathsheba.
+
+'Hark!' said Miriam.
+
+''Tis Hassan,' said Bathsheba; 'may he never return!'
+
+The wild drum of the Seljuks sounded, then a flourish of their fierce
+trumpets, and soon the tramp of horse. Behind the blinds of their
+chamber, Miriam and her maidens beheld the magnificent troop of
+tur-baned horsemen, who, glittering with splendid armour and bright
+shawls, and proudly bounding on their fiery steeds, now went forth to
+crush and conquer the only hope of Israel. Upon an Arab, darker than
+night, rode the superb Hassan, and, as he passed the dwelling of
+his late prisoners, whether from the exulting anticipation of coming
+triumph, or from a soft suspicion that, behind that lattice, bright
+eyes and brilliant faces were gazing on his state, the haughty but
+handsome Seljuk flourished his scimitar over his head, as he threw his
+managed steed into attitudes that displayed the skill of its rider.
+
+'He is handsomer than Alschiroch,' said Rachel.
+
+'What a shawl!' said Beruna.
+
+'His scimitar was like lightning,' said Leah.
+
+'And his steed like thunder,' said Imra.
+
+'The evil eye fall on him!' said Bathsheba.
+
+'Lord,' exclaimed Miriam, 'remember David and all his afflictions!'
+
+The deserted city of the wilderness presented a very different
+appearance from that which met the astonished gaze of Alroy, when he
+first beheld its noble turrets, and wandered in its silent streets of
+palaces.
+
+Without the gates was pitched a numerous camp of those low black tents
+common among the Kourds and Turkmans; the principal street was full
+of busy groups engaged in all the preparations of warfare, and all the
+bustling expedients of an irregular and adventurous life; steeds were
+stalled in ruined chambers, and tall camels raised their still visages
+among the clustering columns, or crouched in kneeling tranquillity amid
+fallen statues and prostrate obelisks.
+
+Two months had scarcely elapsed since Alroy and Jabaster had sought
+Scherirah in his haunt, and announced to him their sacred mission. The
+callous heart of him, whose 'mother was a Jewess,' had yielded to their
+inspired annunciations. He embraced their cause with all the fervour
+of conversion, and his motley band were not long sceptical of a creed
+which, while it assuredly offered danger and adventure, held out the
+prospects of wealth and even empire. From the city of the wilderness
+the new Messiah sent forth his messengers to the neighbouring cities, to
+announce his advent to his brethren in captivity. The Hebrews, a
+proud and stiff-necked race, ever prone to rebellion, received the
+announcement of their favourite prince with transport. The descendant
+of David, and the slayer of Alschiroch, had double claims upon their
+confidence and allegiance, and the flower of the Hebrew youth in the
+neighbouring cities of the Caliphate repaired in crowds to pay their
+homage to the recovered sceptre of Solomon.
+
+The affair was at first treated by the government with contempt, and the
+sultan of the Seljuks contented himself with setting a price upon the
+head of the murderer of his brother; but, when several cities had been
+placed under contribution, and more than one Moslem caravan stopped,
+and plundered in the name of the God of Abraham, of Isaac, and of Jacob,
+orders were despatched from Bagdad to the new governor of Hamadan,
+Hassan Subah, to suppress the robbers, or the rebels, and to send David
+Alroy dead or alive to the capital.
+
+The Hebrew malcontents were well apprised by their less adventurous
+but still sympathising brethren of everything that took place at the
+head-quarters of the enemy. Spies arrived on the same day at the city
+of the wilderness, who informed Alroy that his uncle was thrown into
+a dungeon at Hamadan, and that a body of chosen troops were about to
+escort a royal harem from Bagdad into Persia.
+
+Alroy attacked the escort in person, utterly discomfited them, and
+captured their charge. It proved to be the harem of the Governor of
+Hamadan, and if for a moment the too sanguine fancy of the captor
+experienced a passing pang of disappointment, the prize at least
+obtained, as we have seen, the freedom and security of his dear though
+distant friends. This exploit precipitated the expedition which was
+preparing at Hamadan for his destruction. The enraged Hassan Subah
+started from his divan, seized his scimitar, and without waiting for the
+auxiliaries he had summoned from the neighbouring chieftains, called to
+horse, and at the head of two thousand of the splendid Seljuk cavalry,
+hurried to vindicate his love and satiate his revenge.
+
+Within the amphitheatre which he first entered as a prisoner, Alroy sat
+in council. On his right was Jabaster, Scherirah on his left. A youth,
+little his senior, but tall as a palm-tree, and strong as a young lion,
+was the fourth captain. In the distance, some standing, some reclining,
+were about fifty men completely armed.
+
+'Are the people numbered, Abner?' inquired Alroy of the youth.
+
+'Even so; three hundred effective horsemen, and two thousand footmen;
+but the footmen lack arms.'
+
+'The Lord will send them in good time,' said Jabaster; 'meanwhile let
+them continue to make javelins.'
+
+'Trust in the Lord,' murmured Scherirah, bending his head, with his eyes
+fixed on the ground.
+
+A loud shout was heard throughout the city. Alroy started from his
+carpet. The messenger had returned. Pale and haggard, covered with sweat
+and sand, the faithful envoy was borne into the amphitheatre almost upon
+the shoulders of the people. In vain the guard endeavoured to stem the
+passage of the multitude. They clambered up the tiers of arches,
+they filled the void and crumbling seats of the antique circus, they
+supported themselves upon each other's shoulders, they clung to the
+capitals of the lofty columns. The whole multitude had assembled to
+hear the intelligence; the scene recalled the ancient purpose of the
+building, and Alroy and his fellow-warriors seemed like the gladiators
+of some old spectacle.
+
+'Speak,' said Alroy, 'speak the worst. No news can be bitter to those
+whom the Lord will avenge.'
+
+'Ruler of Israel! thus saith Hassan Subah,' answered the messenger: 'My
+harem shall owe their freedom to nothing but my sword. I treat not with
+rebels, but I war not with age or woman; and between Bostenay and his
+household on one side, and the prisoners of thy master on the other, let
+there be peace. Go, tell Alroy, I will seal it in his best blood. And
+lo! thy uncle and thy sister are again in their palace.'
+
+Alroy placed his hand for a moment to his eyes, and then instantly
+resuming his self-possession, he enquired as to the movements of the
+enemy.
+
+'I have crossed the desert on a swift dromedary[54] lent to me by
+Shelomi of the Gate, whose heart is with our cause. I have not tarried,
+neither have I slept. Ere to-morrow's sunset the Philistines will be
+here, led by Hassan Subah himself. The Lord of Hosts be with us! Since
+we conquered Canaan, Israel hath not struggled with such a power!'
+
+A murmur ran through the assembly. Men exchanged enquiring glances, and
+involuntarily pressed each other's arms.
+
+'The trial has come,' said a middle-aged Hebrew, who had fought twenty
+years ago with Jabaster.
+
+'Let me die for the Ark!' said a young enthusiast of the band of Abner.
+
+'I thought we should get into a scrape,' whispered Kisloch the Kourd to
+Calidas the Indian. 'What could have ever induced us to give up robbing
+in a quiet manner?'
+
+'And turn Jews!' said the Guebre, with a sneer.
+
+'Look at Scherirah,' said the Negro, grinning. 'If he is not kissing the
+sceptre of Solomon!'
+
+'I wish to heaven he had only hung Alroy the first time he met him,'
+said Calidas.
+
+'Sons of the Covenant!' exclaimed Alroy, 'the Lord hath delivered them
+into our hands. To-morrow eve we march to Hamadan!'
+
+A cheer followed this exclamation.
+
+'It is written,' said Jabaster, opening a volume, '"Lo! I will defend
+this city, to save it, for mine own sake, and for my servant David's
+sake."
+
+'"And it came to pass that night that the angel of the Lord went out,
+and smote in the camp of the Assyrians, an hundred four score and five
+thousand; and when they arose early in the morning, behold! they were
+all dead corpses."
+
+'Now, as I was gazing upon the stars this morn, and reading the
+celestial alphabet known to the true Cabalist,[55] behold! the star of
+the house of David and seven other stars moved, and met together, and
+formed into a circle. And the word they formed was a mystery to me; but
+lo! I have opened the book, and each star is the initial letter of each
+line of the Targum that I have now read to you. Therefore the fate of
+Sennacherib is the fate of Hassan Subah!'
+
+'_"Trust in him at all times, ye people; pour out your heart before him."
+god is a refuge for us. Selah!_'
+
+At this moment a female form appeared on the very top of the
+amphitheatre, upon the slight remains of the upper most tier of which
+a solitary arch alone was left. The chorus instantly died away, every
+tongue was silent, every eye fixed. Hushed, mute, and immovable, even
+Kisloch and his companions were appalled as they gazed upon Esther the
+Prophetess.
+
+Her eminent position, her imposing action, the flashing of her immense
+eyes, her beautiful but awful countenance, her black hair, that hung
+almost to her knees, and the white light of the moon, just rising over
+the opposite side of the amphitheatre, and which threw a silvery flash
+upon her form, and seemed to invest her with some miraculous emanation,
+while all beneath her was in deep gloom,-these circumstances combined
+to render her an object of universal interest and attention, while in a
+powerful but high voice she thus addressed them:
+
+'They come, they come! But will they go? Lo! hear ye this, O house of
+Jacob, which are called by the name of Israel, and are come forth out of
+the waters of Judah! I hear their drum in the desert, and the voice of
+their trumpets is like the wind of eve, but a decree hath gone forth,
+and it says, that a mortal shall be more precious than fine gold, yea, a
+man than the rich ore of Ophir.
+
+'They come, they come! But will they go? I see the flash of their
+scimitars, I mark the prancing of their cruel steeds; but a decree hath
+gone forth, and it says, a gleaning shall be left among them, as in
+the shaking of the olive-tree; two or three berries on the top of the
+uppermost bough; four or five on the straggling branches.
+
+'They come, they come! But will they go? Lo! a decree hath gone forth,
+and it says, Hamadan shall be to thee for a spoil, and desolation shall
+fall upon Babylon. And there shall the wild beasts of the desert lodge,
+and howling monsters shall fill their houses, and there shall the
+daughters of the ostrich dwell, and there shall the screech-owl pitch
+her tent, and there shall the night-raven lay her eggs, and there shall
+the satyrs hold their revels. And wolves shall howl to one another in
+their palaces, and dragons in their voluptuous pavilions. Her time is
+near at hand; her days shall not be prolonged; the reed and the lotus
+shall wither in her rivers; and the meadows by her canals shall be as
+the sands of the desert. For, is it a light thing that the Lord should
+send his servant to raise up the tribes of Jacob, and to restore the
+preserved of Israel? Sing, O heavens, and be joyful, O earth, and break
+forth into singing, O mountains, for the Lord hath comforted his people,
+and will have mercy upon his afflicted!'
+
+She ceased; she descended the precipitous side of the amphitheatre with
+rapid steps, vaulting from tier to tier, and bounding with wonderful
+agility from one mass of ruin to another. At length she reached the
+level; and then, foaming and panting, she rushed to Alroy, threw herself
+upon the ground, embraced his feet, and wiped off the dust from his
+sandals with her hair.
+
+The assembly broke into long and loud acclamations of supernatural
+confidence and sanguine enthusiasm. They beheld their Messiah wave his
+miraculous sceptre. They thought of Hassan Subah and his Seljuks only
+as of victims, and of to-morrow only as of a day which was to commence a
+new era of triumph, freedom, and empire!
+
+Hassan Subah after five days' forced marches pitched his sumptuous
+pavilion in that beautiful Oasis, which had afforded such delightful
+refreshment to Alroy when a solitary pilgrim. Around for nearly a mile,
+were the tents of his warriors, and of the numerous caravan that had
+accompanied him, laden with water and provisions for his troops. Here,
+while he reposed, he also sought information as to the position of his
+enemy.
+
+A party of observation, which he had immediately despatched, returned
+almost instantly with a small caravan that had been recently plundered
+by the robbers. The merchant, a venerable and pious Moslem, was ushered
+into the presence of the Governor of Hamadan.
+
+'From the robbers' haunt?' enquired Hassan.
+
+'Unfortunately so,' answered the merchant.
+
+'Is it far?'
+
+'A day's journey.'
+
+'And you quitted it?'
+
+'Yesterday morn.'
+
+'What is their force?'
+
+The merchant hesitated.
+
+'Do they not make prisoners?' enquired the Governor, casting a
+scrutinising glance at his companion.
+
+'Holy Prophet! what a miserable wretch am I!' exclaimed the venerable
+merchant, bursting into tears. 'A faithful subject of the Caliph, I am
+obliged to serve rebels, a devout Moslem, I am forced to aid Jews! Order
+me to be hanged at once, my lord,' continued the unfortunate merchant,
+wringing his hands. 'Order me to be hanged at once. I have lived long
+enough.'
+
+'What is all this?' enquired Hassan; 'speak, friend, without fear.'
+
+'I am a faithful subject of the Caliph,' answered the merchant; 'I am a
+devout Moslem, but I have lost ten thousand dirhems.'
+
+'I am sorry for you, sir; I also have lost something, but my losses are
+nothing to you, nor yours to me.'
+
+'Accursed be the hour when these dogs tempted me! Tell me, is it sin to
+break faith with a Jew?'
+
+'On the contrary, I could find you many reverend Mollahs, who will tell
+you that such a breach is the highest virtue. Come! come, I see how it
+is: you have received your freedom on condition of not betraying your
+merciful plunderers. Promises exacted by terror are the bugbears of
+fools. Speak, man, all you know. Where are they? What is their force?
+Are we supposed to be at hand?'
+
+'I am a faithful subject of the Caliph, and I am bound to serve him,'
+replied the merchant; 'I am a devout Moslem, and 'tis my duty to destroy
+all Giaours, but I am also a man, and I must look after my own interest.
+Noble Governor, the long and the short is, these scoundrels have robbed
+me of ten thousand dirhems, as my slaves will tell you: at least, goods
+to that amount. No one can prove that they be worth less. It is true
+that I include in that calculation the fifty per cent. I was to make
+on my shawls at Hamadan, but still to me it is as good as ten thousand
+dirhems. Ask my slaves if such an assortment of shawls was ever yet
+beheld.'
+
+'To the point, to the point. The robbers?' 'I am at the point. The
+shawls is the point. For when I talked of the shawls and the heaviness
+of my loss, you must know that the captain of the robbers--'
+
+'Alroy?'
+
+'A fierce young gentleman, I do not know how they call him: said the
+captain to me, "Merchant, you look gloomy." "Gloomy," I said, "you would
+look gloomy if you were a prisoner, and had lost ten thousand dirhems."
+"What, is this trash worth ten thousand dirhems?" said he. "With the
+fifty per cent. I was to make at Hamadan." "Fifty per cent.," said he;
+"you are an old knave." "Knave! I should like to hear any one call me
+knave at Bagdad." "Well, knave or not, you may get out of this scrape."
+"How?" "Why you are a respectable-looking man," said he, "and are a good
+Moslem into the bargain, I warrant." "That I am," said I, "although you
+be a Jew: but how the faith is to serve me here I am sure I don't
+know, unless the angel Gabriel, as in the fifty-fifth verse of the
+twenty-seventh chapter of the Koran----"'
+
+'Tush, tush!' exclaimed Hassan; 'to the point.'
+
+'I always am at the point, only you put me out. However, to make it
+as short as possible, the captain knows all about your coming, and is
+frightened out of his wits, although he did talk big; I could easily see
+that. And he let me go, you see, with some of my slaves, and gave me an
+order for five thousand dirhems on one Bostenay, of Hamadan (perhaps
+you know him; is he a good man?), on condition that I would fall in with
+you, and, Mohammed forgive me, tell you a lie!'
+
+'A lie!'
+
+'Yes, a lie; but these Jewish dogs do not understand what a truly
+religious man is, and when I began to tell the lie, I was soon put
+out. Now, noble Hassan, if a promise to a Jew be not binding on a true
+believer, and you will see me straight with the five thousand dirhems, I
+will betray everything at once.'
+
+'Be easy about the five thousand dirhems, good man, and tell me all.'
+
+'You will see me paid?'
+
+'My honour upon it.'
+
+''Tis well! Know then, the infamous dogs are very weak, and terrified
+at the news of your progress: one, whom I think they call Jabaster, has
+departed with the great majority of the people into the interior of the
+desert, about seven hundred strong. I heard so; but mind, I do not
+know it. The young man, whom you call Alroy, being wounded in a recent
+conflict, could not depart with them, but remains among the ruins with
+some female prisoners, some treasure, and about a hundred companions
+hidden in sepulchres. He gave me my freedom on condition that I should
+fall in with you, and assure you that the dogs, full five thousand
+strong, had given you the go-by in the night, and marched towards
+Hamadan. They wanted me to frighten you; it was a lie, and I could not
+tell it. And now you know the plain truth; and if it be a sin to break
+faith with an infidel, you are responsible for it, as well as for the
+five thousand dirhems, which, by-the-bye, ought to have been ten.'
+
+'Where is your order?'
+
+''Tis here,' said the merchant, drawing it from his vest, 'a very
+business-like document, drawn upon one Bostenay, whom they described as
+very rich, and who is here enjoined to pay me five thousand dirhems, if,
+in consequence of my information, Hassan Subah, that is yourself, return
+forthwith to Hamadan without attacking them.'
+
+'Old Bostenay's head shall answer for this.'
+
+'I am glad of it. But were I you, I would make him pay me first.'
+
+'Merchant,' said Hassan, 'have you any objection to pay another visit to
+your friend Alroy?'
+
+'Allah forbid!'
+
+'In my company?'
+
+'That makes a difference.'
+
+'Be our guide. The dirhems shall be doubled.'
+
+'That will make up for the fifty per cent. I hardly like it; but in your
+company that makes a difference. Lose no time. If you push on, Alroy
+must be captured. Now or never! The Jewish dogs, to rifle a true
+believer!'
+
+'Oglu,' said Hassan to one of his officers. 'To horse! You need not
+strike the tents. Can we reach the city by sunset, merchant?'
+
+'An hour before, if you be off at once.' 'Sound the drums. To horse! to
+horse!' The Seljuks halted before the walls of the deserted city. Their
+commander ordered a detachment to enter and reconnoitre. They returned
+and reported its apparent desolation. Hassan Subah, then directing
+that a guard should surround the walls to prevent any of the enemy from
+escaping, passed with his warriors through the vast portal into the
+silent street. The still magnificence of the strange and splendid scene
+influenced the temper even of this ferocious cavalry. They gazed around
+them with awe and admiration. The fierceness of their visages was
+softened, the ardour of their impulse stilled. A supernatural feeling
+of repose stole over their senses. No one brandished his scimitar, the
+fiery courser seemed as subdued as his lord, and no sound was heard but
+the melancholy, mechanical tramp of the disciplined march, unrelieved
+by martial music, inviolate by oath or jest, and unbroken even by the
+ostentatious caracoling of any showy steed.
+
+It was sunset; the star of eve glittered over the white Ionian fane that
+rose serene and delicate in the flashing and purple sky.
+
+'This way, my lord!' said the merchant guide, turning round to Hassan
+Subah, who, surrounded by his officers, led the van. The whole of the
+great way of the city was filled with the Seljukian warriors. Their ebon
+steeds, their snowy turbans, adorned with plumes of the black eagle and
+the red heron, their dazzling shawls, the blaze of their armour in
+the sunset, and the long undulating perspective of beautiful forms and
+brilliant colours, this regiment of heroes in a street of palaces. War
+had seldom afforded a more imposing or more picturesque spectacle.
+
+'This way, my lord!' said the merchant, pointing to the narrow turning
+that, at the foot of the temple, led through ruined streets to the
+amphitheatre.
+
+'Halt!' exclaimed a wild shrill voice. Each warrior suddenly arrested
+his horse.
+
+'Who spoke?' exclaimed Hassan Subah.
+
+'I!' answered a voice. A female form stood in the portico of the temple,
+with uplifted arms.
+
+'And who art thou?' enquired Hassan Subah, not a little disconcerted.
+
+'Thine evil genius, Seljuk!'
+
+Hassan Subah, pale as his ivory battle-axe, did not answer; every man
+within hearing shuddered; still the dread woman remained immovable
+within the porch of the temple.
+
+'Woman, witch, or goddess,' at length exclaimed Hassan Subah, 'what
+wouldst thou here?'
+
+'Seljuk! behold this star. 'Tis a single drop of light, yet who even
+of thy wild band can look upon it without awe? And yet thou worse than
+Sisera, thou comest to combat against those for whom even "the stars in
+their courses fought."'
+
+'A Jewish witch!' exclaimed the Seljuk.
+
+'A Jewish witch! Be it so; behold, then, my spell falls upon thee, and
+that spell is Destruction.
+
+'Awake, awake, Deborah: awake, awake, utter a song; arise, Barak, and
+lead thy captivity captive, thou son of Abinoam!'
+
+Immediately the sky appeared to darken, a cloud of arrows and javelins
+broke from all sides upon the çlevoted Seljuks: immense masses of stone
+and marble were hurled from all directions, horses were stabbed by
+spears impelled by invisible hands, and riders fell to the ground
+without a struggle, and were trampled upon by their disordered and
+affrighted brethren.
+
+'We are betrayed,' exclaimed Hassan Subah, hurling a javelin at the
+merchant, but the merchant was gone. The Seljuks raised their famous war
+cry.
+
+'Oglu, regain the desert,' ordered the chieftain.
+
+But no sooner had the guard without the walls heard the war cry of
+their companions, than, alarmed, for their safety, they rushed to their
+assistance. The retreating forces of Subah, each instant diminishing as
+they retreated, were baffled in their project by the very eagerness of
+their auxiliaries. The unwilling contention of the two parties increased
+the confusion; and when the Seljuks, recently arrived, having at length
+formed into some order, had regained the gate, they found to their
+dismay that the portal was barricadoed and garrisoned by the enemy.
+Uninspired by the presence of their commander, who was in the rear, the
+puzzled soldiers were seized with a panic, and spurring their
+horses, dispersed in all directions of the city. In vain Hassan Subah
+endeavoured to restore order. The moment was past. Dashing with about
+thirty men to an open ground, which his quick eye had observed in his
+progress down the street, and dealing destruction with every blow, the
+dreaded Governor of Hamadan, like a true soldier, awaited an inevitable
+fate, not wholly despairing that some chance might yet turn up to
+extricate him from his forlorn situation.
+
+And now, as it were by enchantment, wild armed men seemed to arise from
+every part of the city. From every mass of ruin, from every crumbling
+temple and mouldering mansion, from every catacomb and cellar, from
+behind every column and every obelisk, upstarted some desperate warrior
+with a bloody weapon. The massacre of the Seljuks was universal. The
+horsemen dashed wildly about the ruined streets, pursued by crowds of
+footmen; sometimes, formed in small companies, the Seljuks charged and
+fought desperately; but, however stout might be their resistance to the
+open foe, it was impossible to withstand their secret enemies. They had
+no place of refuge, no power of gaining even a moment's breathing time.
+If they retreated to a wall it instantly bristled with spears; if they
+endeavoured to form, in a court, they sank under the falling masses
+which were showered upon them. Strange shouts of denunciation blended
+with the harsh braying of horns, and the clang and clash of cymbals and
+tambours sounded in every quarter of the city.
+
+'If we could only mount the walls, Ibrahim, and leap into the desert!'
+exclaimed Hassan Subah to one of his few remaining comrades; ''tis our
+only chance. We die here like dogs! Could I but meet Alroy!'
+
+Three of the Seljuks dashed swiftly across the open ground in front,
+followed by several Hebrew horsemen.
+
+'Smite all, Abner. Spare none, remember Amalek,' exclaimed their
+youthful leader, waving his bloody scimitar.
+
+'They are down; one, two, there goes the third. My javelin has done for
+him.'
+
+'Your horse bleeds freely. Where's Jabaster?'
+
+'At the gates; my arm aches with slaughter. The Lord hath delivered them
+into our hands. Could I but meet their chieftain!'
+
+'Turn, bloodhound, he is here,' exclaimed Hassan Subah.
+
+'Away, Abner, this affair is mine.'
+
+'Prince, you have already slain your thousands.'
+
+'And Abner his tens of thousands. Is it so? This business is for me
+only. Come on, Turk.'
+
+'Art thou Alroy?'
+
+'The same.'
+
+'The slayer of Alschiroch?'
+
+'Even so.'
+
+'A rebel and a murderer.'
+
+'What you please. Look to yourself.'
+
+The Hebrew Prince flung a javelin at the Seljuk. It glanced from the
+breastplate; but Hassan Subah staggered in his seat. Recovering, he
+charged Alroy with great force. Their scimitars crossed, and the blade
+of Hassan shivered.
+
+'He who sold me that blade told me it was charmed, and could be broken
+only by a caliph,' said Hassan Subah. 'He was a liar.'
+
+'As it may be,' said Alroy, and he cut the Seljuk to the ground. Abner
+had dispersed his comrades. Alroy leaped from his fainting steed, and,
+mounting the ebon courser of his late enemy, dashed again into the
+thickest of the fight.
+
+The shades of night descended, the clamour gradually decreased, the
+struggle died away. A few unhappy Moslemin who had quitted their saddles
+and sought concealment among the ruins, were occasionally hunted out,
+and brought forward and massacred. Long ere midnight the last of the
+Seljuks had expired.[56]
+
+The moon shed a broad light upon the street of palaces crowded with
+the accumulated slain and the living victors. Fires were lit, torches
+illumined, the conquerors prepared the eager meal as they sang hymns of
+praise and thanksgiving.
+
+A procession approached. Esther the prophetess, clashing her cymbals,
+danced before the Messiah of Israel, who leant upon his victorious
+scimitar, surrounded by Jabaster, Abner, Scherirah, and his chosen
+chieftains. Who could now doubt the validity of his mission? The
+wide and silent desert rang with the acclamations of his enthusiastic
+votaries.
+
+Heavily the anxious hours crept on in the Jewish quarter of Hamadan.
+Again and again the venerable Bostenay discussed the chances of success
+with the sympathising but desponding elders. Miriam was buried in
+constant prayer. Their most sanguine hopes did not extend beyond the
+escape of their Prince.
+
+A fortnight had elapsed, and no news had been received of the progress
+of the expedition, when suddenly, towards sunset, a sentinel on a
+watch-tower announced the appearance of an armed force in the distance.
+The walls were instantly lined with the anxious inhabitants, the streets
+and squares filled with curious crowds. Exultation sat on the triumphant
+brow of the Moslemin; a cold tremor stole over the fluttering heart of
+the Hebrew.
+
+'There is but one God,' said the captain of the gate.
+
+'And Mahomed is His prophet,' responded a sentinel.
+
+'To-morrow we will cut off the noses of all these Jewish dogs.'
+
+'The sceptre has departed,' exclaimed the despairing Bostenay.
+
+'Lord, remember David!' whispered Miriam, as she threw herself upon the
+court of the palace, and buried her face in ashes.
+
+The Mollahs in solemn procession advanced to the ramparts, to shed their
+benediction on the victorious Hassan Subah. The Muezzin ascended the
+minarets to watch the setting sun, and proclaim the power of Allah with
+renewed enthusiasm.
+
+'I wonder if Alroy be dead or alive,' said the captain of the gate.
+
+'If he be alive, he will be impaled,' responded a sentinel.
+
+'If dead, the carcass will be given to the dogs,' rejoined the captain;
+'that is the practice.'
+
+'Bostenay will be hung,' said the sentinel.
+
+'And his niece, too,' answered the captain.
+
+'Hem!' said the sentinel. 'Hassan Subah loves a black eye.'
+
+'I hope a true Moslem will not touch a Jewess,' exclaimed an indignant
+black eunuch.
+
+'They approach. What a dust!' said the captain of the gate.
+
+'I see Hassan Subah!' said the sentinel.
+
+'So do I,' said the eunuch, 'I know his black horse.'
+
+'I wonder how many dirhems old Bostenay is worth,' said the captain.
+
+'Immense!' said the sentinel.
+
+'No plunder, I suppose?' said the eunuch.
+
+'We shall see,' said the captain; 'at any rate, I owe a thousand to old
+Shelomi. We need not pay now, you know.'
+
+'Certainly not,' said the black eunuch. 'The rebels.'
+
+A body of horsemen dashed forward. Their leader in advance reined in his
+fiery charger beneath the walls.
+
+'In the name of the Prophet, who is that?' exclaimed the captain of the
+gate, a little confused.
+
+'I never saw him before,' said the sentinel, 'although he is in the
+Seljuk dress. 'Tis some one from Bagdad, I guess.'
+
+A trumpet sounded.
+
+'Who keeps the gate?' called out the warrior.
+
+'I am the captain of the gate,' answered our friend.
+
+'Open it, then, to the King of Israel.'
+
+'To whom?' enquired the astonished captain.
+
+'To King David. The Lord hath delivered Hassan Subah and his host into
+our hands, and of all the proud Seljuks none remaineth. Open thy gates,
+I say, and lose no time. I am Jabaster, a lieutenant of the Lord; this
+scimitar is my commission. Open thy gates, and thou and thy people shall
+have that mercy which they have never shown; but if thou delayest one
+instant, thus saith the King our master, "I will burst open your portal,
+and smite, and utterly destroy all that you have, and spare them not;
+but slay both man and woman, infant and suckling, ox and sheep, camel
+and ass."'
+
+'Call forth the venerable Lord Bostenay,' said the captain of the gate,
+with chattering teeth. 'He will intercede for us.'
+
+'And the gentle Lady Miriam,' said the sentinel. 'She is ever
+charitable.'
+
+'I will head the procession,' said the black eunuch; 'I am accustomed to
+women.'
+
+The procession of Mollahs shuffled back to their college with profane
+precipitation; the sun set, and the astounded Muezzin stood with their
+mouths open, and quite forgot to announce the power of their Deity,
+and the validity of their Prophet. The people all called out for the
+venerable Lord Bostenay and the gentle Lady Miriam, and ran in crowds to
+see who could first kiss the hem of their garments.
+
+The principal gate of Hamadan opened into the square of the great
+mosque. Here the whole population of the city appeared assembled. The
+gates were thrown open; Jabaster and his companions mounted guard. The
+short twilight died away, the shades of night descended. The minarets
+were illumined,[57] the houses hung with garlands, the ramparts covered
+with tapestry and carpets.
+
+A clang of drums, trumpets, and cymbals announced the arrival of the
+Hebrew army. The people shouted, the troops without responded with a
+long cheer of triumph. Amid the blaze of torches, a youth waving his
+scimitar, upon a coal-black steed, bounded into the city, at the head
+of his guards, the people fell upon their knees, and shouted 'Long live
+Alroy!'
+
+A venerable man, leading a beauteous maiden with downcast eyes,
+advanced. They headed a deputation of the chief inhabitants of the city.
+They came to solicit mercy and protection. At the sight of them, the
+youthful warrior leaped from his horse, flung away his scimitar, and
+clasping the maiden in his arms, exclaimed, 'Miriam, my sister, this,
+this indeed is triumph!'
+
+'Drink,' said Kisloch the Kourd to Calidas the Indian; 'you forget,
+comrade, we are no longer Moslemin.'
+
+'Wine, methinks, has a peculiarly pleasant flavour in a golden cup,'
+said the Guebre. 'I got this little trifle to-day in the Bazaar,' he
+added, holding up a magnificent vase studded with gems.
+
+'I thought plunder was forbidden,' grinned the Negro.
+
+'So it is,' replied the Guebre; 'but we may purchase what we please,
+upon credit.'
+
+'Well, for my part, I am a moderate man,' exclaimed Calidas the Indian,
+'and would not injure even these accursed dogs of Turks. I have not cut
+my host's throat, but only turned him into my porter, and content myself
+with his harem, his baths, his fine horses, and other little trifles.'
+
+'What quarters we are in! There is nothing like a true Messiah!'
+exclaimed Kisloch, devoutly.
+
+'Nothing,' said Calidas; 'though to speak truth, I did not much believe
+in the efficacy of Solomon's sceptre, till his Majesty clove the head of
+the valiant Seljuk with it.'
+
+'But now there's no doubt of it,' said the Guebre.
+
+'We should indeed be infidels if we doubted now,' replied the Indian.
+
+'How lucky,' grinned the Negro, 'as I had no religion before, that I
+have now fixed upon the right one!'
+
+'Most fortunate!' said the Guebre. 'What shall we do to amuse ourselves
+to-night?'
+
+'Let us go to the coffee-houses and make the Turks drink wine,' said
+Calidas the Indian.
+
+'What say you to burning down a mosque?' said Kisloch the Kourd.
+
+'I had great fun with some Dervishes this morning,' said the Guebre. 'I
+met one asking alms with a wire run through his cheek,[58] so I caught
+another, bored his nose, and tied them both together!'
+
+'Hah! hah! hah!' burst the Negro.
+
+Asia resounded with the insurrection of the Jews, and the massacre of
+the Seljuks. Crowds of Hebrews, from the rich cities of Persia and the
+populous settlements on the Tigris and the Euphrates, hourly poured into
+Hamadan.
+
+The irritated Moslemin persecuted the brethren of the successful rebel,
+and this impolicy precipitated their flight. The wealth of Bagdad
+flowed into the Hebrew capital. Seated on the divan of Hassan Subah, and
+wielding the sceptre of Solomon, the King of Israel received the homage
+of his devoted subjects, and despatched his envoys to Syria and to
+Egypt. The well-stored magazines and arsenals of Hamadan soon converted
+the pilgrims into warriors. The city was unable to accommodate the
+increased and increasing population. An extensive camp, under the
+command of Abner, was formed without the walls, where the troops were
+daily disciplined, and where they were prepared for greater exploits
+than a skirmish in a desert.
+
+Within a month after the surrender of Hamadan, the congregation of the
+people assembled in the square of the great mosque, now converted into a
+synagogue. The multitude was disposed in ordered ranks, and the terrace
+of every house was crowded. In the centre of the square was an altar of
+cedar and brass, and on each side stood a company of priests guarding
+the victims, one young bullock, and two rams without blemish.
+
+Amid the flourish of trumpets, the gates of the synagogue opened, and
+displayed to the wondering eyes of the Hebrews a vast and variegated
+pavilion planted in the court. The holy remnant, no longer forlorn,
+beheld that tabernacle of which they had so long dreamed, once more
+shining in the sun, with its purple and scarlet hangings, its curtains
+of rare skins, and its furniture of silver and gold.
+
+A procession of priests advanced, bearing, with staves of cedar, run
+through rings of gold, a gorgeous ark, the work of the most cunning
+artificers of Persia. Night and day had they laboured, under the
+direction of Jabaster, to produce this wondrous spectacle. Once more
+the children of Israel beheld the cherubim. They burst into a triumphant
+hymn of thanksgiving, and many drew their swords, and cried aloud to be
+led against the Canaanites.
+
+From the mysterious curtains of the tabernacle, Alroy came forward,
+leading Jabaster. They approached the altar. And Alroy took robes from
+the surrounding priests, and put them upon Jabaster, and a girdle, and
+a breastplate of jewels. And Alroy took a mitre, and placed it upon the
+head of Jabaster, and upon the mitre he placed a crown; and pouring oil
+upon his head, the pupil anointed the master High Priest of Israel.
+
+The victims were slain, the sin-offering burnt. Amid clouds of incense,
+bursts of music, and the shouts of a devoted people; amid odour, and
+melody, and enthusiasm, Alroy mounted his charger, and at the head of
+twenty thousand men, departed to conquer Media.
+
+The extensive and important province of Aderbijan, of which Hamadan was
+the capital, was formed of the ancient Media. Its fate was decided
+by one battle. On the plain of Nehauend, Alroy met the hastily-raised
+levies of the Atabek of Kermanshah, and entirely routed them. In the
+course of a month, every city of the province had acknowledged the
+supremacy of the new Hebrew monarch, and, leaving Abner to complete the
+conquest of Louristan, Alroy entered Persia.
+
+The incredible and irresistible progress of Alroy roused Togrul, the
+Turkish Sultan of Persia, from the luxurious indolence of the palaces
+of Nishapur. He summoned his emirs to meet him at the imperial city of
+Rhey, and crush, by one overwhelming effort, the insolent rebel.
+
+Religion, valour, and genius, alike inspired the arms of Alroy, but he
+was, doubtless, not a little assisted by the strong national sympathy
+of his singular and scattered people, which ever ensured him prompt
+information of all the movements of his enemy. Without any preparation,
+he found agents in every court, and camp, and cabinet; and, by their
+assistance, he anticipated the designs of his adversaries, and turned
+even their ingenuity to their confusion. The imperial city of Rhey was
+surprised in the night, sacked, and burnt to the ground. The scared
+and baffled emirs who escaped, flew to the Sultan Togrul, tearing their
+beards, and prophesying the approaching termination of the world. The
+palaces of Nishapur resounded with the imprecations of their master,
+who, cursing the Jewish dogs, and vowing a pilgrimage to Mecca, placed
+himself at the head of a motley multitude of warriors, and rushed upon
+the plains of Irak, to exterminate Alroy.
+
+The Persian force exceeded the Hebrew at least five times in number.
+Besides a large division of Seljuks, the Caucasus had poured forth its
+strange inhabitants to swell the ranks of the Faithful. The wild tribes
+of the Bactiari were even enlisted, with their fatal bows, and the
+savage Turkmans, tempted by the sultan's gold, for a moment yielded
+their liberty, and shook their tall lances in his ranks.
+
+But what is a wild Bactiari, and what is a savage Turkman, and what
+even a disciplined and imperious Seljuk, to the warriors of the God of
+Abraham, of Isaac, and of Jacob? At the first onset, Alroy succeeded in
+dividing the extended centre of Togrul, and separating the greater part
+of the Turks from their less disciplined comrades. At the head of his
+Median cavalry, the Messiah charged and utterly routed the warriors of
+the Caucasus. The wild tribes of the Bactiari discharged their arrows
+and fled, and the savage Turkmans plundered the baggage of their own
+commander.
+
+The Turks themselves fought desperately; but, deserted by their allies,
+and surrounded by an inspired foe, their efforts were unavailing, and
+their slaughter terrible. Togrul was slain while heading a desperate and
+fruitless charge, and, after his fall, the battle resembled a massacre
+rather than a combat. The plain was glotted with Seljuk gore. No quarter
+was given or asked. Twenty thousand chosen troops fell on the side
+of the Turks; the rest dispersed and gained the mountains. Leaving
+Scherirah to restore order, Alroy the next morning pushed on to Nishapur
+at the head of three thousand horsemen, and summoned the city ere the
+inhabitants were apprised of the defeat and death of their sultan. The
+capital of Persia escaped the fate of Rhey by an inglorious treaty and
+a lavish tribute. The treasures of the Chosroes and the Gasnevides
+were despatched to Hamadan, on which city day dawned, only to bring
+intelligence of a victory or a conquest.
+
+While Alroy dictated peace on his own terms in the palaces of Nishapur,
+Abner, having reduced Louristan, crossed the mountains, and entered
+Persia with the reinforcements he had received from Jabaster. Leaving
+the government and garrisoning of his new conquests to this valiant
+captain, Alroy, at the head of the conquerors of Persia, in consequence
+of intelligence received from Hamadan, returned by forced marches to
+that city.
+
+Leaving the army within a day's march of the capital, Alroy, accompanied
+only by his staff, entered Hamadan in the evening, and, immediately
+repairing to the citadel, summoned Jabaster to council. The night was
+passed by the king and the high priest in deep consultation. The next
+morning, a decree apprised the inhabitants of the return of their
+monarch, of the creation of the new 'Kingdom of the Medes and Persians,'
+of which Hamadan was declared the capital, and Abner the viceroy, and
+of the intended and immediate invasion of Syria, and re-conquest of the
+Land of Promise.
+
+The plan of this expedition had been long matured, and the preparations
+to effect it were considerably advanced. Jabaster had not been idle
+during the absence of his pupil. One hundred thousand warriors were now
+assembled[59] at the capital of the kingdom of the Medes and Persians;
+of these the greater part were Hebrews, but many Arabs, wearied of the
+Turkish yoke, and many gallant adventurers from the Caspian, easily
+converted from a vague idolatry to a religion of conquest, swelled the
+ranks of the army of the Lord of Hosts.
+
+The plain of Hamadan was covered with tents, the streets were filled
+with passing troops, the bazaars loaded with military stores; long
+caravans of camels laden with supplies every day arrived from
+the neighbouring towns; each instant some high-capped Tatar with
+despatches[60] rushed into the city and galloped his steed up the steep
+of the citadel. The clang of arms, the prance of horses, the flourish
+of warlike music, resounded from all quarters. The business and the
+treasure of the world seemed, as it were in an instant, to have become
+concentrated in Hamadan. Every man had some great object; gold glittered
+in every hand. All great impulses were stirring; all the causes of human
+energy were in lively action. Every eye sparkled, every foot trod firm
+and fast. Each man acted as if the universal fate depended upon his
+exertions; as if the universal will sympathised with his particular
+desire. A vast population influenced by a high degree of excitement is
+the most sublime of spectacles.
+
+The commander of the Faithful raised the standard of the Prophet on the
+banks of the Tigris. It was the secret intelligence of this intended
+event that had recalled Alroy so suddenly from Persia. The latent
+enthusiasm of the Moslemin was excited by the rare and mystic ceremony,
+and its effects were anticipated by previous and judicious preparations.
+The Seljuks of Bagdad alone amounted to fifty thousand men; the Sultan
+of Syria contributed the warriors who had conquered the Arabian princes
+of Damascus and Aleppo; while the ancient provinces of Asia Minor, which
+formed the rich and powerful kingdom of Seljukian Roum, poured forth a
+myriad of that matchless cavalry, which had so often baffled the armies
+of the Cæsars. Never had so imposing a force been collected on the banks
+of the Tigris since the reign of Haroun Alraschid. Each day some warlike
+Atabek, at the head of his armed train, poured into the capital of the
+caliphs,[61] or pitched his pavilion on the banks of the river; each day
+the proud emir of some remote principality astonished or affrighted
+the luxurious Babylonians by the strange or uncouth warriors that had
+gathered round his standard in the deserts of Arabia, or on the shores
+of the Euxine. For the space of twenty miles, the banks of the river
+were, on either side, far as the eye could reach, covered with the
+variegated pavilions, the glittering standards, the flowing streamers
+and twinkling pennons of the mighty host, of which Malek, the Grand
+Sultan of the Seljuks, and Governor of the Caliph's palace, was chief
+commander.
+
+Such was the power assembled on the plains of Asia to arrest the
+progress of the Hebrew Prince, and to prevent the conquest of the
+memorable land promised to the faith of his fathers, and forfeited by
+their infidelity. Before the walls of Hamadan, Alroy reviewed the army
+of Israel, sixty thousand heavy-armed footmen, thirty thousand archers
+and light troops, and twenty thousand cavalry. Besides these, there had
+been formed a body of ten thousand picked horsemen, styled the 'Sacred
+Guard,' all of whom had served in the Persian campaign. In their centre,
+shrouded in a case of wrought gold, studded with carbuncles, and carried
+on a lusty lance of cedar, a giant--for the height of Elnebar exceeded
+that of common men by three feet--bore the sceptre of Solomon. The
+Sacred Guard was commanded by Asriel, the brother of Abner.
+
+The army was formed into three divisions. All marched in solemn order
+before the throne of Alroy, raised upon the ramparts, and drooped their
+standards and lances as they passed their heroic leader. Bostenay, and
+Miriam, and the whole population of the city witnessed the inspiring
+spectacle from the walls. That same eve, Scherirah, at the head of forty
+thousand men, pushed on towards Bagdad, by Kermanshah; and Jabaster,
+who commanded in his holy robes, and who had vowed not to lay aside his
+sword until the rebuilding of the temple, conducted his division over
+the victorious plain of Nehauend. They were to concentrate at the pass
+of Kerrund, which conducted into the province of Bagdad, and await the
+arrival of the king.
+
+At the dawn of day, the royal division and the Sacred Guard, the whole
+under the command of Asriel, quitted the capital. Alroy still lingered,
+and for some hours the warriors of his staff might have been observed
+lounging about the citadel, or practising their skill in throwing the
+jerreed as they exercised their impatient chargers before the gates.
+
+The king was with the Lady Miriam, walking in the garden of their
+uncle. One arm was wound round her delicate waist, and with the other
+he clasped her soft and graceful hand. The heavy tears burst from her
+downcast eyes, and stole along her pale and pensive cheek. They walked
+in silence, the brother and the sister, before the purity of whose
+surpassing love even ambition vanished. He opened the lattice gate.
+They entered into the valley small and green; before them was the marble
+fountain with its columns and cupola, and in the distance the charger of
+Alroy and his single attendant.
+
+They stopped, and Alroy gathered flowers, and placed them in the hair of
+Miriam. He would have softened the bitterness of parting with a smile.
+Gently he relaxed his embracing arm, almost insensibly he dropped her
+quivering hand.
+
+'Sister of my soul,' he whispered, 'when we last parted here, I was a
+fugitive, and now I quit you a conqueror.'
+
+She turned, she threw herself upon his neck, and buried her face in his
+breast.
+
+'My Miriam, we shall meet at Bagdad.'
+
+He beckoned to her distant maidens; they advanced, he delivered Miriam
+into their arms. He pressed her hand to his lips, and, rushing to his
+horse, mounted and disappeared.
+
+A body of irregular cavalry feebly defended the pass of Kerrund. It
+was carried, with slight loss, by the vanguard of Scherirah, and the
+fugitives prepared the host of the caliph for the approach of the Hebrew
+army.
+
+Upon the plain of the Tigris the enemy formed into battle array. The
+centre was commanded by Malek, the Grand Sultan of the Seljuks himself;
+the right wing, headed by the Sultan of Syria, was protected by the
+river; and the left, under the Sultan of Roum, was posted upon the
+advantageous position of some irregular and rising ground. Thus proud
+in the number, valour, discipline, and disposition of his forces, Malek
+awaited the conqueror of Persia.
+
+The glittering columns of the Hebrews might even now be perceived
+defiling from the mountains, and forming at the extremity of the plain.
+Before nightfall the camp of the invaders was pitched within hearing of
+that of Malek. The moving lights in the respective tents might plainly
+be distinguished; and ever and anon the flourish of hostile music fell
+with an ominous sound upon the ears of the opposed foe-men. A few miles
+only separated those mighty hosts. Upon to-morrow depended, perhaps, the
+fortunes of ages. How awful is the eve of battle!
+
+Alroy, attended by a few chieftains, personally visited the tents of
+the soldiery, promising them on the morrow a triumph, before which the
+victories of Nehauend and Nishapur would sink into insignificance. Their
+fiery and excited visages proved at once their courage and their
+faith. The sceptre of Solomon was paraded throughout the camp in solemn
+procession. On the summit of a huge tumulus, perhaps the sepulchre
+of some classic hero, Esther, the prophetess, surrounded by the chief
+zealots of the host, poured forth her exciting inspirations. It was a
+grand picture, that beautiful wild girl, the groups of stern, devoted
+warriors, the red flame of the watch-fires mixing with the silver
+shadows of the moon as they illumined the variegated turbans and
+gleaming armour of her votaries!
+
+In the pavilion of Alroy, Jabaster consulted with his pupil on the
+conduct of the morrow.
+
+'This is a different scene from the cavern of the Caucasus,' said Alroy,
+as the high priest rose to retire.
+
+'It has one great resemblance, sire; the God of our fathers is with us.'
+
+'Ay! the Lord of Hosts. Moses was a great man. There is no career except
+conquest.'
+
+'You muse.'
+
+'Of the past. The present is prepared. Too much thought will mar it.'
+
+'The past is for wisdom, the present for action, but for joy the future.
+The feeling that the building of the temple is at hand, that the Lord's
+anointed will once again live in the house of David, absorbs my spirit;
+and, when I muse over our coming glory, in my fond ecstasy I almost lose
+the gravity that doth beseem my sacred office.'
+
+'Jerusalem; I have seen it. How many hours to dawn?'
+
+'Some three.'
+
+''Tis strange I could sleep. I remember, on the eve of battle I was ever
+anxious. How is this, Jabaster?'
+
+'Your faith, sire, is profound.'
+
+'Yes, I have no fear. My destiny is not complete. Good night, Jabaster.
+See, Asriel, valiant priest. Pharez!'
+
+'My lord!'
+
+'Rouse me at the second watch. Good night, boy.'
+
+'Good night, my lord.'
+
+'Pharez! Be sure you rouse me at the second watch. Think you it wants
+three hours to dawn?'
+
+'About three hours, my lord.'
+
+'Well! at the second watch, remember; good night.'
+
+'It is the second watch, my lord.'
+
+'So soon! Have I slept? I feel fresh as an eagle. Call Scherirah, boy.'
+
+''Tis strange I never dream now. Before my flight my sleep was ever
+troubled. Say what they like, man is made for action. My life is now
+harmonious, and sleep has now become what nature willed it, a solace,
+not a contest. Before, it was a struggle of dark passions and bright
+dreams, in whose creative fancy and fair vision my soul sought refuge
+from the dreary bale of daily reality.
+
+'I will withdraw the curtains of my tent. O most majestic vision! And
+have I raised this host? Over the wide plain, far as my eye can range,
+their snowy tents studding the purple landscape, embattled legions
+gather round their flags to struggle for my fate. It is the agony of
+Asia.
+
+'A year ago, upon this very spot, I laid me down to die, an unknown
+thing, or known and recognised only to be despised, and now the sultans
+of the world come forth to meet me. I have no fear. My destiny is not
+complete. And whither tends it? Let that power decide which hitherto has
+fashioned all my course.
+
+'Jerusalem, Jerusalem! ever harping on Jerusalem. With all his lore,
+he is a narrow-minded zealot whose dreaming memory would fondly make
+a future like the past. O Bagdad, Bagdad, within thy glittering halls,
+there is a charm worth all his Cabala!
+
+'Hah! Scherirah! The dawn is near at hand, the stars are still shining.
+The air is very pleasant. Tomorrow will be a great day, Scherirah, for
+Israel and for you. You lead the attack. A moment in my tent, my brave
+Scherirah!'
+
+The dawn broke; a strong column of the Hebrews, commanded by Scherirah,
+poured down upon the centre of the army of the caliph. Another column,
+commanded by Jabaster, attacked the left wing, headed by the Sultan
+of Roum. No sooner had Alroy perceived that the onset of Scherirah had
+succeeded in penetrating the centre of the Turks, than he placed himself
+at the head of the Sacred Guard, and by an irresistible charge completed
+their disorder and confusion. The division of the Sultan of Syria, and
+a great part of the centre, were entirely routed and driven into the
+river, and the remainder of the division of Malek was effectually
+separated from his left wing.
+
+But while to Alroy the victory seemed already decided, a far different
+fate awaited the division of Jabaster. The Sultan of Roum, posted in
+an extremely advantageous position, and commanding troops accustomed to
+the discipline of the Romans of Constantinople, received the onset of
+Jabaster without yielding, and not only repelled his attack, but finally
+made a charge which completely disordered and dispersed the column of
+the Hebrews. In vain Jabaster endeavoured to rally his troops, in vain
+he performed prodigies of valour, in vain he himself struck down the
+standard-bearer of the sultan, and once even penetrated to the pavilion
+of the monarch. His division was fairly routed. The eagerness of the
+Sultan of Roum to effect the annihilation of his antagonists prevented
+him from observing the forlorn condition of the Turkish centre. Had he,
+after routing the division of Jabaster, only attacked Alroy in the rear,
+the fortune of the day might have been widely different. As it was, the
+eagle eye of Alroy soon detected his inadvertence, and profited by his
+indiscretion. Leaving Ithamar to keep the centre in check, he charged
+the Sultan of Roum with the Sacred Guard, and afforded Jabaster an
+opportunity of rallying some part of his forces. The Sultan of Roum,
+perceiving that the day was lost by the ill-conduct of his colleagues,
+withdrew his troops, retreated in haste, but in good order to Bagdad,
+carried off the caliph, his harem, and some of his treasure, and
+effected his escape into Syria. In the meantime the discomfiture of
+the remaining Turkish army was complete. The Tigris was dyed with their
+blood, and the towns through which the river flowed were apprised of the
+triumph of Alroy by the floating corpses of his enemies. Thirty thousand
+Turks were slain in battle: among them the Sultans of Bagdad and Syria,
+and a vast number of atabeks, emirs, and chieftains. A whole division,
+finding themselves surrounded, surrendered on terms, and delivered up
+their arms. The camps and treasures of the three sultans were alike
+captured, and the troops that escaped so completely dispersed, that they
+did not attempt to rally, but, disbanded and desperate, prowled over and
+plundered the adjoining provinces. The loss of the division of Jabaster
+was also severe, but the rest of the army suffered little. Alroy himself
+was slightly wounded. The battle lasted barely three hours. Its results
+were immense. David Alroy was now master of the East.
+
+The plain was covered with the corpses of men and horses, arms and
+standards, and prostrate tents. Returning from the pursuit of the Sultan
+of Roum, Alroy ordered the trumpets to sound to arms, and, covered
+with gore and dust, dismounted from his charger, and stood before the
+pavilion of Malek, leaning on his bloody scimitar, and surrounded by his
+victorious generals.
+
+'Ah, Jabaster!' said the conqueror, giving his hand to the pontiff,
+''twas well your troops had such a leader. No one but you could have
+rallied them.
+
+You must drill your lads a little before they again meet the Cappadocian
+cavalry. Brave Scherirah, we shall not forget our charge. Asriel, tell
+the guard, from me, that the victory of the Tigris was owing to their
+scimitars. Ithamar, what are our freshest troops?'
+
+'The legion of Aderbijan, sire.'
+
+'How strong can they muster?'
+
+'It counts twelve thousand men: we might collect two-thirds.'
+
+'Valiant Ithamar, take the Aderbijans and a division of the guards, push
+on towards Bagdad, and summon the city. If his Sultanship of Roum offer
+battle, take up a position, and he shall quickly have his desire. For
+the present, after these hasty marches and sharp fighting, the troops
+must rest. I think he will not tarry. Summon the city, and say that if
+any resistance be offered, I will make it as desolate as old Babylon.
+Treat with no armed force. Where is the soldier that saved me a cracked
+skull; his name Benaiah?'
+
+'I wait your bidding, sire.'
+
+'You're a captain. Join the division of Ithamar, and win fresh laurels
+ere we meet again. Gentle Asriel, let your brother know our fortune.'
+
+'Sire, several Tartars have already been despatched to Hamadan.'
+
+''Tis well. Send another with these tablets to the Lady Miriam. Despatch
+the pavilion of Malek as a trophy for the town. Elnebar, Goliath of
+the Hebrews, you bore our sacred standard like a hero! How fares the
+prophetess? I saw her charging in our ranks, waving a sabre with her
+snowy arm, her long, dark hair streaming like a storm, from which her
+eyes flashed lightning.'
+
+
+'The king bleeds,' said Jabaster.
+
+'Slightly. It will do me service. I am somewhat feverish. A kingdom
+for a draught of water! And now for our wounded friends. Asriel, do you
+marshal the camp. It is the Sabbath eve.[62] Time presses.'
+
+The dead were plundered, and thrown into the river, the encampment of
+the Hebrews completed. Alroy, with his principal officers, visited the
+wounded, and praised the valiant. The bustle which always succeeds a
+victory was increased in the present instance by the anxiety of the army
+to observe with grateful strictness the impending Sabbath.
+
+When the sun set, the Sabbath was to commence. The undulating horizon
+rendered it difficult to ascertain the precise moment of the setting.
+The crimson orb sunk behind the purple mountains, the sky was flushed
+with a rich and rosy glow. Then might be perceived the zealots, proud in
+their Talmudical lore, holding a skein of white silk in their hands,
+and announcing the approach of the Sabbath by their observation of
+its shifting tints. While the skein was yet golden, the forge of the
+armourer still sounded, the fire of the cook still blazed, still the
+cavalry led their steeds to the river, and still the busy footmen braced
+up their tents and hammered at their palisades. The skein of silk became
+rosy, the armourer worked with renewed energy, the cook puffed with
+increased zeal, the horsemen scampered from the river, the footmen cast
+an anxious glance at the fading twilight.
+
+The skein of silk became blue; a dim, dull, sepulchral, leaden tinge
+fell over its purity. The hum of gnats arose, the bat flew in circling
+whirls over the tents, horns sounded from all quarters, the sun had set,
+the Sabbath had commenced. 'The forge was mute, the fire extinguished,
+the prance of horses and the bustle of men in a moment ceased. A deep, a
+sudden, an all-pervading stillness dropped over that mighty host. It
+was night; the sacred lamp of the Sabbath sparkled in every tent of the
+camp, which vied in silence and in brilliancy with the mute and glowing
+heavens.
+
+Morn came; the warriors assembled around the altar and the sacrifice.
+The high priest and his attendant Levites proclaimed the unity and the
+omnipotence of the God of Israel, and the sympathetic responses of his
+conquering and chosen people reechoed over the plain. They retired
+again to their tents, to listen to the expounding of the law; even
+the distance of a Sabbath walk was not to exceed that space which
+lies between Jerusalem and the Mourft of Olives. This was the distance
+between the temple and the tabernacle; it had been nicely measured, and
+every Hebrew who ventured forth from the camp this day might be observed
+counting the steps of a Sabbath-day's journey. At length the sun again
+set, and on a sudden fires blazed, voices sounded, men stirred, in
+the same enchanted and instantaneous manner that had characterised the
+stillness of the preceding eve. Shouts of laughter, bursts of music,
+announced the festivity of the coming night; supplies poured in from all
+the neighbouring villages, and soon the pious conquerors commemorated
+their late triumph in a round of banqueting.
+
+On the morrow, a Tatar arrived from Ithamar, informing Alroy that the
+Sultan of Roum had retreated into Syria, that Bagdad was undefended, but
+that he had acceded to the request of the inhabitants that a deputation
+should wait upon Alroy before the troops entered the city, and had
+granted a safe conduct for their passage.
+
+On the morrow, messengers announced the approach of the deputation. All
+the troops were under arms. Alroy directed that the suppliants should
+be conducted through the whole camp before they arrived at the royal
+pavilion, on each side of which the Sacred Guard was mustered in array.
+The curtains of his tent withdrawn displayed the conqueror himself,
+seated on a sumptuous divan. On his right hand stood Jabaster in his
+priestly robes, on his left Scherirah. Behind him, the giant Elnebar
+supported the sacred sceptre. A crowd of chieftains was ranged on each
+side of the pavilion.
+
+Cymbals sounded, muffled kettle-drums, and the faint flourish of
+trumpets; the commencement of the procession might be detected in the
+long perspective of the tented avenue. First came a company of beauteous
+youths, walking two by two, and strewing flowers; then a band of
+musicians in flowing robes of cloth of gold, plaintively sounding their
+silver trumpets. After these followed slaves of all climes, bearing
+a tribute of the most rare and costly productions of their countries:
+Negroes with tusks and teeth of the elephant, plumes of ostrich
+feathers, and caskets of gold dust; Syrians with rich armour; Persians
+with vases of atar-gul, and Indians with panniers of pearls of Ormuz,
+and soft shawls of Cachemire. Encircled by his children, each of whom
+held alternately a white or fawn-coloured gazelle, an Arab clothed in
+his blue bornouz, led by a thick cord of crimson silk a tall and tawny
+giraffe. Fifty stout men succeeded two by two, carrying in company a
+silver shield laden with gold coin, or chased goblets studded with gems.
+
+The clash of cymbals announced the presence of the robes of honour,[63]
+culled from the wardrobe of the commander of the Faithful; the silk of
+Aleppo and the brocade of Damascus, lined with the furs of the sable
+and the ermine, down from the breast of the swan, and the skins of white
+foxes.
+
+After these followed two grey dromedaries, with furniture of silver, and
+many caparisoned horses, each led by a groom in rich attire. The last
+of these was a snow-white steed, upon whose front was the likeness of a
+ruby star, a courser of the sacred stud of Solomon, and crossed only by
+the descendants of the Prophet.
+
+The muffled kettle-drums heralded the company of black eunuchs, with
+their scarlet vests and ivory battle-axes. They surrounded and shrouded
+from the vulgar gaze fourteen beautiful Circassian girls, whose
+brilliant visages and perfect forms were otherwise concealed by their
+long veils and ample drapery.
+
+The gorgeous procession, as they approached the conqueror, bowed humbly
+to Alroy, and formed in order on each side of the broad avenue. The
+deputation appeared; twelve of the principal citizens of Bagdad, with
+folded arms, and downcast eyes, and disordered raiment. Meekly and
+mutely each touched the earth with his hand, and kissed it in token of
+submission, and then, moving aside, made way for the chief envoy and
+orator of the company, Honain!
+
+Humbly, but gracefully, the physician of the caliph bowed before the
+conqueror of the East. His appearance and demeanour afforded a contrast
+to the aspect of his brother envoys; not less calm or contented his
+countenance, not less sumptuous or studied his attire, than when he
+first rescued Alroy in the bazaar of Bagdad from the grip of the false
+Abdallah.
+
+He spoke, and every sound was hushed before the music of his voice.
+
+'Conqueror of the world, that destiny with which it is in vain to
+struggle has placed our lives and fortunes in your power. Your slaves
+offer for your approbation specimens of their riches; not as tribute,
+for all is yours; but to show you the products of security and peace,
+and to induce you to believe that mercy may be a policy as profitable
+to the conqueror as to the conquered; that it may be better to preserve
+than to destroy; and wiser to enjoy than to extirpate.
+
+'Fate ordained that we should be born the slaves of the caliph; that
+same fate has delivered his sceptre into your hands. We offer you the
+same devotion that we yielded to him, and we entreat the same protection
+which he granted to us.
+
+'Whatever may be your decision, we must bow to your decree with the
+humility that recognises superior force. Yet we are not without hope.
+We cannot forget that it is our good fortune not to be addressing
+a barbarous chieftain, unable to sympathise with the claims of
+civilisation, the creations of art, and the finer impulses of humanity.
+We acknowledge your irresistible power, but we dare to hope everything
+from a prince whose genius all acknowledge and admire, who has spared
+some portion of his youth from the cares of government and the pursuits
+of arms to the ennobling claims of learning, whose morality has been
+moulded by a pure and sublime faith, and who draws his lineage from a
+sacred and celebrated race, the unrivalled antiquity of which even the
+Prophet acknowledges.'
+
+He ceased: a buzz of approbation sounded throughout the pavilion, which
+was hushed instantly as the lips of the conqueror moved.
+
+'Noble emir,' replied Alroy, 'return to Bagdad, and tell your
+fellow-subjects that the King of Israel grants protection to their
+persons, and security to their property.'
+
+'And for their faith?' enquired the envoy, in a lower voice.
+
+'Toleration,' replied Alroy, turning to Jabaster.
+
+'Until further regulations,' added the high priest.
+
+'Emir,' said Alroy, 'the person of the caliph will be respected.'
+
+'May it please your highness,' replied Honain, 'the Sultan of Roum has
+retired with our late ruler.'
+
+'And his harem?'
+
+'And his harem.'
+
+'It was needless. We war not with women.'
+
+'Men, as well as women, must acknowledge the gracious mercy of your
+highness.'
+
+'Benomi,' said Alroy, addressing himself to a young officer of the
+guard, 'command the guard of honour that will attend this noble emir on
+his return. We soldiers deal only in iron, sir, and cannot vie with the
+magnificence of Bagdad, yet wear this dagger for the donor's sake:' and
+Alroy held out to Honain a poniard flaming with gems.
+
+The Envoy of Bagdad advanced, took the dagger, pressed it to his lips,
+and placed it in his vest.[64]
+
+'Scherirah,' continued Alroy, 'this noble emir is your charge. See
+that a choice pavilion of the host be for his use, and that his train
+complain not of the rough customs of our camp.'
+
+'May it please your highness,' replied Honain, 'I have fulfilled my
+office, and, with your gracious permission, would at once return. I have
+business only less urgent than the present, because it concerns myself.'
+
+'As you will, noble emir. Benomi, to your post. Farewell, sir.'
+
+The deputation advanced, bowed, and retired. Alroy turned to Jabaster.
+
+'No common person that, Jabaster?'
+
+'A very gracious Turk, sire.'
+
+'Think you he is a Turk?'
+
+'By his dress.'
+
+'It may be so. Asriel, break up the camp. We'll march at once to
+Bagdad.'
+
+The chiefs dispersed to make the necessary arrangements for the march.
+The news that the army was immediately to advance to Bagdad soon
+circulated throughout the camp, and excited the most lively enthusiasm.
+Every hand was at work, striking the tents, preparing the arms and
+horses. Alroy retired to his pavilion. The curtains were drawn. He was
+alone, and plunged in profound meditation.
+
+'Alroy!' a voice sounded.
+
+He started, and looked up. Before him stood Esther the prophetess.
+
+'Esther! is it thou?'
+
+'Alroy! enter not into Babylon.'
+
+'Indeed.'
+
+'As I live, the Lord hath spoken it. Enter not into Babylon.'
+
+'Not enjoy my fairest conquest, maiden?'
+
+'Enter not into Babylon.'
+
+'What affrights thee?'
+
+'Enter not into Babylon.'
+
+'I shall surely change the fortunes of my life without a cause.'
+
+'The Lord hath spoken. Is not that a cause?'
+
+'I am the Lord's anointed. His warning has not reached me.'
+
+'Now it reaches thee. Doth the king despise the prophetess of the Lord?
+It is the sin of Ahab.'
+
+'Despise thee! Despise the mouth that is the herald of my victories!
+'Twere rank blasphemy. Prophesy triumph, Esther, and Alroy will never
+doubt thy inspiration.'
+
+'He doubts it now. I see he doubts it now. O my king, I say again, enter
+not into Babylon.'
+
+'Beauteous maiden, those eyes flash lightning. Who can behold their wild
+and liquid glance, and doubt that Esther is inspired! Be calm, sweet
+girl, some dream disturbs thy fancy.'
+
+'Alroy, Alroy, enter not into Babylon!'
+
+'I have no fear, I bear a charmed life.'
+
+'Ah me! he will not listen.' All is lost!'
+
+'All is gained, my beautiful.'
+
+'I would we were upon the Holy Mount, and gazing on the stars of sacred
+Zion.'
+
+'Esther,' said Alroy, advancing, and gently taking her hand, 'the
+capital of the East will soon unfold its marvels to thy sight. Prepare
+thyself for wonders. Girl, we are no longer in the desert. Forget thy
+fitful fancies. Come, choose a husband from my generals, child, and I
+will give a kingdom for thy dower. I would gladly see a crown upon that
+imperial brow. It well deserves one.'
+
+The prophetess turned her dark eyes full upon Alroy. What passed in her
+mind was neither evident nor expressed. She gazed intently upon the calm
+and inscrutable countenance of the conqueror, then flung away his hand,
+and rushed out of the pavilion.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER VIII.
+
+     _Bagdad and the Princess_
+
+THE waving of banners, the flourish of trumpets, the neighing of steeds,
+and the glitter of spears! On the distant horizon they gleam like the
+morning, when the gloom of the night shivers bright into day. Hark!
+the tramp of the foemen, like the tide of the ocean, flows onward and
+onward, and conquers the shore. From the brow of the mountain, like the
+rush of a river, the column defiling melts into the plain.
+
+Warriors of Judah! holy men that battle for the Lord! The land wherein
+your fathers wept, and touched their plaintive psalteries; the haughty
+city where your sires bewailed their cold and distant hearths; your
+steeds are prancing on its plain, and you shall fill its palaces.
+Warriors of Judah! holy men that battle for the Lord!
+
+March, onward march, ye valiant tribes, the hour has come, the hour has
+come! All the promises of ages, all the signs of sacred sages, meet in
+this ravishing hour. Where is now the oppressor's chariot, where your
+tyrant's purple robe? The horse and the rider are both overthrown, the
+horse and the rider are both overthrown!
+
+Rise, Rachel, from thy wilderness, arise, and weep no more. No more thy
+lonely palm-tree's shade need shroud thy secret sorrowing. The Lord
+hath heard the widow's sigh, the Lord hath stilled the widow's tear. Be
+comforted, be comforted, thy children live again!
+
+Yes! yes! upon the bounding plain fleet Asriel glances like a star, and
+stout Scherirah shakes his spear by stern Jabaster's scimitar. And He is
+there, the chosen one, hymned by prophetic harps, whose life is like the
+morning dew on Zion's holy hill: the chosen one, the chosen one, that
+leads his race to victory; warriors of Judah! holy men that battle for
+the Lord!
+
+They come, they come, they come!
+
+The ramparts of the city were crowded with the inhabitants, the river
+sparkled with ten thousand boats, the bazaars were shut, the streets
+lined with the populace, and the terrace of every house covered with
+spectators. In the morning, Ithamar had entered with his division and
+garrisoned the city. And now the vanguard of the Hebrew army, after
+having been long distinguished in the distance, approached the walls. A
+large body of cavalry dashed forward at full speed from the main
+force. Upon a milk-white charger, and followed by a glittering train of
+warriors, amid the shouts of the vast multitude, Alroy galloped up to
+the gates.
+
+He was received by Ithamar and the members of the deputation, but Honain
+was not there. Accompanied by his staff and a strong detachment of the
+Sacred Guard, Alroy was conducted through the principal thoroughfares
+of the city, until he arrived at the chief entrance of the serail,
+or palace, of the caliph. The vast portal conducted him into a large
+quadrangular court, where he dismounted, and where he was welcomed by
+the captain of the eunuch guard. Accompanied by his principal generals
+and his immediate attendants, Alroy was then ushered through a suite of
+apartments which reminded him of his visit with Honain, until he arrived
+at the grand council-chamber of the caliphs.
+
+The conqueror threw himself upon the gorgeous divan of the commander of
+the Faithful.
+
+'An easy seat after a long march,' said Alroy, as he touched with his
+lips the coffee, which the chief of the eunuchs presented to him in a
+cup of transparent pink porcelain, studded with pearls.[65] 'Itha-mar,
+now for your report. What is the temper of the city? Where is his
+Sultanship of Roum?'
+
+'The city, sire, is calm, and I believe content. The sultan and the
+caliph are still hovering on the borders of the province.'
+
+'So I supposed. Scherirah will settle that. Let the troops be encamped
+without the walls, the garrison, ten thousand strong, must be changed
+monthly. Ithamar, you are governor of the city: Asriel commands the
+forces. Worthy Jabaster, draw up a report of the civil affairs of
+the capital. Your quarters are the College of the Dervishes. Brave
+Scherirah, I cannot afford you a long rest. In three days you must have
+crossed the river with your division. It will be quick work. I foresee
+that they will not fight. Meet me all here in council by to-morrow's
+noon. Farewell.'
+
+The chieftains retired, the high priest lingered.
+
+'Were it not an intrusion, sire, I would fain entreat a moment's
+audience.'
+
+'My own Jabaster, you have but to speak.'
+
+'Sire, I would speak of Abidan, as valiant a warrior as any in the
+host. It grieves me much, that by some fatality, his services seem ever
+overlooked.'
+
+'Abidan! I know him well, a valiant man, but a dreamer, a dreamer.'
+
+'A dreamer, sire! Believe me, a true son of Israel, and one whose faith
+is deep.'
+
+'Good Jabaster, we are all true sons of Israel. Yet let me have
+men about me who see no visions in a mid-day sun. We must beware of
+dreamers.'
+
+'Dreams are the oracles of God.'
+
+'When God sends them. Very true, Jabaster. But this Abidan and the
+company with whom he consorts are filled with high-flown notions,
+caught from old traditions, which, if acted on, would render government
+impracticable; in a word, they are dangerous men.'
+
+'The very flower of Israel! Some one has poisoned your sacred ear
+against them.'
+
+'No one, worthy Jabaster. I have no counsellor except yourself. They may
+be the flower of Israel, but they are not the fruit. Good warriors, bad
+subjects: excellent means, by which we may accomplish greater ends.
+I'll have no dreamers in authority. I must have practical men about
+me, practical men. See how Abner, Asriel, Ithamar, Medad, see how these
+conform to what surrounds them, yet invincible captains, invincible
+captains. But then they are practical men, Jabaster; they have eyes
+and use them. They know the difference of times and seasons. But this
+Abidan, he has no other thought but the rebuilding of the temple: a
+narrow-souled bigot, who would sacrifice the essence to the form. The
+rising temple soon would fall again with such constructors. Why, sir,
+what think you, this same Abidan preached in the camp against my entry
+into what the quaint fanatic chooses to call "Babylon," because he had
+seen what he calls a vision.'
+
+'There was a time your Majesty thought not so ill of visions.'
+
+'Am I Abidan, sir? Are other men to mould their conduct or their
+thoughts by me? In this world I stand alone, a being of a different
+order from yourselves, incomprehensible even to you. Let this matter
+cease. I'll hear no more and have heard too much. To-morrow at council.'
+
+The high priest withdrew in silence.
+
+'He is gone; at length I am alone. I cannot bear the presence of these
+men, except in action. Their words, even their looks, disturb the still
+creation of my brooding thought. I am once more alone, and loneliness
+hath been the cradle of my empire. Now I do feel inspired. There needs
+no mummery now to work a marvel.
+
+'The sceptre of Solomon! It may be so. What then? Here's now the sceptre
+of Alroy. What's that without his mind? The legend said that none should
+free our people but he who bore the sceptre of great Solomon. The legend
+knew that none could gain that sceptre, but with a mind to whose supreme
+volition the fortunes of the world would bow like fate. I gained it; I
+confronted the spectre monarchs in their sepulchre; and the same hand
+that grasped their shadowy rule hath seized the diadem of the mighty
+caliphs by the broad rushing of their imperial river.
+
+'The world is mine: and shall I yield the prize, the universal and
+heroic prize, to realise the dull tradition of some dreaming priest,
+and consecrate a legend? He conquered Asia, and he built the temple. Are
+these my annals? Shall this quick blaze of empire sink to a glimmering
+and a twilight sway over some petty province, the decent patriarch of a
+pastoral horde? Is the Lord of Hosts so slight a God, that we must place
+a barrier to His sovereignty, and fix the boundaries of Omnipotence
+between the Jordan and the Lebanon? It is not thus written; and were it
+so, I'll pit my inspiration against the prescience of my ancestors.
+I also am a prophet, and Bagdad shall be my Zion. The daughter of
+the Voice! Well, I am clearly summoned. I am the Lord's servant, not
+Jabaster's. Let me make His worship universal as His power; and where's
+the priest shall dare impugn my faith, because His altars smoke on other
+hills than those of Judah?
+
+'I must see Honain. That man has a great mind. He alone can comprehend
+my purpose. Universal empire must not be founded on sectarian prejudices
+and exclusive rights. Jabaster would massacre the Moslemin like Amalek;
+the Moslemin, the vast majority, and most valuable portion, of my
+subjects. He would depopulate my empire, that it might not be said that
+Ishmael shared the heritage of Israel. Fanatic! I'll send him to conquer
+Judah. We must conciliate. Something must be done to bind the conquered
+to our conquering fortunes. That bold Sultan of Roum: I wish Abner had
+opposed him. To run off with the harem! I have half a mind to place
+myself at the head of the pursuing force, and---- Passion and policy
+alike combine: and yet Honain is the man; I might send him on a mission.
+Could we make terms? I detest treaties. My fancy flies from all other
+topics. I must see him. Could I but tell him all I think! This door,
+whither leads it? Hah! methinks I do remember yon glittering gallery!
+No one in attendance. The discipline of our palace is somewhat lax.
+My warriors are no courtiers. What an admirable marshal of the palace
+Honain would make! Silence everywhere. So! 'tis well. These saloons I
+have clearly passed through before. Could I but reach the private portal
+by the river side, unseen or undetected! 'Tis not impossible. Here are
+many dresses. I will disguise myself. Trusty scimitar, thou hast done
+thy duty, rest awhile. 'Tis lucky I am beardless. I shall make a capital
+eunuch. So! a handsome robe. One dagger for a pinch, slippers powdered
+with pearls,66 a caftan of cloth of gold, a Cachemire girdle, and a
+pelisse of sables. One glance at the mirror. Good! I begin to look like
+the conqueror of the world!'
+
+It was twilight: a small and solitary boat, with a single rower, glided
+along the Tigris, and stopped at the archway of a house that descended
+into the river. It stopped, the boatman withdrew the curtains, and his
+single passenger disembarked, and ascended the stairs of the archway.
+
+The stranger reached the landing-place, and unfastening a golden grate,
+proceeded along a gallery, and entered a beautiful saloon of white and
+green marble, opening into gardens. No one was in the apartment; the
+stranger threw himself upon a silver couch, placed at the side of
+a fountain that rose from the centre of the chamber and fell into a
+porphyry basin. A soft whisper roused the stranger from his reverie, a
+soft whisper that faintly uttered the word 'Honain.' The stranger looked
+up, a figure, enveloped in a veil, that touched the ground, advanced
+from the gardens.
+
+'Honain!' said the advancing figure, throwing off the veil. 'Honain! Ah!
+the beautiful mute returned!'
+
+A woman more lovely than the rosy morn, beheld an unexpected guest. They
+stood, the lady and the stranger, gazing on each other in silence.
+A man, with a light, entered the extremity of the hall. Carefully
+he closed the portal, slowly he advanced, with a subdued step; he
+approached the lady and the stranger.
+
+'Alroy!' said the astonished Honain, the light fell from his hand.
+
+'Alroy!' exclaimed the lady, with a bewildered air: she turned pale, and
+leant against a column.
+
+'Daughter of the caliph!' said the leader of Israel; and he advanced,
+and fell upon his knee, and stole her passive hand. 'I am indeed that
+Alroy to whom destiny has delivered the empire of thy sire; but the
+Princess Schirene can have nothing to fear from one who values above
+all his victories this memorial of her goodwill;' and he took from his
+breast a rosary of pearls and emeralds, and, rising slowly, left it in
+her trembling hand.
+
+The princess turned and hid her face in her arm, which reclined against
+the column.
+
+'My kind Honain,' said Alroy, 'you thought me forgetful of the past; you
+thought me ungrateful. My presence here proves that I am not so. I come
+to enquire all your wishes. I come to gratify and to fulfil them, if
+that be in my power.'
+
+'Sire,' replied Honain, who had recovered from the emotion in which
+he rarely indulged, and from the surprise which seldom entrapped him,
+'Sire, my wishes are slight. You see before you the daughter of my
+master. An interview, for which I fear I shall not easily gain that
+lady's pardon, has made you somewhat acquainted with her situation and
+her sentiments. The Princess Schirene seized the opportunity of the
+late convulsions to escape from a mode of life long repugnant to all
+her feelings, and from a destiny at which she trembled. I was her only
+counsellor, and she may feel assured, a faithful, although perhaps an
+indiscreet one. The irresistible solicitation of the inhabitants that I
+should become their deputy to their conqueror prevented us from escaping
+as we had intended. Since then, from the movement of the troops, I have
+deemed it more prudent that we should remain at present here, although
+I have circulated the intelligence of my departure. In the kiosk of my
+garden, the princess is now a willing prisoner. At twilight she
+steals forth for the poor relaxation of my society, to listen to the
+intelligence which I acquire during the day in disguise. The history,
+sire, is short and simple. We are in your power: but instead of
+deprecating your interference, I now solicit your protection.'
+
+'Dear Honain, 'tis needless. The Princess Schirene has only to express
+a wish that it may be fulfilled. I came to speak with you on weighty
+matters, Honain, but I retire, for I am an intruder now. Tomorrow, if
+it please you, at this hour, and in this disguise, I will again repair
+hither. In the meantime, this lady may perchance express to you her
+wishes, and you will bear them to me. If an escort to any country, if
+any palace or province for her rule and residence---- But I will not
+offer to one who should command. Lady! farewell. Pardon the past!
+Tomorrow, good Honain! prythee let us meet. Good even!'
+
+'The royal brow was clouded,' said Ithamar to Asriel, as, departing from
+the council, they entered their magnificent barque.
+
+'With thought; he has so much upon his mind, 'tis wondrous how he bears
+himself.'
+
+'I have seen him gay on the eve of battle, and lively though calm, with
+weightier matters than now oppress him. His brow was clouded, but not,
+me-thinks, with _thought_; one might rather say with _temper_. Mark you,
+how he rated Jabaster?'
+
+'Roundly! The stern priest writhed under it; and as he signed the
+ordinance, shivered his reed in rage. I never saw a man more pale.'
+
+'Or more silent. He looked like an embodied storm. I tell you what,
+Asriel, that stern priest loves not us.'
+
+'Have you just discovered that secret, Ithamar? We are not of his
+school. Nor, in good faith, is our ruler. I am glad to see the king is
+so staunch about Abidan. Were he in council he would support Jabaster.'
+
+'Oh! his mere tool. What think you of Scherirah?'
+
+'I would not trust him. As long as there is fighting, he will meddle
+with nothing else; but, mark my words, Ithamar: in quiet times he will
+support the priest.'
+
+'Medad will have a place in council. He is with us.'
+
+'Heart and soul. I would your brother were here, Asriel: he alone could
+balance Jabaster. Alroy loves your brother like himself. Is it true that
+he marries the Lady Miriam?'
+
+'So the king wishes. 'Twill be a fine match for Abner.'
+
+'The world is all before us. I wonder who will be viceroy of Syria.'
+
+'When we conquer it. Not Scherirah. Mark my words, Ithamar: he never
+will have a government. You or I perchance. For my own part, I would
+rather remain as I am.'
+
+'Yours is a good post; the best.'
+
+'With the command of the city. It should go with the guard.'
+
+'Well, then, help me in getting Syria, and you can ask for my command.'
+
+'Agreed. Jabaster will have it that, in a Hebrew monarchy, the chief
+priest is in fact the grand vizir.'
+
+'Alroy will be his own minister.'
+
+'I am not so sure of that. He may choose to command the Syrian
+expedition in person; he must leave some head at Bagdad. Jabaster is no
+general.'
+
+'Oh! none at all. Alroy will be glad to leave him at home. The Sultan of
+Roum may not be always so merciful.'
+
+'Hah! hah! that was an escape!'
+
+'By heavens! I thought it was all over. You made a fine charge.'
+
+'I shall never forget it. I nearly ran over Jabaster.'
+
+'Would that you had!'
+
+It is the tender twilight hour when maidens in their lonely bower sigh
+softer than the eve! The languid rose her head upraises, and listens to
+the nightingale, while his wild and thrilling praises from his trembling
+bosom gush: the languid rose her head upraises, and listens with a
+blush.
+
+In the clear and rosy air, sparkling with a single star, the sharp
+and spiry cypress-tree rises like a gloomy thought, amid the flow
+of revelry. A singing bird, a single star, a solemn tree, an odorous
+flower, are dangerous in the tender hour, when maidens in their twilight
+bower sigh softer than the eve!
+
+The daughter of the caliph comes forth to breathe the air: her lute her
+only company. She sits her down by a fountain's side, and gazes on the
+waterfall. Her cheek reclines upon her arm, like fruit upon a graceful
+bough. Very pensive is the face of that bright and beauteous lady. She
+starts; a warm voluptuous lip presses her soft and idle hand. It is her
+own gazelle. With his large and lustrous eyes, more eloquent than many
+a tongue, the fond attendant mutely asks the cause of all her
+thoughtfulness.
+
+'Ah! bright gazelle! Ah! bright gazelle!' the princess cried, the
+princess cried; 'thy lips are softer than the swan, thy lips are softer
+than the swan; but his breathed passion when they pressed, my bright
+gazelle! my bright gazelle!
+
+'Ah! bright gazelle! Ah! bright gazelle!' the princess cried, the
+princess cried; 'thine eyes are like the stars of night, thine eyes are
+like the stars of night; but his glanced passion when they gazed, my
+bright gazelle! my bright gazelle!'
+
+She seized her lute, she wildly threw her fingers o'er its thrilling
+strings, and, gazing on the rosy sky, to borrow all its poetry, thus,
+thus she sang--thus, thus she sang:
+
+     He rose in beauty like the morn
+     That brightens in bur Syrian skies;
+     Dark passion glittered in his eyes,
+     And Empire sparkled in his form!
+
+     My soul! thou art the dusky earth,
+     On which his sunlight fell;
+     The dusky earth, that dim no longer,
+     Now breathes with light, now beams with love!
+
+     He rose in beauty, like the morn
+     That brightens in our Syrian skies;
+     Dark passion glittered in his eyes,
+     And Empire sparkled in his form!
+
+[Illustration: page174]
+
+'Once more, once more! Ah! sing that strain once more!'
+
+The princess started and looked round. Before her stood Alroy. She rose,
+she would have retired; but, advancing, the conqueror stole her hand.
+
+'Fair princess,' said Alroy, 'let it not be said that my presence
+banished at once beauty and music.'
+
+'Sire, I doubt not that Honain awaits you. Let me summon him.'
+
+'Lady, it is not with Honain that I would speak.'
+
+He seated himself by her side. His countenance was pale, his heart
+trembled.
+
+'This garden,' at length he observed in a low voice, 'this garden, a
+brief, brief space has glided away since first I wandered within its
+beauteous limits, and yet those days seem like the distant memory of
+another life.'
+
+'It is another life,' said the princess. 'Ourselves, the world, all
+forms and usages, all feelings and all habits, verily they have changed,
+as if we had breathed within another sphere.'
+
+''Tis a great change.'
+
+'Since first you visited my bright kiosk. Pretty bauble! I pray it may
+be spared.'
+
+'It is sacred, like yourself.'
+
+'You are a courteous conqueror.'
+
+'I am no conqueror, fair Schirene, but a slave more lowly than when I
+first bowed humbly in your presence.'
+
+'And bore away a token not forgotten. Your rosary is here.'
+
+'Let me claim it. It has been my consolation in much peril, beauteous
+lady. On the eve of battle I wound it round my heart.'
+
+She held forth the rosary, and turned away her head. Her hand remained
+in his; he pressed it to his lips. His right arm retained her hand; he
+wound the other round her waist, as he fell upon his knee.
+
+'O beautiful! O more than beautiful! for thou to me art like a dream
+unbroken,' exclaimed the young leader of Israel, 'let me, let me breathe
+my adoration. I offer thee not empire: I offer thee not wealth; I offer
+thee not all the boundless gratification of magnificent fancy,--these
+may be thine, but all these thou hast proved; but, if the passionate
+affections of a spirit which never has yielded to the power of woman or
+the might of man, if the deep devotion of the soul of Alroy, be deemed
+an offering meet for the shrine of thy surpassing loveliness, I worship
+thee, Schirene. I worship thee, I worship thee!
+
+'Since I first gazed upon thee, since thy beauty first rose upon my
+presence like a star bright with my destiny, in the still sanctuary
+of my secret love, thy idol has ever rested. Then, then, I was a thing
+whose very touch thy creed might count a contumely. I have avenged the
+insults of long centuries in the best blood of Asia; I have returned,
+in glory and in pride, to claim my ancient sceptre; but sweeter far than
+vengeance, sweeter far than the quick gathering of my sacred tribes, the
+rush of triumph and the blaze of empire, is this brief moment of adoring
+love, wherein I pour the passion of my life!
+
+'O my soul, my life, my very being! thou art silent, but thy silence is
+sweeter than others' speech. Yield, yield thee, dear Schirene, yield to
+thy suppliant! Thy faith, thy father's faith, thy native customs, these,
+these shall be respected, beauteous lady! Pharaoh's daughter yielded her
+dusky beauty to my great ancestor. Thy face is like the bright inspiring
+day! Let it not be said that the daughter of the Nile shared Israel's
+crown, the daughter of the Tigris spurned our sceptre. I am not Solomon,
+but I am one that, were Schirene the partner of my throne, would
+make his glowing annals read like a wearisome and misty tale to our
+surpassing lustre!'
+
+He ceased, the princess turned her hitherto hidden countenance, and
+bowed it on his heart. 'O Alroy!' she exclaimed, 'I have no creed, no
+country, no life, but thee!'
+
+'The king is late to-day.'
+
+'Is it true, Asriel, there is an express from Hamadan?'
+
+'Of no moment, Ithamar. I have private letters from Abner. All is
+quiet.'
+
+''Tis much past the hour. When do you depart, Scherirah?'
+
+'The troops are ready. I wait orders. This morning's council will
+perchance decide.'
+
+'This morning's council is devoted to the settlement of the civil
+affairs of the capital,' remarked Jabaster.
+
+'Indeed!' said Asriel. 'Is your report prepared, Jabaster?'
+
+''Tis here,' replied the high priest. 'The Hebrew legislator requires
+but little musing to shape his order. He has a model which time cannot
+destroy, nor thought improve.'
+
+Ithamar and Asriel exchanged significant glances. Scherirah looked
+solemn. There was a pause, which was broken by Asriel.
+
+''Tis a noble city, this Bagdad. I have not yet visited your quarters,
+Jabaster. You are well placed.'
+
+'As it may be. I hope we shall not tarry here long. The great point is
+still not achieved.'
+
+'How far is it to the holy city?' enquired Scherirah.
+
+'A month's march,' replied Jabaster.
+
+'And when you get there?' enquired Ithamar.
+
+'You may fight with the Franks,' replied Asriel.
+
+'Jabaster, how large is Jerusalem?' enquired Ithamar. 'Is it true, as
+I have sometimes heard, that it is not bigger than the serail here,
+gardens and all?'
+
+'Its glory hath departed,' replied the high priest; 'the bricks have
+fallen, but we will rebuild with marble; and Zion, that is now without
+the Christian walls, shall yet sparkle, as in the olden time, with
+palaces and pavilions.'
+
+A flourish of trumpets, the portals flew open, and Alroy entered,
+leaning on the arm of the Envoy of Bagdad.
+
+'Valiant leaders,' said Alroy to the astonished chieftains, 'in this
+noble stranger, you see one like yourselves entrusted with my unbounded
+confidence. Jabaster, behold thy brother!'
+
+'Honain! art _thou_ Honain?' exclaimed the pontiff starting from his
+seat. 'I have a thousand messengers after thee.' With a countenance
+alternately pallid with surprise and burning with affection, Jabaster
+embraced his brother, and, overpowered with emotion, hid his face on his
+shoulder.
+
+'Sire,' at length exclaimed the high priest, in a low and tremulous
+voice, 'I must pray your pardon that for an instant in this character
+I have indulged in any other thoughts than those that may concern your
+welfare. Tis past: and you, who know all, will forgive me.'
+
+'All that respects Jabaster must concern my welfare. He is the pillar of
+my empire;' and holding forth his hand, Alroy placed the high priest on
+his right. 'Scherirah, you depart this eve.'
+
+The rough captain bowed in silence.
+
+'What is this?' continued Alroy, as Jabaster offered him a scroll. 'Ah!
+your report. "Order of the Tribes," "Service of the Lévites," "Princes
+of the People," "Elders of Israel!" The day may come when this may
+be effected. At present, Jabaster, we must be moderate, and content
+ourselves with arrangements which may ensure that order shall be
+maintained, property respected, and justice administered. Is it true
+that a gang has rifled a mosque?'
+
+'Sire! of that I would speak. They are no plunderers, but men, perhaps
+too zealous, who have read and who have remembered that "Ye shall
+utterly destroy all the places wherein the nations which ye shall
+possess, served their gods upon the high mountains, and upon the
+hill, and under every green tree. And ye shall overthrow their altars,
+and----"'
+
+'Jabaster, is this a synagogue? Come I to a council of valiant statesmen
+or dreaming Rabbis? For a thousand years we have been quoting the laws
+we dared not practise. Is it with such aid that we captured Nishapur and
+crossed the Tigris? Valiant, wise Jabaster, thou art worthy of better
+things, and capable of all. I entreat thee, urge such matters for the
+last time. Are these fellows in custody?'
+
+'They were in custody. I have freed them.'
+
+'Freed them! Hang them! Hang them in the most public grove. Is this the
+way to make the Moslem a duteous subject? Jabaster! Israel honours
+thee; and I, its chief, know that one more true, more valiant, or more
+learned, crowds not around our standard; but I see, the caverns of the
+Caucasus are not a school for empire.'
+
+'Sire, I had humbly deemed the school for empire was the law of Moses.'
+
+'Ay! adapted to these times.'
+
+'Can aught divine be changed?'
+
+'Am I as tall as Adam? If man, the crown, the rose of all this fair
+creation, the most divine of all divine inventions, if Time have altered
+even this choicest of all godlike works, why shall it spare a law made
+but to rule his conduct? Good Jabaster, we must establish the throne of
+Israel, that is my mission, and for the means, no matter how, or where.
+Asriel, what news of Medad?'
+
+'All is quiet between the Tigris and Euphrates. It would be better
+to recall his division, which has been much harassed. I thought of
+relieving him by Abidan.'
+
+'I think so, too. We may as well keep Abidan out of the city. If the
+truth were known, I'll wager some of his company plundered the mosque.
+We must issue a proclamation on that subject. My good Jabaster, we'll
+talk over these matters alone. At present I will leave you with your
+brother. Scherirah, sup with me to-night; before you quit Asriel, come
+with me to my cabinet.'
+
+'I must see the king!'
+
+'Holy priest, his highness has retired. It is impossible.'
+
+'I must see the king. Worthy Pharez, I take all peril on myself.'
+
+'Indeed his highness' orders are imperative. You cannot see him.'
+
+'Knowest thou who I am?'
+
+'One whom all pious Hebrews reverence.'
+
+'I say I must see the king.'
+
+'Indeed, indeed, holy Jabaster, it cannot be.'
+
+'Shall Israel perish for a menial's place? Go to; I _will_ see him.'
+
+'Nay! if you _will_, I'll struggle for my duty.'
+
+'Touch not the Lord's anointed. Dog, you shall suffer for this!'
+
+So saying, Jabaster threw aside Pharez, and, with the attendant clinging
+to his robes, rushed into the royal chamber.
+
+'What is all this?' exclaimed Alroy, starting from the divan. 'Jabaster!
+Pharez, withdraw! How now, is Bagdad in insurrection?'
+
+'Worse, much worse, Israel soon will be.'
+
+'Ay!'
+
+'My fatal brother has told me all, nor would I sleep, until I lifted up
+my voice to save thee.'
+
+'Am I in danger?'
+
+'In the wilderness, when the broad desert quivered beneath thy trembling
+feet, and the dark heavens poured down their burning torrents, thou wert
+less so. In that hour of death, One guarded thee, who never forgets His
+fond and faithful offspring, and now, when He has brought thee out of
+the house of bondage; now, when thy fortunes, like a noble cedar, swell
+in the air and shadow all the land; thou, the very leader of His people,
+His chosen one, for whom He hath worked such marvels, thy heart is
+turned from thy fathers' God, and hankers after strange abominations.'
+
+Through the broad arch that led into the gardens of the serail, the
+moonlight fell upon the tall figure and the upraised arm of the priest;
+Alroy stood with folded arms at some distance, watching Jabaster as he
+spoke, with a calm but searching glance. Suddenly he advanced with a
+quick step, and, placing his hand upon Jabaster's arm, said, in a low,
+enquiring tone, 'You are speaking of this marriage?'
+
+'Of that which ruined Solomon.'
+
+'Listen to me, Jabaster,' said Alroy, interrupting him, in a calm but
+peremptory tone, 'I cannot forget that I am speaking to my master, as
+well as to my friend. The Lord, who knoweth all things, hath deemed me
+worthy of His mission. My fitness for this high and holy office was not
+admitted without proof. A lineage, which none else could offer, mystic
+studies shared by few, a mind that dared encounter all things, and a
+frame that could endure most, these were my claims. But no more of this.
+I have passed the great ordeal; the Lord of Hosts hath found me not
+unworthy of His charge; I have established His ancient people; His
+altars blaze with sacrifices; His priests are honoured, bear witness
+thou, Jabaster, His omnipotent unity is declared. What wouldst thou
+more?'
+
+'All!'
+
+'Then Moses knew you well. It is a stiff-necked people.'
+
+'Sire, bear with me. If I speak in heat, I speak in zeal. You ask me
+what I wish: my answer is, a national existence, which we have not. You
+ask me what I wish: my answer is, the Land of Promise. You ask me what I
+wish: my answer is, Jerusalem. You ask me what I wish: my answer is, the
+Temple, all we have forfeited, all we have yearned after, all for
+which we have fought, our beauteous country, our holy creed, our simple
+manners, and our ancient customs.'
+
+'Manners change with time and circumstances; customs may be observed
+everywhere. The ephod on thy breast proves our faith; and, for a
+country, is the Tigris less than Siloah, or the Euphrates inferior to
+the Jordan?'
+
+'Alas! alas! there was a glorious prime when Israel stood aloof from
+other nations, a fair and holy thing that God had hallowed. We were
+then a chosen family, a most peculiar people, set apart for God's entire
+enjoyment. All about us was solemn, deep, and holy. We shunned the
+stranger as an unclean thing that must defile our solitary sanctity,
+and, keeping to ourselves and to our God, our lives flowed on in one
+great solemn tide of deep religion, making the meanest of our multitude
+feel greater than the kings of other lands. It was a glorious time: I
+thought it had returned; but I awake from this, as other dreams.'
+
+'We must leave off dreaming, good Jabaster, we must act. Were I, by any
+chance, to fall into one of those reveries, with which I have often lost
+the golden hours at Hamadan, or in our old cave, I should hear, some
+fine morning, his Sultanship of Roum rattling at my gates.' Alroy smiled
+as he spoke; he would willingly have introduced a lighter tone into the
+dialogue, but the solemn countenance of the priest was not sympathetic
+with his levity.
+
+'My heart is full, and yet I cannot speak: the memory of the past
+overpowers my thought. I had vainly deemed that my voice, inspired by
+the soul of truth, might yet preserve him; and now I stand here in his
+presence, silent and trembling, like a guilty thing. O, my prince! my
+pupil!' said the priest, advancing, falling on his knee, and seizing the
+robe of Alroy, 'by thy sacred lineage; by the sweet memory of thy ardent
+youth, and our united studies, by all thy zealous thoughts, and solemn
+musings, and glorious aspirations after fame; by all thy sufferings, and
+by all thy triumphs, and chiefly by the name of that great God, who
+hath elected thee his favoured child; by all the marvels of thy mighty
+mission, I do adjure thee! Arise, Alroy, arise and rouse thyself. The
+lure that snared thy fathers may trap thee, this Delilah may shear thy
+mystic locks. Spirits like thee act not by halves. Once fall out from
+the straight course before thee, and, though thou deemest 'tis but to
+saunter 'mid the summer trees, soon thou wilt find thyself in the dark
+depths of some infernal forest, where none may rescue thee!'
+
+'What if I do inherit the eager blood of my great ancestor, at least
+I hold his sceptre. Shall aught of earthly power prevail against the
+supernatural sway of Heaven and Hades?'
+
+'Sire, sire, the legend that came from Sinai is full of high
+instruction. But shape thy conduct by its oracles, and all were well. It
+says our people can be established only by him who rules them with the
+rod of Solomon. Sire, when the Lord offered his pleasure to that mighty
+king, thou knowest his deep discretion. Riches and length of days,
+empire and vengeance, these were not the choice of one to whom all
+accidents were proffered. The legend bears an inward spirit, as well
+as an outward meaning. The capture of the prize was a wise test of thy
+imperial fitness. Thou hast his sceptre, but, without his wisdom, 'tis
+but a staff of cedar.'
+
+'Hah! Art thou there? I am glad to see Jabaster politic. Hear me, my
+friend. What my feelings be unto this royal lady, but little matters.
+Let them pass, and let us view this question by the light wherein you
+have placed it, the flame of policy and not of passion. I am no traitor
+to the God of Israel, in whose name I have conquered, and in whose name
+I shall rule; but thou art a learned doctor, thou canst inform us.
+I have heard no mandate to yield my glorious empire for my meanest
+province. I am Lord of Asia, so would I have my long posterity. Our
+people are but a remnant, a feeble fraction of the teeming millions that
+own my sway. What I hold I can defend; but my children may not inherit
+the spirit of their sire. The Moslemin will recognise their rule with
+readier hearts, when they remember that a daughter of their caliphs gave
+them life. You see I too am politic, my good Jabaster!'
+
+'The policy of the son of Kareah[67], 'twas fatal. He preferred Egypt
+to Judah, and he suffered. Sire, the Lord hath blessed Judah: it is
+His land. He would have it filled by His peculiar people, so that His
+worship might ever flourish. For this He has, by many curious rites and
+customs, marked us out from all other nations, so that we cannot, at the
+same time, mingle with them and yet be true to Him. We must exist alone.
+To preserve that loneliness is the great end and essence of our law.
+What have we to do with Bagdad, or its people, where every instant we
+must witness some violation of our statutes? Can we pray with them?
+Can we eat with them? Alike in the highest duties, and the lowest
+occupations of existence, we cannot mingle. From the altar of our God to
+our domestic boards, we are alike separated from them. Sire, you may be
+King of Bagdad, but you cannot, at the same time, be a Jew.'
+
+'I am what I am. I worship the Lord of Hosts. Perhaps, in His mercy, He
+will accept the days of Nishapur and the Tigris as a compensation for
+some slight relaxation in the ritual of the baker and the bath.'
+
+'And mark my words: it was by the ritual of the baker and the bath that
+Alroy rose, and without it he will fall. The genius of the people, which
+he shared, raised him; and that genius has been formed by the law of
+Moses. Based on that law, he might indeed have handed down an empire
+to his long posterity; and now, though the tree of his fortunes seems
+springing up by the water-side, fed by a thousand springs, and its
+branches covered with dew, there is a gangrene in the sap, and to-morrow
+he may shrink like a shrivelled gourd. Alas! alas! for Israel! We
+have long fed on mallows; but to lose the vintage in the very day of
+fruition, 'tis very bitter. Ah! when I raised thy exhausted form in
+the cavern of Genthesma, and the star of David beamed brightly in the
+glowing heavens upon thy high fulfilment, who could have dreamed of a
+night like this? Farewell, sire.'
+
+'Stop, Jabaster! earliest, dearest friend, prythee, prythee stop!'
+
+The priest slowly turned, the prince hesitated.
+
+'Part not in anger, good Jabaster.'
+
+'In sorrow, sire, only in sorrow; but deep and terrible.'
+
+'Israel is Lord of Asia, my Jabaster. Why should we fear?'
+
+'Solomon built Tadmor in the wilderness, and his fleet brought gold from
+Ophir; and yet Alroy was born a slave.'
+
+'But did not die one. The sultans of the world have fallen before me.
+I have no fear. Nay, do not go. At least you will give some credence to
+the stars, my learned Cabalist. See, my planet shines as brightly as
+my fortunes.' Alroy withdrew the curtain, and with Jabaster stepped out
+upon the terrace. A beautiful star glittered on high. As they gazed, its
+colour changed, and a blood-red meteor burst from its circle, and fell
+into space. The conqueror and the priest looked at each other at the
+same time. Their countenances were pale, enquiring, and agitated.
+
+'Sire,' said Jabaster, 'march to Judah.'
+
+'It portends war,' replied Alroy, endeavouring to recover himself.
+'Perchance some troubles in Persia.'
+
+'Troubles at home, no other. The danger is nigh. Look to thyself.'
+
+A wild scream was heard in the gardens. It sounded thrice.
+
+'What is this?' exclaimed Alroy, really agitated. 'Rouse the guard,
+Jabaster, search the gardens.'
+
+''Tis useless and may do harm. It was a spirit that shrieked.'
+
+'What said it?'
+
+'_Mené, Mené, Tekel, Upharsin!_'
+
+'The old story, the priest against the king,' said Honain to Alroy,
+when at his morrow's interview, he had listened to the events of the
+preceding night. 'My pious brother wishes to lead you back to the
+Theocracy, and is fearful that, if he prays at Bagdad instead of Zion,
+he may chance to become only the head of an inferior sect, instead of
+revelling in the universal tithes of a whole nation. As for the meteor,
+Scherirah must have crossed the river about the same time, and the
+Sultan of Roum may explain the bloody portent. For the shriek, as I
+really have no acquaintance with spirits, I must leave the miraculous
+communication to the favoured ears and initiated intelligences of your
+highness and my brother. It seems that it differed from "the Daughter
+of the Voice" in more respects than one, since it was not only extremely
+noisy, but, as it would appear, quite unintelligible except to the
+individual who had an interest in the interpretation, an ingenious
+one, I confess. When I enter upon my functions as your highness's
+chamberlain, I will at least guarantee that your slumbers shall not be
+disturbed either by spirits or more unwelcome visitors.'
+
+'Enter upon them at once, good Honain. How fares my Persian rose to-day,
+my sweet Schirene?'
+
+'Feeding on your image in your absence. She spares no word to me, I do
+assure your highness.'
+
+'Nay, nay, we know you are a general favourite with the sex, Honain.
+I'faith I'm jealous.'
+
+'I would your highness had cause,' said Honain, demurely.
+
+The approaching marriage between the King of the Hebrews and the
+Princess of Bagdad was published throughout Asia. Preparations were made
+on the plain of the Tigris for the great rejoicing. Whole forests
+were felled to provide materials for the buildings and fuel for the
+banqueting. All the governors of provinces and cities, all the chief
+officers and nobility of both nations, were specially invited, and daily
+arrived in state at Bagdad. Among them the Viceroy of the Medes and
+Persians, and his recent bride, the Princess Miriam, were conspicuous,
+followed by a train of nearly ten thousand persons.
+
+A throne, ascended by one hundred steps covered with crimson cloth, and
+crowned by a golden canopy, was raised in the middle of the plain; on
+each side was a throne less elevated, but equally gorgeous. In the front
+of these thrones an immense circus was described, formed by one
+hundred chartaks or amphitheatres, ample room for the admittance of the
+multitude being left between the buildings. These chartaks were covered
+with bright brocades and showy carpets; on each was hoisted a brilliant
+banner. In some of them were bands of choice musicians, in others
+companies of jugglers, buffoons, and storiers. Five chartaks on each
+side of the thrones were allotted for the convenience of the court;
+the rest were filled by the different trades of the city. In one the
+fruiterers had formed a beautiful garden, glowing with pomegranates and
+gourds and watermelons, oranges, almonds, and pistachio-nuts; in another
+the butchers exhibited their meats carved in fanciful shapes, and the
+skins of animals formed into ludicrous figures. Here assembled the
+furriers, all dressed in masquerade, like leopards, lions, tigers and
+foxes; and in another booth mustered the upholsterers, proud of a camel
+made of wood, and reeds, and cord, and painted linen, a camel which
+walked about as if alive, though ever and anon a curtain drawn aside
+discovered to the marvelling multitude the workman within, performing in
+his own piece. Further on might be perceived the cotton manufacturers,
+whose chartak was full of birds of all shapes and plumage, formed
+nevertheless of their curious plant; and, in the centre rose a lofty
+minaret, constructed of the same material, with the help of reeds,
+although every one imagined it to be built with bricks and mortar. It
+was covered with embroidered work, and on the top was placed a stork, so
+cunningly devised that the children pelted it with pistachio-nuts. The
+saddlers showed their skill in two litters, open at top, each carried on
+a dromedary, and in each a beautiful woman, who diverted the spectators
+with light balls of gilt leather, throwing them up both with their
+hands and feet. Nor were the mat-makers backward in the proof of their
+dexterity, since, instead of a common banner, they exhibited a large
+standard of reeds worked with two lines of writing in Kufic, proclaiming
+the happy names of Alroy and Schirene.
+
+But indeed in every chartak might be seen some wondrous specimens of the
+wealth of Bagdad, and of the ingenuity of its unrivalled artisans.
+
+Around this mighty circus, on every side for the space of many miles,
+the plain was studded with innumerable pavilions. At measured intervals
+were tables furnished with every species of provision, and attended by
+appointed servants; flagons of wine and jars of sherbets, mingled
+with infinite baskets of delicious fruits and trays of refreshing
+confectionery. Although open to all comers, so great and rapid was the
+supply, that these banqueting tables seemed ever laden; and that the
+joys of the people might be complete, they were allowed to pursue
+whatever pleasures they thought fit without any restraint, by
+proclamation, in these terms.
+
+'_This is the time of feasting, pleasure, and rejoicing. Let no person
+reprimand or complain of another: let not the rich insult the poor, or
+the strong the weak: let no one ask another, "why have you done this
+_?"'
+
+Millions of people were collected in this Paradise. They rejoiced, they
+feasted, they frolicked, they danced, they sang. They listened to the
+tales of the Arabian story-teller, at once enchanted and enchanting,
+or melted to the strain of the Persian poet as he painted the moon-lit
+forehead of his heroine and the wasting and shadowy form of his
+love-sick hero; they beheld with amazement the feats of the juggler of
+the Ganges, or giggled at the practised wit and the practical buffoonery
+of the Syrian mime. And the most delighted could still spare a
+fascinating glance to the inviting gestures and the voluptuous grace of
+the dancing girls of Egypt.[68] Everywhere reigned melody and merriment,
+rarity and beauty. For once mankind forgot their cares, and delivered
+themselves up to infinite enjoyment.
+
+'I grow courteous,' said Kisloch the Kourd, assisting a party into one
+of the shows.
+
+'And I humane,' said Calidas the Indian. 'Fellow, how dare you violate
+the proclamation, by thrashing that child?' He turned to one of the
+stewards of the table, who was belabouring the unfortunate driver of a
+camel which had stumbled and in its fall had shivered its burden, two
+panniers of porcelain.
+
+'Mind your own business, fellow,' replied the steward, 'and be thankful
+that for once in your life you can dine.'
+
+'Is this the way to speak to an officer?' said Calidas the Indian; 'I
+have half a mind to cut your tongue out.'
+
+'Never mind, little fellow,' said the Guebre, 'here is a dirhem for you.
+Run away and be merry.'
+
+'A miracle!' grinned the Negro; 'he giveth alms.'
+
+'And you are witty,' rejoined the Guebre. ''Tis a wondrous day.'
+
+'What shall we do?' said Kisloch.
+
+'Let us dine,' proposed the Negro.
+
+'Ay! under this plane-tree,' said Calidas. ''Tis pleasant to be alone. I
+hate everybody but ourselves.'
+
+'Here stop, you rascal,' said the Guebre. 'What's your name?'
+
+'I am a Hadgee,' said our old friend Abdallah, the servant of the
+charitable merchant Ali, and who was this day one of the officiating
+stewards.
+
+'Are you a Jew, you scoundrel?' said the Guebre, 'that is the only thing
+worth being. Bring some wine, you accursed Giaour!'
+
+'Instantly,' said Kisloch, 'and a pilau.' 'And a gazelle stuffed with
+almonds,' said Calidas. 'And some sugar-plums,' said the Negro. 'Quick,
+you infernal Gentile, or I'll send this javelin in your back,' hallooed
+the Guebre.
+
+The servile Abdallah hastened away, and soon bustled back, bearing two
+flagons of wine, and followed by four servants, each with a tray covered
+with dainties.
+
+'Where are you going, you accursed scoundrels?' grumbled Kisloch; 'wait
+upon the true believers.' 'We shall be more free alone,' whispered
+Calidas. 'Away, then, dogs,' growled Kisloch. Abdallah and his
+attendants hurried off, but were soon summoned back.
+
+'Why did you not bring Schiraz wine?' asked Calidas, with an eye of
+fire.
+
+'The pilau is overdone,' thundered Kisloch. 'You have brought a lamb
+stuffed with pistachio-nuts, instead of a gazelle with almonds,' said
+the Guebre.
+
+'Not half sugar-plums enough,' said the Negro. 'Everything is wrong,'
+said Kisloch. 'Go, and get us a kabob.'
+
+In time, however, even this unmanageable crew were satisfied; and,
+seated under their plane-tree, and stuffing themselves with all the
+dainties of the East, they became more amiable as their appetites
+decreased. 'A bumper, Calidas, and a song,' said Kisloch. ''Tis rare
+stuff,' said the Guebre; 'come, Cally, it should inspire you.'
+
+'Here goes, then; mind the chorus.'
+
+     Drink, drink, deeply drink,
+     Never feel, and never think;
+     What's love? what's fame? a sigh, a smile.
+     Friendship? but a hollow wile.
+     If you've any thought or woe,
+     Drown them in the goblet's flow.
+     Yes! dash them in this brimming cup;
+     Dash them in, and drink them up.
+     Drink, drink, deeply drink,
+     Never feel, and never think.
+
+'Hark, the trumpets! The King and Queen! 'The procession is coming.
+Let's away.'
+
+'Again! they must be near. Hurry, hurry, for good places.'
+
+'Break all the cups and dishes. Come along!'
+
+The multitude from all quarters hurried to the great circus, amid the
+clash of ten thousand cymbals and the blast of innumerable trumpets.
+In the distance, issuing from the gates of Bagdad, might be discerned a
+brilliant crowd, the advance company of the bridal procession.
+
+There came five hundred maidens crowned with flowers, and beauteous as
+the buds that girt their hair. Their flowing robes were whiter than the
+swan, and each within her hand a palm-branch held. Followed these a
+band of bright musicians, clothed in golden robes, and sounding silver
+trumpets.
+
+Then five hundred youths, brilliant as stars, clad in jackets of
+white-fox skin, and alternately bearing baskets of fruit or flowers.
+
+Followed these a band of bright musicians, clothed in silver robes, and
+sounding golden trumpets.
+
+Six choice steeds, sumptuously caparisoned, each led by an Arab
+groom.[69]
+
+The household of Medad, in robes of crimson, lined with sable.
+
+The standard of Medad.
+
+Medad, on a coal-black Arab, followed by three hundred officers of his
+division, all mounted on steeds of pure race.
+
+Slaves, bearing the bridal present of Medad; six Damascus sabres of
+unrivalled temper.[70]
+
+Twelve choice steeds, sumptuously caparisoned, each led by an Anatolian
+groom.
+
+The household of Ithamar, in robes of violet, lined with ermine.
+
+The standard of Ithamar.
+
+Ithamar, on a snow-white Anatolian charger, followed by six hundred
+officers of his division, all mounted on steeds of pure race.
+
+Slaves bearing the marriage present of Ithamar; a golden vase of rubies
+borne on a violet throne.
+
+One hundred Negroes, their noses bored, and hung with rings of
+brilliants, playing upon wind instruments and kettle-drums.
+
+The standard of the City of Bagdad.
+
+The deputation from the citizens of Bagdad.
+
+Two hundred mules, with caparisons of satin, embroidered with gold,
+and adorned with small golden bells. These bore the sumptuous wardrobe,
+presented by the city to their princess. Each mule was attended by a
+girl, dressed like a Péri, with starry wings, and a man, masked as a
+hideous Dive.
+
+The standard of Egypt.
+
+The deputation from the Hebrews of Egypt, mounted on dromedaries, with
+silver furniture.
+
+Fifty slaves, bearing their present to the princess, with golden cords,
+a mighty bath of jasper, beautifully carved, the sarcophagus of some
+ancient temple, and purchased for an immense sum.
+
+The standard of Syria.
+
+The deputation from the Hebrews of the Holy Land, headed by Rabbi Zimri
+himself, each carrying in his hand his offering to the nuptial pair, a
+precious vase, containing earth from the Mount of Zion.
+
+The standard of Hamadan.
+
+The deputation from the citizens of Hamadan, headed by the venerable
+Bostenay himself, whose sumptuous charger was led by Caleb.
+
+The present of the city of Hamadan to David Al-roy, offered at his own
+suggestion; the cup in which the Prince of the Captivity carried his
+tribute, now borne full of sand.
+
+Fifty choice steeds, sumptuously caparisoned, each led by a Median or
+Persian groom.
+
+The household of Abner and Miriam, in number twelve hundred, clad in
+chain armour of ivory and gold.
+
+The standard of the Medes and Persians.
+
+Two white elephants, with golden litters, bearing the Viceroy and his
+Princess.
+
+The offering of Abner to Alroy; twelve elephants of state, with
+furniture embroidered with jewels, each tended by an Indian clad in
+chain armour of ivory and gold.
+
+The offering of Miriam to Schirene; fifty plants of roses from
+Rocnabad;[71] a white shawl of Cachemire fifty feet in length, which
+folded into the handle of a fan; fifty screens, each made of a feather
+of the roc;[72] and fifty vases of crystal full of exquisite perfumes,
+and each sealed with a talisman of precious stones.
+
+After these followed the eunuch guard.
+
+Then came the band of the serail, consisting of three hundred dwarfs,
+hideous indeed to behold, but the most complete musicians in the world.
+
+The steeds of Solomon, in number one hundred, each with a natural star
+upon its front, uncaparisoned, and led only by a bridle of diamonds.
+
+The household of Alroy and Schirene. Foremost, the Lord Honain riding
+upon a chestnut charger, shod with silver; the dress of the rider, pink
+with silver stars. From his rosy turban depended a tremulous aigrette of
+brilliants,73 blazing with a thousand shifting tints.
+
+Two hundred pages followed him; and then servants of both sexes,
+gorgeously habited, amounting to nearly two thousand, carrying rich
+vases, magnificent caskets, and costly robes. The treasurer and two
+hundred of his underlings came next, showering golden dirhems on all
+sides.
+
+The sceptre of Solomon borne by Asriel himself.
+
+A magnificent and lofty car, formed of blue enamel with golden wheels,
+and axletrees of turquoises and brilliants, and drawn by twelve
+snow-white and sacred horses, four abreast; in the car Alroy and
+Schirene.
+
+Five thousand of the Sacred Guard closed the procession.
+
+Amid the exclamations of the people, this gorgeous procession crossed
+the plain, and moved around the mighty circus. The conqueror and his
+bride ascended their throne; its steps were covered by the youths and
+maidens. On the throne upon their right sat the venerable Bostenay; on
+the left, the gallant Viceroy and his Princess. The chartaks on each
+side were crowded with the court.
+
+The deputations made their offerings, the chiefs and captains paid their
+homage, the trades of the city moved before the throne in order, and
+exhibited their various ingenuity. Thrice was the proclamation made,
+amid the sound of trumpets, and then began the games.
+
+A thousand horsemen dashed into the arena and threw the jerreed. They
+galloped at full speed; they arrested their fiery charges in mid course,
+and flung their long javelins at the minute but sparkling target, the
+imitative form of a rare and brilliant bird. The conquerors received
+their prizes from the hand of the princess herself, bright shawls, and
+jewelled daggers, and rosaries of gems. Sometimes the trumpets announced
+a prize from the vice-queen, sometimes from the venerable Bostenay,
+sometimes from the victorious generals, or the loyal deputations,
+sometimes from the united trades, sometimes from the City of Bagdad,
+sometimes from the City of Hamadan. The hours flew away in gorgeous and
+ceaseless variety.
+
+'I would we were alone, my own Schirene,' said Alroy to his bride.
+
+'I would so too; and yet I love to see all Asia prostrate at the feet of
+Alroy.'
+
+'Will the sun never set? Give me thy hand to play with.'
+
+'Hush! See, Miriam smiles.'
+
+'Lovest thou my sister, my own Schirene?'
+
+'None dearer but thyself.'
+
+'Talk not of my sister, but ourselves. Thinkest thou the sun is nearer
+setting, love?'
+
+'I cannot see; thine eyes they dazzle me, they are so brilliant, sweet!'
+
+'Oh, my soul! I could pour out my passion on thy breast.'
+
+'Thou art very serious.'
+
+'Love is ever so.'
+
+'Nay, sweet! It makes me wild and fanciful. Now I could do such things,
+but what I know not. I would we had wings, and then we would fly away.'
+
+'See, I must salute this victor in the games. Must I unloose thy hand!
+Dear hand, farewell! Think of me while I speak, my precious life. 'Tis
+done. Give back thy hand, or else methinks I shall die. What's this?'
+
+A horseman, in no holiday dress, but covered with dust, rushed into the
+circus, bearing in his hand a tall lance, on which was fixed a scroll.
+The marshals of the games endeavoured to prevent his advance, but he
+would not be stayed. His message was to the king alone. A rumour of news
+from the army circulated throughout the crowd. And news from the army it
+was. Another victory! Scherirah had defeated the Sultan of Roum, who was
+now a suppliant for peace and alliance. Sooth to say, the intelligence
+had arrived at dawn of day, but the courtly Honain had contrived that it
+should be communicated at a later and more effective moment.
+
+There scarcely needed this additional excitement to this glorious day.
+But the people cheered, the golden dirhems were scattered with renewed
+profusion, and the intelligence was received by all parties as a solemn
+ratification by Jehovah, or by Allah, of the morning ceremony.
+
+The sun set, the court rose, and returned in the same pomp to the
+serail. The twilight died away, a beacon fired on a distant eminence
+announced the entrance of Alroy and Schirene into the nuptial chamber,
+and suddenly, as by magic, the mighty city, every mosque, and minaret,
+and tower, and terrace, and the universal plain, and the numberless
+pavilions, and the immense circus, and the vast and winding river,
+blazed with light. From every spot a lamp, a torch, a lantern, tinted
+with every hue, burst forth; enormous cressets of silver radiancy beamed
+on the top of each chartak, and huge bonfires of ruddy flame started up
+along the whole horizon.
+
+For seven days and seven nights this unparalleled scene of rejoicing,
+though ever various, never ceased. Long, long was remembered the bridal
+feast of the Hebrew prince and the caliph's daughter; long, long did the
+peasantry on the plains of Tigris sit down by the side of that starry
+river, and tell the wondrous tale to their marvelling posterity.
+
+Now what a glorious man was David Alroy, lord of the mightiest empire
+in the world, and wedded to the most beautiful princess, surrounded by
+a prosperous and obedient people, guarded by invincible armies, one on
+whom Earth showered all its fortune, and Heaven all its favour; and all
+by the power of his own genius!
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER IX.
+
+     _The Death of Jabaster_
+
+'TWAS midnight, and the storm still raged; 'mid the roar of the thunder
+and the shrieks of the wind, the floods of forky lightning each instant
+revealed the broad and billowy breast of the troubled Tigris. Jabaster
+stood gazing upon the wild scene from the gallery of his palace. His
+countenance was solemn, but disquieted.
+
+'I would that he were here!' exclaimed the high priest. 'Yet why should
+I desire his presence, who heralds only gloom? Yet in his absence am I
+gay? I am nothing. This Bagdad weighs upon me like a cloak of lead: my
+spirit is dull and broken.'
+
+'They say Alroy gives a grand banquet in the serail to-night, and toasts
+his harlot 'mid the thunderbolts. Is there no hand to write upon the
+wall? He is found wanting, he is weighed, and is indeed found wanting.
+The parting of his kingdom soon will come, and then, I could weep, oh!
+I could weep, and down these stern and seldom yielding cheeks pour the
+wild anguish of my desperate woe. So young, so great, so favoured! But
+one more step a God, and now a foul Belshazzar!
+
+'Was it for this his gentle youth was passed in musing solitude and
+mystic studies? Was it for this the holy messenger summoned his most
+religious spirit? Was it for this he crossed the fiery desert, and
+communed with his fathers in their tombs? Is this the end of all his
+victories and all his vast achievements? To banquet with a wanton!
+
+'A year ago, this very night, it was the eve of battle, I stood within
+his tent to wait his final word. He mused awhile, and then he said,
+"Good night, Jabaster!" I believed myself the nearest to his heart, as
+he has ever been nearest to mine, but that's all over. He never says,
+"Good night, Jabaster," now. Why, what's all this? Methinks I am a
+child.
+
+'The Lord's anointed is a prisoner now in the light grating of a bright
+kiosk, and never gazes on the world he conquered. Egypt and Syria, even
+farthest Ind, send forth their messengers to greet Alroy, the great, the
+proud, the invincible. And where is he? In a soft Paradise of girls and
+eunuchs, crowned with flowers, listening to melting lays, and the wild
+trilling of the amorous lute. He spares no hours to council; all is left
+to his prime favourites, of whom the leader is that juggling fiend I
+sometime called my brother.
+
+'Why rest I here? Whither should I fly? Methinks my presence is still a
+link to decency. Should I tear off the ephod, I scarcely fancy 'twould
+blaze upon another's breast. He goes not to the sacrifice; they say he
+keeps no fast, observes no ritual, and that their festive fantasies will
+not be balked, even by the Sabbath. I have not seen him thrice since
+the marriage. Honain has told her I did oppose it, and she bears to me
+a hatred that only women feel. Our strong passions break into a thousand
+purposes: women have one. Their love is dangerous, but their hate is
+fatal.
+
+'See! a boat bounding on the waters. On such a night, but one would dare
+to venture.'
+
+Now visible, now in darkness, a single lantern at the prow, Jabaster
+watched with some anxiety the slight bark buffeting the waves. A flash
+of lightning illumined the whole river, and tipped with a spectral light
+even the distant piles of building. The boat and the toiling figure
+of the single rower were distinctly perceptible. Now all again was
+darkness; the wind suddenly subsided; in a few minutes the plash of the
+oars was audible, and the boat apparently stopped beneath the palace.
+
+There was a knocking at the private portal.
+
+'Who knocks?' enquired Jabaster.
+
+'A friend to Israel.'
+
+'Abidan, by his voice. Art thou alone?'
+
+'The prophetess is with me; only she.'
+
+'A moment. I'll open the gate. Draw the boat within the arch.'
+
+Jabaster descended from the gallery, and in a few moments returned with
+two visitors: the youthful prophetess Esther, and her companion, a
+man short in stature, but with a powerful and well-knit frame. His
+countenance was melancholy, and, with harshness in the lower part, not
+without a degree of pensive beauty in the broad clear brow and sunken
+eyes, unusual in Oriental visages.
+
+'A rough night,' said Jabaster.
+
+'To those who fear it,' replied Abidan. 'The sun has brought so little
+joy to me, I care not for the storm.'
+
+'What news?'
+
+'Woe! woe! woe!'
+
+'Thy usual note, my sister. Will the day never come when we may change
+it?'
+
+'Woe! woe! woe! unutterable woe!'
+
+'Abidan, how fares it?'
+
+'Very well.'
+
+'Indeed!'
+
+'As it may turn out.'
+
+'You are brief.'
+
+'Bitter.'
+
+'Have you been to court, that you have learnt to be so wary in your
+words, my friend?'
+
+'I know not what may happen. In time we may all become courtiers, though
+I fear, Jabaster, we have done too much to be rewarded. I gave him my
+blood, and you something more, and now we are at Bagdad. 'Tis a
+fine city. I wish to Heaven the shower of Sodom would rain upon its
+terraces.'
+
+'I know thou hast something terrible to tell. I know it by that gloomy
+brow of thine, that lowers like the tempest. Speak out, man, I can bear
+the worst, for which I am prepared.'
+
+'Take it, then. Alroy has proclaimed himself Caliph. Abner is made
+Sultan of Persia; Asriel, Ithamar, Medad, and the chief captains,
+Vizirs, Honain their chief. Four Moslem nobles are sworn into the
+council. The Princess goes to mosque in state next Friday; 'tis said thy
+pupil doth accompany her.'
+
+'I'll not believe it! By the God of Sinai, I'll not believe it! Were
+my own eye the accursed witness of the deed, I'd not believe it. Go to
+mosque! They play with thee, my good Abidan, they play with thee.'
+
+'As it may be. Tis a rumour, but rumours herald deeds. The rest of my
+intelligence is true. I had it from my kinsman, stout Zalmunna. He left
+the banquet.'
+
+'Shall I go to him? Methinks one single word, To mosque! only a rumour
+and a false one. I'll never believe it; no, no, no, never, never! Is he
+not the Lord's anointed? The ineffable curse upon this daughter ot the
+Moabite! No marvel that it thunders! By heavens, I'll go and beard him
+in his orgies!'
+
+'You know your power better than Abidan. You bearded him before his
+marriage, yet----'
+
+'He married. Tis true. Honain, their chief. And I kept his ring! Honain
+is my brother. Have I ne'er a dagger to cut the bond of brotherhood?'
+
+'We have all daggers, Jabaster, if we knew but how to use them.'
+
+''Tis strange, we met after twenty years of severance. You were not
+in the chamber, Abidan. 'Twas at council. We met after twenty years of
+severance. He is my brother. 'Tis strange, I say: I felt that man shrink
+from my embrace.'
+
+'Honain is a philosopher, and believes in sympathy. 'Twould appear there
+was none between you. His system, then, absolves you from all ties.'
+
+'You are sure the rest of the intelligence is true? I'll not believe the
+mosque, the rest is bad enough.'
+
+'Zalmunna left the banquet. Hassan Subah's brother sat above him.'
+
+'Subah's brother! 'Tis all over, then. Is he of the council?'
+
+'Ay, and others.'
+
+'Where now is Israel?'
+
+'She should be in her tents.'
+
+'Woe! woe! unutterable woe!' exclaimed the prophetess, who, standing
+motionless at the back of the chamber, seemed inattentive to their
+conversation.
+
+Jabaster paced the gallery with agitated steps. Suddenly he stopped,
+and, walking up to Abidan, seized his arm, and looked him sternly in
+the face. 'I know thy thoughts, Abidan,' exclaimed the priest; 'but it
+cannot be. I have dismissed, henceforth and for ever I have dismissed
+all feeling from my mind; now I have no brother, no friend, no pupil,
+and, I fear, no Saviour. Israel is all in all to me. I have no other
+life. 'Tis not compunction, then, that stays my arm. My heart's as hard
+as thine.'
+
+'Why stays it then?'
+
+'Because with him we fall. He is the last of all his sacred line. There
+is no other hand to grasp our sceptre.'
+
+'_Our_ sceptre! what sceptre?'
+
+'The sceptre of our kings.'
+
+'Kings!'
+
+'Ay, why dost thou look so dark?'
+
+'How looked the prophet when the stiff-necked populace forsooth must
+have a king! Did he smile? Did he shout, and clap his hands, and cry,
+God save his Majesty! O, Jabaster! honoured, rare Jabaster! thou second
+Samuel of our lightheaded people! there was a time when Israel had no
+king except their God. Were we viler then? Did kings conquer Canaan? Who
+was Moses, who was Aaron, who was mighty Joshua? Was the sword of Gideon
+a kingly sword? Did the locks of Samson shade royal temples? Would a
+king have kept his awful covenant like solemn Jephtha? Royal words
+are light as air, when, to maintain them, you injure any other than a
+subject.
+
+'Kings! why, what's a king? Why should one man break the equal sanctity
+of our chosen race? Is their blood purer than our own? We are all the
+seed of Abraham. Who was Saul, and who was David? I never heard that
+they were a different breed from our fathers. Grant them devout, which
+they were not; and brave and wise, which other men were; have their
+posterity a patent for all virtues? No, Jabaster! thou ne'er didst err,
+but when thou placedst a crown upon this haughty stripling. What he did,
+a thousand might have done. 'Twas thy mind inspired the deed. And now he
+is a king; and now Jabaster, the very soul of Israel, who should be our
+Judge and leader, Jabaster trembles in disgrace, while our unhallowed
+Sanhedrim is filled with Ammonites!'
+
+'Abidan, thou hast touched me to the quick; thou hast stirred up
+thoughts that ever and anon, like strong and fatal vapours, have risen
+from the dark abyss of thought, and I have quelled them.'
+
+'Let them rise, I say; let them drown the beams of that all-scorching
+sun we suffer under, that drinks all vegetation up, and makes us
+languish with a dull exhaustion!'
+
+'Joy! joy! unutterable joy!'
+
+'Hark! the prophetess has changed her note; and yet she hears us not.
+The spirit of the Lord is truly with her. Come, Jabaster, I see thy
+heart is opening to thy people's sufferings; thy people, my Jabaster,
+for art not thou our Judge? At least, thou shalt be.'
+
+'Can we call back the Theocracy? Is't possible?'
+
+'But say the word, and it is done, Jabaster. Nay, stare not. Dost thou
+think there are no true hearts in Israel? Dost thou suppose thy children
+have beheld, without a thought, the foul insults poured on thee; thee,
+their priest, their adored high priest, one who recalls the best days
+of the past, the days of their great Judges? But one word, one single
+movement of that mitred head, and---- But I speak unto a mind that feels
+more than I can express. Be silent, tongue, thou art a babbling
+counsellor. Jabaster's patriot soul needs not the idle schooling of a
+child. If he be silent, 'tis that his wisdom deems that the hour is not
+ripe, but when her leader speaks, Israel will not be slack.'
+
+'The Moslemin in council! We know what must come next. Our national
+existence is in its last agony. Methinks the time is very ripe, Abidan.'
+
+'Why, so we think, great sir; and say the word, and twenty thousand
+spears will guard the Ark. I'll answer for my men. Stout Scherirah looks
+grimly on the Moabites. A word from thee, and the whole Syrian army will
+join our banner, the Lion of Judah, that shall be our flag. The tyrant
+and his satraps, let them die, and then the rest must join us. We'll
+proclaim the covenant, and, leaving Babylon to a bloody fate, march on
+to Zion!'
+
+'Zion, his youthful dream, Zion!'
+
+'You muse!'
+
+'King or no king, he is the Lord's anointed. Shall this hand, that
+poured the oil on his hallowed head, wash out the balmy signet with his
+blood? Must I slay him? Shall this kid be seethed even in its mother's
+milk?'
+
+'His voice is low, and yet his face is troubled. How now, sir?'
+
+'What art thou? Ah! Abidan, trusty, stanch Abidan! You see, Abidan, I
+was thinking, my good Abidan, all this may be the frenzy of a revel.
+Tomorrow's dawn may summon cooler counsels. The tattle of the table, it
+is sacred. Let us forget it; let us pass it over. The Lord may turn his
+heart. Who knows, who knows, Abidan!'
+
+'Noble sir, a moment since your mind was like your faith, firm and
+resolved, and now----'
+
+'School me not, school me not, good Abidan. There is that within my mind
+you cannot fathom; some secret sorrows which are all my own. Leave
+me, good friend, leave me awhile. When Israel calls me I shall not be
+wanting. Be sure of that, Abidan, be sure of that. Nay, do not go; the
+night is very rough, and the fair prophetess should not again stem the
+swelling river. I'll to my closet, and will soon return.'
+
+Jabaster quitted the gallery, and entered a small apartment. Several
+large volumes, unclasped and open, were lying on various parts of the
+divan. Before them stood his brazen cabalistic table. He closed
+the chamber with a cautious air. He advanced into the centre of the
+apartment. He lifted up his hands to heaven, and clasped them with an
+expression almost of agony.
+
+'Is it come to this?' he muttered in a tone of deep oppression. 'Is it
+come to this? What is't I have heard? what done? Down, tempting devil,
+down! O life! O glory! O my country, my chosen people, and my sacred
+creed! why do we live, why act? Why have we feeling for aught that's
+famous, or for aught that's holy? Let me die! let, let me die! The
+torture of existence is too great.'
+
+He flung himself upon the couch; he buried his awful countenance in his
+robes. His mighty heart was convulsed with passion. There did he lie,
+that great and solemn man, prostrate and woe-begone.
+
+'The noisy banquet lingers in my ear; I love to be alone.'
+
+'With me?'
+
+'Thou art myself; I have no other life.'
+
+'Sweet bird! It is now a caliph.'
+
+'I am what thou wiliest, soul of my sweet existence! Pomp and dominion,
+fame and victory, seem now but flawed and dimly-shaded gems compared
+with thy bright smile!'
+
+'My plaintive nightingale, shall we hunt to-day?'
+
+'Alas! my rose, I would rather lie upon this lazy couch, and gaze upon
+thy beauty!'
+
+'Or sail upon the cool and azure lake, in some bright barque, like to a
+sea-nymph's shell, and followed by the swans?'
+
+'There is no lake so blue as thy deep eye; there is no swan so white as
+thy round arm!'
+
+'Or shall we launch our falcons in the air, and bring the golden
+pheasant to our feet?'
+
+'I am the golden pheasant at thy feet; why wouldst thou richer prey?'
+
+'Rememberest thou thy earliest visit to this dear kiosk, my gentle mute?
+There thou stoodst with folded arms and looks demure as day, and ever
+and anon with those dark eyes stealing a glance which made my cheek
+quite pale. Methinks I see thee even yet, shy bird. Dost know, I was so
+foolish when it quitted me, dost know I cried?'
+
+'Ah, no! thou didst not cry?'
+
+'Indeed, I think I did.'
+
+'Tell me again, my own Schirene, indeed didst cry?'
+
+'Indeed I did, my soul!'
+
+'I would those tears were in some crystal vase, I'd give a province for
+the costly urn.'
+
+She threw her arms around his neck and covered his face with kisses.
+
+Sunset sounded from the minarets. They arose and wandered together in
+the surrounding paradise. The sky was tinted with a pale violet flush,
+a single star floating by the side of the white moon, that beamed with a
+dim lustre, soft and shapely as a pearl.
+
+'Beautiful!' exclaimed the pensive Schirene, as she gazed upon the star.
+'O, my Alroy, why cannot we ever live alone, and ever in a paradise?'
+
+'I am wearied of empire,' replied Alroy with a smile, 'let us fly!'
+
+'Is there no island, with all that can make life charming, and yet
+impervious to man? How little do we require! Ah! if these gardens,
+instead of being surrounded by hateful Bagdad, were only encompassed by
+some beautiful ocean!'
+
+'My heart, we live in a paradise, and are seldom disturbed, thanks to
+Honain!'
+
+'But the very consciousness that there are any other persons existing
+besides ourselves is to me painful. Every one who even thinks of you
+seems to rob me of a part of your being. Besides, I am weary of pomp and
+palaces. I should like to live in a sparry grot, and sleep upon a couch
+of sweet leaves!'
+
+This interesting discussion was disturbed by a dwarf, who, in addition
+to being very small and very ugly, was dumb. He bowed before the
+Princess; and then had recourse to a great deal of pantomimic action, by
+which she discovered that it was dinnertime. No other person could
+have ventured to disturb the royal pair, but this little being was a
+privileged favourite.
+
+So Alroy and Schirene entered the serail. An immense cresset-lamp, fed
+with perfumed oil, threw a soft light round the sumptuous chamber. At
+the end stood a row of eunuchs in scarlet dresses, and each holding a
+tall silver staff. The Caliph and the Sultana threw themselves upon
+a couch covered with a hundred cushions; on one side stood a group
+consisting of the captain of the guard and other officers of the
+household, on the other, of beautiful female slaves magnificently
+attired.
+
+The line of domestics at the end of the apartment opened, and a body of
+slaves advanced, carrying trays of ivory and gold, and ebony and silver,
+covered with the choicest dainties, curiously prepared. These were
+in turn offered to the Caliph and the Sultana by their surrounding
+attendants. The Princess accepted a spoon made of a single pearl,
+the long, thin golden handle of which was studded with rubies, and
+condescended to partake of some saffron soup, of which she was fond.
+Afterwards she regaled herself with the breast of a cygnet, stuffed
+with almonds, and stewed with violets and cream. Having now a little
+satisfied her appetite, and wishing to show a mark of her favour to a
+particular individual, she ordered the captain of the guard instantly
+to send him the whole of the next course[74] with her compliments. Her
+attention was then engaged with a dish of those delicate ortolans that
+feed upon the vine-leaves of Schiraz, and with which the Governor of
+Nishapur took especial care that she should be well provided. Tearing
+the delicate birds to pieces with her still more delicate fingers, she
+insisted upon feeding Alroy, who of course yielded to her solicitations.
+In the meantime, they refreshed themselves with their favourite sherbet
+of pomegranates, and the golden wine of Mount Lebanon.[76] The Caliph,
+who could eat no more ortolans, although fed by such delicate fingers,
+was at length obliged to call for 'rice,' which was synonymous to
+commanding the banquet to disappear. The attendants now brought to each
+basins of gold, and ewers of rock crystal filled with rose water, with
+towels of that rare Egyptian linen which can be made only of the cotton
+that grows upon the banks of the Nile. While they amused themselves with
+eating sugar-plums, and drinking coffee flavoured with cinnamon, the
+female slaves danced before them in the most graceful attitudes to the
+melody of invisible musicians.
+
+'My enchanting Schirene,' said the Caliph, 'I have dined, thanks to your
+attention, very well. These slaves of yours dance admirably, and are
+exceedingly beautiful. Your music, too, is beyond all praise; but, for
+my own part, I would rather be quite alone, and listening to one of your
+songs.'
+
+'I have written a new one to-day. You shall hear it.' So saying, she
+clapped her little white hands, and all the attendants immediately
+withdrew.
+
+'The stars are stealing forth, and so will I. Sorry sight! to view
+Jabaster, with a stealthy step, skulk like a thing dishonoured! Oh! may
+the purpose consecrate the deed! the die is cast.'
+
+So saying, the High Priest, muffled up in his robe, emerged from his
+palace into the busy streets. It is at night that the vitality of
+Oriental life is most impressive. The narrow winding streets, crowded
+with a population breathing the now sufferable air, the illuminated
+coffee-houses, the groups of gay yet sober revellers, the music, and the
+dancing, and the animated recitals of the poet and the story-teller, all
+combine to invest the starry hours with a beguiling and even fascinating
+character of enjoyment and adventure.
+
+It was the night after the visit of Abidan and the prophetess. Jabaster
+had agreed to meet Abidan in the square of the great mosque two hours
+after sunset, and thither he now repaired.
+
+'I am somewhat before my time,' he said, as he entered the great square,
+over which the rising moon threw a full flood of light. A few dark
+shadows of human beings alone moved in the distance. The world was in
+the streets and coffee-houses. 'I am somewhat before my time,' said
+Jabaster. 'Conspirators are watchful. I am anxious for the meeting, and
+yet I dread it. Since he broke this business, I have never slept. My
+mind is a chaos. I will not think. If 'tis to be done, let it be done at
+once. I am more tempted to sheathe this dagger in Jabaster's breast than
+in Alroy's. If life or empire were the paltry stake, I would end a life
+that now can bring no joy, and yield authority that hath no charm; but
+Israel, Israel, thou for whom I have endured so much, let me forget
+Jabaster had a mother!
+
+'But for this thought that links me with my God, and leads my temper to
+a higher state, how vain and sad, how wearisome and void, were this said
+world they think of! But for this thought, I could sit down and die.
+Yea! my great heart could crack, worn out, worn out; my mighty passions,
+with their fierce but flickering flame, sink down and die; and the
+strong brain that ever hath urged my course, and pricked me onward with
+perpetual thought, desert the rudder it so long hath held, like some
+baffled pilot in blank discomfiture, in the far centre of an unknown
+sea.
+
+'Study and toil, anxiety and sorrow, mighty action, perchance Time, and
+disappointment, which is worse than all, have done their work, and not
+in vain. I am no longer the same Jabaster that gazed upon the stars of
+Caucasus. Methinks even they look dimmer than of yore. The glory of my
+life is fading. My leaves are sear, tinged, but not tainted. I am still
+the same in one respect; I have not left my God, in deed or thought. Ah!
+who art thou?'
+
+'A friend to Israel.'
+
+'I am glad that Israel hath a friend. Noble Abi-dan, I have well
+considered all that hath passed between us. Sooth to say, you touched
+upon a string I've played before, but kept it for my loneliness; a
+jarring tune, indeed a jarring tune, but so it is, and being so, let me
+at once unto your friends, Abi-dan.'
+
+'Noble Jabaster, thou art what I deemed thee.'
+
+'Abidan, they say the consciousness of doing justly is the best basis of
+a happy mind.'
+
+'Even so.'
+
+'And thou believest it?'
+
+'Without doubt.'
+
+'We are doing very justly?'
+
+''Tis a weak word for such a holy purpose.'
+
+'I am most wretched!'
+
+The High Priest and his companion entered the house of Abidan. Jabaster
+addressed the already assembled guests.
+
+'Brave Scherirah, it joys me to find thee here. In Israel's cause when
+was Scherirah wanting? Stout Zalmunna, we have not seen enough of each
+other: the blame is mine. Gentle prophetess, thy blessing!
+
+'Good friends, why we meet here is known to all. Little did we dream of
+such a meeting when we crossed the Tigris. But that is nothing. We come
+to act, and not to argue. Our great minds, they are resolved: our solemn
+purpose requires no demonstration. If there be one among us who would
+have Israel a slave to Ishmael, who would lose all we have prayed
+for, all we have fought for, all we have won, and all for which we
+are prepared to die, if there be one among us who would have the Ark
+polluted, and Jehovah's altar stained with a Gentile sacrifice, if there
+be one among us who does not sigh for Zion, who would not yield his
+breath to build the Temple and gain the heritage his fathers lost,
+why, let him go! There is none such among us: then stay, and free your
+country!'
+
+'We are prepared, great Jabaster; we are prepared, all, all!'
+
+'I know it; you are like myself. Necessity hath taught decision. Now for
+our plans. Speak, Zalmunna.'
+
+'Noble Jabaster, I see much difficulty. Alroy no longer quits his
+palace. Our entrance unwatched is, you well know, impossible. What say
+you, Scherirah?'
+
+'I doubt not of my men, but war against Alroy is, to say nought of
+danger, of doubtful issue.'
+
+'I am prepared to die, but not to fail,' said Abidan. 'We must be
+certain. Open war I fear. The mass of the army will side with their
+leaders, and they are with the tyrant. Let us do the deed, and they must
+join us.'
+
+'Is it impossible to gain his presence to some sacrifice in honour of
+some by-gone victory; what think ye?'
+
+'I doubt much, Jabaster. At this moment he little wishes to sanction our
+national ceremonies with his royal person. The woman assuredly will
+stay him. And, even if he come, success is difficult, and therefore
+doubtful.'
+
+'Noble warriors, list to a woman's voice,' exclaimed the prophetess,
+coming forward. ''Tis weak, but with such instruments, even the
+aspirations of a child, the Lord will commune with his chosen people.
+There is a secret way by which I can gain the gardens of the palace.
+To-morrow night, just as the moon is in her midnight bower, behold the
+accursed pile shall blaze. Let Abidan's troops be all prepared, and at
+the moment when the flames first ascend, march to the Seraglio gate as
+if with aid. The affrighted guard will offer no opposition. While
+the troops secure the portals, you yourselves, Zalmunna, Abidan, and
+Jabaster, rush to the royal chamber and do the deed. In the meantime,
+let brave Scherirah, with his whole division, surround the palace, as if
+unconscious of the mighty work. Then come you forward, show, if it need,
+with tears, the fated body to the soldiery, and announce the Theocracy.'
+
+'It is the Lord who speaks,' said Abidan, who was doubtless prepared for
+the proposition. 'He has delivered them into our hands.'
+
+'A bold plan,' said Jabaster, musing, 'and yet I like it. 'Tis quick,
+and that is something. I think 'tis sure.'
+
+'It cannot fail,' exclaimed Zalmunna, 'for if the flame ascend not,
+still we are but where we were.'
+
+'I am for it,' said Scherirah.
+
+'Well, then,' said Jabaster, 'so let it be. Tomorrow's eve will see us
+here again prepared. Good night.'
+
+'Good night, holy Priest. How seem the stars, Jabaster?'
+
+'Very troubled; so have they been some days. What they portend I know
+not.'
+
+'Health to Israel.'
+
+'Let us hope so. Good night, sweet friends.'
+
+'Good night, holy Jabaster. Thou art our cornerstone.'
+
+'Israel hath no other hope but in Jabaster.'
+
+'My Lord,' said Abidan, 'remain, I pray, one moment.'
+
+'What is't? I fain would go.'
+
+'Alroy must die, my Lord, but dost thou think a single death will seal
+the covenant?'
+
+'The woman?'
+
+'Ay! the woman! I was not thinking of the woman. Asriel, Ithamar,
+Medad?'
+
+'Valiant soldiers! doubt not we shall find them useful instruments. I
+do not fear such loose companions. They follow their leaders, like other
+things born to obey. Having no head themselves, they must follow us who
+have.'
+
+'I think so too. There is no other man who might be dangerous?'
+
+Zalmunna and Scherirah cast their eyes upon the ground. There was a dead
+silence, broken by the prophetess.
+
+'A judgment hath gone forth against Honain!' 'Nay! he is Lord Jabaster's
+brother,' said Abidan.
+
+'It is enough to save a more inveterate foe to Israel, if such there
+be.'
+
+'I have no brother, Sir. The man you speak of I will not slay, since
+there are others who may do that deed. And so again, good night.'
+
+It was the dead of night, a single lamp burned in the chamber, which
+opened into an arched gallery that descended by a flight of steps into
+the gardens of the Serail.
+
+A female figure ascended the flight with slow and cautious steps. She
+paused on the gallery, she looked around, one foot was in the chamber.
+
+She entered. She entered a chamber of small dimensions, but richly
+adorned. In the farthest corner was a couch of ivory, hung with a gauzy
+curtain of silver tissue, which, without impeding respiration, protected
+the slumberer from the fell insects of an Oriental night. Leaning
+against an ottoman was a large brazen shield of ancient fashion, and
+near it some helmets and curious weapons.
+
+'An irresistible impulse hath carried me into this chamber!' exclaimed
+the prophetess. 'The light haunted me like a spectre; and wheresoever I
+moved, it seemed to summon me.
+
+'A couch and a slumberer!'
+
+She approached the object, she softly withdrew the curtain. Pale and
+panting, she rushed back, yet with a light step. She beheld Alroy!
+
+For a moment she leant against the wall, overpowered by her emotions.
+Again she advanced, and gazed on her unconscious victim.
+
+'Can the guilty sleep like the innocent? Who would deem this gentle
+slumberer had betrayed the highest trust that ever Heaven vouchsafed to
+favoured man? He looks not like a tyrant and a traitor: calm his brow,
+and mild his placid breath! His long dark hair, dark as the raven's
+wing, hath broken from its fillet, and courses, like a wild and stormy
+night, over his pale and moon-lit brow. His cheek is delicate, and yet
+repose hath brought a flush; and on his lip there seems some word of
+love, that will not quit it. It is the same Alroy that blessed our
+vision when, like the fresh and glittering star of morn, he rose up in
+the desert, and bringing joy to others, brought to me only----
+
+'Oh! hush my heart, and let thy secret lie hid in the charnel-house of
+crushed affections. Hard is the lot of woman: to love and to conceal is
+our sharp doom! O bitter life! O most unnatural lot! Man made society,
+and made us slaves. And so we droop and die, or else take refuge in idle
+fantasies, to which we bring the fervour that is meant for nobler ends.
+
+'Beauteous hero! whether I bear thee most hatred or most love I cannot
+tell. Die thou must; yet I feel I should die with thee. Oh! that
+to-night could lead at the same time unto our marriage bed and funeral
+pyre. Must that white bosom bleed? and must those delicate limbs be
+hacked and handled by these bloody butchers? Is that justice? They lie,
+the traitors, when they call thee false to our God. Thou art thyself a
+god, and I could worship thee! See those beauteous lips; they move. Hark
+to the music!'
+
+'Schirene, Schirene!'
+
+'There wanted but that word to summon back my senses. Fool! whither is
+thy fancy wandering? I will not wait for tardy justice. I will do the
+deed myself. Shall I not kill my Sisera?' She seized a dagger from the
+ottoman, a rare and highly-tempered blade. Up she raised it in the air,
+and dashed it to his heart with superhuman force. It struck against the
+talisman which Jabaster had given to Alroy, and which, from a lingering
+superstition, he still wore; it struck, and shivered into a thousand
+pieces. The Caliph sprang from his couch; his eyes met the prophetess,
+standing over him in black despair, with the hilt of the dagger in her
+hand.
+
+'What is all this? Schirene! Who art thou? Esther!' He jumped from
+the couch, called to Pharez, and seized her by both hands. 'Speak!' he
+continued. 'Art thou Esther? What dost thou here?'
+
+She broke into a wild laugh; she wrestled with his grasp, and pulled him
+towards the gallery. He beheld the chief tower of the Serail in flames.
+Joining her hands together, grasping them both in one of his, and
+dragging her towards the ottoman, he seized a helmet and flung it upon
+the mighty shield. It sounded like a gong. Pharez started from his
+slumbers, and rushed into the chamber.
+
+'Pharez! Treason! treason! Send instant orders that the palace gates be
+opened on no pretence whatever. Go, fly! See the captain himself. Summon
+the household. Order all to arms. Speed, for our lives!'
+
+The whole palace was now roused. Alroy delivered Esther, exhausted,
+and apparently senseless, to a guard of eunuchs. Slaves and attendants
+poured in from all directions. Soon arrived Schirene, with dishevelled
+hair and hurried robes, attended by a hundred maidens, each bearing a
+torch.
+
+'My soul, what ails thee?'
+
+'Nothing, sweetest; all will soon be well,' replied Alroy, picking up,
+and examining the fragments of the shivered dagger, which he had just
+discovered.
+
+'My life has been attempted; the palace is in flames; I suspect the city
+is in insurrection. Look to your mistress, maidens!' Schirene fell into
+their arms. 'I will soon be back.' So saying, he hurried to the grand
+court.
+
+Several thousand persons, for the population of the Serail and its
+liberties was very considerable, were assembled in the grand court;
+eunuchs, women, pages, slaves, and servants, and a few soldiers; all
+in confusion and alarm, fire raging within, and mysterious and terrible
+outcries without. A cry of 'The Caliph! the Caliph!' announced the
+arrival of Alroy, and produced a degree of comparative silence.
+
+'Where is the captain of the guard?' he exclaimed. 'That's well. Open
+the gates to none. Who will leap the wall and bear a message to Asriel?
+You? That's well too. To-morrow you shall yourself command. Where's
+Mesrour? Take the eunuch guard and the company of gardeners,76 and
+suppress the flames at all cost. Pull down the intervening buildings.
+Abidan's troop arrived with succour, eh! I doubt it not. I expected
+them. Open to none. They force an entrance, eh! I thought so. So that
+javelin has killed a traitor. Feed me with arms. I'll keep the gate.
+Send again to Asriel. Where's Pharez?'
+
+'By your side, my lord.'
+
+'Run to the Queen, my faithful Pharez, and tell her that all's well. I
+wish it were! Didst ever hear a din so awful? Methinks all the tambours
+and cymbals of the city are in full chorus. Foul play, I guess. Oh! for
+Asriel! Has Pharez returned?'
+
+'I am by your side, my lord.'
+
+'How's the Queen?'
+
+'She would gladly join your side.'
+
+'No, no! Keep the gates there. Who says they are making fires before
+them? Tis true. We must sally, if the worst come to the worst, and die
+at least like soldiers. O Asriel! Asriel!'
+
+'May it please your Highness, the troops are pouring in from all
+quarters.'
+
+''Tis Asriel.'
+
+'No, your Highness, 'tis not the guard. Methinks they are Scherirah's
+men.'
+
+'Hum! What it all is, I know not; but very foul play I do not doubt.
+Where's Honain?'
+
+'With the Queen, Sire.'
+
+''Tis well. What's that shout?'
+
+'Here's the messenger from Asriel. Make way! way!'
+
+'Well! how is't, Sir?'
+
+'Please your Highness, I could not reach the guard.'
+
+'Could not reach the guard! God of my fathers! who should let thee?'
+
+'Sire, I was taken prisoner.'
+
+'Prisoner! By the thunder of Sinai, are we at war? Who made thee
+prisoner?'
+
+'Sire, they have proclaimed thy death.'
+
+'Who?'
+
+'The council of the Elders. So I heard. Abidan, Zalmunna----'
+
+'Rebels and dogs! Who else?'
+
+'The High Priest.'
+
+'Hah! Is it there? Pharez, fetch me some drink. Is it true Scherirah has
+joined them?'
+
+'His force surrounds the Serail. No aid can reach us without cutting
+through his ranks.'
+
+'Oh! that I were there with my good guard! Are we to die here like rats,
+fairly murdered? Cowardly knaves! Hold out, hold out, my men! 'Tis sharp
+work, but some of us will smile at this hereafter. Who stands by Alroy
+to-night bravely and truly, shall have his heart's content to-morrow.
+Fear not: I was not born to die in a civic broil. I bear a charmed life.
+So to it.'
+
+'Go to the Caliph, good Honain, I pray thee, go. I can support myself,
+he needs thy counsel. Bid him not expose his precious life. The wicked
+men! Asriel must soon be here. What sayest thou?'
+
+'There is no fear. Their plans are ill-devised. I have long expected
+this stormy night, and feel even now more anxious than alarmed.'
+
+''Tis at me they aim; it is I whom they hate. The High Priest, too! Ay,
+ay! Thy proud brother, good Honain, I have ever felt he would not rest
+until he drove me from this throne, my right; or washed my hated name
+from out our annals in my life's blood. Wicked, wicked Jabaster! He
+frowned upon me from the first, Honain. Is he indeed thy brother?'
+
+'I care not to remember. He aims at something further than thy life; but
+Time will teach us more than all our thoughts.'
+
+The fortifications of the Serail resisted all the efforts of the rebels.
+Scherirah remained in his quarters, with his troops under arms, and
+recalled the small force that he had originally sent out as much to
+watch the course of events as to assist Abidan. Asriel and Ithamar
+poured down their columns in the rear of that chieftain, and by dawn a
+division of the guard had crossed the river, the care of which had been
+entrusted to Scherirah, and had thrown themselves into the palace. Alroy
+sallied forth at the head of these fresh troops. His presence decided a
+result which was perhaps never doubtful. The division of Abidan fought
+with the desperation that became their fortunes. The carnage was
+dreadful, but their discomfiture complete. They no longer acted
+in masses, or with any general system. They thought only of
+self-preservation, or of selling their lives at the dearest cost. Some
+dispersed, some escaped. Others entrenched themselves in houses, others
+fortified the bazaar. All the horrors of war in the streets were now
+experienced. The houses were in flames, the thoroughfares flowed with
+blood.
+
+At the head of a band of faithful followers, Abidan proved himself, by
+his courage and resources, worthy of success. At length, he was alone,
+or surrounded only by his enemies. With his back against a building in a
+narrow street, where the number of his opponents only embarrassed them,
+the three foremost of his foes fell before his irresistible scimitar.
+The barricaded door yielded to the pressure of the multitude. Abidan
+rushed up the narrow stairs, and, gaining a landing-place, turned
+suddenly round, and cleaved the skull of his nearest pursuer. He hurled
+the mighty body at his followers, and, retarding their advance, himself
+dashed onward, and gained the terrace of the mansion. Three soldiers of
+the guard followed him as he bounded from terrace to terrace. One, armed
+with a javelin, hurled it at the chieftain. The weapon slightly wounded
+Abidan, who, drawing it from his arm, sent it back to the heart of its
+owner. The two other soldiers, armed only with swords, gained upon him.
+He arrived at the last terrace in the cluster of buildings. He stood
+at bay on the brink of the precipice. He regained his breath. They
+approached him. He dodged them in their course. Suddenly, with admirable
+skill, he flung his scimitar edgewise at the legs of his farthest
+foe, who stopped short, roaring with pain. The chieftain sprang at the
+foremost, and hurled him down into the street below, where he was dashed
+to atoms. A trap-door offered itself to the despairing eye of the
+rebel. He descended and found himself in a room filled with women. They
+screamed, he rushed through them, and descending a Staircase, entered a
+chamber tenanted by a bed-ridden old man. The ancient invalid enquired
+the cause of the uproar, and died of fright before he could receive
+an answer, at the sight of the awful being before him, covered with
+streaming blood. Abidan secured the door, washed his blood-stained face,
+and disguising himself in the dusty robes of the deceased Armenian,
+sallied forth to watch the fray. The obscure street was silent. The
+chieftain proceeded unmolested. At the corner he found a soldier holding
+a charger for his captain. Abidan, unarmed, seized a poniard from the
+soldier's belt, stabbed him to the heart, and vaulting on the steed,
+galloped towards the river. No boat was to be found; he breasted the
+stream upon the stout courser. He reached the opposite bank. A company
+of camels were reposing by the side of a fountain. Alarm had dispersed
+their drivers. He mounted the fleetest in appearance; he dashed to the
+nearest gate of the city. The guard at the gate refused him a passage.
+He concealed his agitation. A marriage procession, returning from the
+country, arrived. He rushed into the centre of it, and overset the bride
+in her gilded wagon. In the midst of the confusion, the shrieks, the
+oaths, and the scuffle, he forced his way through the gate, scoured over
+the country, and never stopped until he had gained the desert.
+
+The uproar died away. The shouts of warriors, the shrieks of women, the
+wild clang of warfare, all were silent. The flames were extinguished,
+the carnage ceased. The insurrection was suppressed, and order restored.
+The city, all the houses of which were closed, was patrolled by the
+conquering troops, and by sunset the conqueror himself, in his hall of
+state, received the reports and the congratulations of his chieftains.
+The escape of Abidan seemed counterbalanced by the capture of Jabaster.
+After performing prodigies of valour, the High Priest had been
+overpowered, and was now a prisoner in the Serail. The conduct of
+Scherirah was not too curiously criticised; a commission was appointed
+to enquire into the mysterious affair; and Alroy retired to the bath[77]
+to refresh himself after the fatigues of the victory which he could not
+consider a triumph.
+
+As he reposed upon his couch, melancholy and exhausted, Schirene was
+announced. The Princess threw herself upon his neck and covered him with
+embraces. His heart yielded to her fondness, his spirit became lighter,
+his depression melted away.
+
+'My ruby!' said Schirene, and she spoke in a low smothered voice, her
+face hidden and nestled in his breast. 'My ruby! dost thou love me?'
+
+He smiled in fondness as he pressed her to his heart.
+
+'My ruby, thy pearl is so frightened, it dare not look upon thee. Wicked
+men! 'tis I whom they hate, 'tis I whom they would destroy.'
+
+'There is no danger, sweet. 'Tis over now. Speak not, nay, do not think
+of it.'
+
+'Ah! wicked men! There is no joy on earth while such things live.
+Slay Alroy, their mighty master, who, from vile slaves, hath made them
+princes! Ungrateful churls! I am so alarmed, I ne'er shall sleep again.
+What! slay my innocent bird, my pretty bird, my very heart! I'll not
+believe it. It is I whom they hate. I am sure they will kill me. You
+shall never leave me, no, no, no, no! You shall not leave me, love,
+never, never! Didst hear a noise? Methinks they are even here, ready to
+plunge their daggers in our hearts, our soft, soft hearts! I think you
+love me, child; indeed, I think you do!'
+
+'Take courage, heart! There is no fear, my soul; I cannot love thee
+more, or else I would.'
+
+'All joy is gone! I ne'er shall sleep again. O my soul! art thou
+indeed alive? Do I indeed embrace my own Alroy, or is it all a wild and
+troubled dream, and are my arms clasped round a shadowy ghost, myself a
+spectre in a sepulchre? Wicked, wicked men! Can it indeed be true? What,
+slay Alroy! my joy, my only life! Ah! woe is me; our bright felicity
+hath fled for ever!'
+
+'Not so, sweet child; we are but as we were. A few quick hours, and all
+will be as bright as if no storm had crossed our sunny days.'
+
+'Hast seen Asriel? He says such fearful things!'
+
+'How now?'
+
+'Ah me! I am desolate. I have no friend.'
+
+'Schirene!'
+
+'They will have my blood. I know they will have my blood.'
+
+'Indeed, an idle fancy.'
+
+'Idle! Ask Asriel, question Ithamar. Idle! 'tis written in their
+tablets, their bloody scroll of rapine and of murder. Thy death led only
+to mine, and, had they hoped my bird would but have yielded his gentle
+mate, they would have spared him. Ay! ay! 'tis I whom they hate, 'tis I
+whom they would destroy. This form, I fear it has lost its lustre, but
+still 'tis thine, and once thou saidst thou lovedst it; this form was to
+have been hacked and mangled; this ivory bosom was to have been ripped
+up and tortured, and this warm blood, that flows alone for thee,
+that fell Jabaster was to pour its tide upon the altar of his ancient
+vengeance. He ever hated me!'
+
+'Jabaster! Schirene! Where are we, and what are we? Life, life, they
+lie, that call thee Nature! Nature never sent these gusts of agony. Oh!
+my heart will break. I drove him from my thought, and now she calls him
+up, and now must I remember he is my-prisoner! God of heaven, God of my
+fathers, is it come to this? Why did he not escape? Why must Abidan, a
+common cut-throat, save his graceless life, and this great soul, this
+stern and mighty being---- Ah me! I have lived long enough. Would they
+had not failed, would----'
+
+'Stop, stop, Alroy! I pray thee, love, be calm. I came to soothe thee,
+not to raise thy passions. I did not say Jabaster willed thy death,
+though Asriel says so; 'tis me he wars against; and if indeed Jabaster
+be a man so near thy heart, if he indeed be one so necessary to thy
+prosperity, and cannot live in decent order with thy slave that's here,
+I know my duty, Sir. I would not have thy fortunes farred to save my
+single heart, although I think 'twill break. I will go, I will die,
+and deem the hardest accident of life but sheer prosperity if it profit
+thee.'
+
+'O Schirene! what wouldst thou? This, this is torture.'
+
+'To see thee safe and happy; nothing more.'
+
+'I am both, if thou art.'
+
+'Care not for me, I am nothing.'
+
+'Thou art all to me.'
+
+'Calm thyself, my soul. It grieves me much that when I came to soothe I
+have only galled thee. All's well, all's well. Say that Jabaster lives.
+What then? He lives, and may he prove more duteous than before; that's
+all.'
+
+'He lives, he is my prisoner, he awaits his doom. It must be given.'
+
+'Yes, yes!'
+
+'Shall we pardon?'
+
+'My lord will do that which it pleases him.'
+
+'Nay, nay, Schirene, I pray thee be more kind. I am most wretched.
+Speak, what wouldst thou?'
+
+'If I must speak, I say at once, his life.'
+
+'Ah me!'
+
+'If our past loves have any charm, if the hope ot future joy, not less
+supreme, be that which binds thee to this shadowy world, as it does me,
+and does alone, I say his life, his very carnal life. He stands between
+us and our loves, Alroy, and ever has done. There is no happiness if
+Jabaster breathe; nor can I be the same Schirene to thee as I have been,
+if this proud rebel live to spy my conduct.'
+
+'Banish him, banish him!'
+
+'To herd with rebels. Is this thy policy?'
+
+'O Schirene! I love not this man, although me-thinks I should: yet didst
+thou know but all!'
+
+'I know too much, Alroy. From the first he has been to me a hateful
+thought. Come, come, sweet bird, a boon, a boon unto thy own Schirene,
+who was so frightened by these wicked men! I fear it has done more
+mischief than thou deemest. Ay! robbed us of our hopes. It may be so. A
+boon, a boon! It is not much I ask: a traitor's head. Come, give me thy
+signet ring. It will not; nay, then, I'll take it. What, resist! I know
+thou oft hast told me a kiss could vanquish all denial. There it is.
+Is't sweet? Shalt have another, and another too. I've got the ring!
+Farewell, my lovely bird, I'll soon return to pillow in thy nest.'
+
+'She has got the ring! What's this? what's this? Schirene! art gone?
+Nay, surely not. She jests. Jabaster! A traitor's head! What ho! there.
+Pharez, Pharez!'
+
+'My lord.'
+
+'Passed the Queen that way?'
+
+'She did, my lord.'
+
+'In tears?'
+
+'Nay! very joyful!'
+
+'Call Honain, quick as my thought. Honain! Honain! He waits without. I
+have seen the best of life, that's very sure. My heart is cracking. She
+surely jests! Hah! Honain. Pardon these distracted looks. Fly to the
+Armoury! fly, fly!'
+
+'For what, my lord?'
+
+'Ay! for what, for what! My brain it wanders. Thy brother, thy great
+brother, the Queen, the Queen has stolen my signet ring, that is, I gave
+it her. Fly, fly! or in a word, Jabaster is no more. He is gone. Pharez!
+your arm; I swoon!'
+
+'His Highness is sorely indisposed to-day.'
+
+'They say he swooned this morn.'
+
+'Ay, in the bath.'
+
+'No, not in the bath. 'Twas when he heard of Jabaster's death.'
+
+'How died he, Sir?'
+
+'Self-strangled. His mighty heart could not endure disgrace, and thus he
+ended all his glorious deeds.'
+
+'A great man!'
+
+'We shall not soon see his match. The Queen had gained his pardon, and
+herself flew to the Armoury to bear the news; alas! too late.'
+
+'These are strange times. Jabaster dead!'
+
+'A very great event.'
+
+'Who will be High Priest?'
+
+'I doubt if the appointment will be filled up.'
+
+'Sup you with the Lord Ithamar to-night?'
+
+'I do.'
+
+'I also. We'll go together. The Queen had gained his pardon. Hum! 'tis
+strange.'
+
+'Passing so. They say Abidan has escaped?'
+
+'I hear it. Shall we meet Medad to-night?'
+
+''Tis likely.'
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER X.
+
+     _The Fall of Alroy_
+
+SHE comes not yet! her cheerful form, not yet it sparkles in our
+mournful sky. She comes not yet! the shadowy stars seem sad and
+lustreless without their Queen. She comes not yet!'
+
+'_WE ARE THE WATCHERS OF THE MOON,[78] AND LIVE IN LONELINESS TO HERALD
+LIGHT._'
+
+'She comes not yet! her sacred form, not yet it summons to our holy
+feast. She comes not yet! our brethren far wait mute and motionless the
+saintly beam. She comes not yet!'
+
+'_WE ARE THE WATCHERS OF THE MOON, AND LIVE IN LONELINESS TO HERALD
+LIGHT_.'
+
+'She comes, she comes! her beauteous form sails with soft splendour in
+the glittering air. She comes, she comes! The beacons fire, and tell the
+nation that the month begins! She comes, she comes!'
+
+'_WE ARE THE WATCHERS OF THE MOON, TO TELL THE NATION THAT THE MONTH
+BEGINS_.'
+
+Instantly the holy watchers fired the beacons on the mountain top, and
+anon a thousand flames blazed round the land. From Caucasus to Lebanon,
+on every peak a crown of light.
+
+'Sire! a Tatar has arrived from Hamadan, who will see none but thyself.
+I have told him your Highness was engaged, and sent him to the Lord
+Honain; but all denial is lost upon him. And as I thought perhaps the
+Lady Miriam----'
+
+'From Hamadan? You did well, Pharez. Admit him.'
+
+The Tatar entered.
+
+'Well, Sir; good news, I hope!'
+
+'Sire, pardon me, the worst. I come from the Lord Abner, with orders to
+see the Caliph, and none else.'
+
+'Well, Sir, you see the Caliph. Your mission? What of the Viceroy?'
+
+'Sire, he bade me tell thee, that, the moment the beacon that announced
+the Feast of the New Moon was fired on Caucasus, the dreaded monarch of
+Karasmé, the great Alp Arslan, entered thy kingdom, and now overruns all
+Persia.'
+
+'Hah! and Abner?'
+
+'Is in the field, and prays for aid.'
+
+'He shall have it. This is indeed great news! When left you Hamadan?'
+
+'Night and day I have journeyed upon the swiftest dromedary. The third
+morn sees me at Bagdad.'
+
+'You have done your duty. See this faithful courier be well tended,
+Pharez. Summon the Lord Honain.'
+
+'Alp Arslan! Hah! a very famous warrior. The moment the beacon was
+fired. No sudden impulse then, but long matured. I like it not.'
+
+'Sire,' said Pharez, re-entering, 'a Tatar has arrived from the
+frontiers of the province, who will see none but thyself. I have told
+him your Highness was deeply busied, and as methinks he brings but the
+same news, I----'
+
+''Tis very likely; yet never _think_, good Pharez. I'll see the man.'
+The Tatar entered.
+
+'Well, Sir, how now! from whom?'
+
+'From Mozul. The Governor bade me see the Caliph and none else, and tell
+your Highness that the moment the beacon that announced the Feast of the
+New Moon was fired on the mountains, the fell rebel Abidan raised the
+standard of Judah in the province, and proclaimed war against your
+Majesty.'
+
+'In any force?'
+
+'The royal power keeps within their walls.'
+
+'Sufficient answer. Part of the same movement. We shall have some
+trouble. Hast summoned Honain?'
+
+'I have, Sire.'
+
+'Go, see this messenger be duly served, and, Pharez, come hither: let
+none converse with them. You understand?'
+
+'Your Highness may assure yourself.'
+
+'Abidan come to life. He shall not escape so well this time. I must see
+Scherirah. I much suspect----what's this? More news!'
+
+A third Tatar entered.
+
+'May it please your Highness, this Tatar has arrived from the Syrian
+frontier.'
+
+'Mischief in the wind, I doubt not. Speak out, knave!'
+
+'Sire! pardon me; I bear but sad intelligence.'
+
+'Out with the worst!'
+
+'I come from the Lord Medad.'
+
+'Well! has he rebelled? It seems a catching fever.'
+
+'Ah! no, dread Sire, Lord Medad has no thought but for thy glory. Alas!
+alas! he has now to guard it against fearful odds. Lord Medad bade me
+see the Caliph and none else, and tell your Highness, that the moment
+the beacon which announced the Feast of the New Moon was fired on
+Lebanon, the Sultan of Roum and the old Arabian Caliph unfurled the
+standard of their Prophet, in great array, and are now marching towards
+Bagdad.'
+
+'A clear conspiracy! Has Honain arrived? Summon a council of the Vizirs
+instantly. The world is up against me. Well! I'm sick of peace. They
+shall not find me napping!'
+
+'You see, my lords,' said Alroy, ere the council broke up, 'we must
+attack them singly. There can be no doubt of that. If they join, we must
+combat at great odds. 'Tis in detail that we must route them. I will
+myself to Persia. Ithamar must throw himself between the Sultan and
+Abidan, Medad fall back on Ithamar. Scherirah must guard the capital.
+Honain, you are Regent. And so farewell. I shall set off to-night.
+Courage, brave companions. 'Tis a storm, but many a cedar survives the
+thunderbolt.'
+
+The council broke up.
+
+'My own Scherirah!' said the Caliph, as they retired, 'stay awhile.
+I would speak with you alone. Honain,' continued Alroy, following the
+Grand Vizir out of the chamber, and leaving Scherirah alone, 'Honain, I
+have not yet interchanged a word with you in private. What think you of
+all this?'
+
+'Sire, I am prepared for the worst, but hope the best.'
+
+''Tis wise. If Abner could only keep that Karasmian in check! I am about
+to speak with Scherirah alone. I do suspect him much.'
+
+'I'll answer for his treason.'
+
+'Hah! I do suspect him. Therefore I give him no command. I would not
+have him too near his old companion, eh? We will garrison the city with
+his rebels.'
+
+'Sire, these are not moments to be nice. Scherirah is a valiant captain,
+a very valiant captain, but lend me thy signet ring, I pray thee, Sire.'
+
+Alroy turned pale.
+
+'No, Sir, it has left me once, and never shall again. You have touched
+upon a string that makes me sad. There is a burden on my conscience,
+why, or what, I know not. I am innocent, you know I am innocent,
+Honain!'
+
+'I'll answer for your Highness. He who has enough of the milk of human
+kindness to spare a thing like Scherirah, when he stands in his way, may
+well be credited for the nobler mercy that spared his better.'
+
+'Ah me! there's madness in the thought. Why is he not here? Had I
+but followed; tush! tush! Go see the Queen, and tell her all that has
+happened. I'll to Scherirah.'
+
+The Caliph returned.
+
+'Thy pardon, brave Scherirah; in these moments my friends will pardon
+lapse of courtesy.'
+
+'Your Highness is too considerate.'
+
+'You see, Scherirah, how the wind blows, brave heart. There's much to
+do, no doubt. I am in sad want of some right trusty friend, on whose
+devoted bosom I can pillow all my necessities. I was thinking of sending
+you against this Arslan, but perhaps 'tis better that I should go
+myself. These are moments one should not seem to shrink, and yet we know
+not how affairs may run; no, we know not. The capital, the surrounding
+province: one disaster and these false Moslemin may rise against us. I
+should stay here, but if I leave Scherirah, I leave myself. I feel that
+deeply; 'tis a consolation. It may be that I must fall back upon the
+city. Be prepared, Scherirah. Let me fall back upon supporting friends.
+You have a great trust. Oh! use it wisely! Worthily I am sure you must
+do.'
+
+'Your Highness may rest assured I have no other thought but for your
+weal and glory. Doubt not my devotion, Sire. I am not one of those
+mealy-mouthed youths, full of their own deeds and lip-worship, Sire, but
+I have a life devoted to your service, and ready at all times to peril
+all things.'
+
+'I know that, Scherirah, I know it; I feel it deeply. What think you of
+these movements?'
+
+'They are not ill combined, and yet I doubt not your Majesty will prove
+your fortunes most triumphant.'
+
+'Think you the soldiery are in good cue?' 'I'll answer for my own.
+They are rough fellows, like myself, a little too blunt, perhaps, your
+Highness. We are not holiday guards, but we know our duty, and we will
+do it.'
+
+'That's well, that's all I want. I shall review the troops before I
+go. Let a donative be distributed among them; and, 'by-the-bye, I have
+always forgotten it, your legion should be called the Legion of Syria.
+We owe our fairest province to their arms.'
+
+'I shall convey to them your Highness' wish. Were it possible, 'twould
+add to their devotion.'
+
+'I do not wish it. They are my very children. Sup at the Serail
+to-night, Scherirah. We shall be very private. Yet let us drink together
+ere we part. We are old friends, you know. Hast not forgotten our ruined
+city?'
+
+Alroy entered the apartment of Schirene. 'My soul! thou knowest all?'
+
+She sprang forward and threw her arms around his neck.
+
+'Fear not, my life, we'll not disgrace our Queen. 'Twill be quick work.
+Two-thirds of them have been beaten before, and for the new champion,
+our laurels must not fade, and his blood shall nourish fresh ones.'
+
+'Dearest, dearest Alroy, go not thyself, I pray thee. May not Asriel
+conquer?'
+
+'I hope so, in my company. For a time we part, a short one. 'Tis our
+first parting: may it be our last!'
+
+'Oh! no, no, no: oh! say not we must part.'
+
+'The troops are under arms; to-morrow's dawn will hear my trumpet.'
+
+'I will not quit thee, no! I will not quit thee. What business
+has Schirene without Alroy? Hast thou not often told me I am thy
+inspiration? In the hour of danger shall I be wanting? Never! I will not
+quit thee; no, I will not quit thee.'
+
+'Thou art ever present in my thoughts, my soul. In the battle I shall
+think of her for whom alone I conquer.'
+
+'Nay, nay, I'll go, indeed I must, Alroy. I'll be no hindrance, trust
+me, sweet boy, I will not. I'll have no train, no, not a single maid.
+Credit me, I know how a true soldier's wife should bear herself. I'll
+watch thee sleeping, and I'll tend thee wounded, and when thou goest
+forth to combat I'll gird thy sabre round thy martial side, and whisper
+triumph with victorious kisses.'
+
+'My own Schirene, there's victory in thine eyes. We'll beat them, girl.'
+
+'Abidan, doubly false Abidan! would he were doubly hanged! Ere she
+died, the fatal prophetess foretold this time, and gloated on his future
+treachery.'
+
+'Think not of him.'
+
+'And the Karasmian; think you he is very strong?' 'Enough, love, for our
+glory. He is a potent warrior: I trust that Abner will not rob us of our
+intended victory.'
+
+'So you triumph, I care not by whose sword. Dost go indeed to-morrow?'
+
+'At break of dawn. I pray thee stay, my sweet!' 'Never! I will not quit
+thee. I am quite prepared. At break of dawn? 'Tis near on midnight now.
+I'll lay me down upon this couch awhile, and travel in my litter. Art
+sure Alp Arslan is himself in the field?'
+
+'Quite sure, my sweet.'
+
+'Confusion on his crown! We'll conquer. Goes Asriel with us?' 'Ay!'
+
+'That's well; at break of dawn. I'm somewhat drowsy. Methinks I'll sleep
+awhile.'
+
+'Do, my best heart; I'll to my cabinet, and at break of dawn I'll wake
+thee with a kiss.'
+
+The Caliph repaired to his cabinet, where his secretaries were occupied
+in writing. As he paced the chamber, he dictated to them the necessary
+instructions.
+
+'Who is the officer on guard?'
+
+'Benaiah, Sire.'
+
+'I remember him. He saved me a broken skull upon the Tigris. This is for
+him. The Queen accompanies us. She is his charge. These papers for the
+Vizir. Let the troops be under arms by daybreak. This order of the
+day for the Lord Asriel. Send this instantly to Hamadan. Is the Tatar
+despatched to Medad? 'Tis well. You have done your duty. Now to rest.
+Pharez?'
+
+'My lord.'
+
+'I shall not sleep to-night. Give me my drink. Go rest, good boy. I have
+no wants. Good night.'
+
+'Good night, my gracious lord!'
+
+'Let me ponder! I am alone. I am calm, and yet my spirit is not quick.
+I am not what I was. Four-and-twenty hours ago who would have dreamed of
+this? All at stake again! Once more in the field, and struggling at once
+for empire and existence! I do lack the mighty spirit of my former days.
+I am not what I was. I have little faith. All about me seems changed,
+and dull, and grown mechanical. Where are those flashing eyes and
+conquering visages that clustered round me on the battle eve, round me,
+the Lord's anointed? I see none such. They are changed, as I am. Why!
+this Abidan was a host, and now he fights against me. She spoke of the
+prophetess; I remember that woman was the stirring trumpet of our ranks,
+and now where is she? The victim of my justice! And where is he, the
+mightier far, the friend, the counsellor, the constant guide, the master
+of my boyhood; the firm, the fond, the faithful guardian of all my
+bright career; whose days and nights were one unbroken study to make me
+glorious? Alas! I feel more like a doomed and desperate renegade than
+a young hero on the eve of battle, flushed with the memory of unbroken
+triumphs!
+
+'Hah! what awful form art thou that risest from the dusky earth before
+me? Thou shouldst be one I dare not name, yet will: the likeness of
+Jabaster. Away! why frownest thou upon me? I did not slay thee. Do I
+live, or dream, or what? I see him, ay! I see thee. I fear thee not, I
+fear nothing. I am Alroy.
+
+'Speak, oh speak! I do conjure thee, mighty spectre, speak. By all the
+memory of the past, although 'tis madness, I do conjure thee, let me
+hear again the accents of my boyhood.'
+
+'_Alroy, Alroy, Alroy_!'
+
+'I listen, as to the last trump.'
+
+'_Meet me on the plain of Nehauend._'
+
+''Tis gone! As it spoke it vanished. It was Jabaster! God of my fathers,
+it was Jabaster! Life is growing too wild. My courage is broken! I
+could lie down and die. It was Jabaster! The voice sounds in my ear like
+distant thunder: "_Meet me on the plain of Nehauend_." I'll not fail
+thee, noble ghost, although I meet my doom. Jabaster! Have I seen
+Jabaster! Indeed! indeed! Methinks I'm mad. Hah! What's that?'
+
+An awful clap of thunder broke over the palace, followed by a strange
+clashing sound that seemed to come from one of the chambers. The walls
+of the Serail rocked.
+
+'An earthquake!' exclaimed Alroy. 'Would that the earth would open and
+swallow all! Hah! Pharez, has it roused thee, too? Pharez, we live in
+strange times.'
+
+'Your Highness is very pale.'
+
+'And so art thou, lad! Wouldst have me merry? Pale! we may well be pale,
+didst thou know all. Hah! that awful sound again! I cannot bear it,
+Pharez, I cannot bear it. I have borne many things, but this I cannot.'
+
+'My lord, 'tis in the Armoury.'
+
+'Run, see. No, I'll not be alone. Where's Benaiah? Let him go. Stay with
+me, Pharez, stay with me. I pray thee stay, my child.'
+
+Pharez led the Caliph to a couch, on which Alroy lay pale and trembling.
+In a few minutes he inquired whether Benaiah had returned.
+
+'Even now he comes, Sire.'
+
+'Well, how is it?'
+
+'Sire! a most awful incident. As the thunder broke over the palace, the
+sacred standard fell from its resting-place, and has shivered into a
+thousand pieces. Strange to say, the sceptre of Solomon can neither be
+found nor traced.'
+
+'Say nothing of the past, as ye love me, lads. Let none enter the
+Armoury. Leave me, Benaiah, leave me, Pharez.'
+
+They retired. Alroy watched their departure with a glance of
+inexpressible anguish. The moment that they had disappeared, he flew to
+the couch, and throwing himself upon his knees, and, covering his face
+with his hands, burst into passionate tears, and exclaimed, 'O! my God,
+I have deserted thee, and now thou hast deserted me!'
+
+Sleep crept over the senses of the exhausted and desperate Caliph. He
+threw himself upon the divan, and was soon buried in profound repose. He
+might have slept an hour; he awoke suddenly. From the cabinet in which
+he slept, you entered a vast hall, through a lofty and spacious
+arch, generally covered with drapery, which was now withdrawn. To the
+astonishment of Alroy, this presence-chamber appeared at this moment
+to blaze with light. He rose from his couch, he advanced; he perceived,
+with feelings of curiosity and fear, that the hall was filled with
+beings, terrible indeed to behold, but to his sight more terrible than
+strange. In the colossal and mysterious forms that lined the walls
+of the mighty chamber, and each of which held in its extended arm a
+streaming torch, he recognised the awful Afrites. At the end of the
+hall, upon a sumptuous throne, surrounded by priests and courtiers,
+there was seated a monarch, on whom Alroy had before gazed, Solomon the
+Great! Alroy beheld him in state and semblance the same Solomon, whose
+sceptre the Prince of the Captivity had seized in the royal tombs of
+Judah.
+
+The strange assembly seemed perfectly unconscious of the presence of the
+child of Earth, who, with a desperate courage, leant against a column of
+the arch, and watched, with wonder, their mute and motionless society.
+Nothing was said, nothing done. No one moved, no one, even by gesture,
+seemed sensible of the presence of any other apparition save himself.
+
+Suddenly there advanced from the bottom of the hall, near unto Alroy,
+a procession. Pages and dancing girls, with eyes of fire and voluptuous
+gestures, warriors with mighty arms, and venerable forms with ample
+robes and flowing beards. And, as they passed, even with all the
+activity of their gestures, they made no sound; neither did the
+musicians, whereof there was a great band playing upon harps and
+psalteries, and timbrels and cornets, break, in the slightest degree,
+the almighty silence.
+
+This great crowd poured on in beautiful order, the procession never
+terminating, yet passing thrice round the hall, bowing to him that was
+upon the throne, and ranging themselves in ranks before the Afrites.
+
+And there came in twelve forms, bearing a great seal: the stone green,
+and the engraven characters of living flame, and the characters were
+those on the talisman of Jabaster, which Alroy still wore next to his
+heart. And the twelve forms placed the great seal before Solomon, and
+humbled themselves, and the King bowed. At the same moment Alroy was
+sensible of a pang next to his heart. He instantly put his hand to the
+suffering spot, and lo! the talisman crumbled into dust.
+
+The procession ceased; a single form advanced. Recent experience alone
+prevented Alroy from sinking before the spectre of Jabaster. Such was
+the single form. It advanced, bearing the sceptre. It advanced, it knelt
+before the throne, it offered the sceptre to the crowned and solemn
+vision. And the form of Solomon extended its arm, and took the sceptre,
+and instantly the mighty assembly vanished!
+
+Alroy advanced immediately into the chamber, but all was dark and
+silent. A trumpet sounded. He recognised the note of his own soldiery.
+He groped his way to a curtain, and, pulling it aside, beheld the first
+streak of dawn.
+
+Once more upon his charger, once more surrounded by his legions, once
+more his senses dazzled and inflamed by the waving banners and the
+inspiring trumpets, once more conscious of the power still at his
+command, and the mighty stake for which he was about to play, Alroy in a
+great degree recovered his usual spirit and self-possession. His energy
+returned with his excited pulse, and the vastness of the impending
+danger seemed only to stimulate the fertility of his genius.
+
+He pushed on by forced marches towards Media, at the head of fifty
+thousand men. At the end of the second day's march, fresh couriers
+arrived from Abner, informing him that, unable to resist the valiant
+and almost innumerable host of the King of Karasmé, he had entirely
+evacuated Persia, and had concentrated his forces in Louristan. Alroy,
+in consequence of this information, despatched orders to Scherirah, to
+join him with his division instantly, and leave the capital to its fate.
+
+They passed again the mountains of Kerrund, and joined Abner and the
+army of Media, thirty thousand strong, on the river Abzah. Here Alroy
+rested one night, to refresh his men, and on the ensuing morn pushed on
+to the Persian frontier, unexpectedly attacked the advanced posts of Alp
+Arslan, and beat them back with great loss into the province. But the
+force of the King of Karasmé was so considerable, that the Caliph did
+not venture on a general engagement, and therefore he fell back, and
+formed in battle array upon the neighbouring plain of Nehauend, the
+theatre of one of his earliest and most brilliant victories, where he
+awaited the hourly-expected arrival of Scherirah.
+
+The King of Karasmé, who was desirous of bringing affairs to an issue,
+and felt confident in his superior force, instantly advanced. In two or
+three days at farthest, it was evident that a battle must be fought that
+would decide the fate of the East.
+
+On the morn ensuing their arrival at Nehauend, while the Caliph was out
+hunting, attended only by a few officers, he was suddenly attacked by
+an ambushed band of Karasmians. Alroy and his companions defended
+themselves with such desperation that they at length succeeded in
+beating off their assailants, although triple their number. The leader
+of the Karasmians, as he retreated, hurled a dart at the Caliph, which
+must have been fatal, had not a young officer of the guard interposed
+his own breast, and received the deadly wound. The party, in confusion,
+returned with all speed to the camp, Alroy himself bearing the expiring
+victim of desperate loyalty and military enthusiasm.
+
+The bleeding officer was borne to the royal pavilion, and placed upon
+the imperial couch. The most skilful leech was summoned; he examined the
+wound, but shook his head. The dying warrior was himself sensible of his
+desperate condition. His agony could only be alleviated by withdrawing
+the javelin, which would occasion his immediate decease. He desired to
+be left alone with his Sovereign.
+
+'Sire!' said the officer, 'I must die; and I die without a pang. To die
+in your service, I have ever considered the most glorious end. Destiny
+has awarded it to me;, and if I have not met my fate upon the field
+of battle, it is some consolation that my death has preserved the most
+valuable of lives. Sire! I have a sister.'
+
+'Waste not thy strength, dear friend, in naming her. Rest assured I
+shall ever deem thy relatives my own.'
+
+'I doubt it not. Would I had a thousand lives for such a master! I have
+a burden on my conscience, Sire, nor can I die in peace unless I speak
+of it.'
+
+'Speak, speak freely. If thou hast injured any one, and the power or
+wealth of Alroy can redeem thy oppressed spirit, he will not spare, he
+will not spare, be assured of that.'
+
+'Noble, noble master, I must be brief; for, although, while this javelin
+rests within my body, I yet may live, the agony is great. Sire, the deed
+of which I speak doth concern thee.'
+
+'Ay!'
+
+'I was on guard the day Jabaster died.'
+
+'Powers of heaven! I am all ear. Speak on, speak on!'
+
+'He died self-strangled, so they say?'
+
+'So they ever told me.'
+
+'Thou art innocent, thou art innocent! I thank my God, my King is
+innocent!'
+
+'Rest assured of that, as there is hope in Israel. Tell me all.'
+
+'The Queen came with the signet ring. To such authority I yielded way.
+She entered, and after her, the Lord Honain. I heard high words! I heard
+Jabaster's voice. He struggled, yes! he struggled; but his mighty form,
+wounded and fettered, could not long resist. Foul play, foul play, Sire!
+What could I do against such adversaries? They left the chamber with
+a stealthy step. Her eyes met mine. I never could forget that fell and
+glittering visage.'
+
+'Thou ne'er hast spoken of this awful end?'
+
+'To none but thee. And why I speak it now I cannot tell, save that it
+seems some inspiration urges me; and methinks they who did this may do
+even feller works, if such there be.'
+
+'Thou hast robbed me of all peace and hope of peace; and yet I thank
+thee. Now I know the worth of life. I have never loved to think of that
+sad day; and yet, though I have sometimes dreamed of villainous work,
+the worst were innocence to thy dread tale.'
+
+'Tis told; and now I pray thee secure thy secret, by drawing from my
+agonised frame this javelin.'
+
+'Trusty heart, 'tis a sad office.'
+
+'I die with joy if thou performest it.'
+
+''Tis done.'
+
+'God save Alroy.'
+
+While Alroy, plunged in thought, stood over the body of the officer,
+there arose a flourish of triumphant music, and a eunuch, entering
+the pavilion, announced the arrival of Schirene from Kerrund. Almost
+immediately afterwards, the Princess descending from her litter, entered
+the tent; Alroy tore off his robe, and threw it over the corpse.
+
+'My own,' exclaimed the Princess, as she ran up to the Caliph. 'I have
+heard all. Be not alarmed for me. I dare look upon a corpse. You know I
+am a soldier's bride. I am used to blood.'
+
+'Alas!'
+
+'Why so pale? Thou dost not kiss me! Has this unhinged thee so? 'Tis a
+sad deed; and yet tomorrow's dawn may light up thousands to as grim a
+fate. Why? thou tremblest! Alas! kind soul! The single death of this
+fond, faithful heart hath quite upset my love. Yet art thou used to
+battle. Why! this is foolishness. Art not glad to see me? What, not one
+smile! And I have come to fight for thee! I will be kissed!'
+
+She flung herself upon his neck. Alroy faintly returned her embrace, and
+bore her to a couch. He clapped his hands, and two soldiers entered and
+bore away the corpse.
+
+'The pavilion, Schirene, is now fitter for thy presence. Rest thyself; I
+shall soon return.' Thus speaking, he quitted her.
+
+He quitted her; but her humbled look of sorrowful mortification pierced
+to his heart. He thought of all her love and all her loveliness, he
+called to mind all the marvellous story of their united fortunes. He
+felt that for her and her alone he cared to live, that without her quick
+sympathy, even success seemed unendurable. His judgment fluctuated in
+an eddy of passion and reason. Passion conquered. He dismissed from his
+intelligence all cognizance of good and evil; he determined, under all
+circumstances, to cling ever to her; he tore from his mind all memory
+of the late disclosure. He returned to the pavilion with a countenance
+beaming with affection; he found her weeping, he folded her in his arms,
+he kissed her with a thousand kisses, and whispered between each kiss
+his ardent love.
+
+'Twas midnight. Schirene reposed in the arms of Alroy. The Caliph, who
+was restless and anxious for the arrival of Scherirah, was scarcely
+slumbering when the sound of a voice thoroughly aroused him. He looked
+around; he beheld the spectre of Jabaster. His hair stood on end, his
+limbs seemed to loosen, a cold dew crept over his frame, as he gazed
+upon the awful form within a yard of his couch. Unconsciously he
+disembarrassed his arms of their fair burden, and, rising on the couch,
+leant forward.
+
+'_Alroy, Alroy, Alroy_!'
+
+'I am here.'
+
+'_To-morrow Israel is avenged!_'
+
+'Who is that?' exclaimed the Princess, wakening.
+
+In a frenzy of fear, Alroy, quite forgetting the spectre, turned
+and pressed his hand over her eyes. When he again looked round the
+apparition was invisible.
+
+'What wouldst thou, Alroy?'
+
+'Nothing, sweet! A soldier's wife must bear strange sights, yet I would
+save you some. One of my men, forgetful you were here, burst into my
+tent in such a guise as scarce would suit a female eye. I must away, my
+child. I'll call thy slaves. One kiss! Farewell! but for a time.'
+
+'"To-morrow Israel will be avenged." What! in Karasmian blood? I have
+no faith. No matter. All is now beyond my influence. A rushing destiny
+carries me onward. I cannot stem the course, nor guide the vessel. How
+now! Who is the officer on guard?'
+
+'Benomi, Sire, thy servant.'
+
+'Send to the Viceroy. Bid him meet me here. Who is this?'
+
+'A courier from the Lord Scherirah, Sire, but just arrived. He passed
+last night the Kerrund mountains, Sire, and will be with you by the
+break of day.'
+
+'Good news. Go fetch Abner. Haste! He'll find me here anon. I'll visit
+the camp awhile. Well, my brave fellows, you have hither come to conquer
+again with Alroy. You have fought before, I warrant, on the plain of
+Nehauend. 'Tis a rich soil, and shall be richer with Karasmian gore.'
+
+'God save your Majesty! Our lives are thine.'
+
+'Please you, my little ruler,' said a single soldier, addressing Alroy;
+'pardon my bluntness, but I knew you before you were a Caliph.'
+
+'Stout heart, I like thy freedom. Pr'ythee say on.'
+
+'I was a-saying, I hope you will lead us in the charge to-morrow. Some
+say you will not.'
+
+'They say falsely.'
+
+'I thought so. I'll ever answer for my little ruler, but then the
+Queen?'
+
+'Is a true soldier's wife, and lives in the camp.'
+
+'That's brave! There, I told you so, comrades; you would not believe
+me, but I knew our little ruler before you did. I lived near the gate at
+Hamadan, please your Highness: old Shelomi's son.'
+
+'Give me thy hand; a real friend. What is't ye eat here, boys? Let me
+taste your mess. I'faith I would my cook could dress me such a pilau!
+Tis admirable!'
+
+The soldiers gathered round their chieftain with eyes beaming with
+adoration. 'Twas a fine picture, the hero in the centre, the various
+groups around, some conversing with him, some cooking, some making
+coffee, all offering him by word or deed some testimonial of their
+devotion, and blending with that devotion the most perfect frankness.
+
+'We shall beat them, lads!'
+
+'There is no fear with you, you always conquer.'
+
+'I do my best, and so do you. A good general without good troops is
+little worth.'
+
+'I'faith that's true. One must have good troops. What think you of Alp
+Arslan?'
+
+'I think he may give us as much trouble as all our other enemies
+together, and that's not much.'
+
+'Brave, brave! God save Alroy!'
+
+Benomi approached, and announced that the Viceroy was in attendance.
+
+'I must quit you, my children,' said Alroy. 'We'll sup once more
+together when we have conquered.'
+
+'God save you, Sire; and we will confound your enemies.'
+
+'Good night, my lads. Ere the dawn break we may have hot work.'
+
+'We are ready, we are ready. God save Alroy.'
+
+'They are in good cue, and yet 'twas a different spirit that inspired
+our early days. That I strongly feel. These are men true to a leader who
+has never failed them, and confident in a cause that leads to plunder.
+They are but splendid mercenaries.
+
+No more. Oh! where are now the fighting men of Judah! Where are the men
+who, when they drew their scimitars, joined in a conquering psalm of
+holy triumph! Last eve of battle you would have thought the field a
+mighty synagogue. Priests and altars, flaming sacrifices, and smoking
+censers, groups of fiery zealots hanging with frenzy on prophetic lips,
+and sealing with their blood and holiest vows a solemn covenant to
+conquer Canaan. All is changed, as I am. How now, Abner? You are well
+muffled!'
+
+'Is it true Scherirah is at hand?'
+
+'I doubt not all is right. Would that the dawn would break!'
+
+'The enemy is advancing. Some of their columns are in sight. My scouts
+have dodged them. They intend doubtless to form upon the plain.'
+
+'They are in sight, eh! Then we will attack them at once ere they
+are formed. Rare, rare! We'll beat them yet. Courage, dear brother.
+Scherirah will be here at dawn in good time, very good time: very, very
+good time.'
+
+'I like the thought'
+
+'The men are in good heart. At break of dawn, charge with thirty
+thousand cavalry upon their forming ranks. I'll take the right, Asriel
+the left. It shall be a family affair, dear Abner. How is Miriam?'
+
+'I heard this morn, quite well. She sends you her love and prayers. The
+Queen is here?'
+
+'She came this eve. Quite well.'
+
+'She must excuse all courtesy.'
+
+'Say nothing. She is a soldier's wife. She loves thee well, dear Abner.'
+
+'I know that. I hope my sword may guard her children's throne.'
+
+'Well, give thy orders. Instant battle, eh?'
+
+'Indeed I think so.'
+
+'I'll send couriers to hurry Scherirah. All looks well. Reserve the
+guard.'
+
+'Ay, ay! Farewell, dear Sire. When we meet again, I trust your enemies
+may be your slaves!'
+
+At the first streak of dawn the Hebrew cavalry, with the exception
+of the Guard, charged the advancing columns of the Karasmians with
+irresistible force, and cut them in pieces. Alp Arslan rallied his
+troops, and at length succeeded in forming his main body in good order.
+Alroy and Asriel led on their divisions, and the battle now became
+general. It raged for several hours, and was on both sides well
+maintained. The slaughter of the Karasmians was great, but their stern
+character and superior numbers counterbalanced for a time all the
+impetuosity of the Hebrews and all the energy of their leaders. This
+day Alroy threw into the shade all his former exploits. Twelve times he
+charged at the head of the Sacred Guard, and more than once penetrated
+to the very pavilion of Alp Arslan.
+
+In vain he endeavoured singly, and hand to hand, to meet that famous
+chieftain. Both monarchs fought in the ranks, and yet Fate decided
+that their scimitars should never cross. Four hours before noon, it was
+evident to Alroy, that, unless Scherirah arrived, he could not prevail
+against the vast superiority of numbers. He was obliged early to call
+his reserve into the field, and although the number of the slain on
+the side of Arslan exceeded any in the former victories of the Hebrews,
+still the Karasmians maintained an immense front, which was constantly
+supplied by fresh troops. Confident in his numbers, and aware of the
+weakness of his antagonists, Arslan contented himself with acting on the
+defensive, and wearying his assailants by resisting their terrible and
+repeated charge.
+
+For a moment, Alroy at the head of the Sacred Guard had withdrawn from
+the combat. Abner and Asriel still maintained the fight, and the Caliph
+was at the same time preparing for new efforts, and watching with
+anxiety for the arrival of Scherirah. In the fifth hour, from an
+eminence he marked with exultation the advancing banners of his
+expected succours. Confident now that the day was won, he announced the
+exhilarating intelligence to his soldiers; and, while they were excited
+by the animating tidings, led them once more to the charge. It was
+irresistible; Scherirah seemed to have arrived only for the pursuit,
+only in time to complete the victory. What then was the horror, the
+consternation of Alroy, when Benaiah, dashing up to him, informed
+him that the long-expected succours consisted of the united forces of
+Scherirah and Abidan, and had attacked him in the rear. Human genius
+could afford no resource. The exhausted Hebrews, whose energies had been
+tasked to the utmost, were surrounded. The Karasmians made a general and
+simultaneous advance. In a few minutes the Hebrew army was thrown into
+confusion. The stoutest warriors threw away their swords in despair.
+Every one thought only of self-preservation. Even Abner fled towards
+Hamadan. Asriel was slain. Alroy, finding it was all over, rushed to his
+pavilion at the head of about three hundred of the guards, seized the
+fainting Schirene, threw her before him on his saddle, and cutting his
+way through all obstacles, dashed into the desert.
+
+For eight-and-forty hours they never stopped. Their band was soon
+reduced one-third. On the morning of the third day they dismounted
+and refreshed themselves at a well. Half only regained their saddles.
+Schirene never spoke. On they rushed again, each hour losing some
+exhausted co-mate. At length, on the fifth day, about eighty strong,
+they arrived at a grove of palm-trees. Here they dismounted. And Alroy
+took Schirene in his arms, and the shade seemed to revive her. She
+opened her eyes, and pressed his hand and smiled. He gathered her some
+dates, and she drank some water.
+
+'Our toils will soon be over, sweetest,' he whispered to her; 'I have
+lost everything but thee.'
+
+Again they mounted, and, proceeding at a less rapid pace, they arrived
+towards evening at the ruined city, whither Alroy all this time had
+been directing his course. Dashing down the great street, they at length
+entered the old amphitheatre. They dismounted. Alroy made a couch with
+their united cloaks for Schirene. Some collected fuel, great store
+of which was found, and kindled large fires. Others, while it was yet
+light, chased the gazelles, and were sufficiently fortunate to provide
+their banquet, or fetched water from the well known to their leader.
+In an hour's time, clustering round their fires in groups, and sharing
+their rude fare, you might have deemed them, instead of the discomfited
+and luxurious guards of a mighty monarch, the accustomed tenants of this
+wild abode.
+
+'Come, my lads,' said Alroy, as he rubbed his hands over the ascending
+flame, 'at any rate, this is better than the desert.'
+
+After all his exertions, Alroy fell into profound and dreamless sleep.
+When he awoke, the sun had been long up. Schirene was still slumbering.
+He embraced her, and she opened her eyes and smiled.
+
+'You are now a bandit's bride,' he said. 'How like you our new life?'
+
+'Well! with thee.'
+
+'Rest here, my sweetest: I must rouse our men, and see how fortune
+speeds.' So saying, and tripping lightly over many a sleeping form, he
+touched Benaiah.
+
+'So! my brave captain of the guard, still napping! Come! stir, stir.'
+
+Benaiah jumped up with a cheerful face. 'I am ever ready, Sire.'
+
+'I know it; but remember I am no more a king, only a co-mate. Away with
+me, and let us form some order.'
+
+The companions quitted the amphitheatre and reconnoitred the adjoining
+buildings. They found many stores, the remains of old days, mats, tents,
+and fuel, drinking-bowls, and other homely furniture. They fixed upon
+a building for their stable, and others for the accommodation of their
+band. They summoned their companions to the open place, the scene of
+Hassan Subah's fate, where Alroy addressed them and explained to them
+his plans. They were divided into companies; each man had his allotted
+duty. Some were placed on guard at different parts; some were sent out
+to the chase, or to collect dates from the Oasis; others led the horses
+to the contiguous pasture, or remained to attend to their domestic
+arrangements. The amphitheatre was cleared out. A rude but convenient
+pavilion was formed for Schirene. They covered its ground with
+mats, and each emulated the other in his endeavours to study her
+accommodation. Her kind words and inspiring smiles animated at the same
+time their zeal and their invention.
+
+They soon became accustomed to their rough but adventurous life. Its
+novelty pleased them, and the perpetual excitement of urgent necessity
+left them no time to mourn over their terrible vicissitudes. While Alroy
+lived, hope indeed never deserted their sanguine bosoms. And such was
+the influence of his genius, that the most desponding felt that to be
+discomfited with him, was preferable to conquest with another. They were
+a faithful and devoted band, and merry faces were not wanting when at
+night they assembled in the amphitheatre for their common meal.
+
+No sooner had Alroy completed his arrangements than he sent forth
+spies in all directions to procure intelligence, and especially to
+communicate, if possible, with Ithamar and Medad, provided that they
+still survived and maintained themselves in any force.
+
+A fortnight passed away without the approach of any stranger; at the end
+of which, there arrived four personages at their haunt, not very welcome
+to their chief, who, however, concealed his chagrin at their appearance.
+These were Kisloch the Kourd, and Calidas the Indian, and their
+inseparable companions, the Guebre and the Negro.
+
+'Noble Captain,' said Kisloch, 'we trust that you will permit us to
+enlist in the band. This is not the first time we have served under your
+orders in this spot. Old co-mates, i'faith, who have seen the best and
+the worst. We suspected where you might be found, although, thanks to
+the ever felicitous invention of man, it is generally received that you
+died in battle. I hope your Majesty is well,' added Kisloch, bowing to
+Schirene.
+
+'You are welcome, friends,' replied Alroy; 'I know your worth. You have
+seen, as you say, the best and the worst, and will, I trust, see better.
+Died in battle, eh! that's good.'
+
+''Tis so received,' said Calidas.
+
+'And what news of our friends?'
+
+'Not over good, but strange.'
+
+'How so?'
+
+'Hamadan is taken.'
+
+'I am prepared; tell me all.'
+
+'Old Bostenay and the Lady Miriam are borne prisoners to Bagdad.'
+
+'Prisoners?'
+
+'But so; all will be well with them, I trow. The Lord Honain is in high
+favour with the conqueror, and will doubtless protect them.'
+
+'Honain in favour?'
+
+'Even so. He made terms for the city, and right good ones.'
+
+'Hah! he was ever dexterous. Well! if he save my sister, I care not for
+his favour.'
+
+'There is no doubt. All may yet be well, Sir.'
+
+'Let us act, not hope. Where's Abner?'
+
+'Dead.'
+
+'How?'
+
+'In battle.'
+
+'Art sure?'
+
+'I saw him fall, and fought beside him.'
+
+'A soldier's death is all our fortune now. I am glad he was not
+captured. Where's Medad, Ithamar?'
+
+'Fled into Egypt.'
+
+'We have no force whatever, then?'
+
+'None but your guards here.'
+
+'They are strong enough to plunder a caravan. Honain, you say, in
+favour?'
+
+'Very high. He'll make good terms for us.'
+
+'This is strange news.'
+
+'Very, but true.'
+
+'Well! you are welcome! Share our fare; 'tis rough, and somewhat scanty;
+but we have feasted, and may feast again. Fled into Egypt, eh?'
+
+'Ay! Sir.'
+
+'Schirene, shouldst like to see the Nile?'
+
+'I have heard of crocodiles.'
+
+If the presence of Kisloch and his companions were not very pleasing
+to Alroy, with the rest of the band they soon became great favourites.
+Their local knowledge, and their experience of desert life, made them
+valuable allies, and their boisterous jocularity and unceasing merriment
+were not unwelcome in the present monotonous existence of the fugitives.
+As for Alroy himself, he meditated an escape to Egypt. He determined
+to seize the first opportunity of procuring some camels, and then,
+dispersing his band, with the exception of Benaiah and a few faithful
+retainers, he trusted that, disguised as merchants, they might succeed
+in crossing Syria, and entering Africa by Palestine. With these plans
+and prospects, he became each day more cheerful and more sanguine as
+to the future. He had in his possession some valuable jewels, which he
+calculated upon disposing of at Cairo for a sum sufficient for all his
+purposes; and having exhausted all the passions of life while yet a
+youth, he looked forward to the tranquil termination of his existence in
+some poetic solitude with his beautiful companion.
+
+One evening, as they returned from the Oasis, Alroy guiding the camel
+that bore Schirene, and ever and anon looking up in her inspiring face,
+her sanguine spirit would have indulged in a delightful future.
+
+'Thus shall we pass the desert, sweet,' said Schirene. 'Can this be
+toil?'
+
+'There is no toil with love,' replied Alroy.
+
+'And we were made for love, and not for empire,' rejoined Schirene.
+
+'The past is a dream,' said Alroy. 'So sages teach us; but, until we
+act, their wisdom is but wind. I feel it now. Have we ever lived in
+aught but deserts, and fed on aught but dates? Methinks 'tis very
+natural. But that I am tempted by the security of distant lands, I could
+remain here a free and happy outlaw. Time, custom, and necessity form
+our natures. When I first met Scherirah in these ruins, I shrank with
+horror from degraded man; and now I sigh to be his heir. We must not
+think!'
+
+'No, love, we'll only hope,' replied Schirene; and they passed through
+the gates.
+
+The night was beautiful, the air was still warm and sweet. Schirene
+gazed upon the luminous heavens. 'We thought not of these skies when
+we were at Bagdad,' she exclaimed; 'and yet, my life, what was the
+brightness of our palaces compared to these? All is left to us that man
+should covet, freedom, beauty, and youth. I do believe, ere long, Alroy,
+we shall look back upon the wondrous past as on another and a lower
+world. Would that this were Egypt! Tis my only wish.'
+
+'And it shall soon be gratified. All will soon be arranged. A few brief
+days, and then Schirene will mount her camel for a longer ride than just
+to gather dates. You'll make a sorry traveller, I fear!'
+
+'Not I; I'll tire you all.'
+
+They reached the circus, and seated themselves round the blazing fire.
+Seldom had Alroy, since his fall, appeared more cheerful. Schirene sang
+an Arab air to the band, who joined in joyous chorus. It was late
+ere they sought repose; and they retired to their rest, sanguine and
+contented.
+
+A few hours afterwards, at the break of dawn, Alroy was roused from
+his slumbers by a rude pressure on his breast. He started; a ferocious
+soldier was kneeling over him; he would have spurned him; he found his
+hand manacled. He would have risen; his feet were bound. He looked round
+for Schirene, and called her name; he was answered only by a shriek.
+The amphitheatre was filled with Karasmian troops. His own men were
+surprised and overpowered. Kisloch and the Guebre had been on guard. He
+was raised from the ground, and flung upon a camel, which was instantly
+trotted out of the circus. On every side he beheld a wild scene of
+disorder and dismay. He was speechless from passion and despair.
+The camel was dragged into the desert. A body of cavalry instantly
+surrounded it, and they set off at a rapid pace. The whole seemed the
+work of an instant.
+
+How many days had passed Alroy knew not. He had taken no account of
+time. Night and day were to him the same. He was in a stupor. But the
+sweetness of the air and the greenness of the earth at length partially
+roused his attention. He was just conscious that they had quitted the
+desert. Before him was a noble river; he beheld the Euphrates from
+the very spot he had first viewed it in his pilgrimage. The strong
+association of ideas called back his memory. A tear stole down his
+cheek; the bitter drop stole to his parched lips; he asked the nearest
+horseman for water. The guard gave him a wetted sponge, with which he
+contrived with difficulty to wipe his lips, and then he let it fall to
+the ground. The Karasmian struck him.
+
+They arrived at the river. The prisoner was taken from the camel and
+placed in a covered boat. After some hours they stopped and disembarked
+at a small village. Alroy was placed upon an ass with his back to its
+head. His clothes were soiled and tattered. The children pelted him with
+mud. An old woman, with a fanatic curse, placed a crown of paper on
+his brow. With difficulty his brutal guards prevented their victim
+from being torn to pieces. And in such fashion, towards noon of the
+fourteenth day, David Alroy again entered Bagdad.
+
+The intelligence of the capture of Alroy spread through the agitated
+city. The Moolahs bustled about as if they had received a fresh
+demonstration of the authenticity of the prophetic mission. All the
+Dervishes began begging. The men discussed affairs in the coffee-houses,
+and the women chatted at the fountains.[79]
+
+'They may say what they like, but I wish him well,' said a fair Arab,
+as she arranged her veil. 'He may be an impostor, but he was a very
+handsome one.'
+
+'All the women are for him, that's the truth,' responded a companion;
+'but then we can do him no good.'
+
+'We can tear their eyes out,' said a third.
+
+'And what do you think of Alp Arslan, truly?' inquired a fourth.
+
+'I wish he were a pitcher, and then I could break his neck,' said a
+fifth.
+
+'Only think of the Princess!' said a sixth.
+
+'Well! she has had a glorious time of it,' said a seventh.
+
+'Nothing was too good for her,' said an eighth.
+
+'I like true love,' said a ninth.
+
+'Well! I hope he will be too much for them all yet,' said a tenth.
+
+'I should not wonder,' said an eleventh.
+
+'He can't,' said a twelfth, 'he has lost his sceptre.'
+
+'You don't say so?' said a thirteenth.
+
+'It is too true,' said a fourteenth.
+
+'Do you think he was a wizard?' said a fifteenth. 'I vow, if there be
+not a fellow looking at us behind those trees.'
+
+'Impudent scoundrel!' said a sixteenth. 'I wish it were Alroy. Let us
+all scream, and put down our veils.'
+
+And the group ran away.
+
+Two stout soldiers were playing chess[80] in a coffee-house.
+
+'May I slay my mother,' said one, 'but I cannot make a move. I fought
+under him at Nehauend; and though I took the amnesty, I have half a mind
+now to seize my sword and stab the first Turk that enters.'
+
+''Twere but sheer justice,' said his companion. 'By my father's
+blessing, he was the man for a charge. They may say what they like, but
+compared with him, Alp Arslan is a white-livered Giaour.'
+
+'Here is confusion to him and to thy last move. There's the dirhem, I
+can play no more. May I slay my mother, though, but I did not think he
+would let himself be taken.'
+
+'By the blessing of my father, nor I; but then he was asleep.'
+
+'That makes a difference. He was betrayed.'
+
+'All brave men are. They say Kisloch and his set pocket their fifty
+thousand by the job.'
+
+'May each dirhem prove a plague-spot!'
+
+'Amen! Dost remember Abner?'
+
+'May I slay my mother if I ever forget him. He spoke to his men like so
+many lambs. What has become of the Lady Miriam?'
+
+'She is here.'
+
+'That will cut Alroy.'
+
+'He was ever fond of her. Dost remember she gained Adoram's life?'
+
+'Oh! she could do anything next to the Queen.'
+
+'Before her, I say, before her. He has refused the Queen, he never
+refused the Lady Miriam.'
+
+'Because she asked less.'
+
+'Dost know it seemed to me that things never went on so well after
+Jabaster's death?'
+
+'So say I. There was a something, eh?'
+
+'A sort of a peculiar, as it were, kind of something, eh?'
+
+'You have well described it. Every man felt the same. I have often
+mentioned it to my comrades. Say what you like, said I, but slay my
+mother if ever since the old man strangled himself, things did not seem,
+as it were, in their natural propinquity. 'Twas the phrase I used.'
+
+'A choice one. Unless there is a natural propinquity, the best-arranged
+matters will fall out. However, the ass sees farther than his rider, and
+so it was with Alroy, the best commander I ever served under, all the
+same.'
+
+'Let us go forth and see how affairs run.'
+
+'Ay, do. If we hear any one abuse Alroy, we'll cleave his skull.'
+
+'That will we. There are a good many of our stout fellows about; we
+might do something yet.'
+
+'Who knows?'
+
+A subterranean dungeon of the citadel of Bagdad held in its gloomy
+limits the late lord of Asia. The captive did not sigh, or weep, or
+wail. He did not speak. He did not even think. For several days he
+remained in a state of stupor. On the morning of the fourth day, he
+almost unconsciously partook of the wretched provision which his gaolers
+brought him. Their torches, round which the bats whirled and flapped
+their wings, and twinkled their small eyes, threw a ghastly glare over
+the nearer walls of the dungeon, the extremity of which defied the
+vision of the prisoner; and, when the gaolers retired, Alroy was in
+complete darkness.
+
+The image of the past came back to him. He tried in vain to penetrate
+the surrounding gloom. His hands were manacled, his legs also were
+loaded with chains. The notion that his life might perhaps have been
+cruelly spared in order that he might linger on in this horrible state
+of conscious annihilation filled him with frenzy. He would have dashed
+his fetters against his brow, but the chain restrained him. He flung
+himself upon the damp and rugged ground. His fall disturbed a thousand
+obscene things. He heard the quick glide of a serpent, the creeping
+retreat of the clustering scorpions, and the swift escape of the dashing
+rats. His mighty calamities seemed slight when compared with these petty
+miseries. His great soul could not support him under these noisome and
+degrading incidents. He sprang, in disgust, upon his feet, and stood
+fearful of moving, lest every step should introduce him to some new
+abomination. At length, exhausted nature was unable any longer to
+sustain him. He groped his way to the rude seat, cut in the rocky wall,
+which was his only accommodation. He put forth his hand. It touched the
+slimy fur of some wild animal, that instantly sprang away, its
+fiery eyes sparkling in the dark. Alroy recoiled with a sensation of
+woe-begone dismay. His shaken nerves could not sustain him under this
+base danger, and these foul and novel trials. He could not refrain from
+an exclamation of despair; and, when he remembered that he was now far
+beyond the reach of all human solace and sympathy, even all human aid,
+for a moment his mind seemed to desert him; and he wrung his hands in
+forlorn and almost idiotic woe. An awful thing it is, the failure of
+the energies of a master-mind. He who places implicit confidence in his
+genius will find himself some day utterly defeated and deserted. 'Tis
+bitter! Every paltry hind seems but to breathe to mock you. Slow,
+indeed, is such a mind to credit that the never-failing resource can at
+least be wanting. But so it is. Like a dried-up fountain, the perennial
+flow and bright fertility have ceased, and ceased for ever. Then comes
+the madness of retrospection.
+
+Draw a curtain! draw a curtain! and fling it over this agonising
+anatomy.
+
+The days of childhood, his sweet sister's voice and smiling love, their
+innocent pastimes, and the kind solicitude of faithful servants, all the
+soft detail of mild domestic life: these were the sights and memories
+that flitted in wild play before the burning vision of Alroy, and
+rose upon his tortured mind. Empire and glory, his sacred nation, his
+imperial bride; these, these were nothing. Their worth had vanished with
+the creative soul that called them into action. The pure sympathies
+of nature alone remained, and all his thought and grief, all his
+intelligence, all his emotion, were centred in his sister.
+
+It was the seventh morning. A guard entered at an unaccustomed hour,
+and, sticking a torch into a niche in the wall, announced that a person
+was without who had permission to speak to the prisoner. They were the
+first human accents that had met the ear of Alroy during his captivity,
+which seemed to him an age, a long dark period, that cancelled all
+things. He shuddered at the harsh tones. He tried to answer, but his
+unaccustomed lips refused their office. He raised his heavy arms, and
+endeavoured to signify his consciousness of what had been uttered. Yet,
+indeed, he had not listened to the message without emotion. He looked
+forward to the grate with strange curiosity; and, as he looked, he
+trembled. The visitor entered, muffled in a dark caftan. The guard
+disappeared; and the caftan falling to the ground, revealed Honain.
+
+'My beloved Alroy,' said the brother of Jabaster; and he advanced, and
+pressed him to his bosom. Had it been Miriam, Alroy might have at
+once expired; but the presence of this worldly man called back his
+worldliness. The revulsion of his feelings was wonderful. Pride, perhaps
+even hope, came to his aid; all the associations seemed to counsel
+exertion; for a moment he seemed the same Alroy.
+
+'I rejoice to find at least thee safe, Honain.'
+
+'I also, if my security may lead to thine.'
+
+'Still whispering hope!'
+
+'Despair is the conclusion of fools.'
+
+'O Honain! 'tis a great trial. I can play my part, and yet methinks
+'twere better we had not again met. How is Schirene?'
+
+'Thinking of thee.'
+
+'Tis something that she can think. My mind has gone. Where's Miriam?'
+
+'Free.'
+
+'That's something. Thou hast done that. Good, good Honain, be kind to
+that sweet child, if only for my sake. Thou art all she has left.'
+
+'She hath thee.'
+
+'Her desolation.'
+
+'Live and be her refuge.'
+
+'How's that? These walls! Escape? No, no; it is impossible.'
+
+'I do not deem it so.'
+
+'Indeed! I'll do anything. Speak! Can we bribe? can we cleave their
+skulls? can we----'
+
+'Calm thyself, my friend. There is no need of bribes, no need of
+bloodshed. We must make terms.'
+
+'Terms! We might have made them on the plain of Nehauend. Terms! Terms
+with a captive victim?'
+
+'Why victim?'
+
+'Is Arslan then so generous?'
+
+'He is a beast, more savage than the boar that grinds its tusks within
+his country's forests.'
+
+'Why speakest thou then of hope?'
+
+'I spoke of certainty. I did not mention hope.'
+
+'Dear Honain, my brain is weak; but I can bear strange things, or else
+I should not be here. I feel thy thoughtful friendship; but indeed there
+need no winding words to tell my fate. Pr'ythee speak out.'
+
+'In a word, thy life is safe.'
+
+'What! spared?'
+
+'If it please thee.'
+
+'Please me? Life is sweet. I feel its sweetness. I want but little.
+Freedom and solitude are all I ask. My life spared! I'll not believe
+it. Thou hast done this deed, thou mighty man, that masterest all souls.
+Thou hast not forgotten me; thou hast not forgotten the days gone by,
+thou hast not forgotten thine own Alroy! Who calls thee worldly is a
+slanderer. O Honain! thou art too faithful!'
+
+'I have no thought but for thy service, Prince.'
+
+'Call me not Prince, call me thine own Alroy. My life spared! 'Tis
+wonderful! When may I go? Let no one see me. Manage that, Honain. Thou
+canst manage all things. I am for Egypt. Thou hast been to Egypt, hast
+thou not, Honain?'
+
+'A very wondrous land, 'twill please thee much.'
+
+'When may I go? Tell me when I may go. When may I quit this dark and
+noisome cell? 'Tis worse than all their tortures, dear Honain. Air and
+light, and I really think my spirit never would break, but this
+horrible dungeon---- I scarce can look upon thy face, sweet friend. 'Tis
+serious.'
+
+'Wouldst thou have me gay?'
+
+'Yes! if we are free.'
+
+'Alroy! thou art a great spirit, the greatest that I e'er knew, have
+ever read of. I never knew thy like, and never shall.'
+
+'Tush, tush, sweet friend, I am a broken reed, but still I am free. This
+is no time for courtly phrases. Let's go, and go at once.'
+
+'A moment, dear Alroy. I am no flatterer. What I said came from my
+heart, and doth concern us much and instantly. I was saying thou hast no
+common mind, Alroy; indeed thou hast a mind unlike all others. Listen,
+my Prince. Thou hast read mankind deeply and truly. Few have seen more
+than thyself, and none have so rare a spring of that intuitive knowledge
+of thy race, which is a gem to which experience is but a jeweller, and
+without which no action can befriend us.'
+
+'Well, well!'
+
+'A moment's calmness. Thou hast entered Bagdad in triumph, and thou hast
+entered the same city with every contumely which the base spirit of our
+race could cast upon its victim. 'Twas a great lesson.'
+
+'I feel it so.'
+
+'And teaches us how vile and valueless is the opinion of our
+fellow-men.'
+
+'Alas! 'tis true.'
+
+'I am glad to see thee in this wholesome temper. 'Tis full of wisdom.'
+
+'The miserable are often wise.'
+
+'But to believe is nothing unless we act. Speculation should only
+sharpen practice. The time hath come to prove thy lusty faith in this
+philosophy. I told thee we could make terms. I have made them. To-morrow
+it was doomed Alroy should die--and what a death! A death of infinite
+torture! Hast ever seen a man impaled?'[81]
+
+'Hah!'
+
+'To view it is alone a doom.'
+
+'God of Heaven!'
+
+'It is so horrible, that 'tis ever marked, that when this direful
+ceremony occurs, the average deaths in cities greatly increase. 'Tis
+from the turning of the blood in the spectators, who yet from some
+ungovernable madness cannot refrain from hurrying to the scene. I speak
+with some authority. I speak as a physician.'
+
+'Speak no more, I cannot endure it.'
+
+'To-morrow this doom awaited thee. As for Schirene----'
+
+'Not for her, oh! surely not for her?'
+
+'No, they were merciful. She is a Caliph's daughter. 'Tis not forgotten.
+The axe would close her life. Her fair neck would give slight trouble to
+the headsman's art. But for thy sister, but for Miriam, she is a witch,
+a Jewish witch! They would have burnt her alive!'
+
+'I'll not believe it, no, no, I'll not believe it: damnable, bloody
+demons! When I had power I spared all, all but----ah, me! ah, me! why
+did I live?'
+
+'Thou dost forget thyself; I speak of that which was to have been,
+not of that which is to be. I have stepped in and communed with the
+conqueror. I have made terms.'
+
+'What are they, what can they be?'
+
+'Easy. To a philosopher like Alroy an idle ceremony.'
+
+'Be brief, be brief.'
+
+'Thou seest thy career is a great scandal to the Moslemin. I mark their
+weakness, and I have worked upon it. Thy mere defeat or death will not
+blot out the stain upon their standard and their faith. The public mind
+is wild with fantasies since Alroy rose. Men's opinions flit to and fro
+with that fearful change that bodes no stable settlement of states.
+None know what to cling to, or where to place their trust. Creeds are
+doubted, authority disputed. They would gladly account for thy success
+by other than human means, yet must deny thy mission. There also is the
+fame of a fair and mighty Princess, a daughter of their Caliphs, which
+they would gladly clear. I mark all this, observe and work upon it. So,
+could we devise some means by which thy lingering followers could be for
+ever silenced, this great scandal fairly erased, and the public frame
+brought to a sounder and more tranquil pulse, why, they would concede
+much, much, very much.'
+
+'Thy meaning, not thy means, are evident.'
+
+'They are in thy power.'
+
+'In mine? 'Tis a deep riddle. Pr'ythee solve it.'
+
+'Thou wilt be summoned at to-morrow's noon before this Arslan. There
+in the presence of the assembled people who are now with him as much as
+they were with thee, thou wilt be accused of magic, and of intercourse
+with the infernal powers. Plead guilty.'
+
+'Well! is there more?'
+
+'Some trifle. They will then examine thee about the Princess. It is
+not difficult to confess that Alroy won the Caliph's daughter by an
+irresistible spell, and now 'tis broken.'
+
+'So, so. Is that all?'
+
+'The chief. Thou canst then address some phrases to the Hebrew
+prisoners, denying thy Divine mission, and so forth, to settle the
+public mind, observe, upon this point for ever.'
+
+'Ay, ay, and then----?'
+
+'No more, except for form. (Upon the completion of the conditions,
+mind, you will be conveyed to what land you please, with such amount of
+treasure as you choose.) There is no more, except, I say, for form, I
+would, if I were you ('twill be expected), I would just publicly affect
+to renounce our faith, and bow before their Prophet.'
+
+'Hah! Art thou there? Is this thy freedom? Get thee behind me, tempter!
+Never, never, never! Not a jot, not a jot: I'll not yield a jot. Were
+my doom one everlasting torture, I'd spurn thy terms! Is this thy high
+contempt of our poor kind, to outrage my God! to prove myself the vilest
+of the vile, and baser than the basest? Rare philosophy! O Honain! would
+we had never met!'
+
+'Or never parted. True. Had my word been taken, Alroy would ne'er have
+been betrayed.'
+
+'No more; I pray thee, sir, no more. Leave me.'
+
+'Were this a palace, I would. Harsh words are softened by a friendly
+ear, when spoken in affliction.'
+
+'Say what they will, I am the Lord's anointed. As such I should have
+lived, as such at least I'll die.'
+
+'And Miriam?'
+
+'The Lord will not desert her: she ne'er deserted Him.'
+
+'Schirene?'
+
+'Schirene! why! for her sake alone I will die a hero. Shall it be said
+she loved a craven slave, a base impostor, a vile renegade, a villainous
+dealer in drugs and charms? Oh! no, no, no! if only for her sake, her
+sweet, sweet sake, my end shall be like my great life. As the sun I
+rose, like him I set. Still the world is warm with my bright fame, and
+my last hour shall not disgrace my noon, stormy indeed, but glorious!'
+
+Honain took the torch from the niche, and advanced to the grate. It
+was not fastened: he drew it gently open, and led forward a veiled and
+female figure. The veiled and female figure threw herself at the feet of
+Alroy, who seemed lost to what was passing. A soft lip pressed his hand.
+He started, his chains clanked.
+
+'Alroy!' softly murmured the kneeling female.
+
+'What voice is that?' wildly exclaimed the Prince of the Captivity. 'It
+falls upon my ear like long-forgotten music. I'll not believe it. No!
+I'll not believe it. Art thou Schirene?'
+
+'I am that wretched thing they called thy bride.'
+
+'Oh! this indeed is torture! What impalement can equal this sharp
+moment? Look not on me, let not our eyes meet! They have met before,
+like to the confluence of two shining rivers blending in one great
+stream of rushing light. Bear off that torch, sir. Let impenetrable
+darkness cover our darker fortunes.'
+
+'Alroy.'
+
+'She speaks again. Is she mad, as I am, that thus she plays with agony?'
+
+'Sire,' said Honain advancing, and laying his hand gently on the arm of
+the captive, 'I pray thee moderate this passion. Thou hast some faithful
+friends here, who would fain commune in calmness for thy lasting
+welfare.'
+
+'Welfare! He mocks me.'
+
+'I beseech, thee, Sire, be calm. If, indeed, I speak unto that great
+Alroy whom all men fear and still may fear, I pray remember, 'tis not
+in palaces or in the battle-field alone that the heroic soul can conquer
+and command. Scenes like these are the great proof of a superior soul.
+While we live, our body is a temple where our genius pours forth its
+godlike inspiration, and while the altar is not overthrown, the deity
+may still work marvels. Then rouse thyself, great Sire; bethink thee
+that, a Caliph or a captive, there is no man within this breathing world
+like to Alroy. Shall such a being fall without a struggle, like some
+poor felon, who has naught to trust to but the dull shuffling accident
+of Chance? I, too, am a prophet, and I feel thou still wilt conquer.'
+
+'Give me my sceptre, then, give me the sceptre! I speak to the wrong
+brother! It was not thou, it was not thou that gavest it me.'
+
+'Gain it once more. The Lord deserted David for a time; still he
+pardoned him, and still he died a king.'
+
+'A woman worked his fall.'
+
+'But thee a woman raises. This great Princess, has she not suffered too?
+Yet her spirit is still unbroken. List to her counsel: it is deep and
+fond.'
+
+'So was our love.'
+
+'And is, my Alroy!' exclaimed the Princess. 'Be calm, I pray thee! For
+my sake be calm; I am calm for thine. Thou hast listened to all Honain
+has told thee, that wise man, my Alroy, who never erred.
+
+'Tis but a word he counsels, an empty word, a most unmeaning form. But
+speak it, and thou art free, and Alroy and Schirene may blend again
+their glorious careers and lives of sweet fruition. Dost thou not
+remember when, walking in the garden of our joy, and palled with empire,
+how often hast thou sighed for some sweet isle unknown to man, where
+thou mightst pass thy days with no companion but my faithful self, and
+no adventures but our constant loves? O my beloved, that life may still
+be thine! And dost thou falter? Dost call thyself forlorn with such
+fidelity, and deem thyself a wretch, when Paradise with all its
+beauteous gates but woos thy entrance? Oh! no, no, no, no! thou hast
+forgot Schirene: I fear me much, thy over-fond Schirene, who doats upon
+thy image in thy chains more than she did when those sweet hands of
+thine were bound with gems and played with her bright locks!'
+
+'She speaks of another world. I do remember something. Who has sent this
+music to a dungeon? My spirit softens with her melting words. My
+eyes are moist. I weep! 'Tis pleasant. Sorrow is joy compared with my
+despair. I never thought to shed a tear again. My brain is cooler.'
+
+'Weep, weep, I pray thee weep; but let me kiss away thy tears, my soul!
+Didst think thy Schirene had deserted thee? Ah! that was it that made
+my bird so sad. It shall be free, and fly in a sweet sky, and feed on
+flowers with its faithful mate. Ah me! I am once more happy with my boy.
+There was no misery but thy absence, sweet! Methinks this dungeon is our
+bright kiosk! Is that the sunbeam, or thy smile, my love, that makes the
+walls so joyful?'
+
+'Did I smile? I'll not believe it.'
+
+'Indeed you did. Ah! see he smiles again. Why this is freedom! There is
+no such thing as sorrow. Tis a lie to frighten fools!'
+
+'Why, Honain, what's this? 'Twould seem I am really joyful. There's
+inspiration in her very breath. I am another being. Nay! waste not
+kisses on those ugly fetters.'
+
+'Methinks they are gold.'
+
+They were silent. Schirene drew Alroy to his rough seat, and gently
+placing herself on his knees, threw her arms round his neck, and buried
+her face in his breast. After a few minutes she raised her head, and
+whispered in his ear in irresistible accents of sweet exultation, 'We
+shall be free to-morrow!'
+
+'To-morrow! is the trial so near?' exclaimed the captive, with an
+agitated voice and changing countenance. 'To-morrow!' He threw Schirene
+aside somewhat hastily, and sprang from his seat. 'To-morrow! would it
+were over! To-morrow! Methinks there is within that single word the fate
+of ages! Shall it be said to-morrow that Alroy---- Hah! what art thou
+that risest now before me? Dread, mighty spirit, thou hast come in time
+to save me from perdition. Take me to thy bosom, 'tis not stabbed. They
+did not stab thee. Thou seest me here communing with thy murderers. What
+then? I am innocent. Ask them, dread ghost, and call upon their fiendish
+souls to say I am pure. They would make me dark as themselves, but shall
+not.'
+
+'Honain, Honain!' exclaimed the Princess in a terrible whisper as she
+flew to the Physician. 'He is wild again. Calm him, calm him. Mark! how
+he stands with his extended arms, and fixed vacant eyes, muttering most
+awful words! My spirit fails me. It is too fearful.'
+
+The Physician advanced and stood by the side of Alroy, but in vain
+attempted to catch his attention. He ventured to touch his arm. The
+Prince started, turned round, and recognising him, exclaimed in a
+shrieking voice, 'Off, fratricide!'
+
+Honain recoiled, pale and quivering. Schirene sprang to his arm. 'What
+said he, Honain? Thou dost not speak. I never saw thee pale before. Art
+thou, too, mad?'
+
+'Would I were!'
+
+'All men are growing wild. I am sure he said something. I pray thee tell
+me what was it?'
+
+'Ask him.'
+
+'I dare not. Tell me, tell me, Honain!'
+
+'That I dare not.'
+
+'Was it a word?'
+
+'Ay! a word to wake the dead. Let us begone.'
+
+'Without our end? Coward! I'll speak to him. My own Alroy,' sweetly
+whispered the Princess, as she advanced before him.
+
+'What, has the fox left the tigress! Is't so, eh? Are there no
+judgments? Are the innocent only haunted? I am innocent! I did not
+strangle thee! He said rightly, "Beware, beware! they who did this may
+do even feller deeds." And here they are quick at their damned work.
+Thy body suffered, great Jabaster, but me they would strangle body and
+soul!'
+
+The Princess shrieked, and fell into the arms of the advancing Honain,
+who bore her out of the dungeon.
+
+After the fall of Hamadan, Bostenay and Miriam had been carried
+prisoners to Bagdad. Through the interference of Honain, their
+imprisonment had been exempted from the usual hardships, but they
+were still confined to their chambers in the citadel. Hitherto all the
+endeavours of Miriam to visit her brother had been fruitless. Honain
+was the only person to whom she could apply for assistance, and he, in
+answer to her importunities, only regretted his want of power to aid
+her. In vain had she attempted, by the offer of some remaining jewels,
+to secure the co-operation of her guards, with whom her loveliness and
+the softness of her manners had already ingratiated her. She had not
+succeeded even in communicating with Alroy. But after the unsuccessful
+mission of Honain to the dungeon, the late Vizier visited the sister of
+the captive, and, breaking to her with delicate skill the intelligence
+of the impending catastrophe, he announced that he had at length
+succeeded in obtaining for her the desired permission to visit her
+brother; and, while she shuddered at the proximity of an event for
+which she had long attempted to prepare herself, Honain, with some
+modifications, whispered the means by which he flattered himself that it
+might yet be averted. Miriam listened to him in silence, nor could
+he, with all his consummate art, succeed in extracting from her the
+slightest indication of her own opinion as to their expediency. They
+parted, Honain as sanguine as the wicked ever are.
+
+As Miriam dreaded, both for herself and for Alroy, the shock of an
+unexpected meeting, she availed herself of the influence of Honain
+to send Caleb to her brother, to prepare him for her presence, and to
+consult him as to the desirable moment. Caleb found his late master
+lying exhausted on the floor of his dungeon. At first he would not speak
+or even raise his head, nor did he for a long time apparently recognise
+the faithful retainer of his uncle. But at length he grew milder, and
+when he fully comprehended who the messenger was, and the object of his
+mission, he at first seemed altogether disinclined to see his sister,
+but in the end postponed their meeting for the present, and, pleading
+great exhaustion, fixed for that sad interview the first hour of dawn.
+
+The venerable Bostenay had scarcely ever spoken since the fall of his
+nephew; indeed it was but too evident that his faculties, even if they
+had not entirely deserted him, were at least greatly impaired. He never
+quitted his couch; he took no notice of what occurred. He evinced no
+curiosity, scarcely any feeling. If indeed he occasionally did mutter an
+observation, it was generally of an irritable character, nor truly did
+he appear satisfied if anyone approached him, save Miriam, from
+whom alone he would accept the scanty viands which he ever appeared
+disinclined to touch. But his devoted niece, amid all her harrowing
+affliction, could ever spare to the protector of her youth a placid
+countenance, a watchful eye, a gentle voice, and a ready hand. Her
+religion and her virtue, the strength of her faith, and the inspiration
+of her innocence, supported this pure and hapless lady amid all her
+undeserved and unparalleled sorrows.
+
+It was long past midnight; the young widow of Abner reposed upon a couch
+in a soft slumber. The amiable Beruna and the beautiful Bathsheba, the
+curtains drawn, watched the progress of the night.
+
+'Shall I wake her?' said the beautiful Bathsheba. 'Methinks the stars
+are paler! She bade me rouse her long before the dawn.'
+
+'Her sleep is too benign! Let us not wake her,' replied the amiable
+Beruna. 'We rouse her only to sorrow.'
+
+'May her dreams at least be happy;' rejoined the beautiful Bathsheba.
+'She sleeps tranquilly, as a flower.'
+
+'The veil has fallen from her head,' said the amiable Beruna. 'I will
+replace it lightly on her brow. Is that well, my Bathsheba?'
+
+'It is well, sweet Beruna. Her face shrouded by the shawl is like a
+pearl in its shell. See! she moves!'
+
+'Bathsheba!'
+
+'I am here, sweet lady.'
+
+'Is it near dawn?'
+
+'Not yet, sweet lady; it is yet night. It is long past the noon of
+night, sweet lady; methinks I scent the rising breath of morn; but still
+'tis night, and the young moon shines like a sickle in the heavenly
+field, amid the starry harvest.'
+
+'Beruna, gentle girl, give me thy arm. I'll rise.'
+
+The maidens advanced, and gently raising their mistress, supported her
+to the window.
+
+'Since our calamities,' said Miriam, 'I have never enjoyed such tranquil
+slumber. My dreams were slight, but soothing. I saw him, but he smiled.
+Have I slept long, sweet girls? Ye are very watchful.'
+
+'Dear lady, let me bring thy shawl. The air is fresh----'
+
+'But sweet; I thank thee, no. My brow is not so cool as to need a
+covering. 'Tis a fair night!'
+
+Miriam gazed upon the wide prospect of the moonlit capital. The elevated
+position of the citadel afforded an extensive view of the mighty groups
+of buildings-each in itself a city, broken only by some vast and hooded
+cupola, the tall, slender, white minarets of the mosques, or the black
+and spiral form of some lonely cypress--through which the rushing
+Tigris, flooded with light, sent forth its broad and brilliant torrent.
+All was silent; not a single boat floated on the fleet river, not a
+solitary voice broke the stillness of slumbering millions. She gazed
+and, as she gazed, she could not refrain from contrasting the present
+scene, which seemed the sepulchre of all the passions of our race,
+with the unrivalled excitement of that stirring spectacle which Bagdad
+exhibited on the celebration of the marriage of Alroy. How different
+then, too, was her position from her present, and how happy! The only
+sister of a devoted brother, the lord and conqueror of Asia, the bride
+of his most victorious captain, one worthy of all her virtues, and whose
+youthful valour had encircled her brow with a diadem. To Miriam, exalted
+station had brought neither cares nor crimes. It had, as it were, only
+rendered her charity universal, and her benevolence omnipotent. She
+could not accuse herself, this blessed woman--she could not accuse
+herself, even in this searching hour of self-knowledge--she could not
+accuse herself, with all her meekness, and modesty, and humility, of
+having for a moment forgotten her dependence on her God, or her duty to
+her neighbour.
+
+But when her thoughts recurred to that being from whom they were indeed
+scarcely ever absent; and when she remembered him, and all his life,
+and all the thousand incidents of his youth, mysteries to the world, and
+known only to her, but which were indeed the prescience of his fame, and
+thought of all his surpassing qualities and all his sweet affection,
+his unrivalled glory and his impending fate, the tears, in silent agony,
+forced their way down her pale and pensive cheek. She bowed her head
+upon Bathsheba's shoulder, and sweet Beruna pressed her quivering hand.
+
+The moon set, the stars grew white and ghastly, and vanished one by one.
+Over the distant plain of the Tigris, the scene of the marriage pomp,
+the dark purple horizon shivered into a rich streak of white and orange.
+The solemn strain of the Muezzin sounded from the minarets. Some one
+knocked at the door. It was Caleb.
+
+'I am ready,' said Miriam; and for a moment she covered her face with
+her right hand. 'Think of me, sweet maidens; pray for me!'
+
+Leaning on Caleb, and lighted by a gaoler, bearing torches, Miriam
+descended the damp and broken stairs that led to the dungeon. She
+faltered as she arrived at the grate. She stopped, and leant against the
+cold and gloomy wall. The gaoler and Caleb preceded her. She heard the
+voice of Alroy. It was firm and sweet. Its accents reassured her. Caleb
+came forth with a torch, and held it to her feet; and, as he bent down,
+he said, 'My lord bade me beg you to be of good heart, for he is.'
+
+The gaoler, having stuck his torch in the niche, withdrew. Miriam
+desired Caleb to stay without. Then, summoning up all her energies, she
+entered the dreadful abode. Alroy was standing to receive her. The
+light fell full upon his countenance. It smiled. Miriam could no longer
+restrain herself. She ran forward, and pressed him to her heart.
+
+'O, my best, my long beloved,' whispered Alroy; 'such a meeting indeed
+leads captivity captive!'
+
+But the sister could not speak. She leant her head upon his shoulder,
+and closed her eyes, that she might not weep.
+
+'Courage, dear heart; courage, courage!' whispered the captive. 'Indeed
+I am happy!'
+
+'My brother, my brother!'
+
+'Had we met yesterday, you would have found me perhaps a little vexed.
+But to-day I am myself again. Since I crossed the Tigris, I know not
+that I have felt such self-content. I have had sweet dreams, dear
+Miriam, full of solace. And, more than dreams, the Lord has pardoned me,
+I truly think.'
+
+'O, my brother! your words are full of comfort; for, indeed, I too have
+dreamed, and dreamed of consolation. My spirit, since our fall, has
+never been more tranquil.'
+
+'Indeed I am happy.'
+
+'Say so again, my David; let me hear again these words of solace!'
+
+'Indeed, 'tis very true, my faithful friend. It is not spoken in
+kind mockery to make you joyous. For know, last eve, whether the Lord
+repented of his wrath, or whether some dreadful trials, of which I will
+not speak, and wish not to remember, had made atonement for my manifold
+sins, but so it was, that, about the time my angel Miriam sent her
+soothing message, a feeling of repose came over me, such as I long have
+coveted. Anon, I fell into a slumber, deep and sweet, and, instead of
+those wild and whirling images that of late have darted from my brain
+when it should rest, glimpses of empire and conspiracy, snatches of
+fierce wars and mocking loves, I stood beside our native fountain's
+brink, and gathered flowers with my earliest friend. As I placed the
+fragrant captives in your flowing locks, there came Jabaster, that
+great, injured man, no longer stern and awful, but with benignant
+looks, and full of love. And he said, "David, the Lord hath marked thy
+faithfulness, in spite of the darkness of thy dungeon." So he vanished.
+He spoke, my sister, of some strange temptations by heavenly aid
+withstood. No more of that. I awoke. And lo! I heard my name still
+called. Full of my morning dream, I thought it was you, and I answered,
+"Dear sister, art thou here?" But no one answered; and then, reflecting,
+my memory recognised those thrilling tones that summoned Alroy in
+Jabaster's cave.' 'The Daughter of the Voice?' 'Even that sacred
+messenger. I am full of faith. The Lord hath pardoned me. Be sure of
+that.'
+
+'I cannot doubt it, David. You have done great things for Israel; no one
+in these latter days has risen like you. If you have fallen, you were
+young, and strangely tempted.'
+
+'Yet Israel, Israel! Did I not feel a worthier leader will yet arise, my
+heart would crack. I have betrayed my country!'
+
+'Oh no, no, no! You have shown what we can do and shall do. Your memory
+alone is inspiration. A great career, although baulked of its end, is
+still a landmark of human energy. Failure, when sublime, is not without
+its purpose. Great deeds are great legacies, and work with wondrous
+usury. By what Man has done, we learn what Man can do; and gauge the
+power and prospects of our race.'
+
+'Alas! there is no one to guard my name. 'Twill be reviled; or worse,
+'twill be forgotten.'
+
+'Never! the memory of great actions never dies. The sun of glory, though
+awhile obscured, will shine at last. And so, sweet brother, perchance
+some poet, in some distant age, within whose veins our sacred blood may
+flow, his fancy fired with the national theme, may strike his harp to
+Alroy's wild career, and consecrate a name too long forgotten?'
+
+'May love make thee a prophetess!' exclaimed Alroy, as he bent down his
+head and embraced her. 'Do not tarry,' he whispered. ''Tis better that
+we should part in this firm mood.'
+
+She sprang from him, she clasped her hands. 'We will not part,' she
+exclaimed, with energy; 'I will die with thee.'
+
+'Blessed girl, be calm! Do not unman me.'
+
+'I am calm. See! I do not weep. Not a tear, not a tear. They are all in
+my heart.'
+
+'Go, go, my Miriam, angel of light. Tarry no longer; I pray thee go. I
+would not think of the past. Let all my mind be centred in the present.
+Thy presence calls back our bygone days, and softens me too much. My
+duty to my uncle. Go, dear one, go!'
+
+'And leave thee, leave thee to----Oh! my David, thou hast seen, thou
+hast heard----Honain?'
+
+'No more; let not that accursed name profane those holy lips. Raise not
+the demon in me.'
+
+'I am silent. Yet 'tis madness! Oh! my brother, thou hast a fearful
+trial.'
+
+'The God of Israel is my refuge. He saved our fathers in the fiery
+furnace. He will save me.'
+
+'I am full of faith. I pray thee let me stay.'
+
+'I would be silent; I would be alone. I cannot speak, Miriam. I ask one
+favour, the last and dearest, from her who has never had a thought but
+for my wishes; blessed being, leave me.'
+
+'I go. O Alroy, farewell! Let me kiss you. Again, once more! Let me
+kneel and bless you. Brother, beloved brother, great and glorious
+brother, I am worthy of you: I will not weep. I am prouder in this dread
+moment of your love than all your foes can be of their hard triumph!'
+
+Beruna and Bathsheba received their mistress when she returned to her
+chamber. They marked her desolate air. She was silent, pale, and cold.
+They bore her to her couch, whereon she sat with a most listless and
+unmeaning look; her quivering lips parted, her eyes fixed upon the
+ground in vacant abstraction, and her arms languidly folded before
+her. Beruna stole behind her, and supported her back with pillows, and
+Bathsheba, unnoticed, wiped the slight foam from her mouth. Thus Miriam
+remained for several hours, her faithful maidens in vain watching for
+any indication of her self-consciousness.
+
+Suddenly a trumpet sounded.
+
+'What is that?' exclaimed Miriam, in a shrill voice, and looking up with
+a distracted glance.
+
+Neither of them answered, since they were aware that it betokened the
+going forth of Alroy to his trial.
+
+Miriam remained in the same posture, and with the same expression of
+wild inquiry. Another trumpet sounded, and after that a shout of the
+people. Then she raised up her arms to heaven, and bowed her head, and
+died.
+
+'Has the second trumpet sounded?'
+
+'To be sure: run, run for a good place. Where is Abdallah?'
+
+'Selling sherbet in the square. We shall find him. Has Alroy come
+forth?'
+
+'Yes! he goes the other way. We shall be too late. Only think of
+Abdallah selling sherbet!'
+
+'Father, let me go?'
+
+'You will be in the way; you are too young; you will see nothing. Little
+boys should stay at home.'
+
+'No, they should not. I will go. You can put me on your shoulders.'
+
+'Where is Ibrahim? Where is Ali? We must all keep together. We shall
+have to fight for it. I wish Abdallah were here. Only think of his
+selling sherbet!'
+
+'Keep straight forward. That is right. It is no use going that way. The
+bazaar is shut. There is Fakreddin, there is Osman Effendi. He has got a
+new page.'
+
+'So he has, I declare; and a very pretty boy too.'
+
+'Father, will they impale Alroy alive?'
+
+'I am sure I do not know. Never ask questions, my dear. Little boys
+never should.'
+
+'Yes, they should. I hope they will impale him alive. I shall be so
+disappointed if they do not.'
+
+'Keep to the left. Dash through the Butchers' bazaar: that is open. All
+right, all right. Did you push me, sir?'
+
+'Suppose I did push you, sir, what then, sir?'
+
+'Come along, don't quarrel. That is a Karasmian. They think they are to
+do what they like. We are five to one, to be sure, but still there is
+nothing like peace and quiet. I wish Abdallah were here with his stout
+shoulders. Only think of his selling sherbet!'
+
+The Square of the Grand Mosque, the same spot where Jabaster met Abidan
+by appointment, was the destined scene of the pretended trial of Alroy.
+Thither by break of day the sight-loving thousands of the capital had
+repaired. In the centre of the square, a large circle was described by
+a crimson cord, and guarded by Karasmian soldiers. Around this the
+swelling multitude pressed like the gathering waves of ocean, but,
+whenever the tide set in with too great an impulse, the savage
+Karasmians appeased the ungovernable element by raising their
+battle-axes, and brutally breaking the crowns and belabouring the
+shoulders of their nearest victims. As the morning advanced, the
+terraces of the surrounding houses, covered with awnings, were crowded
+with spectators. All Bagdad was astir. Since the marriage of Alroy,
+there had never been such a merry morn as the day of his impalement.
+
+At one end of the circle was erected a magnificent throne. Half way
+between the throne and the other end of the circle, but further back,
+stood a company of negro eunuchs, hideous to behold, who, clothed in
+white, and armed with various instruments of torture, surrounded the
+enormous stakes, tall, thin, and sharp, that were prepared for the final
+ceremony.
+
+The flourish of trumpets, the clash of cymbals, and the wild beat of the
+tambour, announced the arrival of Alp Arslan from the Serail. An avenue
+to the circle had been preserved through the multitude. The royal
+procession might be traced as it wound through the populace, by the
+sparkling and undulating line of plumes of honour, and the dazzling
+forms of the waving streamers, on which were inscribed the names of
+Allah and the Prophet. Suddenly, amid the bursts of music, and
+the shouts of the spectators, many of whom on the terraces humbled
+themselves on their knees, Alp Arslan mounted the throne, around which
+ranged themselves his chief captains, and a deputation of the Mullahs,
+and Imams, and Cadis, and other principal personages of the city.
+
+The King of Karasmé was tall in stature, and somewhat meagre in form. He
+was fair, or rather sandy-coloured, with a red beard, and blue eyes,
+and a flat nose. The moment he was seated, a trumpet was heard in the
+distance from an opposite quarter, and it was soon understood throughout
+the assembly that the great captive was about to appear.
+
+A band of Karasmian guards first entered the circle, and ranged
+themselves round the cord, with their backs to the spectators. After
+them came fifty of the principal Hebrew prisoners, with their hands
+bound behind them, but evidently more for form than security. To these
+succeeded a small covered wagon drawn by mules, and surrounded by
+guards, from which was led forth, his legs relieved from their manacles,
+but his hands still in heavy chains, David Alroy!
+
+A universal buzz of blended sympathy, and wonder, and fear, and triumph
+arose, throughout the whole assembly. Each man involuntarily stirred.
+The vast populace moved to and fro in agitation. His garments soiled and
+tattered, his head bare, and his long locks drawn off his forehead, pale
+and thin, but still unsubdued, the late conqueror and Caliph of Bagdad
+threw around a calm and imperial glance upon those who were but recently
+his slaves.
+
+The trumpets again sounded, order was called, and a crier announced that
+his Highness Alp Arslan, the mighty Sovereign of Karasmé, their Lord,
+Protector, and King, and avenger of Allah and the Prophet, against all
+rebellious and evil-minded Jews and Giaours, was about to speak. There
+was a deep and universal silence, and then sounded a voice high as the
+eagle's in a storm.
+
+'David Alroy!' said his conqueror, 'you are brought hither this day
+neither for trial nor for judgment. Captured in arms against your
+rightful sovereign, you are of course prepared, like other rebels, for
+your doom. Such a crime alone deserves the most avenging punishments.
+What then do you merit, who are loaded with a thousand infamies, who
+have blasphemed Allah and the Prophet, and, by the practice of magic
+arts and the aid of the infernal powers, have broken the peace of
+kingdoms, occasioned infinite bloodshed, outraged all law, religion, and
+decency, misled the minds of your deluded votaries, and especially by a
+direct compact with Eblis, by horrible spells and infamous incantations,
+captivated the senses of an illustrious Princess, heretofore famous for
+the practice of every virtue, and a descendant of the Prophet himself.
+
+'Behold these stakes of palm-wood, sharper than a lance! The most
+terrible retribution that human ingenuity has devised for the guilty
+awaits you. But your crimes baffle all human vengeance. Look forward
+for your satisfactory reward to those infernal powers by whose dark
+co-operation you have occasioned such disasters. Your punishment is
+public, that all men may know that the guilty never escape, and that,
+if your heart be visited by the slightest degree of compunction for
+your numerous victims, you may this day, by the frank confession of the
+irresistible means by which you seduced them, exonerate your victims
+from the painful and ignominious end with which, through your influence
+they are now threatened. Mark, O assembled people, the infinite mercy
+of the Vicegerent of Allah! He allows the wretched man to confess his
+infamy, and to save by his confession, his unfortunate victims. I have
+said it. Glory to Allah!'
+
+And the people shouted, 'He has said it, he has said it! Glory to Allah!
+He is great, he is great! and Mahomed is his prophet!'
+
+'Am I to speak?' enquired Alroy, when the tumult had subsided. The
+melody of his voice commanded universal attention.
+
+Alp Arslan nodded his head in approbation.
+
+'King of Karasmé! I stand here accused of many crimes. Now hear my
+answers. 'Tis said I am a rebel. My answer is, I am a Prince as thou
+art, of a sacred race, and far more ancient. I owe fealty to no one but
+to my God, and if I have broken that I am yet to learn that Alp Arslan
+is the avenger of His power. As for thy God and Prophet, I know not
+them, though they acknowledge mine. 'Tis well understood in every
+polity, my people stand apart from other nations, and ever will, in
+spite of suffering. So much for blasphemy; I am true to a deep faith
+of ancient days, which even the sacred writings of thy race still
+reverence. For the arts magical I practised, and the communion with
+infernal powers 'tis said I held, know, King, I raised the standard of
+my faith by the direct commandment of my God, the great Creator of the
+universe. What need of magic, then? What need of paltering with petty
+fiends, when backed by His omnipotence? My magic was His inspiration.
+Need I prove why, with such aid, my people crowded round me? The time
+will come when from out our ancient seed, a worthier chief will rise,
+not to be quelled even by thee, Sire.
+
+'For that unhappy Princess of whom something was said (with no great
+mercy, as it seemed to me), that lady is my wife, my willing wife; the
+daughter of a Caliph, still my wife, although your stakes may make her
+soon a widow. I stand not here to account for female fancies. Believe
+me, Sire, she gave her beauty to my raptured arms with no persuasions
+but such as became a soldier and a king. It may seem strange to thee
+upon thy throne that the flower of Asia should be plucked by one so vile
+as I am. Remember, the accidents of Fortune are most strange. I was not
+always what I am. We have met before. There was a day, and that too
+not long since, when, but for the treachery of some knaves I mark here,
+Fortune seemed half inclined to reverse our fates. Had I conquered, I
+trust I should have shown more mercy.'
+
+The King of Karasmé was the most passionate of men. He had made a speech
+according to the advice and instructions of his councillors, who had
+assured him that the tone he adopted would induce Alroy to confess all
+that he required, and especially to vindicate the reputation of the
+Princess Schirene, who had already contrived to persuade Alp Arslan that
+she was the most injured of her sex. The King of Karasmé stamped thrice
+on the platform of his throne, and exclaimed with great fire, 'By my
+beard, ye have deceived me! The dog has confessed nothing!'
+
+All the councillors and chief captains, and the Mullahs, and the
+Imams, and the Cadis, and the principal personages of the city were
+in consternation. They immediately consulted together, and, after much
+disputation, agreed that, before they proceeded to extremities, it was
+expedient to prove what the prisoner would not confess. A venerable
+Sheikh, clothed in flowing robes of green, with a long white beard,
+and a turban like the tower of Babel, then rose. His sacred reputation
+procured silence while he himself delivered a long prayer, supplicating
+Allah and the Prophet to confound all blaspheming Jews and Giaours, and
+to pour forth words of truth from the mouths of religious men. And
+then the venerable Sheikh summoned all witnesses against David Alroy.
+Immediately advanced Kisloch the Kourd, to whom, being placed in an
+eminent position, the Cadi of Bagdad drawing forth a scroll from his
+velvet bag, read a deposition, wherein the worthy Kisloch stated that he
+first became acquainted with the prisoner, David Alroy, in some ruins in
+the desert, the haunt of banditti, of whom Alroy was the chief; that
+he, Kisloch, was a reputable merchant, and that his caravan had been
+plundered by these robbers, and he himself captured; that, on the second
+night of his imprisonment, Alroy appeared to him in the likeness of a
+lion, and on the third, of a bull with fiery eyes; that he was in the
+habit of constantly transforming himself; that he frequently raised
+spirits; that, at length, on one terrible night, Eblis himself came in
+great procession, and presented Alroy with the sceptre of Solomon Ben
+Daoud; and that the next day Alroy raised his standard, and soon after
+massacred Hassan Subah and his Seljuks, by the visible aid of many
+terrible demons.
+
+Calidas the Indian, the Guebre, and the Negro, and a few congenial
+spirits, were not eclipsed in the satisfactory character of their
+evidence by the luminous testimony of Kisloch the Kourd. The
+irresistible career of the Hebrew conqueror was undeniably accounted
+for, and the honour of Moslem arms and the purity of Moslem faith were
+established in their pristine glory and all their unsullied reputation.
+David Alroy was proved to be a child of Eblis, a sorcerer, and a dealer
+in charms and magical poisons. The people listened with horror and with
+indignation. They would have burst through the guards and torn him in
+pieces, had not they been afraid of the Karasmian battle-axes. So they
+consoled themselves with the prospect of his approaching tortures.
+
+The Cadi of Bagdad bowed himself before the King of Karasmé, and
+whispered at a respectful distance in the royal ear. The trumpets
+sounded, the criers enjoined silence, and the royal lips again moved.
+
+'Hear, O ye people, and be wise. The chief Cadi is about to read
+the deposition of the royal Princess Schirene, chief victim of the
+sorcerer.'
+
+And the deposition was read, which stated that David Alroy possessed,
+and wore next to his heart, a talisman, given him by Eblis, the virtue
+of which was so great that, if once it were pressed to the heart of any
+woman, she was no longer mistress of her will. Such had been the unhappy
+fate of the daughter of the Commander of the Faithful.
+
+'Is it so written?' enquired the captive.
+
+'It is so written,' replied the Cadi, 'and bears the imperial signature
+of the Princess.'
+
+'It is a forgery.'
+
+The King of Karasmé started from his throne, and in his rage nearly
+descended its steps. His face was like scarlet, his beard was like a
+flame. A favourite minister ventured gently to restrain the royal robe.
+
+'Kill the dog on the spot,' muttered the King of Karasmé.
+
+'The Princess is herself here,' said the Cadi, 'to bear witness to the
+spells of which she was a victim, but from which, by the power of Allah
+and the Prophet, she is now released.'
+
+Alroy started!
+
+'Advance, royal Princess,' said the Cadi, 'and, if the deposition thou
+hast heard be indeed true, condescend to hold up the imperial hand that
+adorned it with thy signature.'
+
+A band of eunuchs near the throne gave way; a female figure veiled to
+her feet appeared. She held up her hand amid the breathless agitation of
+the whole assembly; the ranks of the eunuchs again closed; a shriek was
+heard, and the veiled figure disappeared.
+
+'I am ready for thy tortures, King,' said Alroy, in a tone of deep
+depression. His firmness appeared to have deserted him. His eyes were
+cast upon the ground. Apparently he was buried in profound thought, or
+had delivered himself up to despair.
+
+'Prepare the stakes,' said Alp Arslan.
+
+An involuntary, but universal, shudder might be distinguished through
+the whole assembly.
+
+A slave advanced and offered Alroy a scroll. He recognised the Nubian
+who belonged to Honain. His former minister informed him that he was
+at hand, that the terms he offered in the dungeon might even yet be
+granted; that if Alroy would, as he doubted not, as he entreated him,
+accept them, he was to place the scroll in his bosom, but that if
+he were still inexorable, still madly determined on a horrible and
+ignominious end, he was to tear the scroll and throw it in to the arena.
+Instantly Alroy took the scroll, and with great energy tore it into a
+thousand pieces. A puff of wind carried the fragments far and wide.
+The mob fought for these last memorials of David Alroy, and this little
+incident occasioned a great confusion.
+
+In the meantime the negroes prepared the instruments of torture and of
+death.
+
+'The obstinacy of this Jewish dog makes me mad,' said the King of
+Karasmé to his courtiers. 'I will hold some parley with him before he
+dies.' The favourite minister entreated his sovereign to be content;
+but the royal beard grew so red, and the royal eyes flashed forth such
+terrible sparks of fire, that even the favourite minister at length gave
+way.
+
+The trumpet sounded, the criers called silence, and the voice of Alp
+Arslan was again heard.
+
+'Thou dog, dost see what is preparing for thee? Dost know what awaits
+thee in the halls of thy master Eblis? Can a Jew be influenced even by
+false pride? Is not life sweet? Is it not better to be my slipper-bearer
+than to be impaled?'
+
+'Magnanimous Alp Arslan,' replied Alroy in a tone of undisguised
+contempt; 'thinkest thou that any torture can be equal to the
+recollection that I have been conquered by thee?'
+
+'By my beard, he mocks me!' exclaimed the Karasmian monarch, 'he defies
+me! Touch not my robe. I will parley with him. Ye see no farther than a
+hooded hawk, ye sons of a blind mother. This is a sorcerer; he hath yet
+some master spell; he will yet save himself. He will fly into the air,
+or sink into the earth. He laughs at our tortures.' The King of Karasmé
+precipitately descended the steps of his throne, followed by his
+favourite minister, and his councillors, and chief captains, and the
+Cadis, and the Mullahs, and the Imams, and the principal personages of
+the city.
+
+'Sorcerer!' exclaimed Alp Arslan, 'insolent sorcerer! base son of a base
+mother! dog of dogs! dost thou defy us? Does thy master Eblis whisper
+hope? Dost thou laugh at our punishments? Wilt thou fly into the
+air? wilt thou sink into the earth? eh, eh? Is it so, is it so?' The
+breathless monarch ceased, from the exhaustion of passion. He tore his
+beard out by the roots, he stamped with uncontrollable rage.
+
+'Thou art wiser than thy councillors, royal Arslan; I do defy thee.
+My master, although not Eblis, has not deserted me. I laugh at thy
+punishments. Thy tortures I despise. I shall both sink into the earth
+and mount into the air. Art thou answered?'
+
+'By my beard,' exclaimed the enraged Arslan, 'I am answered. Let Eblis
+save thee if he can;' and the King of Karasmé, the most famous master
+of the sabre in Asia, drew his blade like lightning from its sheath,
+and took off the head of Alroy at a stroke. It fell, and, as it fell, a
+smile of triumphant derision seemed to play upon the dying features
+of the hero, and to ask of his enemies, 'Where now are all your
+tortures?'[82]
+
+
+
+
+NOTES TO ALROY.
+
+[Footnote 1: page 4.--_We shall yet see an ass mount a ladder_.--Hebrew
+proverb.]
+
+[Footnote 2: page 12.--Our walls are hung with flowers you love. It is
+the custom of the Hebrews in many of their festivals, especially in
+the feast of the Tabernacle, to hang the walls of their chambers with
+garlands of flowers.]
+
+[Footnote 3: page 13.--_The traditionary tomb of Esther and Mordecai_.
+'I accompanied the priest through the town over much ruin and rubbish
+to an enclosed piece of ground, rather more elevated than any in its
+immediate vicinity. In the centre was the Jewish tomb-a square building
+of brick, of a mosque-like form, with a rather elongated dome at the
+top. The door is in the ancient sepulchral fashion of the country, very
+small, consisting of a single stone of great thickness, and turning on
+its own pivots from one side. Its key is always in possession of
+the eldest of the Jews resident at Hamadan. Within the tomb are two
+sarcophagi, made of a very dark wood, carved with great intricacy of
+pattern and richness of twisted ornament, with a line of inscription in
+Hebrew,' &c.--_Sir R. K. Porter's Travels in Persia, vol. ii. p. 107_.]
+
+[Footnote 4: page 16.--_A marble fountain, the richly-carved cupola
+supported by twisted columns_. The vast magnificence and elaborate
+fancy of the tombs and fountains is a remarkable feature of Oriental
+architecture. The Eastern nations devote to these structures the richest
+and the most durable materials. While the palaces of Asiatic monarchs
+are in general built only of wood, painted in fresco, the rarest marbles
+are dedicated to the sepulchre and the spring, which are often richly
+gilt, and adorned even with precious stones.]
+
+[Footnote 5: page 17.--_The chorus of our maidens._ It is still the
+custom for the women in the East to repair at sunset in company to
+the fountain for their supply of water. In Egypt, you may observe at
+twilight the women descending the banks of the Nile in procession from
+every town and village. Their graceful drapery, their long veils not
+concealing their flashing eyes, and the classical forms of their vases,
+render this a most picturesque and agreeable spectacle.]
+
+[Footnote 6: page 24.--I describe the salty deserts of Persia, a
+locality which my tale required; but I have ventured to introduce here,
+and in the subsequent pages, the principal characteristics of the great
+Arabian deserts: the mirage, the simoom, the gazelle, the oasis.]
+
+[Footnote 7: page 28.--_Jackals and marten-cat._ At nightfall,
+especially in Asia Minor, the lonely horseman will often meet the
+jackals on their evening prowl. Their moaning is often heard during the
+night. I remember, when becalmed off Troy, the most singular screams
+were heard at intervals throughout the night, from a forest on the
+opposite shore, which a Greek sailor assured me proceeded from a
+marten-cat, which had probably found the carcass of some horse.]
+
+[Footnote 8: page 30. Elburz, or Elborus, the highest range of the
+Caucasus.]
+
+[Footnote 9: page 31.--_A circular and brazen table, sculptured with
+strange characters and mysterious figures; near it was a couch on which
+lay several volumes._ A cabalistic table, perhaps a zodiac. The
+books were doubtless _Sepher Happeliah_, the Book of Wonders; _Sepher
+Hakkaneh_, the Book of the Pen; and _Sepher Habbahir_, the Book of
+Light. This last unfolds the most sublime mysteries.]
+
+[Footnote 10: page 32.--_Answered the Cabalist._ 'Simeon ben Jochai,
+who flourished in the second century, and was a disciple of Akibha, is
+called by the Jews the Prince of the Cabalists. After the suppression of
+the sedition in which his master had been so unsuccessful, he concealed
+himself in a cave, where, according to the Jewish historians, he
+received revelations, which he after-wards delivered to his disciples,
+and which they carefully preserved in the book called Sohar. His master,
+Akibha, who lived soon after the destruction of Jerusalem, was the
+author of the famous book Jezirah, quoted by the Jews as of Divine
+authority. When Akibha was far advanced in life, appeared the famous
+impostor Barchochebas, who, under the character of the Messiah, promised
+to deliver his countrymen from the power of the Emperor Adrian. Akibha
+espoused his cause, and afforded him the protection and support of his
+name, and an army of two hundred thousand men repaired to his standard.
+The Romans at first slighted the insurrection; but when they found the
+insurgents spread slaughter and rapine wherever they came, they sent out
+a military force against them. At. first, the issue of the contest
+was doubtful. The Messiah himself was not taken until the end of four
+years.'--Enfield, _Philosophy of the Jews_, vol. ii.
+
+'Two methods of instruction were in use among the Jews; the one public,
+or _exoteric_; the other secret, or esoteric. The exoteric doctrine was
+that which was openly taught the people from the law of Moses and the
+traditions of the fathers. The esoteric was that which treated of the
+mysteries of the Divine nature, and other sublime subjects, and was
+known by the name of the Cabala. The latter was, after the manner of the
+Pythagorean and Egyptian mysteries, taught only to certain persons,
+who were bound, under the most solemn anathema, not to divulge it.
+Concerning the miraculous origin and preservation of the Cabala, the
+Jews relate many marvellous tales. They derive these mysteries from
+Adam, and assert that, while the first man was in Paradise, the angel
+Rasiel brought him a book from heaven, which contained the doctrines
+of heavenly wisdom, and that, when Adam received this book, angels came
+down to him to learn its contents, but that he refused to admit them to
+the knowledge of sacred things entrusted to him alone; that, after the
+Fall, this book was taken back into heaven; that, after many prayers
+and tears, God restored it to Adam, from whom it passed to Seth. In the
+degenerate age before the flood this book was lost, and the mysteries it
+contained almost forgotten; but they were restored by special revelation
+to Abraham, who committed them to writing in the book _Jezirah.'--Vide
+Enfield, vol. ii. p. 219_.
+
+'The Hebrew word _Cabala,'_ says Dom Calmet, 'signifies tradition, and
+the Rabbins, who are named Cabalists, apply themselves principally to
+the combination of certain words, numbers, and letters, by the means of
+which they boasted they could reveal the future, and penetrate the
+sense of the most difficult passages of Scripture. This science does not
+appear to have any fixed principles, but depends upon certain ancient
+traditions, whence its name Cabala. The Cabalists have a great number of
+names which they style sacred, by means of which they raise spirits, and
+affect to obtain supernatural intelligence.'--See Calmet, Art. _Cabala_.
+
+'We spake before,' says Lightfoot, 'of the commonness of Magick among
+them, one singular means whereby they kept their own in delusion, and
+whereby they affronted ours. The general expectation of the nation of
+Messias coming when he did had this double and contrary effect, that it
+forwarded those that belonged to God to believe and receive the Gospel;
+and those that did not, it gave encouragement to some to take upon
+them they were Christ or some great prophet, and to others it gave some
+persuasion to be deluded by them. These deceivers dealt most of them
+with Magick, and that cheat ended not when Jerusalem ended, though one
+would have thought that had been a fair term of not further expecting
+Messias; but since the people were willing to be deceived by such
+expectation, there rose up deluders still that were willing to deceive
+them.'--Lightfoot, vol. ii. p. 371.
+
+For many curious details of the Cabalistic Magic, Vide Basnage, vol. v.
+p. 384, &c.]
+
+[Footnote 11: page 34.--_Read the stars no longer_. 'The modern Jews,'
+says Basnage, 'have a great idea of the influence of the stars.' Vol.
+iv. p. 454. But astrology was most prevalent among the Babylonian
+Rabbins, of whom Jabaster was one. Living in the ancient land of the
+Chaldeans, these sacred sages imbibed a taste for the mystic lore of
+their predecessors. The stars moved, and formed letters and lines, when
+consulted by any of the highly-initiated of the Cabalists. This they
+styled the Celestial Alphabet.]
+
+[Footnote 12: page 38.--__The Daughter of the Voice. 'Both the Talmudick
+and the latter Rabbins,' says Lightfoot, 'make frequent mention of _Bath
+Kol, or Filia Vocis_, or an echoing voice which served under the Second
+Temple for their utmost refuge of revelation. For when Urim and Thummim,
+the oracle, was ceased, and prophecy was decayed and gone, they had,
+as they say, certain strange and extraordinary voices upon certain
+extraordinary occasions, which were their warnings and advertisements
+in some special matters. Infinite instances of this might be adduced, if
+they might be believed. Now here it may be questioned why they called
+it _Bath Kol, the daughter of a voice,_ and not a voice itself? If the
+strictness of the Hebrew word Bath be to be stood upon, which always it
+is not, it may be answered, that it is called The Daughter of a Voice
+in relation to the oracles of Urim and Thummim. For whereas that was a
+voice given from off the mercy-seat, within the vail, and this, upon the
+decay of that oracle, came as it were in its place, it might not
+unfitly or improperly be called a _daughter_, or successor of that
+voice.'--Lightfoot, vol. i. pp. 485, 486. Consult also the learned
+Doctor, vol. ii. pp. 128, 129: 'It was used for a testimony from heaven,
+but was indeed performed by magic art.']
+
+[Footnote 13: page 44.--_The walls and turrets of an extensive city_.
+In Persia, and the countries of the Tigris and Euphrates, the traveller
+sometimes arrives at deserted cities of great magnificence and
+antiquity. Such, for instance, is the city of Anneh. I suppose Alroy to
+have entered one of the deserted capitals of the Seleucidae. They are in
+general the haunt of bandits.]
+
+[Footnote 14: page 49.--_Punctured his arm._ From a story told by an
+Arab.]
+
+[Footnote 15: page 52.--_The pilgrim could no longer sustain himself._
+An endeavor to paint the simoom.]
+
+[Footnote 16: page 54.--_By the holy stone._ The Caaba.--The Caaba is
+the same to the Mahomedan as the Holy Sepulchre to the Christian. It is
+the most unseemly, but the most sacred, part of the mosque at Mecca, and
+is a small, square stone building.]
+
+[Footnote 17: page 56.--_I am a Hakim;_ i.e. Physician, an almost sacred
+character in the East. As all Englishmen travel with medicine-chests,
+the Turks are not be wondered at for considering us physicians.]
+
+[Footnote 18: page 57.--_Threw their wanton jerreeds in the air_. The
+Persians are more famous for throwing the jerreed than any other nation.
+A Persian gentleman, while riding quietly by your side, will suddenly
+dash off at full gallop, then suddenly check his horse, and take a long
+aim with his lance with admirable precision. I should doubt, however,
+whether he could hurl a lance a greater distance or with greater force
+and effect than a Nubian, who will fix a mark at sixty yards with his
+javelin.]
+
+[Footnote 19: page 58.--_Some pounded coffee._ The origin of the use of
+coffee is obscure; but there is great reason to believe that it had not
+been introduced in the time of Alroy. When we consider that the life of
+an Oriental at the present day mainly consists in drinking coffee and
+smoking tobacco, we cannot refrain from asking ourselves, 'What did
+he do before either of these comparatively modern inventions was
+discovered?' For a long time, I was inclined to suspect that tobacco
+might have been in use in Asia before it was introduced into Europe; but
+a passage in old Sandys, in which he mentions the wretched tobacco smoke
+in Turkey, and accounts for it by that country being supplied with 'the
+dregs of our markets,' demonstrates that, in his time, there was no
+native growth in Asia. Yet the choicest tobaccos are now grown on the
+coast of Syria, the real Levant. But did the Asiatics smoke any other
+plant or substance before tobacco? In Syria, at the present day, they
+smoke a plant called _timbac_; the Chinese smoke opium; the artificial
+preparations for the hookah are known to all Indians. I believe,
+however, that these are all refinements, and for this reason, that
+in the classic writers, who were as well acquainted with the Oriental
+nations as ourselves, we find no allusion to the practice of smoking.
+The anachronism of the pipe I have not therefore ventured to commit, and
+that of coffee will, I trust, be pardoned.]
+
+[Footnote 20: page 58.--_Wilder gestures of the dancing girls._ These
+dancing girls abound throughout Asia. The most famous are the Almeh of
+Egypt, and the Nautch of India. These last are a caste, the first only a
+profession.]
+
+[Footnote 21: page 64.--_For thee the bastinado_. The bastinado is the
+common punishment of the East, and an effective and dreaded one. It is
+administered on the soles of the feet, the instrument a long cane or
+palm-branch. Public executions are very-rare.]
+
+[Footnote 22: page 73.--_A door of tortoise-shell and mother-of-pearl_.
+This elegant mode of inlay is common in Oriental palaces, and may be
+observed also in Alhambra, at Granada.]
+
+[Footnote 23: page 74.--_A vaulted, circular, and highly embossed roof,
+of purple, scarlet, and gold._ In the very first style of Saracenic
+architecture. See the Hall of the Ambassadors in Alhambra, and many
+other chambers in that exquisite creation.]
+
+[Footnote 24: page 74.--_Nubian eunuchs dressed in rich habits of
+scarlet and gold._ Thus the guard of Nubian eunuchs of the present Pacha
+of Egypt, Mehemet Ali, or rather Caliph, a title which he wishes to
+assume. They ride upon white horses.]
+
+[Footnote 25: page 74.--_A quadrangular court of roses._ So in Alhambra,
+'The Court of Myrtles,' leading to the Court of Columns, wherein is the
+famous Fountain of Lions.]
+
+[Footnote 26: page 75.--_An Abyssinian giant._ A giant is still a common
+appendage to an Oriental court even at the present day. See a very
+amusing story in the picturesque 'Persian Sketches' of that famous
+elchee, Sir John Malcolm.]
+
+[Footnote 27: page 75.--_Surrounded by figures of every rare quadruped._
+'The hall of audience,' says Gibbon, from Cardonne, speaking of the
+magnificence of the Saracens of Cordova, 'was encrusted with gold and
+pearls, and a great basin in the centre was surrounded with the curious
+and costly figures of birds and quadrupeds.'-_Decline and Fall_, vol. x.
+p. 39.]
+
+[Footnote 28: page 76.--_A tree of gold and silver._ 'Among the other
+spectacles of rare and stupendous luxury was a tree of gold and silver,
+spreading into eighteen large branches, on which, and on the lesser
+boughs, sat a variety of birds made of the same precious metals, as
+well as the leaves of the tree. While the machinery effected spontaneous
+motions, the several birds warbled their natural harmony.'-_Gibbon,_
+vol. x. p. 38, from Abulfeda, describing the court of the Caliphs of
+Bagdad in the decline of their power.]
+
+[Footnote 29: page 76.--_Four hundred men led as many white bloodhounds,
+with collars of gold and rubies_. I have somewhere read of an Indian or
+Persian monarch whose coursing was conducted in this gorgeous style: if
+I remember right, it was Mahmoud the Gaznevide.]
+
+[Footnote 30: page 76.--_A steed marked on its forehead with a star._
+The sacred steed of Solorhon.]
+
+[Footnote 31: page 78.--_Instead of water, each basin was replenished
+with the purest quicksilver._ 'In a lofty pavilion of the gardens, one
+of those basins and fountains so delightful in a sultry climate,
+was replenished, not with water, but with the purest quicksilver.'
+--_Gibbon_, vol. x, from Cardonne.]
+
+[Footnote 32: page 78.-_Playing with a rosary of pearls and emeralds_.
+Moslems of rank are never without the rosary, sometimes of amber and
+rare woods, sometimes of jewels. The most esteemed is of that peculiar
+substance called Mecca wood.]
+
+[Footnote 33: page 78.--_The diamond hilt of a small poniard._ The
+insignia of a royal female.]
+
+[Footnote 34: page 83.--_You have been at Paris_. Paris was known to the
+Orientals at this time as a city of considerable luxury and importance.
+The Embassy from Haroun Alraschid to Charlemagne, at an earlier date, is
+of course recollected.]
+
+[Footnote 35: page 90.--_At length beheld the lost capital of his
+fathers._ The finest view of Jerusalem is from the Mount of Olives. It
+is little altered since the period when David Alroy is supposed to have
+gazed upon it, but it is enriched by the splendid Mosque of Omar, built
+by the Moslem conquerors on the supposed site of the temple, and which,
+with its gardens, and arcades, and courts, and fountains, may fairly be
+described as the most imposing of Moslem fanes. I endeavoured to enter
+it at the hazard of my life. I was detected, and surrounded by a crowd
+of turbaned fanatics, and escaped with difficulty; but I saw enough
+to feel that minute inspection would not belie the general character I
+formed of it from the Mount of Olives. I caught a glorious glimpse of
+splendid courts, and light aify gates of Saracenic triumph, flights of
+noble steps, long arcades, and interior gardens, where silver fountains
+spouted their tall streams amid the taller cypresses.]
+
+[Footnote 36: page 91.--_Entered Jerusalem by the gate of Zion_. The
+gate of Zion still remains, and from it you descend into the valley of
+Siloah.]
+
+[Footnote 37: page 94.-_ King Pirgandicus._ According to a Talmudical
+story, however, of which I find a note, this monarch was not a Hebrew
+but a Gentile, and a very wicked one. He once invited eleven famous
+doctors of the holy nation to supper. They were received in the most
+magnificent style, and were then invited, under pain of death, either
+to eat pork, to accept a pagan mistress, or to drink wine consecrated
+to idols. After long consultation, the doctors, in great tribulation,
+agreed to save their heads by accepting the last alternative, since
+the first and second were forbidden by Moses, and the last only by the
+Rabbins. The King assented, the doctors drank the impure wine, and,
+as it was exceedingly good, drank freely. The wine, as will sometimes
+happen, created a terrible appetite; the table was covered with dishes,
+and the doctors, heated by the grape, were not sufficiently careful of
+what they partook. In short, the wicked King Pirgandicus contrived that
+they should sup off pork, and being carried from the table quite tipsy,
+each of the eleven had the mortification of finding himself next morning
+in the arms of a pagan mistress. In the course of the year all the
+eleven died sudden deaths, and this visitation occurred to them, not
+because they had violated the law of Moses, but because they believed
+that the precepts of the Rabbins could be outraged with more impunity
+than the Word of God.]
+
+[Footnote 38: page 94.--_And conquered Julius Cæsar._ This classic hero
+often figures in the erratic pages of the Talmud.]
+
+[Footnote 39: page 94.--_The Tombs of the Kings._ The present pilgrim to
+Jerusalem will have less trouble than Alroy in discovering the Tombs of
+the Kings, though he probably would not as easily obtain the sceptre of
+Solomon. The tombs that bear this title are of the time of the Asmonean
+princes, and of a more ambitious character than any other of the
+remains. An open court, about fifty feet in breadth, and extremely
+deep, is excavated out of the rock. One side is formed by a portico, the
+frieze of which is sculptured in a good Syro-Greek style. There is no
+grand portal; you crawl into the tombs by a small opening on one of
+the sides. There are a few small chambers with niches, recesses, and
+sarcophagi, some sculptured in the same flowing style as the frieze.
+This is the most important monument at Jerusalem; and Dr. Clarke,
+who has lavished wonder and admiration on the tombs of Zachariah and
+Absalom, has declared the Tombs of the Kings to be one of the marvellous
+productions of antiquity.]
+
+[Footnote 40: Page 95.--'_Rabbi Hillel_ was one of the most celebrated
+among the Jewish Doctors, both for birth, learning, rule, and children.
+He was of the seed of David by his mother's side, being of the posterity
+of Shephatiah, the son of Abital, David's wife. He was brought up in
+Babel, from whence he came up to Jerusalem at forty years old, and there
+studied the law forty years more under Shemaiah and Abtalion, and after
+them he was President of the Sanhedrim forty years more. The beginning
+of his Presidency is generally conceded upon to have been just one
+hundred 'years before the Temple was destroyed; by which account he
+began eight-and-twenty years before our Saviour was born, and died
+when he was about twelve years old. He is renowned for his fourscore
+scholars.'--_Lightfoot,_ vol. ii. p. 2008.
+
+The great rival of Hillel was Shammai. Their controversies, and the
+fierceness of their partisans, are a principal feature of Rabbinical
+history. They were the same as the Scotists and Thomists. At last
+the Bath Kol interfered, and decided for Hillel, but in a spirit of
+conciliatory dexterity. The Bath Kol came forth and spake thus: 'The
+words both of the one party and the other are the words of the living
+God, but the certain decision of the matter is according to the decrees
+of the school of Hillel. And henceforth, whoever shall transgress the
+decrees of the school of Hillel is punishable with death.']
+
+[Footnote 41: page 97.--_A number of small, square, low chambers._ These
+excavated cemeteries, which abound in Palestine and Egypt, were often
+converted into places of worship by the Jews and early Christians.
+Sandys thus describes the Synagogue at Jerusalem in his time.]
+
+[Footnote 42: page 08.--_Their heads mystically covered._ The Hebrews
+cover their heads during their prayers with a sacred shawl.]
+
+[Footnote 43: page 98.--_Expounded the law to the congregation of the
+people._ The custom, I believe, even to the present day, among the
+Hebrews, a remnant of their old academies, once so famous.]
+
+[Footnote 44: page 99.--_The Valley of Jehoshaphat and the Tomb of
+Absalom._ In the Vale of Jehoshaphat, among many other tombs, are two
+of considerable size, and which, although of a corrupt Grecian
+architecture, are dignified by the titles of the tombs of Zachariah and
+Absalom.]
+
+[Footnote 45: page 101.--_The scanty rill of Siloah._ The sublime Siloah
+is now a muddy rill; you descend by steps to the fountain which is its
+source, and which is covered with an arch. Here the blind man received
+his sight; and, singular enough, to this very day the healing reputation
+of its waters prevails, and summons to its brink all those neighbouring
+Arabs who suffer from the ophthalmic affections not uncommon in this
+part of the world.]
+
+[Footnote 46: page 102.--_Several isolated tombs of considerable size_.
+There are no remains of ancient Jerusalem, or the ancient Jews. Some
+tombs there are which may be ascribed to the Asmonean princes; but all
+the monuments of David, Solomon, and their long posterity, have utterly
+disappeared.]
+
+[Footnote 47: page 103.--_Are cut strange characters and unearthly
+forms_. As at Benihassan, and many other of the sculptured catacombs of
+Egypt.]
+
+[Footnote 48: page 104.--_A crowd of bats rushed forward and
+extinguished his torch._ In entering the Temple of Dendara, our torches
+were extinguished by a crowd of bats.]
+
+[Footnote 49: page 104.--_The gallery was of great extent, with a
+gradual declination._ So in the great Egyptian tombs.]
+
+[Footnote 50: page 105.--_The Afrite, for it was one of those dread
+beings._ Beings of a monstrous form, the most terrible of all the orders
+of the Dives.]
+
+[Footnote 51: page 106.--_An avenue of colossal lions of red granite._
+An avenue of Sphinxes more than a mile in length connected the quarters
+of Luxoor and Carnak in Egyptian Thebes. Its fragments remain. Many
+other avenues of Sphinxes and lion-headed Kings may be observed in
+various parts of Upper Egypt.]
+
+[Footnote 52: page 107.--_A stupendous portal, cut out of the solid
+rock, four hundred feet in height, and supported by clusters of colossal
+Caryatides._ See the great rock temple of Ipsambul in Lower Nubia. The
+sitting colossi are nearly seventy feet in height. But there is a Torso
+of a statue of Rameses the Second at Thebes, vulgarly called the great
+Memnon, which measures upwards of sixty feet round the shoulders.]
+
+[Footnote 53: page 109.--_Fifty steps of ivory, and each step guarded by
+golden lions._ See 1st Kings, chap. x. 18-20.]
+
+[Footnote 54: page 120.--_Crossed the desert on a swift dromedary_. The
+difference between a camel and a dromedary is the difference between a
+hack and a thorough-bred horse. There is no other.]
+
+[Footnote 55: page 121.--_That celestial alphabet known to the true
+Cabalist_. See Note 11.]
+
+[Footnote 56: page 133.--_The last of the Seljuks had expired._ The
+Orientals are famous for their massacres: that of the Mamlouks by
+the present Pacha of Egypt, and of the Janissaries of the Sultan, are
+notorious. But one of the most terrible, and effected under the most
+difficult and dangerous circumstances, was the massacre of the Albanian
+Beys by the Grand Vizir, in the autumn of 1830. I was in Albania at the
+time.]
+
+[Footnote 57: page 136.--_ The minarets were illumined._ So, I remember,
+at Constantinople, at the commencement of 1831 at the departure of the
+Mecca caravan, and also at the annual fast of Ramadan.]
+
+[Footnote 58: page 138.--_One asking alms with a wire run through his
+cheek._ Not uncommon. These Dervishes frequent the bazaars.]
+
+[Footnote 59: page 142.--_One hundred thousand warriors were now
+assembled._ In countries where the whole population is armed, a vast
+military force is soon assembled. Barchochebas was speedily at the head
+of two hundred thousand fighting men, and held the Romans long in check
+under one of their most powerful emperors.]
+
+[Footnote 60: page 143.--_Some high-capped Tatar with despatches._ I
+have availed myself of a familiar character in Oriental life, but
+the use of a Tatar as a courier in the time of Alroy is, I fear, an
+anachronism.]
+
+[Footnote 61: page 144.--_Each day some warlike Atabek, at the head
+of his armed train, poured into the capital of the caliphs._ I was
+at Yanina, the capital of Albania, when the Grand Vizir summoned the
+chieftains of the country, and I was struck by their magnificent arrays
+each day pouring into the city.]
+
+[Footnote 62: page 153.--_It is the Sabbath etc_. 'They began their
+Sabbath from sunset, and the same time of day they ended it.'--Talm.
+Hierosolym. in _Sheveith_, fol. 33, col. I. The eve of the Sabbath,
+or the day before, was called the day of the preparation for the
+Sabbath.--Luke xxiii. 54.
+
+'And from the time of the evening sacrifice and forward, they began to
+fit themselves for the Sabbath, and to cease from their works, so as
+not to go to the barber, not to sit in judgment, &c.; nay, thenceforward
+they would not set things on working, which, being set a-work, would
+complete their business of themselves, unless it would be completed
+before the Sabbath came--_as wool was not put to dye, unless it
+could take colour while it was yet day! &c._--Talm. in Sab., par. I;
+Lightfoot, vol. i. p. 218.
+
+'Towards sunsetting, when the Sabbath was now approaching, they lighted
+up the Sabbath lamp. Men and women were bound to have a lamp lighted
+up in their houses on the Sabbath, though they were never so poor--nay,
+though they were forced to go a-begging for oil for this purpose; and
+the lighting up of this lamp was a part of making the Sabbath a
+delight; and women were especially commanded to look to this
+business.'--Maimonides in Sab. par. 36.]
+
+[Footnote 63: page 156.--_The presence of the robes of honour_. These
+are ever carried in procession, and their number denotes the rank and
+quality of the chief, or of the individual to whom they are offered.]
+
+[Footnote 64: page 158.--_Pressed it to his lips, and placed it in his
+vest._ The elegant mode in which the Orientals receive presents.]
+
+[Footnote 65: page 164.--A cap of transparent pink porcelain, studded with pearls.
+Thus a great Turk, who afforded me hospitality, was accustomed to drink
+his coffee.]
+
+[Footnote 66: page 168.--_Slippers powdered with pearls_. The slippers
+in the East form a very fanciful portion of the costume. It is not
+uncommon to see them thus adorned and beautifully embroidered. In
+precious embroidery and enamelling the Turkish artists are unrivalled.]
+
+[Footnote 67: page 185.--_The policy of the son of Kareah. Vide_
+Jeremiah, chap. xlii.]
+
+[Footnote 68: page 191.--_The inviting gestures and the voluptuous grace
+of the dancing girls of Egypt._ A sculptor might find fine studies in
+the Egyptian Almeh.]
+
+[Footnote 69: page 194.--_Six choice steeds sumptuously
+caparisoned._ Led horses always precede a great man. I think there were
+usually twelve before the Sultan when he went to Mosque, which he did in
+public every Friday.]
+
+[Footnote 70: page 194.--_Six Damascus sabres of unrivalled temper._
+But sabres are not to be found at Damascus, any more than cheeses at
+Stilton, or oranges at Malta. The art of watering the blade is, however,
+practised, I believe, in Persia. A fine Damascus blade will fetch fifty
+or even one hundred guineas English.]
+
+[Footnote 71: page 195.--_Roses from Rocnabad_. A river in Persia famous
+for its bowery banks of roses.]
+
+[Footnote 72: page 195.--_Screens made of the feather of a roc._ The
+screens and fans in the East, made of the plumage of rare birds with
+jewelled handles, are very gorgeous.]
+
+[Footnote 73: page 196.--_A tremulous aigrette of brilliants._ Worn only
+by persons of the highest rank. The Sultan presented Lord Nelson after
+the battle of the Nile with an aigrette of diamonds.]
+
+[Footnote 74: page 211.--_ To send him the whole of the next course._
+These compliments from the tables of the great are not uncommon in
+the East. When at the head-quarters of the Grand Vizir at Yanina, his
+Highness sent to myself and my travelling companions a course from his
+table, singers and dancing girls.]
+
+[Footnote 75: page 212.--_The golden wine of Mount Lebanon_. A most
+delicious wine, from its colour, brilliancy, and rare flavour, justly
+meriting this title, is made on Lebanon; but it will not, unfortunately,
+bear exportation, and even materially suffers in the voyage from the
+coast to Alexandria.]
+
+[Footnote 76: page 221.--_And the company of gardeners_. These gardeners
+of the Serail form a very efficient body of police.]
+
+[Footnote 77: page 226.--Alroy retired to the bath. The bath is a
+principal scene of Oriental life. Here the Asiatics pass a great portion
+of their day. The bath consists of a long suite of chambers of various
+temperatures, in which the different processes of the elaborate ceremony
+are performed.]
+
+[Footnote 78: page 232.--_We are the watchers of the moon._ The feast of
+the New Moon is one of the most important festivals of the Hebrews.
+'Our year,' says the learned author of the 'Rites and Ceremonies,' 'is
+divided into twelve lunar months, some of which consist of twenty-nine,
+others of thirty days, which difference is occasioned by the various
+appearance of the new moon, in point of time: for if it appeared on the
+30th day, the 29th was the last day of the precedent month; but if it
+did not appear till the 31st day, the 30th was the last day, and the
+31st the first of the subsequent month; and that was an intercalary
+moon, of all which take the following account.
+
+'Our nation heretofore, not only observing the rules of some fixed
+calculation, also celebrated the feast of the New Moon, according to
+the phasis or first appearance of the moon, which was done in compliance
+with God's command, as our received traditions inform us.
+
+'Hence it came to pass that the first appearance was not to be
+determined only by rules of art, but also by the testimony of such
+persons as deposed before the Sanhedrim, or Great Senate, that they had
+seen the New Moon. So a committee of three were appointed from among the
+said Sanhedrim to receive the deposition of the parties aforesaid,
+who, after having calculated what time the moon might possibly appear,
+despatched some persons _into high and mountainous places, to observe
+and give their evidence accordingly, concerning the first appearance of
+the moon._
+
+'As soon as the new moon was either consecrated or appointed to be
+observed, notice was given by the Sanhedrim to the rest of the nation
+what day had been fixed for the New Moon, or first day of the month,
+because that was to be the rule and measure according to which they were
+obliged to keep their feasts and fasts in every month respectively.
+
+'This notice was given to them in time of peace, _by firing of beacons,
+set up for that purpose,_ which was looked upon as the readiest way
+of communication, but, in time of war, when all places were full of
+enemies, who made use of beacons to amuse our nation with, it was
+thought fit to discontinue it.']
+
+[Footnote 79: page 263.--_The women chatted at the fountain_. The bath
+and the fountain are the favourite scenes of feminine conversation.]
+
+[Footnote 80: page 264.--_Playing chess._ On the walls of the palace of
+Amenoph the Second, called Medeenet Abuh, at Egyptian Thebes, the King
+is represented playing chess with the Queen. This monarch reigned long
+before the Trojan war.]
+
+[Footnote 81: page 272.--_Impaled._ A friend of mine witnessed this
+horrible punishment in Upper Egypt. The victim was a man who had
+secretly murdered nine persons. He held an official post, and invited
+travellers and pilgrims to his house, whom he regularly disposed of
+and plundered. I regret that I have mislaid his MS. account of the
+ceremony.]
+
+[Footnote 82: page 299.--In the _Germen Davidis of Gants_, translated
+into Latin by Vorstius, Lug. 1654, is an extract from a Hebrew MS.
+containing an account of Alroy. I subjoin a translation of a passage
+respecting his death.
+
+R. Maimonides deposes: That the Sultan asked him whether he were the
+Messiah, and that he answered him, "I am"; and that then the monarch
+inquired of him what sign he had. To this he replied that they might cut
+off his head and that he would return to life. Then the King commanded
+that his head should be cut off, and he died, having said previously
+to the monarch that the latter should not lack in his life the most
+grievous torments.
+
+Seven years before the incident quoted above, the Israelites had serious
+troubles on account of a son of Belial who called himself the Messiah,
+so that the tetrarch and the princes were justly incensed against the
+Jews, to such an extent, indeed, that they sent to the latter to inquire
+whether they desired the reign of the Messiah. The name of this accursed
+troubler was David El-David, _alias_ Alroy, who hailed from the city
+of Omadia, where were gathered about a thousand rich, honest, happy and
+decently-living families, whose tabernacle was the principal resort
+of those that dwelt in the neighbourhood of the river Sabbathion; and
+around them were gathered more than a hundred minor tabernacles.
+
+This city was on the border of the region of Media, and the dialect
+used there was the Targum. Thence to the region of Golan is a journey
+of fifty days. It is under the rule of Persia, to which it pays a
+heavy tribute every fifteen years, and one golden talent in addition.
+Moreover, this man David El-David was educated under the Prince of the
+Chaldean captivity, in the care of the eminent Scholiarch, in the city
+of Bagdad, who was preeminently wise in the Talmud and in all foreign
+sciences, as well as in all books of divination, magic, and Chaldean
+lore; This David El-David, out of the boldness and arrogance of his
+heart, lifted his hand against the ruling powers, and collected those
+Jews who dwelt in the neighbourhood of Mount Chophtan, seducing them to
+follow him into battle against all the neighbouring peoples. He showed
+them signs-of what value they knew not: there were men, indeed, who
+supported him on account of his magic art and of certain things to be
+done; others said that his great power came from the hand of God. Those
+who flocked to him called him the Messiah, lauding and extolling him.
+
+In another epoch of Persian history a certain Jew arose, calling himself
+the Messiah, and prospered greatly. A large part of the Israelitish
+population believed in him. But when the King indeed heard of all this
+pretender's power, and that he proposed to join battle with him, he sent
+to the Jews who lived thereabouts and notified them that unless they
+deserted this man, and came oui; from all association with him, they
+certainly should be slain, every one of them, with the sword, and
+afterward the children and the women should perish. Then the whole
+population of Israel assembled, and argued with this man, and threw
+themselves down before him on the ground, strongly supplicating him,
+with clamour and tears, to depart from them. Why, indeed, should he
+put them and others in danger? Had not the King already sworn that they
+should perish by the sword, and wherefore should he bring affliction
+upon all the Jewish inhabitants of Persia? Responding, he said: "I have
+come to serve you, and ye will not have me. Whom do ye fear? Who dares
+stand in front of me, and what doth this Persian King that he dare not
+oppose me and my sword?" The Jews asked him what sign he had that he
+was the Messiah. He answered: "My mission prospers: the Messiah needs no
+other sign." They answered that many had acted likewise, and that none
+had reached success. Then he drove them forth from his face with superb
+indignation.]
+
+
+
+
+
+End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of Alroy, by Benjamin Disraeli
+
+*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK ALROY ***
+
+***** This file should be named 20002-8.txt or 20002-8.zip *****
+This and all associated files of various formats will be found in:
+        http://www.gutenberg.org/2/0/0/0/20002/
+
+Produced by David Widger
+
+Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions
+will be renamed.
+
+Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no
+one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation
+(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without
+permission and without paying copyright royalties.  Special rules,
+set forth in the General Terms of Use part of this license, apply to
+copying and distributing Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works to
+protect the PROJECT GUTENBERG-tm concept and trademark.  Project
+Gutenberg is a registered trademark, and may not be used if you
+charge for the eBooks, unless you receive specific permission.  If you
+do not charge anything for copies of this eBook, complying with the
+rules is very easy.  You may use this eBook for nearly any purpose
+such as creation of derivative works, reports, performances and
+research.  They may be modified and printed and given away--you may do
+practically ANYTHING with public domain eBooks.  Redistribution is
+subject to the trademark license, especially commercial
+redistribution.
+
+
+
+*** START: FULL LICENSE ***
+
+THE FULL PROJECT GUTENBERG LICENSE
+PLEASE READ THIS BEFORE YOU DISTRIBUTE OR USE THIS WORK
+
+To protect the Project Gutenberg-tm mission of promoting the free
+distribution of electronic works, by using or distributing this work
+(or any other work associated in any way with the phrase "Project
+Gutenberg"), you agree to comply with all the terms of the Full Project
+Gutenberg-tm License (available with this file or online at
+http://gutenberg.org/license).
+
+
+Section 1.  General Terms of Use and Redistributing Project Gutenberg-tm
+electronic works
+
+1.A.  By reading or using any part of this Project Gutenberg-tm
+electronic work, you indicate that you have read, understand, agree to
+and accept all the terms of this license and intellectual property
+(trademark/copyright) agreement.  If you do not agree to abide by all
+the terms of this agreement, you must cease using and return or destroy
+all copies of Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works in your possession.
+If you paid a fee for obtaining a copy of or access to a Project
+Gutenberg-tm electronic work and you do not agree to be bound by the
+terms of this agreement, you may obtain a refund from the person or
+entity to whom you paid the fee as set forth in paragraph 1.E.8.
+
+1.B.  "Project Gutenberg" is a registered trademark.  It may only be
+used on or associated in any way with an electronic work by people who
+agree to be bound by the terms of this agreement.  There are a few
+things that you can do with most Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works
+even without complying with the full terms of this agreement.  See
+paragraph 1.C below.  There are a lot of things you can do with Project
+Gutenberg-tm electronic works if you follow the terms of this agreement
+and help preserve free future access to Project Gutenberg-tm electronic
+works.  See paragraph 1.E below.
+
+1.C.  The Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation ("the Foundation"
+or PGLAF), owns a compilation copyright in the collection of Project
+Gutenberg-tm electronic works.  Nearly all the individual works in the
+collection are in the public domain in the United States.  If an
+individual work is in the public domain in the United States and you are
+located in the United States, we do not claim a right to prevent you from
+copying, distributing, performing, displaying or creating derivative
+works based on the work as long as all references to Project Gutenberg
+are removed.  Of course, we hope that you will support the Project
+Gutenberg-tm mission of promoting free access to electronic works by
+freely sharing Project Gutenberg-tm works in compliance with the terms of
+this agreement for keeping the Project Gutenberg-tm name associated with
+the work.  You can easily comply with the terms of this agreement by
+keeping this work in the same format with its attached full Project
+Gutenberg-tm License when you share it without charge with others.
+
+1.D.  The copyright laws of the place where you are located also govern
+what you can do with this work.  Copyright laws in most countries are in
+a constant state of change.  If you are outside the United States, check
+the laws of your country in addition to the terms of this agreement
+before downloading, copying, displaying, performing, distributing or
+creating derivative works based on this work or any other Project
+Gutenberg-tm work.  The Foundation makes no representations concerning
+the copyright status of any work in any country outside the United
+States.
+
+1.E.  Unless you have removed all references to Project Gutenberg:
+
+1.E.1.  The following sentence, with active links to, or other immediate
+access to, the full Project Gutenberg-tm License must appear prominently
+whenever any copy of a Project Gutenberg-tm work (any work on which the
+phrase "Project Gutenberg" appears, or with which the phrase "Project
+Gutenberg" is associated) is accessed, displayed, performed, viewed,
+copied or distributed:
+
+This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with
+almost no restrictions whatsoever.  You may copy it, give it away or
+re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included
+with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org
+
+1.E.2.  If an individual Project Gutenberg-tm electronic work is derived
+from the public domain (does not contain a notice indicating that it is
+posted with permission of the copyright holder), the work can be copied
+and distributed to anyone in the United States without paying any fees
+or charges.  If you are redistributing or providing access to a work
+with the phrase "Project Gutenberg" associated with or appearing on the
+work, you must comply either with the requirements of paragraphs 1.E.1
+through 1.E.7 or obtain permission for the use of the work and the
+Project Gutenberg-tm trademark as set forth in paragraphs 1.E.8 or
+1.E.9.
+
+1.E.3.  If an individual Project Gutenberg-tm electronic work is posted
+with the permission of the copyright holder, your use and distribution
+must comply with both paragraphs 1.E.1 through 1.E.7 and any additional
+terms imposed by the copyright holder.  Additional terms will be linked
+to the Project Gutenberg-tm License for all works posted with the
+permission of the copyright holder found at the beginning of this work.
+
+1.E.4.  Do not unlink or detach or remove the full Project Gutenberg-tm
+License terms from this work, or any files containing a part of this
+work or any other work associated with Project Gutenberg-tm.
+
+1.E.5.  Do not copy, display, perform, distribute or redistribute this
+electronic work, or any part of this electronic work, without
+prominently displaying the sentence set forth in paragraph 1.E.1 with
+active links or immediate access to the full terms of the Project
+Gutenberg-tm License.
+
+1.E.6.  You may convert to and distribute this work in any binary,
+compressed, marked up, nonproprietary or proprietary form, including any
+word processing or hypertext form.  However, if you provide access to or
+distribute copies of a Project Gutenberg-tm work in a format other than
+"Plain Vanilla ASCII" or other format used in the official version
+posted on the official Project Gutenberg-tm web site (www.gutenberg.org),
+you must, at no additional cost, fee or expense to the user, provide a
+copy, a means of exporting a copy, or a means of obtaining a copy upon
+request, of the work in its original "Plain Vanilla ASCII" or other
+form.  Any alternate format must include the full Project Gutenberg-tm
+License as specified in paragraph 1.E.1.
+
+1.E.7.  Do not charge a fee for access to, viewing, displaying,
+performing, copying or distributing any Project Gutenberg-tm works
+unless you comply with paragraph 1.E.8 or 1.E.9.
+
+1.E.8.  You may charge a reasonable fee for copies of or providing
+access to or distributing Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works provided
+that
+
+- You pay a royalty fee of 20% of the gross profits you derive from
+     the use of Project Gutenberg-tm works calculated using the method
+     you already use to calculate your applicable taxes.  The fee is
+     owed to the owner of the Project Gutenberg-tm trademark, but he
+     has agreed to donate royalties under this paragraph to the
+     Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation.  Royalty payments
+     must be paid within 60 days following each date on which you
+     prepare (or are legally required to prepare) your periodic tax
+     returns.  Royalty payments should be clearly marked as such and
+     sent to the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation at the
+     address specified in Section 4, "Information about donations to
+     the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation."
+
+- You provide a full refund of any money paid by a user who notifies
+     you in writing (or by e-mail) within 30 days of receipt that s/he
+     does not agree to the terms of the full Project Gutenberg-tm
+     License.  You must require such a user to return or
+     destroy all copies of the works possessed in a physical medium
+     and discontinue all use of and all access to other copies of
+     Project Gutenberg-tm works.
+
+- You provide, in accordance with paragraph 1.F.3, a full refund of any
+     money paid for a work or a replacement copy, if a defect in the
+     electronic work is discovered and reported to you within 90 days
+     of receipt of the work.
+
+- You comply with all other terms of this agreement for free
+     distribution of Project Gutenberg-tm works.
+
+1.E.9.  If you wish to charge a fee or distribute a Project Gutenberg-tm
+electronic work or group of works on different terms than are set
+forth in this agreement, you must obtain permission in writing from
+both the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation and Michael
+Hart, the owner of the Project Gutenberg-tm trademark.  Contact the
+Foundation as set forth in Section 3 below.
+
+1.F.
+
+1.F.1.  Project Gutenberg volunteers and employees expend considerable
+effort to identify, do copyright research on, transcribe and proofread
+public domain works in creating the Project Gutenberg-tm
+collection.  Despite these efforts, Project Gutenberg-tm electronic
+works, and the medium on which they may be stored, may contain
+"Defects," such as, but not limited to, incomplete, inaccurate or
+corrupt data, transcription errors, a copyright or other intellectual
+property infringement, a defective or damaged disk or other medium, a
+computer virus, or computer codes that damage or cannot be read by
+your equipment.
+
+1.F.2.  LIMITED WARRANTY, DISCLAIMER OF DAMAGES - Except for the "Right
+of Replacement or Refund" described in paragraph 1.F.3, the Project
+Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation, the owner of the Project
+Gutenberg-tm trademark, and any other party distributing a Project
+Gutenberg-tm electronic work under this agreement, disclaim all
+liability to you for damages, costs and expenses, including legal
+fees.  YOU AGREE THAT YOU HAVE NO REMEDIES FOR NEGLIGENCE, STRICT
+LIABILITY, BREACH OF WARRANTY OR BREACH OF CONTRACT EXCEPT THOSE
+PROVIDED IN PARAGRAPH F3.  YOU AGREE THAT THE FOUNDATION, THE
+TRADEMARK OWNER, AND ANY DISTRIBUTOR UNDER THIS AGREEMENT WILL NOT BE
+LIABLE TO YOU FOR ACTUAL, DIRECT, INDIRECT, CONSEQUENTIAL, PUNITIVE OR
+INCIDENTAL DAMAGES EVEN IF YOU GIVE NOTICE OF THE POSSIBILITY OF SUCH
+DAMAGE.
+
+1.F.3.  LIMITED RIGHT OF REPLACEMENT OR REFUND - If you discover a
+defect in this electronic work within 90 days of receiving it, you can
+receive a refund of the money (if any) you paid for it by sending a
+written explanation to the person you received the work from.  If you
+received the work on a physical medium, you must return the medium with
+your written explanation.  The person or entity that provided you with
+the defective work may elect to provide a replacement copy in lieu of a
+refund.  If you received the work electronically, the person or entity
+providing it to you may choose to give you a second opportunity to
+receive the work electronically in lieu of a refund.  If the second copy
+is also defective, you may demand a refund in writing without further
+opportunities to fix the problem.
+
+1.F.4.  Except for the limited right of replacement or refund set forth
+in paragraph 1.F.3, this work is provided to you 'AS-IS' WITH NO OTHER
+WARRANTIES OF ANY KIND, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO
+WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTIBILITY OR FITNESS FOR ANY PURPOSE.
+
+1.F.5.  Some states do not allow disclaimers of certain implied
+warranties or the exclusion or limitation of certain types of damages.
+If any disclaimer or limitation set forth in this agreement violates the
+law of the state applicable to this agreement, the agreement shall be
+interpreted to make the maximum disclaimer or limitation permitted by
+the applicable state law.  The invalidity or unenforceability of any
+provision of this agreement shall not void the remaining provisions.
+
+1.F.6.  INDEMNITY - You agree to indemnify and hold the Foundation, the
+trademark owner, any agent or employee of the Foundation, anyone
+providing copies of Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works in accordance
+with this agreement, and any volunteers associated with the production,
+promotion and distribution of Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works,
+harmless from all liability, costs and expenses, including legal fees,
+that arise directly or indirectly from any of the following which you do
+or cause to occur: (a) distribution of this or any Project Gutenberg-tm
+work, (b) alteration, modification, or additions or deletions to any
+Project Gutenberg-tm work, and (c) any Defect you cause.
+
+
+Section  2.  Information about the Mission of Project Gutenberg-tm
+
+Project Gutenberg-tm is synonymous with the free distribution of
+electronic works in formats readable by the widest variety of computers
+including obsolete, old, middle-aged and new computers.  It exists
+because of the efforts of hundreds of volunteers and donations from
+people in all walks of life.
+
+Volunteers and financial support to provide volunteers with the
+assistance they need, is critical to reaching Project Gutenberg-tm's
+goals and ensuring that the Project Gutenberg-tm collection will
+remain freely available for generations to come.  In 2001, the Project
+Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation was created to provide a secure
+and permanent future for Project Gutenberg-tm and future generations.
+To learn more about the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation
+and how your efforts and donations can help, see Sections 3 and 4
+and the Foundation web page at http://www.pglaf.org.
+
+
+Section 3.  Information about the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive
+Foundation
+
+The Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation is a non profit
+501(c)(3) educational corporation organized under the laws of the
+state of Mississippi and granted tax exempt status by the Internal
+Revenue Service.  The Foundation's EIN or federal tax identification
+number is 64-6221541.  Its 501(c)(3) letter is posted at
+http://pglaf.org/fundraising.  Contributions to the Project Gutenberg
+Literary Archive Foundation are tax deductible to the full extent
+permitted by U.S. federal laws and your state's laws.
+
+The Foundation's principal office is located at 4557 Melan Dr. S.
+Fairbanks, AK, 99712., but its volunteers and employees are scattered
+throughout numerous locations.  Its business office is located at
+809 North 1500 West, Salt Lake City, UT 84116, (801) 596-1887, email
+business@pglaf.org.  Email contact links and up to date contact
+information can be found at the Foundation's web site and official
+page at http://pglaf.org
+
+For additional contact information:
+     Dr. Gregory B. Newby
+     Chief Executive and Director
+     gbnewby@pglaf.org
+
+
+Section 4.  Information about Donations to the Project Gutenberg
+Literary Archive Foundation
+
+Project Gutenberg-tm depends upon and cannot survive without wide
+spread public support and donations to carry out its mission of
+increasing the number of public domain and licensed works that can be
+freely distributed in machine readable form accessible by the widest
+array of equipment including outdated equipment.  Many small donations
+($1 to $5,000) are particularly important to maintaining tax exempt
+status with the IRS.
+
+The Foundation is committed to complying with the laws regulating
+charities and charitable donations in all 50 states of the United
+States.  Compliance requirements are not uniform and it takes a
+considerable effort, much paperwork and many fees to meet and keep up
+with these requirements.  We do not solicit donations in locations
+where we have not received written confirmation of compliance.  To
+SEND DONATIONS or determine the status of compliance for any
+particular state visit http://pglaf.org
+
+While we cannot and do not solicit contributions from states where we
+have not met the solicitation requirements, we know of no prohibition
+against accepting unsolicited donations from donors in such states who
+approach us with offers to donate.
+
+International donations are gratefully accepted, but we cannot make
+any statements concerning tax treatment of donations received from
+outside the United States.  U.S. laws alone swamp our small staff.
+
+Please check the Project Gutenberg Web pages for current donation
+methods and addresses.  Donations are accepted in a number of other
+ways including checks, online payments and credit card donations.
+To donate, please visit: http://pglaf.org/donate
+
+
+Section 5.  General Information About Project Gutenberg-tm electronic
+works.
+
+Professor Michael S. Hart is the originator of the Project Gutenberg-tm
+concept of a library of electronic works that could be freely shared
+with anyone.  For thirty years, he produced and distributed Project
+Gutenberg-tm eBooks with only a loose network of volunteer support.
+
+
+Project Gutenberg-tm eBooks are often created from several printed
+editions, all of which are confirmed as Public Domain in the U.S.
+unless a copyright notice is included.  Thus, we do not necessarily
+keep eBooks in compliance with any particular paper edition.
+
+
+Most people start at our Web site which has the main PG search facility:
+
+     http://www.gutenberg.org
+
+This Web site includes information about Project Gutenberg-tm,
+including how to make donations to the Project Gutenberg Literary
+Archive Foundation, how to help produce our new eBooks, and how to
+subscribe to our email newsletter to hear about new eBooks.
diff --git a/20002-8.zip b/20002-8.zip
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..7857f0d
--- /dev/null
+++ b/20002-8.zip
diff --git a/20002-h.zip b/20002-h.zip
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..1719f6d
--- /dev/null
+++ b/20002-h.zip
diff --git a/20002-h/20002-h.htm b/20002-h/20002-h.htm
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..ea49233
--- /dev/null
+++ b/20002-h/20002-h.htm
@@ -0,0 +1,13807 @@
+<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?>
+
+<!DOCTYPE html
+   PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Strict//EN"
+   "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-strict.dtd" >
+
+<html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml" lang="en">
+  <head>
+    <meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html;charset=UTF-8" />
+    <title>
+      Alroy, by Benjamin Disraeli
+    </title>
+    <style type="text/css" xml:space="preserve">
+
+    body { margin:5%; background:#faebd7; text-align:justify}
+    P { text-indent: 1em; margin-top: .25em; margin-bottom: .25em; }
+    H1,H2,H3,H4,H5,H6 { text-align: center; margin-left: 15%; margin-right: 15%; }
+    hr  { width: 50%; text-align: center;}
+    .foot { margin-left: 20%; margin-right: 20%; text-align: justify; text-indent: -3em; font-size: 90%; }
+    blockquote {font-size: 97%; font-style: italic; margin-left: 10%; margin-right: 10%;}
+    .mynote    {background-color: #DDE; color: #000; padding: .5em; margin-left: 10%; margin-right: 10%; font-family: sans-serif; font-size: 95%;}
+    .toc       { margin-left: 10%; margin-bottom: .75em;}
+    .toc2      { margin-left: 20%;}
+    div.fig { display:block; margin:0 auto; text-align:center; }
+    .figleft   {float: left; margin-left: 0%; margin-right: 1%;}
+    .figright  {float: right; margin-right: 0%; margin-left: 1%;}
+    pre     { font-style: italic; font-size: 90%; margin-left: 10%;}
+
+</style>
+  </head>
+  <body>
+<pre xml:space="preserve">
+
+The Project Gutenberg EBook of Alroy, by Benjamin Disraeli
+
+This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with
+almost no restrictions whatsoever.  You may copy it, give it away or
+re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included
+with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org
+
+
+Title: Alroy
+       The Prince Of The Captivity
+
+Author: Benjamin Disraeli
+
+Release Date: December 3, 2006 [EBook #20002]
+Last Updated: August 26, 2016
+
+Language: English
+
+Character set encoding: UTF-8
+
+*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK ALROY ***
+
+
+
+
+Produced by David Widger
+
+
+
+
+
+</pre>
+
+    <p>
+      <br /> <br />
+    </p>
+    <h1>
+      <b>ALROY</b>
+    </h1>
+    <h3>
+      OR
+    </h3>
+    <h2>
+      <i>THE PRINCE OF THE CAPTIVITY</i>
+    </h2>
+    <p>
+      <br /> <br />
+    </p>
+    <h2>
+      By Benjamin Disraeli
+    </h2>
+    <div class="fig" style="width:80%;">
+      width="100%" /><br />
+    </div>
+    <p>
+      <a name="linkimage-0001" id="linkimage-0001">
+      <!-- IMG --></a>
+    </p>
+    <div class="fig" style="width:80%;">
+      <img src="images/alroy_cover.jpg" alt="Cover " width="100%" /><br />
+    </div>
+    <p>
+      <a name="linkimage-0002" id="linkimage-0002">
+      <!-- IMG --></a>
+    </p>
+    <div class="fig" style="width:80%;">
+      <img src="images/alroy_frontis_174.jpg" alt="Alroy-frontis-174 "   width="100%" /><br />
+    </div>
+    <p>
+      <a name="linkimage-0003" id="linkimage-0003">
+      <!-- IMG --></a>
+    </p>
+    <div class="fig" style="width:80%;">
+      <img src="images/frontis_label.jpg" alt="Frontis-label " width="100%" /><br />
+    </div>
+    <p>
+      <br />
+    </p>
+    <blockquote>
+      <p class="toc">
+        <big><b>CONTENTS</b></big>
+      </p>
+      <p>
+        <br />
+      </p>
+      <p class="toc">
+        <a href="#link2H_4_0001"> <big><b>A L R O Y</b></big> </a>
+      </p>
+      <p>
+        <br />
+      </p>
+      <p class="toc">
+        <a href="#linkpreface"> PREFACE </a>
+      </p>
+      <p>
+        <br />
+      </p>
+      <p class="toc">
+        <a href="#link2HCH0001"> CHAPTER I. </a>
+      </p>
+      <p class="toc">
+        <a href="#link2HCH0002"> CHAPTER II. </a>
+      </p>
+      <p class="toc">
+        <a href="#link2HCH0003"> CHAPTER III </a>
+      </p>
+      <p class="toc">
+        <a href="#link2HCH0004"> CHAPTER IV. </a>
+      </p>
+      <p class="toc">
+        <a href="#link2HCH0005"> CHAPTER V. </a>
+      </p>
+      <p class="toc">
+        <a href="#link2HCH0006"> CHAPTER VI. </a>
+      </p>
+      <p class="toc">
+        <a href="#link2HCH0007"> CHAPTER VII. </a>
+      </p>
+      <p class="toc">
+        <a href="#link2HCH0008"> CHAPTER VIII. </a>
+      </p>
+      <p class="toc">
+        <a href="#link2HCH0009"> CHAPTER IX. </a>
+      </p>
+      <p class="toc">
+        <a href="#link2HCH0010"> CHAPTER X. </a>
+      </p>
+      <p class="toc">
+        <a href="#link2H_NOTE"> NOTES TO ALROY. </a>
+      </p>
+      <p>
+        <br /> <br /> <br /> <br />
+      </p>
+      <p class="toc">
+        <big><b>ILLUSTRATIONS</b></big>
+      </p>
+      <p>
+        <br />
+      </p>
+      <p class="toc">
+        <a href="#linkimage-0001"> Cover </a>
+      </p>
+      <p class="toc">
+        <a href="#linkimage-0002"> Alroy-frontis-174 </a>
+      </p>
+      <p class="toc">
+        <a href="#linkimage-0003"> Frontis-label </a>
+      </p>
+      <p class="toc">
+        <a href="#linkimage-0004"> Page001 </a>
+      </p>
+      <p class="toc">
+        <a href="#linkimage-0005"> Page020 </a>
+      </p>
+      <p class="toc">
+        <a href="#linkimage-0006"> Page174 </a>
+      </p>
+    </blockquote>
+    <p>
+      <br /> <br />
+    </p>
+    <hr />
+    <p>
+      <br /> <br /> <a name="linkpreface" id="linkpreface"></a> <br />
+    </p>
+    <h2>
+      AUTHOR&rsquo;S PREFACE
+    </h2>
+    <p>
+      Being at Jerusalem in the year 1831, and visiting the traditionary tombs
+      of the Kings of Israel, my thoughts recurred to a personage whose
+      marvellous career had, even in boyhood, attracted my attention, as one
+      fraught with the richest materials of poetic fiction. And I then commenced
+      these pages that should commemorate the name of Alroy. In the twelfth
+      century, when he arose, this was the political condition of the East:
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      The Caliphate was in a state of rapid decay. The Seljukian Sultans, who
+      had been called to the assistance of the Commanders of the Faithful, had
+      become, like the Mayors of the palace in France, the real sovereigns of
+      the Empire. Out of the dominions of the successors of the Prophet, they
+      had carved four kingdoms, which conferred titles on four Seljukian
+      Princes, to wit, the Sultan of Bagdad, the Sultan of Persia, the Sultan of
+      Syria, and the Sultan of Roum, or Asia Minor.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      But these warlike princes, in the relaxed discipline and doubtful conduct
+      of their armies, began themselves to evince the natural effects of luxury
+      and indulgence. They were no longer the same invincible and irresistible
+      warriors who had poured forth from the shores of the Caspian over the
+      fairest regions of the East; and although they still contrived to preserve
+      order in their dominions, they witnessed with ill-concealed apprehension
+      the rising power of the Kings of Karasmé, whose conquests daily made their
+      territories more contiguous.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      With regard to the Hebrew people, it should be known that, after the
+      destruction of Jerusalem, the Eastern Jews, while they acknowledged the
+      supremacy of their conquerors, gathered themselves together for all
+      purposes of jurisdiction, under the control of a native ruler, a reputed
+      descendant of David, whom they dignified with the title of &lsquo;The Prince of
+      the Captivity.&rsquo; If we are to credit the enthusiastic annalists of this
+      imaginative people, there were periods of prosperity when the Princes of
+      the Captivity assumed scarcely less state and enjoyed scarcely less power
+      than the ancient Kings of Judah themselves. Certain it is that their power
+      increased always in an exact proportion to the weakness of the Caliphate,
+      and, without doubt, in some of the most distracted periods of the Arabian
+      rule, the Hebrew Princes rose into some degree of local and temporary
+      importance. Their chief residence was Bagdad, where they remained until
+      the eleventh century, an age fatal in Oriental history, from the disasters
+      of which the Princes of the Captivity were not exempt. They are heard of
+      even in the twelfth century. I have ventured to place one at Hamadan,
+      which was a favourite residence of the Hebrews, from being the
+      burial-place of Esther and Mordecai.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      With regard to the supernatural machinery of this romance, it is
+      Cabalistical and correct. From the Spirits of the Tombs to the sceptre of
+      Solomon, authority may be found in the traditions of the Hebrews for the
+      introduction of all these spiritual agencies.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Grosvenor Gate: July, 1845.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      <br /> <br />
+    </p>
+    <hr />
+    <p>
+      <br /> <br /> <a name="link2H_4_0001" id="link2H_4_0001">
+      <!--  H2 anchor --> </a>
+    </p>
+    <div style="height: 4em;">
+      <br /><br /><br /><br />
+    </div>
+    <h1>
+      <b>A L R O Y</b>
+    </h1>
+    <p>
+      <a name="linkimage-0004" id="linkimage-0004">
+      <!-- IMG --></a>
+    </p>
+    <div class="fig" style="width:80%;">
+      <img src="images/page001.jpg" alt="Page001 " width="100%" /><br />
+    </div>
+    <p>
+      <a name="link2HCH0001" id="link2HCH0001">
+      <!--  H2 anchor --> </a>
+    </p>
+    <div style="height: 4em;">
+      <br /><br /><br /><br />
+    </div>
+    <h2>
+      CHAPTER I.
+    </h2>
+<pre xml:space="preserve">
+    <i>A Great Day for Israel.</i>
+</pre>
+    <p>
+      THE cornets sounded a final flourish as the Prince of the Captivity
+      dismounted from his white mule; his train shouted as if they were once
+      more a people; and, had it not been for the contemptuous leer which played
+      upon the countenances of the Moslem bystanders, it might have been taken
+      for a day of triumph rather than of tribute.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;The glory has not departed!&rsquo; exclaimed the venerable Bostenay, as he
+      entered the hall of his mansion. &lsquo;It is not as the visit of Sheba unto
+      Solomon; nevertheless the glory has not yet departed. You have done well,
+      faithful Caleb.&rsquo; The old man&rsquo;s courage waxed more vigorous, as each step
+      within his own walls the more assured him against the recent causes of his
+      fear, the audible curses and the threatened missiles of the unbelieving
+      mob.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;It shall be a day of rejoicing and thanksgiving!&rsquo; continued the Prince;
+      &lsquo;and look, my faithful Caleb, that the trumpeters be well served. That
+      last flourish was bravely done. It was not as the blast before Jericho;
+      nevertheless, it told that the Lord of Hosts was for us. How the accursed
+      Ishmaelites started! Did you mark, Caleb, that tall Turk in green upon my
+      left? By the sceptre of Jacob, he turned pale! Oh! it shall be a day of
+      rejoicing and thanksgiving! And spare not the wine, nor the flesh-pots for
+      the people. Look you to this, my child, for the people shouted bravely and
+      with a stout voice. It was not as the great shout in the camp when the ark
+      returned; nevertheless, it was boldly done, and showed that the glory had
+      not yet departed. So spare not the wine, my son, and drink to the
+      desolation of Ishmael in the juice which he dare not quaff.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;It has indeed been a great day for Israel!&rsquo; exclaimed Caleb, echoing his
+      master&rsquo;s exultation.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Had the procession been forbidden,&rsquo; continued Bostenay, &lsquo;had it been
+      reserved for me of all the princes to have dragged the accursed tribute
+      upon foot, without trumpets and without guards, by this sceptre, my good
+      Caleb, I really think that, sluggishly as this old blood now runs, I would&mdash;&mdash;
+      But it is needless now to talk; the God of our fathers hath been our
+      refuge.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Verily, my lord, we were as David in the wilderness of Ziph; but now we
+      are as the Lord&rsquo;s anointed in the stronghold of Engedi!&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;The glory truly has not yet utterly departed,&rsquo; resumed the Prince in a
+      more subdued tone; &lsquo;yet if&mdash;&mdash; I tell you what, Caleb; praise
+      the Lord that you are young.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;My Prince too may yet live to see the good day.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Nay, my child, you misinterpret me. Your Prince has lived to see the evil
+      day. &lsquo;Twas not of the coming that I thought when I bid you praise the Lord
+      because you were young, the more my sin. I was thinking, Caleb, that if
+      your hair was as mine, if you could recollect, like me, the days that are
+      gone by, the days when it needed no bride to prove we were princes,«the
+      glorious days when we led captivity captive; I was thinking, I say, my
+      son, what a gainful heritage it is to be born after the joys that have
+      passed away.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;My father lived at Babylon,&rsquo; said Caleb. &lsquo;Oh! name it not! name it not!&rsquo;
+      exclaimed the old chieftain. &lsquo;Dark was the day that we lost that second
+      Zion! We were then also slaves to the Egyptian; but verily we ruled over
+      the realm of Pharaoh. Why, Caleb, Caleb, you who know all, the days of
+      toil, the nights restless as a love-sick boy&rsquo;s, which it has cost your
+      Prince to gain permission to grace our tribute-day with the paltry
+      presence of half-a-dozen guards; you who know all my difficulties, who
+      have witnessed all my mortifications, what would you say to the purse of
+      dirhems, surrounded by seven thousand scimitars?&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Seven thousand scimitars!&rsquo; &lsquo;Not one less; my father flourished one.&rsquo; &lsquo;It
+      was indeed a great day for Israel!&rsquo; &lsquo;Nay, that is nothing. When old Alroy
+      was prince, old David Alroy, for thirty years, good Caleb, thirty long
+      years we paid <i>no</i> tribute to the Caliph.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;No tribute! no tribute for thirty years! What marvel then, my Prince,
+      that the Philistines have of late exacted interest?&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Nay, that is nothing,&rsquo; continued old Bostenay, unmindful of his servant&rsquo;s
+      ejaculations. &lsquo;When Moctador was Caliph, he sent to the same Prince David,
+      to know why the dirhems were not brought up, and David immediately called
+      to horse, and, attended by all the chief people, rode to the palace, and
+      told the Caliph that tribute was an acknowledgment made from the weak to
+      the strong to insure protection and support; and, inasmuch as he and his
+      people had garrisoned the city for ten years against the Seljuks, he held
+      the Caliph in arrear.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;We shall yet see an ass mount a ladder,&rsquo;<a href="#linknote-1"
+       name="linknoteref-1" id="linknoteref-1">1</a> exclaimed Caleb, with
+      uplifted eyes of wonder.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;It is true, though,&rsquo; continued the Prince; &lsquo;often have I heard my father
+      tell the tale. He was then a child, and his mother held him up to see the
+      procession return, and all the people shouted &ldquo;The sceptre has not gone
+      out of Jacob.&rdquo;&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;It was indeed a great day for Israel.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Nay, that is nothing. I could tell you such things! But we prattle; our
+      business is not yet done. You to the people; the widow and the orphan are
+      waiting. Give freely, good Caleb, give freely; the spoils of the Canaanite
+      are no longer ours, nevertheless the Lord is still our God, and, after
+      all, even this is a great day for Israel. And, Caleb, Caleb, bid my
+      nephew, David Alroy, know that I would speak with him.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;I will do all promptly, good master! We wondered that our honoured lord,
+      your nephew, went not up with the donation this day.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Who bade you wonder? Begone, sir! How long are you to idle here? Away!
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;They wonder he went not up with the tribute to-day. Ay! surely, a common
+      talk. This boy will be our ruin, a prudent hand to wield our shattered
+      sceptre. I have observed him from his infancy; he should have lived in
+      Babylon. The old Alroy blood flows in his veins, a stiff-necked race. When
+      I was a youth, his grandsire was my friend; I had some fancies then
+      myself. Dreams, dreams! we have fallen on evil days, and yet we prosper. I
+      have lived long enough to feel that a rich caravan, laden with the shawls
+      of India and the stuffs of Samarcand, if not exactly like dancing before
+      the ark, is still a goodly sight. And our hard-hearted rulers, with all
+      their pride, can they subsist without us? Still we wax rich. I have lived
+      to see the haughty Caliph sink into a slave viler far than Israel. And the
+      victorious and voluptuous Seljuks, even now they tremble at the dim
+      mention of the distant name of Arslan. Yet I, Bostenay, and the frail
+      remnant of our scattered tribes, still we exist, and still, thanks to our
+      God! we prosper. But the age of power has passed; it is by prudence now
+      that we must flourish. The gibe and jest, the curse, perchance the blow,
+      Israel now must bear, and with a calm or even smiling visage. What then?
+      For every gibe and jest, for every curse, I&rsquo;ll have a dirhem; and for
+      every blow, let him look to it who is my debtor, or wills to be so. But
+      see, he comes, my nephew! His grandsire was my friend. Methinks I look
+      upon him now: the same Alroy that was the partner of my boyish hours. And
+      yet that fragile form and girlish face but ill consort with the dark
+      passions and the dangerous fancies, which, I fear, lie hidden in that
+      tender breast. Well, sir?&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;You want me, uncle?&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;What then? Uncles often want what nephews seldom offer.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;I at least can refuse nothing; for I have naught to give.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;You have a jewel which I greatly covet.&rsquo; &lsquo;A jewel! See my chaplet! You
+      gave it me, my uncle; it is yours.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;I thank you. Many a blazing ruby, many a soft and shadowy pearl, and many
+      an emerald glowing like a star in the far desert, I behold, my child. They
+      are choice stones, and yet I miss a jewel far more precious, which, when I
+      gave you this rich chaplet, David, I deemed you did possess.&rsquo; &lsquo;How do you
+      call it, sir?&rsquo; &lsquo;Obedience.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;A word of doubtful import; for to obey, when duty is disgrace, is not a
+      virtue.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;I see you read my thought. In a word, I sent for you to know, wherefore
+      you joined me not to-day in offering our&mdash;our&mdash;&mdash;&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Tribute.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Be it so: tribute. Why were you absent?&rsquo; &lsquo;Because it was a tribute; I pay
+      none.&rsquo; &lsquo;But that the dreary course of seventy winters has not erased the
+      memory of my boyish follies, David, I should esteem you mad. Think you,
+      because I am old, I am enamoured of disgrace, and love a house of bondage?
+      If life were a mere question between freedom and slavery, glory and
+      dishonour, all could decide. Trust me, there needs but little spirit to be
+      a moody patriot in a sullen home, and vent your heroic spleen upon your
+      fellow-sufferers, whose sufferings you cannot remedy. But of such stuff
+      your race were ever made. Such deliverers ever abounded in the house of
+      Alroy. And what has been the result? I found you and your sister orphan
+      infants, your sceptre broken, and your tribes dispersed. The tribute,
+      which now at least we pay like princes, was then exacted with the scourge
+      and offered in chains. I collected our scattered people, I re-established
+      our ancient throne, and this day, which you look upon as a day of
+      humiliation and of mourning, is rightly considered by all a day of triumph
+      and of feasting; for, has it not proved in the very teeth of the
+      Ishmaelites, that the sceptre has not yet departed from Jacob?&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;I pray you, uncle, speak not of these things. I would not willingly
+      forget you are my kinsman, and a kind one. Let there not be strife between
+      us. What my feelings are is nothing. They are my own: I cannot change
+      them. And for my ancestors, if they pondered much, and achieved little,
+      why then &lsquo;twould seem our pedigree is pure, and I am their true son. At
+      least one was a hero.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Ah! the great Alroy; you may well be proud of such an ancestor.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;I am ashamed, uncle, ashamed, ashamed.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;His sceptre still exists. At least, I have not betrayed him. And this
+      brings me to the real purport of our interview. That sceptre I would
+      return.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;To whom?&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;To its right owner, to yourself.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Oh! no, no, no; I pray you, I pray you not. I do entreat you, sir, forget
+      that I have a right as utterly as I disclaim it. That sceptre you have
+      wielded it wisely and well; I beseech you keep it. Indeed, good uncle, I
+      have no sort of talent for all the busy duties of this post.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;You sigh for glory, yet you fly from toil.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Toil without glory is a menial&rsquo;s lot.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;You are a boy; you may yet live to learn that the sweetest lot of life
+      consists in tranquil duties and well-earned repose.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;If my lot be repose, I&rsquo;ll find it in a lair.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Ah! David, David, there is a wildness in your temper, boy, that makes me
+      often tremble. You are already too much alone, child. And for this, as
+      well as weightier reasons, I am desirous that you should at length assume
+      the office you inherit. What my poor experience can afford to aid you, as
+      your counsellor, I shall ever proffer; and, for the rest, our God will not
+      desert you, an orphan child, and born of royal blood.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Pr&rsquo;ythee, no more, kind uncle. I have but little heart to mount a throne,
+      which only ranks me as the first of slaves.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Pooh, pooh, you are young. Live we like slaves? Is this hall a servile
+      chamber? These costly carpets, and these rich divans, in what proud harem
+      shall we find their match? I feel not like a slave. My coffers are full of
+      dirhems. Is that slavish? The wealthiest company of the caravan is ever
+      Bostenay&rsquo;s. Is that to be a slave? Walk the bazaar of Bagdad, and you will
+      find my name more potent than the Caliph&rsquo;s. Is that a badge of slavery?&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Uncle, you toil for others.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;So do we all, so does the bee, yet he is free and happy.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;At least he has a sting.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Which he can use but once, and when he stings&mdash;&mdash;&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;He dies, and like a hero. Such a death is sweeter than his honey.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Well, well, you are young, you are young. I once, too, had fancies.
+      Dreams all, dreams all. I willingly would see you happy, child. Come, let
+      that face brighten; after all, to-day is a great day. If you had seen what
+      I have seen, David, you too would feel grateful. Come, let us feast. The
+      Ishmaelite, the accursed child of Hagar, he does confess to-day that you
+      are a prince; this day also you complete your eighteenth year. The custom
+      of our people now requires that you should assume the attributes of
+      manhood. To-day, then, your reign commences; and at our festival I will
+      present the elders to their prince. For a while, farewell, my child. Array
+      that face in smiles. I shall most anxiously await your presence.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Farewell, sir.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      He turned his head and watched his uncle as he departed: the bitter
+      expression of his countenance gradually melted away as Bostenay
+      disappeared: dejection succeeded to sarcasm; he sighed, he threw himself
+      upon a couch and buried his face in his hands.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Suddenly he arose and paced the chamber with an irregular and moody step.
+      He stopped, and leant against a column. He spoke in a tremulous and
+      smothered voice:
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Oh! my heart is full of care, and my soul is dark with sorrow! What am I?
+      What is all this? A cloud hangs heavy o&rsquo;er my life. God of my fathers, let
+      it burst!
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;I know not what I feel, yet what I feel is madness. Thus to be is not to
+      live, if life be what I sometimes dream, and dare to think it might be. To
+      breathe, to feed, to sleep, to wake and breathe again, again to feel
+      existence without hope; if this be life, why then these brooding thoughts
+      that whisper death were better?
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Away! The demon tempts me. But to what? What nameless deed shall
+      desecrate this hand? It must not be: the royal blood of twice two thousand
+      years, it must not die, die like a dream. Oh! my heart is full of care,
+      and my soul is dark with sorrow!
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Hark! the trumpets that sound our dishonour. Oh, that they but sounded to
+      battle! Lord of Hosts, let me conquer or die! Let me conquer like David;
+      or die, Lord, like Saul!
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Why do I live? Ah! could the thought that lurks within my secret heart
+      but answer, not that trumpet&rsquo;s blast could speak as loud or clear. The
+      votary of a false idea, I linger in this shadowy life, and feed on silent
+      images which no eye but mine can gaze upon, till at length they are
+      invested with all the terrible circumstance of life, and breathe, and act,
+      and form a stirring world of fate and beauty, time, and death, and glory.
+      And then, from out this dazzling wilderness of deeds, I wander forth and
+      wake, and find myself in this dull house of bondage, even as I do now.
+      Horrible! horrible!
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;God, of my fathers! for indeed I dare not style thee God of their
+      wretched sons; yet, by the memory of Sinai, let me tell thee that some of
+      the antique blood yet beats within these pulses, and there yet is one who
+      fain would commune with thee face to face, commune and conquer.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;And if the promise unto which we cling be not a cheat, why, let him come,
+      come, and come quickly, for thy servant Israel, Lord, is now a slave so
+      infamous, so woe-begone, and so contemned, that even when our fathers hung
+      their harps by the sad waters of the Babylonian stream, why, it was
+      paradise compared with what we suffer.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Alas! they do not suffer; they endure and do not feel. Or by this time
+      our shadowy cherubim would guard again the ark. It is the will that is the
+      father to the deed, and he who broods over some long idea, however wild,
+      will find his dream was but the prophecy of coming fate.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;And even now a vivid flash darts through the darkness of my mind.
+      Methinks, methinks&mdash;ah! worst of woes to dream of glory in despair.
+      No, no; I live and die a most ignoble thing; beauty and love, and fame and
+      mighty deeds, the smile of women and the gaze of men, and the ennobling
+      consciousness of worth, and all the fiery course of the creative passions,
+      these are not for me, and I, Alroy, the descendant of sacred kings, and
+      with a soul that pants for empire, I stand here extending my vain arm for
+      my lost sceptre, a most dishonoured slave! And do I still exist? Exist!
+      ay, merrily. Hark! Festivity holds her fair revel in these light-hearted
+      walls. We are gay to-day; and yet, ere yon proud sun, whose mighty course
+      was stayed before our swords that now he even does not deign to shine
+      upon; ere yon proud sun shall, like a hero from a glorious field, enter
+      the bright pavilion of his rest, there shall a deed be done.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;My fathers, my heroic fathers, if this feeble arm cannot redeem your
+      heritage; if the foul boar must still wallow in thy sweet vineyard,
+      Israel, at least I will not disgrace you. No! let me perish. The house of
+      David is no more; no more our sacred seed shall lurk and linger, like a
+      blighted thing, in this degenerate earth. If we cannot flourish, &lsquo;why,
+      then, we will die!&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Oh! say not so, my brother!&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      He turns, he gazes on a face beauteous as a starry night; his heart is
+      full, his voice is low.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Ah, Miriam! thou queller of dark spirits! is it thou? Why art thou here?&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Why am I here? Are you not here? and need I urge a stronger plea? Oh!
+      brother dear, I pray you come, and mingle in our festival. Our walls are
+      hung with flowers you love;<a href="#linknote-2" name="linknoteref-2"
+       id="linknoteref-2">2</a> I culled them by the fountain&rsquo;s side; the holy
+      lamps are trimmed and set, and you must raise their earliest flame.
+      Without the gate, my maidens wait, to offer you a robe of state. Then,
+      brother dear, I pray you come and mingle in our festival.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Why should we feast?&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Ah! is it not in thy dear name these lamps are lit, these garlands hung?
+      To-day to us a prince is given, to-day&mdash;&mdash;&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;A prince without a kingdom.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;But not without that which makes kingdoms precious, and which full many a
+      royal heart has sighed for, willing subjects, David.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Slaves, Miriam, fellow-slaves.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;What we are, my brother, our God has willed; and let us bow and tremble.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;I will not bow, I cannot tremble.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Hush, David, hush! It was this haughty spirit that called the vengeance
+      of the Lord upon us.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;It was this haughty spirit that conquered Canaan.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Oh, my brother, my dear brother! they told me the dark spirit had fallen
+      on thee, and I came, and hoped that Miriam might have charmed it. What we
+      may have been, Alroy, is a bright dream; and what we may be, at least as
+      bright a hope; and for what we are, thou art my brother. In thy love I
+      find present felicity, and value more thy chance embraces and thy scanty
+      smiles than all the vanished splendour of our race, our gorgeous gardens,
+      and our glittering halls.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Who waits without there?&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Caleb.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Caleb!&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;My lord.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Go tell my uncle that I will presently join the banquet. Leave me a
+      moment, Miriam. Nay, dry those tears.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Oh, Alroy! they are not tears of sorrow.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;God be with thee! Thou art the charm and consolation of my life.
+      Farewell! farewell!
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;I do observe the influence of women very potent over me. &lsquo;Tis not of such
+      stuff that they make heroes. I know not love, save that pure affection
+      which doth subsist between me and this girl, an orphan and my sister. We
+      are so alike, that when, last Passover, in mimicry she twined my turban
+      round her head, our uncle called her David.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;The daughters of my tribe, they please me not, though they are passing
+      fair. Were our sons as brave as they are beautiful, we still might dance
+      on Sion. Yet have I often thought that, could I pillow this moody brow
+      upon some snowy bosom that were my own, and dwell in the wilderness, far
+      from the sight and ken of man, and all the care and toil and wretchedness
+      that groan and sweat and sigh about me, I might haply lose this deep
+      sensation of overwhelming woe that broods upon by being. No matter! Life
+      is but a dream, and mine must be a dull one.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Without the gates of Hamadan, a short distance from the city, was an
+      enclosed piece of elevated ground, in the centre of which rose an ancient
+      sepulchre, the traditionary tomb of Esther and Mordecai.<a
+      href="#linknote-3" name="linknoteref-3" id="linknoteref-3">3</a> This
+      solemn and solitary spot was an accustomed haunt of Alroy, and thither,
+      escaping from the banquet, about an hour before sunset, he this day
+      repaired.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      As he unlocked the massy gate of the burial-place, he heard behind him the
+      trampling of a horse; and before he had again secured the entrance, some
+      one shouted to him.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      He looked up, and recognised the youthful and voluptuous Alschiroch, the
+      governor of the city, and brother of the sultan of the Seljuks. He was
+      attended only by a single running footman, an Arab, a detested favourite,
+      and notorious minister of his pleasures.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Dog!&rsquo; exclaimed the irritated Alschiroch, &lsquo;art thou deaf, or obstinate,
+      or both? Are we to call twice to our slaves? Unlock that gate!&rsquo;
+      &lsquo;Wherefore?&rsquo; inquired Alroy.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Wherefore! By the holy Prophet, he bandies questions with us! Unlock that
+      gate, or thy head shall answer for it!&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Who art thou,&rsquo; inquired Alroy, &lsquo;whose voice is so loud? Art thou some
+      holiday Turk, who hath transgressed the orders of thy Prophet, and drunken
+      aught but water? Go to, or I will summon thee before thy Cadi;&rsquo; and, so
+      saying, he turned towards the tomb.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;By the eyes of my mother, the dog jeers us! But that we are already late,
+      and this horse is like an untamed tiger, I would impale him on the spot.
+      Speak to the dog, Mustapha! manage him!&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Worthy Hebrew,&rsquo; said the silky Mustapha, advancing, &lsquo;apparently you are
+      not aware that this is our Lord Alschiroch. His highness would fain walk
+      his horse through the burial-ground of thy excellent people, as he is
+      obliged to repair, on urgent matters, to a holy Santon, who sojourns on
+      the other side of the hill, and time presses.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;If this be our Lord Alschiroch, thou doubtless art his faithful slave,
+      Mustapha.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;I am, indeed, his poor slave. What then, young master?&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Deem thyself lucky that the gate is closed. It was but yesterday thou
+      didst insult the sister of a servant of my house. I would not willingly
+      sully my hands with such miserable blood as thine, out away, wretch,
+      away!&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Holy Prophet! who is this dog?&rsquo; exclaimed the astonished governor.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;&lsquo;Tis the young Alroy,&rsquo; whispered Mustapha, who had not at first
+      recognised him; &lsquo;he they call their Prince; a most headstrong youth. My
+      lord, we had better proceed.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;The young Alroy! I mark him. They must have a prince too! The young
+      Alroy! Well, let us away, and, dog!&rsquo; shouted Alschiroch, rising in his
+      stirrups, and shaking his hand with a threatening air, &lsquo;dog! remember thy
+      tribute!&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Alroy rushed to the gate, but the massy lock was slow to open; and ere he
+      could succeed, the fiery steed had borne Alschiroch beyond pursuit.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      An expression of baffled rage remained for a moment on his countenance;
+      for a moment he remained with his eager eye fixed on the route of his
+      vanished enemy, and then he walked slowly towards the tomb; but his
+      excited temper was now little in unison with the still reverie in which he
+      had repaired to the sepulchre to indulge. He was restless and disquieted,
+      and at length he wandered into the woods, which rose on the summit of the
+      burial-place.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      He found himself upon a brow crested with young pine-trees, in the midst
+      of which rose a mighty cedar. He threw himself beneath its thick and
+      shadowy branches, and looked upon a valley small and green; in the midst
+      of which was a marble fountain, the richly-carved cupola,<a
+      href="#linknote-4" name="linknoteref-4" id="linknoteref-4">4</a> supported
+      by twisted columns, and banded by a broad inscription in Hebrew
+      characters. The bases of the white pillars were covered with wild flowers,
+      or hidden by beds of variegated gourds. The transparent sunset flung over
+      the whole scene a soft but brilliant light.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      The tranquil hour, the beauteous scene, the sweetness and the stillness
+      blending their odour and serenity, the gentle breeze that softly rose, and
+      summoned forth the languid birds to cool their plumage in the twilight
+      air, and wave their radiant wings in skies as bright&mdash;&mdash; Ah!
+      what stern spirit will not yield to the soft genius of subduing eve?
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      And Alroy gazed upon the silent loneliness of earth, and a tear stole down
+      his haughty cheek.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;&lsquo;Tis singular! but when I am thus alone at this still hour, I ever fancy
+      I gaze upon the Land of Promise. And often, in my dreams, some sunny spot,
+      the bright memorial of a roving hour, will rise upon my sight, and, when I
+      wake, I feel as if I had been in Canaan. Why am I not? The caravan that
+      bears my uncle&rsquo;s goods across the Desert would bear me too. But I rest
+      here, my miserable life running to seed in the dull misery of this
+      wretched city, and do nothing. Why, the old captivity was empire to our
+      inglorious bondage. We have no Esther now to share their thrones, no
+      politic Mordecai, no purple-vested Daniel. O Jerusalem, Jerusalem! I do
+      believe one sight of thee would nerve me to the sticking-point. And yet to
+      gaze upon thy fallen state, my uncle tells me that of the Temple not a
+      stone remains. &lsquo;Tis horrible. Is there no hope?&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;<i>The bricks are fallen, but we will rebuild with marble; the sycamores
+      are cut down, but we will replace them with cedars.</i>&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;The chorus of our maidens, as they pay their evening visit to the
+      fountain&rsquo;s side.<a href="#linknote-5" name="linknoteref-5"
+       id="linknoteref-5">5</a> The burden is prophetic.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Hark again! How beautifully, upon the soft and flowing air, their sweet
+      and mingled voices blend and float!&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;<i>YET AGAIN I WILL BUILD THEE, AND THOU SHALT BE BUILT, O VIRGIN OF
+      ISRAEL! YET AGAIN SHALT THOU DECK THYSELF WITH THY TABRETS, AND GO FORTH
+      IN THE DANCE OF THOSE THAT MAKE MERRY. YET AGAIN SHALT THOU PLANT
+      VINEYARDS ON THE MOUNTAINS OF SAMARIA.</i>&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;See! their white forms break through the sparkling foliage of the sunny
+      shrubs as they descend, with measured step, that mild declivity. A fair
+      society in bright procession: each one clothed in solemn drapery, veiling
+      her shadowy face with modest hand, and bearing on her graceful head a
+      graceful vase. Their leader is my sister.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;And now they reach the fountain&rsquo;s side, and dip their vases in the water,
+      pure and beauteous as themselves. Some repose beneath the marble pillars;
+      some, seated &lsquo;mid the flowers, gather sweets, and twine them into
+      garlands; and that wild girl, now that the order is broken, touches with
+      light fingers her moist vase, and showers startling drops of glittering
+      light on her serener sisters. Hark! again they sing.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;<i>O VINE OF SIBMAH! UPON THY SUMMER FRUITS, AND UPON THY VINTAGE, A
+      SPOILER HATH FALLEN!</i>&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      A scream, a shriek, a long wild shriek, confusion, flight, despair!
+      Behold! from out the woods a tur-baned man rushes, and seizes the leader
+      of the chorus. Her companions fly on all sides, Miriam alone is left in
+      the arms of Alschiroch.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      The water column wildly rising from the breast of summer ocean, in some
+      warm tropic clime, when the sudden clouds too well discover that the
+      holiday of heaven is over, and the shrieking sea-birds tell a time of
+      fierce commotion, the column rising from the sea, it was not so wild as
+      he, the young Alroy.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Pallid and mad, he swift upsprang, and he tore up a tree by its lusty
+      roots, and down the declivity, dashing with rapid leaps, panting and wild,
+      he struck the ravisher on the temple with the mighty pine. Alschiroch fell
+      lifeless on the sod, and Miriam fainting into her brother&rsquo;s arms.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      And there he stood, fixed and immovable, gazing upon his sister&rsquo;s deathly
+      face, and himself exhausted by passion and his exploit, supporting her
+      cherished but senseless body.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      One of the fugitive maidens appeared reconnoitring in the distance. When
+      she observed her mistress in the arms of one of her own people, her
+      courage revived, and, desirous of rallying her scattered companions, she
+      raised her voice, and sang:
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      <i>&lsquo;HASTE, DAUGHTERS OF JERUSALEM; O! HASTE, FOR THE LORD HAS AVENGED US,
+      AND THE SPOILER IS SPOILED.</i>&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      And soon the verse was responded to from various quarters of the woods,
+      and soon the virgins reassembled, singing,
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;<i>WE COME, O DAUGHTER OF JERUSALEM! WE COME; FOR THE LORD HAS AVENGED
+      US, AND THE SPOILER IS SPOILED</i>.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      They gathered round their mistress, and one loosened her veil, and another
+      brought water from the fountain, and sprinkled her reviving countenance.
+      And Miriam opened her eyes, and said, &lsquo;My brother!&rsquo; And he answered, &lsquo;I am
+      here.&rsquo; And she replied in a low voice, &lsquo;Fly, David, fly; for the man you
+      have stricken is a prince among the people.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;He will be merciful, my sister; and, doubtless, since he first erred, by
+      this time he has forgotten my offence.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Justice and mercy! Oh, my brother, what can these foul tyrants know of
+      either! Already he has perhaps doomed you to some refined and
+      procrastinated torture, already&mdash;&mdash; Ah! what unutterable woe is
+      mine! fly, my brother, fly!&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Fly, fly, fly!&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;There is no fear, my Miriam; would all his accursed race could trouble us
+      as little as their sometime ruler. See, he sleeps soundly. But his carcass
+      shall not defile our fresh fountain and our fragrant flowers. I&rsquo;ll stow it
+      in the woods, and stroll here at night to listen to the jackals at their
+      banquet.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;You speak wildly, David. What! No! It is impossible! He is not dead! You
+      have not slain him!
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      He sleeps, he is afraid. He mimics death that we may leave his side, and
+      he may rise again in safety. Girls, look to him. David, you do not answer.
+      Brother, dear brother, surely he has swooned! I thought he had fled. Bear
+      water, maidens, to that terrible man. I dare not look upon him.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Away! I&rsquo;ll look on him, and I&rsquo;ll triumph. Dead! Alschiroch dead! Why, but
+      a moment since, this clotted carcass was a prince, my tyrant! So we can
+      rid ourselves of them, eh? If the prince fall, why not the people? Dead,
+      absolutely dead, and I his slayer! Hah! at length I am a man. This, this
+      indeed is life. Let me live slaying!&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Woe! woe, our house is fallen! The wildness of his gestures frightens me.
+      David, David, I pray thee cease. He hears me not; my voice, perchance, is
+      thin. I am very faint. Maidens, kneel to your Prince, and soothe the
+      madness of his passion.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;<i>SWEET IS THE VOICE OF A SISTER IN THE SEASON OF SORROW, AND WISE IS
+      THE COUNSEL OF THOSE WHO LOVE US</i>.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Why, this is my Goliath! a pebble or a stick, it is the same. The Lord of
+      Hosts is with us. Rightly am I called David.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;<i>DELIVER US FROM OUR ENEMIES, O LORD! FROM THOSE WHO RISE UP AGAINST
+      US, AND THOSE WHO LIE IN WAIT FOR US</i>.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      <a name="linkimage-0005" id="linkimage-0005">
+      <!-- IMG --></a>
+    </p>
+    <div class="fig" style="width:80%;">
+      <img src="images/page020.jpg" alt="Page020 " width="100%" /><br />
+    </div>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Were but this blow multiplied, were but the servants of my uncle&rsquo;s house
+      to do the same, why, we should see again the days of Elah! The Philistine,
+      the foul, lascivious, damnable Philistine! and he must touch my sister!
+      Oh! that all his tribe were here, all, all! I&rsquo;d tie such firebrands to
+      their foxes&rsquo; tails, the blaze should light to freedom!&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      While he spoke, a maiden, who had not yet rejoined the company, came
+      running towards them swiftly with an agitated countenance.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Fly,&rsquo; she exclaimed, &lsquo;they come, they come!&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Miriam was reclining in an attendant&rsquo;s arms, feeble and faint, but the
+      moment her quick ear caught these words she sprang up, and seized her
+      brother&rsquo;s arm.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Alroy! David! brother, dear brother! I beseech thee, listen, I am thy
+      sister, thy Miriam; they come, they come, the hard-hearted, wicked men,
+      they come, to kill, perhaps to torture thee, my tender brother. Rouse
+      thyself, David; rouse thyself from this wild, fierce dream: save thyself,
+      fly!&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Ah! is it thou, Miriam? Thou seest he sleepeth soundly. I was dreaming of
+      noble purposes and mighty hopes. Tis over now. I am myself again. What
+      wouldst thou?&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;They come, the fierce retainers of this fallen man; they come to seize
+      thee. Fly, David!&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;And leave thee?&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;I and my maidens, we have yet time to escape by the private way we
+      entered, our uncle&rsquo;s garden. When in his house, we are for a moment safe,
+      as safe as our poor race can ever be. Bostenay is so rich, so wise, so
+      prudent, so learned in man&rsquo;s ways, and knows so well the character and
+      spirit of these men, all will go right; I fear nothing. But thou, if thou
+      art here, or to be found, thy blood alone will satiate them. If they be
+      persuaded that thou hast escaped, as I yet pray thou mayest, their late
+      master here, whom they could scarcely love, why, give me thy arm an
+      instant, sweet Beruna. So, that&rsquo;s well. I was saying, if well bribed,&mdash;and
+      they may have all my jewels,&mdash;why, very soon, he will be as little in
+      their memories as he is now in life. I can scarcely speak; I feel my words
+      wander, or seem to wander; I could swoon, but will not; nay! do not fear.
+      I will reach home. These maidens are my charge. &lsquo;Tis in these crises we
+      should show the worth of royal blood. I&rsquo;ll see them safe, or die with
+      them.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;O! my sister, methinks I never knew I was a brother until this hour. My
+      precious Miriam, what is life? what is revenge, or even fame and freedom
+      without thee? I&rsquo;ll stay.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;<i>SWEET IS THE VOICE OF A SISTER IN THE SEASON OF SORROW, AND WISE IS
+      THE COUNSEL OF THOSE WHO LOVE US</i>.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Fly, David, fly!&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Fly! whither and how?&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      The neigh of a horse sounded from the thicket.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Ah! they come!&rsquo; exclaimed the distracted Miriam.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;<i>ALL THIS HAS COME UPON US, O LORD! YET HAVE WE NOT FORGOTTEN THEE,
+      NEITHER HAVE WE DEALT FALSELY IN THY COVENANT</i>.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Hark! again it neighs! It is a horse that calleth to its rider. I see it.
+      Courage, Miriam! it is no enemy, but a very present friend in time of
+      trouble. It is Alschiroch&rsquo;s courser. He passed me on it by the tomb ere
+      sunset. I marked it well, a very princely steed.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      <i>&rsquo;BEHOLD, BEHOLD, A RAM IS CAUGHT IN THE THICKET BY HIS HORNS.</i>&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Our God hath not forgotten us! Quick, maidens, bring forth the goodly
+      steed. What! do you tremble? I&rsquo;ll be his groom.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Nay! Miriam, beware, beware. It is an untamed beast, wild as the
+      whirlwind. Let me deal with him.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      He ran after her, dashed into the thicket, and brought forth the horse.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Short time I ween that stately steed had parted from his desert home; his
+      haughty crest, his eye of fire, the glory of his snorting nostril, betoken
+      well his conscious pride, and pure nobility of race. His colour was like
+      the sable night shining with a thousand stars, and he pawed the ground
+      with his delicate hoof, like an eagle flapping its wing.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Alroy vaulted on his back, and reined him with a master&rsquo;s hand.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Hah!&rsquo; he exclaimed, &lsquo;I feel more like a hero than a fugitive. Farewell,
+      my sister; farewell, ye gentle maidens; fare ye well, and cherish my
+      precious Miriam. One embrace, sweet sister,&rsquo; and he bent down and
+      whispered, &lsquo;Tell the good Bostenay not to spare his gold, for I have a
+      deep persuasion that, ere a year shall roll its heavy course, I shall
+      return and make our masters here pay for this hurried ride and bitter
+      parting. Now for the desert!&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      <a name="link2HCH0002" id="link2HCH0002">
+      <!--  H2 anchor --> </a>
+    </p>
+    <div style="height: 4em;">
+      <br /><br /><br /><br />
+    </div>
+    <h2>
+      CHAPTER II.
+    </h2>
+<pre xml:space="preserve">
+     <i>The Slaying of an Ishmaelite</i>
+</pre>
+    <p>
+      SPEED, fleetly speed, thou courser bold, and track the desert&rsquo;s trackless
+      way. Beneath thee is the boundless earth, above thee is the boundless
+      heaven, an iron soil and brazen sky. Speed, swiftly speed, thou courser
+      bold, and track the desert&rsquo;s trackless way. Ah! dost thou deem these salty
+      plains<a href="#linknote-6" name="linknoteref-6" id="linknoteref-6">6</a>
+      lead to thy Yemen&rsquo;s happy groves, and dost thou scent on the hot breeze
+      the spicy breath of Araby? A sweet delusion, noble steed, for this briny
+      wilderness leads not to the happy groves of Yemen, and the breath thou
+      scentest on the coming breeze is not the spicy breath of Araby.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      The day has died, the stars have risen, with all the splendour of a desert
+      sky, and now the Night descending brings solace on her dewy wings to the
+      fainting form and pallid cheek of the youthful Hebrew Prince.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Still the courser onward rushes, still his mighty heart supports him.
+      Season and space, the glowing soil, the burning ray, yield to the tempest
+      of his frame, the thunder of his nerves, and lightning of his veins.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Food or water they have none. No genial fount, no graceful tree, rise with
+      their pleasant company. Never a beast or bird is there, in that hoary
+      desert bare. Nothing breaks the almighty stillness. Even the jackal&rsquo;s
+      felon cry might seem a soothing melody. A grey wild rat, with snowy
+      whiskers, out of a withered bramble stealing, with a youthful snake in its
+      ivory teeth, in the moonlight grins with glee. This is their sole society.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Morn comes, the fresh and fragrant morn, for which even the guilty sigh.
+      Morn comes, and all is visible. And light falls like a signet on the
+      earth, and its face is turned like wax beneath a seal. Before them and
+      also on their right was the sandy desert; but in the night they had
+      approached much nearer to the mountainous chain, which bounded the desert
+      on the left, and whither Alroy had at first guided the steed.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      The mountains were a chain of the mighty Elburz; and, as the sun rose from
+      behind a lofty peak, the horse suddenly stopped and neighed, as if asking
+      for water. But Alroy, himself exhausted, could only soothe him with
+      caresses. And the horse, full of courage, understood his master, and
+      neighed again more cheerfully.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      For an hour or two the Prince and his faithful companion proceeded slowly,
+      but, as the day advanced, the heat became so oppressive, and the desire to
+      drink so overwhelming, that Alroy again urged on the steed towards the
+      mountains, where he knew that he should find a well. The courser dashed
+      willingly forward, and seemed to share his master&rsquo;s desire to quit the
+      arid and exhausting wilderness.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      More than once the unhappy fugitive debated whether he should not allow
+      himself to drop from his seat and die; no torture that could await him at
+      Hamadan but seemed preferable to the prolonged and inexpressible anguish
+      which he now endured. As he rushed along, leaning on his bearer&rsquo;s neck, he
+      perceived a patch of the desert that seemed of a darker colour than the
+      surrounding sand. Here, he believed, might perhaps be found water. He
+      tried to check the steed, but with difficulty he succeeded, and with still
+      greater difficulty dismounted. He knelt down, and feebly raked up the sand
+      with his hands. It was moist. He nearly fainted over his fruitless labour.
+      At length, when he had dug about a foot deep, there bubbled up some water.
+      He dashed in his hand, but it was salt as the ocean. When the horse saw
+      the water his ears rose, but, when he smelt it, he turned away his head,
+      and neighed most piteously.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Alas, poor beast!&rsquo; exclaimed Alroy, &lsquo;I am the occasion of thy suffering,
+      I, who would be a kind master to thee, if the world would let me. Oh, that
+      we were once more by my own fair fountain! The thought is madness. And
+      Miriam too! I fear I am sadly tender-hearted.&rsquo; He leant against his
+      horse&rsquo;s back, with a feeling of utter exhaustion, and burst into hysteric
+      sobs.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      And the steed softly moaned, and turned its head, and gently rubbed its
+      face against his arm, as if to solace him in his suffering. And strange,
+      but Alroy was relieved by having given way to his emotion, and, charmed
+      with the fondness of the faithful horse, he leant down and took water, and
+      threw it over its feet to cool them, and wiped the foam from its face, and
+      washed it, and the horse again neighed.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      And now Alroy tried to remount, but his strength failed him, and the horse
+      immediately knelt down and received him. And the moment that the Prince
+      was in his seat, the horse rose, and again proceeded at a rapid pace in
+      their old direction. Towards sunset they were within a few miles of the
+      broken and rocky ground into which the mountains descended; and afar off
+      Alroy recognised the cupola of the long-expected well. With re-animated
+      courage and rallied energies he patted his courser&rsquo;s neck, and pointed in
+      the direction of the cupola, and the horse pricked up its ears, and
+      increased its pace.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Just us the sun set, they reached the well. Alroy jumped off the horse,
+      and would have led it to the fountain, but the animal would not advance.
+      It stood shivering with a glassy eye, and then with a groan fell down and
+      died.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Night brings rest; night brings solace; rest to the weary, solace to the
+      sad. And to the desperate night brings despair.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      The moon has sunk to early rest; but a thousand stars are in the sky. The
+      mighty mountains rise severe in the clear and silent air. In the forest
+      all is still. The tired wind no longer roams, but has lightly dropped on
+      its leafy couch, and sleeps like man. Silent all but the fountain&rsquo;s drip.
+      And by the fountain&rsquo;s side a youth is lying.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Suddenly a creature steals through the black and broken rocks. Ha, ha! the
+      jackal smells from afar the rich corruption of the courser&rsquo;s clay.
+      Suddenly and silently it steals, and stops, and smells. Brave banqueting I
+      ween to-night for all that goodly company. Jackal, and fox, and
+      marten-cat, haste ye now, ere morning&rsquo;s break shall call the vulture to
+      his feast and rob you of your prey.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      The jackal lapped the courser&rsquo;s blood, and moaned with exquisite delight.
+      And in a moment, a faint bark was heard in the distance. And the jackal
+      peeled the flesh from one of the ribs, and again burst into a shriek of
+      mournful ecstasy.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Hark, their quick tramp! First six, and then three, galloping with ungodly
+      glee. And a marten-cat came rushing down from the woods; but the jackals,
+      fierce in their number, drove her away, and there she stood without the
+      circle, panting, beautiful, and baffled, with her white teeth and glossy
+      skin, and sparkling eyes of rabid rage.<a href="#linknote-7"
+       name="linknoteref-7" id="linknoteref-7">7</a>
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Suddenly as one of the half-gorged jackals retired from the main corpse,
+      dragging along a stray member by some still palpitating nerves, the
+      marten-cat made a spring at her enemy, carried off his prey, and rushed
+      into the woods.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Her wild scream of triumph woke a lion from his lair. His mighty form,
+      black as ebony, moved on a distant eminence, his tail flowed like a
+      serpent. He roared, and the jackals trembled, and immediately ceased from
+      their banquet, turning their heads in the direction of their sovereign&rsquo;s
+      voice. He advanced; he stalked towards them. They retired; he bent his
+      head, examined the carcass with condescending curiosity, and instantly
+      quitted it with royal disdain. The jackals again collected around their
+      garbage. The lion advanced to the fountain to drink. He beheld a man. His
+      mane rose, his tail was wildly agitated, he bent over the sleeping Prince,
+      he uttered an awful roar, which awoke Alroy.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      He awoke; his gaze met the flaming eyes of the enormous beast fixed upon
+      him with a blended feeling of desire and surprise. He awoke, and from a
+      swoon; but the dreamless trance had refreshed the exhausted energies of
+      the desolate wanderer; in an instant he collected his senses, remembered
+      all that had passed, and comprehended his present situation. He returned
+      the lion a glance as imperious, and fierce, and scrutinsing, as his own.
+      For a moment, their flashing orbs vied in regal rivalry; but at length the
+      spirit of the mere animal yielded to the genius of the man. The lion,
+      cowed, slunk away, stalked with haughty timidity through the rocks, and
+      then sprang into the forest.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Morn breaks; a silver light is shed over the blue and starry sky. Pleasant
+      to feel is the breath of dawn. Night brings repose, but day brings joy.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      The carol of a lonely bird singing in the wilderness! A lonely bird that
+      sings with glee! Sunny and sweet, and light and clear, its airy notes
+      float through the sky, and trill with innocent revelry.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      The lonely youth on the lonely bird upgazes from the fountain&rsquo;s side. High
+      in the air it proudly floats, balancing its crimson wings, and its snowy
+      tail, long, delicate, and thin, shines like a sparkling meteor in the sun.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      The carol of a lonely bird singing in the wilderness! Suddenly it downward
+      dashes, and thrice with circling grace it flies around the head of the
+      Hebrew Prince. Then by his side it gently drops a bunch of fresh and
+      fragrant dates.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Tis gone, &lsquo;tis gone! that cheerful stranger, gone to the palmy land it
+      loves; gone like a bright and pleasant dream. A moment since and it was
+      there, glancing in the sunny air, and now the sky is without a guest.
+      Alas, alas! no more is heard the carol of that lonely bird singing in the
+      wilderness.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;As thou didst feed Elijah, so also hast thou fed me, God of my fathers!&rsquo;
+      And Alroy arose, and he took his turban and unfolded it, and knelt and
+      prayed. And then he ate of the dates, and drank of the fountain, and, full
+      of confidence in the God of Israel, the descendant of David pursued his
+      flight.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      He now commenced the ascent of the mountainous chain, a wearisome and
+      painful toil. Two hours past noon he reached the summit of the first
+      ridge, and looked over a wild and chaotic waste full of precipices and
+      ravines, and dark unfathomable gorges. The surrounding hills were ploughed
+      in all directions by the courses of dried-up cataracts, and here and there
+      a few savage goats browsed on an occasional patch of lean and sour
+      pasture. This waste extended for many miles; the distance formed by a more
+      elevated range of mountains, and beyond these, high in the blue sky, rose
+      the loftiest peaks of Elburz,<a href="#linknote-8" name="linknoteref-8"
+       id="linknoteref-8">8</a> shining with sharp glaciers of eternal snow.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      It was apparent that Alroy was no stranger in the scene of his flight. He
+      had never hesitated as to his course, and now, after having rested for a
+      short time on the summit, he descended towards the left by a natural but
+      intricate path, until his progress was arrested by a black ravine.
+      Scarcely half a dozen yards divided him from the opposite precipice by
+      which it was formed, but the gulf beneath, no one could shoot a glance at
+      its invisible termination without drawing back with a cold shudder.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      The Prince knelt down and examined the surrounding ground with great care.
+      At length he raised a small square stone which covered a metallic plate,
+      and, taking from his vest a carnelian talisman covered with strange
+      characters, he knocked thrice upon the plate with the signet. A low solemn
+      murmur sounded around. Presently the plate flew off, and Alroy pulled
+      forth several yards of an iron chain, which he threw over to the opposite
+      precipice. The chain fastened without difficulty to the rock, and was
+      evidently constrained by some magnetic influence. The Prince, seizing the
+      chain with both his hands, now swung across the ravine. As he landed, the
+      chain parted from the rock, swiftly disappeared down the opposite
+      aperture, and its covering closed with the same low, solemn murmur as
+      before.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Alroy proceeded for about a hundred paces through a natural cloister of
+      basalt until he arrived at a large uncovered court of the same formation,
+      which a stranger might easily have been excused for believing to have been
+      formed and smoothed by art. In its centre bubbled up a perpetual spring,
+      icy cold; the stream had worn a channel through the pavement, and might be
+      traced for some time wandering among the rocks, until at length it leaped
+      from a precipice into a gorge below, in a gauzy shower of variegated
+      spray. Crossing the court, Alroy now entered a vast cavern.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      The cavern was nearly circular in form, lighted from a large aperture in
+      the top. Yet a burning lamp, in a distant and murky corner, indicated that
+      its inhabitant did not trust merely to this natural source of the great
+      blessing of existence. In the centre of the cave was a circular and brazen
+      table, sculptured with strange characters and mysterious figures: near it
+      was a couch, on which lay several volumes.<a href="#linknote-9"
+       name="linknoteref-9" id="linknoteref-9">9</a> Suspended from the walls
+      were a shield, some bows and arrows, and other arms.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      As the Prince of the Captivity knelt down and kissed the vacant couch, a
+      figure advanced from the extremity of the cavern into the light. He was a
+      man of middle age, considerably above the common height, with a remarkably
+      athletic frame, and a strongly-marked but majestic countenance. His black
+      beard descended to his waist, over a dark red robe, encircled by a black
+      girdle embroidered with yellow characters, like those sculptured on the
+      brazen table. Black also was his turban, and black his large and luminous
+      eye.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      The stranger advanced so softly, that Alroy did not perceive him, until
+      the Prince again rose.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Jabaster!&rsquo; exclaimed the Prince.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Sacred seed of David,&rsquo; answered the Cabalist,<a href="#linknote-10"
+       name="linknoteref-10" id="linknoteref-10">10</a> &lsquo;thou art expected. I
+      read of thee in the stars last night. They spoke of trouble.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Trouble or triumph, Time must prove which it is, great master. At present
+      I am a fugitive and exhausted. The bloodhounds track me, but methinks I
+      have baffled them now. I have slain an Ishmaelite.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      <a name="link2HCH0003" id="link2HCH0003">
+      <!--  H2 anchor --> </a>
+    </p>
+    <div style="height: 4em;">
+      <br /><br /><br /><br />
+    </div>
+    <h2>
+      CHAPTER III
+    </h2>
+<pre xml:space="preserve">
+     <i>The Hope of Israel</i>
+</pre>
+    <p>
+      IT WAS midnight. Alroy slept upon the couch: his sleep was troubled.
+      Jabaster stood by his side motionless, and gazing intently upon his
+      slumbering guest.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;The only hope of Israel,&rsquo; murmured the Cabalist,&rsquo; my pupil and my prince!
+      I have long perceived in his young mind the seed of mighty deeds, and o&rsquo;er
+      his future life have often mused with a prophetic hope. The blood of
+      David, the sacred offspring of a solemn race. There is a magic in his
+      flowing veins my science cannot reach.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;When, in my youth, I raised our standard by my native Tigris, and called
+      our nation to restore their ark, why, we were numerous, wealthy, potent;
+      we were a people then, and they flocked to it boldly. Did we lack counsel?
+      Did we need a leader? Who can aver that Jabaster&rsquo;s brain or arm was ever
+      wanting? And yet the dream dissolved, the glorious vision! Oh! when I
+      struck down Marvan, and the Caliph&rsquo;s camp flung its blazing shadow over
+      the bloody river, ah! then indeed I lived. Twenty years of vigil may gain
+      a pardon that I then forgot we lacked the chief ingredient in the spell,
+      the blood that sleeps beside me.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;I recall the glorious rapture of that sacred strife amid the rocks of
+      Caucasus. A fugitive, a proscribed and outlawed wretch, whose life is
+      common sport, and whom the vilest hind may slay without a bidding. I, who
+      would have been Messiah!
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Burn thy books, Jabaster; break thy brazen tables; forget thy lofty
+      science, Cabalist, and read the stars no longer.<a href="#linknote-11"
+       name="linknoteref-11" id="linknoteref-11">11</a> But last night I stood
+      upon the gulf which girds my dwelling: in one hand, I held my sacred
+      talisman, that bears the name ineffable; in the other, the mystic record
+      of our holy race. I remembered that I had evoked spirits, that I had
+      communed with the great departed, and that the glowing heavens were to me
+      a natural language. I recalled, as consolation to my gloomy soul, that
+      never had my science been exercised but for a sacred or a noble purpose.
+      And I remembered Israel, my brave, my chosen, and my antique race, slaves,
+      wretched slaves. I was strongly tempted to fling me down this perilous
+      abyss, and end my learning and my life together.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;But, as I gazed upon the star of David, a sudden halo rose around its
+      rays, and ever and anon a meteor shot from out the silver veil. I read
+      that there was trouble in the holy seed; and now comes this boy, who has
+      done a deed which&mdash;&mdash;&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;The ark, the ark! I gaze upon the ark!&rsquo; &lsquo;The slumberer speaks; the words
+      of sleep are sacred.&rsquo; &lsquo;Salvation only from the house of David.&rsquo; &lsquo;A mighty
+      truth; my life too well has proved it. &lsquo;He is more calm. It is the holy
+      hour. I&rsquo;ll steal into the court, and gaze upon the star that sways the
+      fortunes of his royal house.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      The moonbeam fell upon the fountain; the pavement of the court was a flood
+      of light; the rocks rose dark around. Jabaster, seated by the spring, and
+      holding his talisman in his left hand, shaded his sight with the other as
+      he gazed upon the luminous heavens.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      A shriek! his name was called. Alroy, wild and panting, rushed into the
+      court with extended arms. The Cabalist started up, seized him, and held
+      him in his careful grasp, foaming and in convulsions.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Jabaster, Jabaster!&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;I am here, my child.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;The Lord hath spoken.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;The Lord is our refuge. Calm thyself, son of David, and tell me all.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;I have been sleeping, master; is it not so?&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Even so, my child. Exhausted by his flight and the exciting narrative of
+      his exploit, my Prince lay down upon the couch and slumbered; but I fear
+      that slumber was not repose.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Repose and I have naught in common now. Farewell for ever to that fatal
+      word. I am the Lord&rsquo;s anointed.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Drink of the fountain, David: it will restore thee.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Restore the covenant, restore the ark, restore the holy city.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;The Spirit of the Lord hath fallen upon him. Son of David, I adjure thee
+      tell me all that hath passed. I am a Levite; in my hand I hold the name
+      ineffable.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Take thy trumpet then, summon the people, bid them swiftly raise again
+      our temple. &ldquo;The bricks have fallen, but we will rebuild with marble.&rdquo;
+       Didst hear that chorus, sir?&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Unto thy chosen ear alone it sounded.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Where am I? This is not our fountain. Yet thou didst say, &ldquo;the fountain.&rdquo;
+       Think me not wild. I know thee, I know all. Thou art not Miriam. Thou art
+      jabaster; I am Alroy. But thou didst say, &ldquo;the fountain,&rdquo; and it
+      distracted me, and called back my memory to&mdash;&mdash;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;God of Israel, lo, I kneel before thee! Here, in the solitude of wildest
+      nature, my only witness here this holy man, I kneel and vow, Lord! I will
+      do thy bidding. I am young, O God! and weak; but thou, Lord, art
+      all-powerful! What God is like to thee? Doubt not my courage, Lord; and
+      fill me with thy spirit! but remember, remember her, O Lord! remember
+      Miriam. It is the only worldly thought I have, and it is pure.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Still of his sister! Calm thyself, my son.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Holy master, thou dost remember when I was thy pupil in this cavern. Thou
+      hast not forgotten those days of tranquil study, those sweet, long
+      wandering nights of sacred science! I was dutiful, and hung upon each
+      accent of thy lore with the devotion that must spring from love.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;I cannot weep, Alroy; but were it in my power, I would yield a tear of
+      homage to the memory of those days.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;How calmly have we sat on some high brow, and gazed upon the stars!&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;&lsquo;Tis very true, sweet child.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;And if thou e&rsquo;er didst chide me, &lsquo;twas half in jest, and only for my
+      silence.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;What would he now infer? No matter, he grows calmer. How solemn is his
+      visage in the moonlight! And yet not Solomon, upon his youthful throne,
+      could look more beautiful.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;I never told thee an untruth, Jabaster.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;My life upon thy faith.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Fear not the pledge, and so believe me, on the mountain brow watching the
+      starry heavens with thyself, I was not calmer than I feel, sir, now.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;I do believe thee.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Then, Jabaster, believe as fully I am the Lord&rsquo;s anointed.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Tell me all, my child.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Know, then, that sleeping on the couch within, my sleep was troubled.
+      Many dreams I had, indefinite and broken. I recall none of their images,
+      except I feel a dim sensation &lsquo;twas my lot to live in brighter days than
+      now rise on our race. Suddenly I stood upon a mountain tall and grey, and
+      gazed upon the stars. And, as I gazed, a trumpet sounded. Its note
+      thrilled through my soul. Never have I heard a sound so awful. The
+      thunder, when it broke over the cavern here, and shivered the peak, whose
+      ruins lie around us, was but a feeble worldly sound to this almighty
+      music. My cheek grew pale, I panted even for breath. A flaming light
+      spread over the sky, the stars melted away, and I beheld, advancing from
+      the bursting radiancy, the foremost body of a mighty host.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Oh! not when Saul led forth our fighting men against the Philistine, not
+      when Joab numbered the warriors of my great ancestor, did human vision
+      gaze upon a scene of so much martial splendour. Chariots and cavalry, and
+      glittering trains of plumed warriors too robust to need a courser&rsquo;s
+      solace; streams of shining spears, and banners like a sunset; reverend
+      priests swinging their perfumed censers, and prophets hymning with their
+      golden harps a most triumphant future.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;&ldquo;Joy, joy,&rdquo; they say, &ldquo;to Israel, for he cometh, he cometh in his
+      splendour and his might, the great Messiah of our ancient hopes.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;And, lo! a mighty chariot now appeared, drawn by strange beasts whose
+      forms were half obscured by the bright flames on which they seemed to
+      float. In that glorious car a warrior stood, proud and immovable his form,
+      his countenance. Hold my hand, Jabaster, while I speak; that chieftain was
+      myself!&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Proceed, proceed, my son.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;I started in my dream, and I awoke. I found myself upsitting on my couch.
+      The pageantry had vanished. Naught was seen but the bright moonlight and
+      the gloomy cave. And, as I sighed to think I e&rsquo;er had wakened, and mused
+      upon the strangeness of my vision, a still small voice descended from
+      above and called, &ldquo;Alroy!&rdquo; I started, but I answered not. Methought it was
+      my fancy. Again my name was called, and now I murmured, &ldquo;Lord, I am here,
+      what wouldst thou?&rdquo; Naught responded, and soon great dread came over me,
+      and I rushed out and called to thee, my master.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;It was &ldquo;the Daughter of the Voice"<a href="#linknote-12"
+       name="linknoteref-12" id="linknoteref-12">12</a> that spake. Since the
+      Captivity &lsquo;tis the only mode by which the saints are summoned. Oft have I
+      heard of it, but never in these sad degenerate days has its soft
+      aspiration fallen upon us. These are strange times and tidings. The
+      building of the temple is at hand. Son of David, my heart is full. Let us
+      to prayer!&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Day dawned upon Jabaster, still musing in solitude among his rocks. Within
+      the cavern, Alroy remained in prayer.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Often and anxiously the Cabalist shot a glance at his companion, and then
+      again relapsed into reverie.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;The time is come that I must to this youth reveal the secrets of my early
+      life. Much will he hear of glory, much of shame. Naught must I conceal,
+      and naught gloss over.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;I must tell how in the plains of Tigris I upraised the sacred standard of
+      our chosen race, and called them from their bondage; how, despairing of
+      his recreant fathers, and inspired by human power alone, I vainly claimed
+      the mighty office for his sacred blood alone reserved. God of my fathers,
+      grant that future service, the humble service of a contrite soul, may in
+      the coming glory that awaits us, atone for past presumption!
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;But for him great trials are impending. Not lightly must that votary be
+      proved, who fain would free a people. The Lord is faithful to his promise,
+      but the Lord will choose his season and his minister. Courage, and faith,
+      and deep humility, and strong endurance, and the watchful soul temptation
+      cannot sully, these are the fruits we lay upon his altar, and meekly watch
+      if some descending flame will vouchsafe to accept and brightly bless them.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;It is written in the dread volume of our mystic lore, that not alone the
+      Saviour shall spring from out our house of princes, but that none shall
+      rise to free us, until, alone and unassisted, he have gained the sceptre
+      which Solomon of old wielded within his cedar palaces.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;That sceptre must he gain. This fragile youth, untried and delicate,
+      unknowing in the ways of this strange world, where every step is danger,
+      how much hardship, how much peril, what withering disappointment, what
+      dull care, what long despondency, what never-ending lures, now lie in
+      ambush for this gentle boy! O my countrymen, is this your hope? And I,
+      with all my lore, and all my courage, and all my deep intelligence of man;
+      unhappy Israel, why am I not thy Prince?
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;I check the blasphemous thought. Did not his great ancestor, as young and
+      as untried, a beardless stripling, with but a pebble, a small smoothed
+      stone, level a mailed giant with the ground, and save his people?
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;He is clearly summoned. The Lord is with him. Be he with the Lord, and we
+      shall prosper.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      It was at sunset, on the third day after the arrival of Alroy at the cave
+      of the Cabalist, that the Prince of the Captivity commenced his pilgrimage
+      in quest of the sceptre of Solomon.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Silently the pilgrim and his master took their way to the brink of the
+      ravine, and there they stopped to part, perhaps forever.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;It is a bitter moment, Alroy. Human feelings are not for beings like us,
+      yet they will have their way. Remember all. Cherish the talisman as thy
+      life: nay! welcome death with it pressing against thy heart, rather than
+      breathe without it. Be firm, be pious. Think of thy ancestors, think of
+      thy God.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Doubt me not, dear master; if I seem not full of that proud spirit, which
+      was perhaps too much my wont, ascribe it not to fear, Jabaster, nor even
+      to the pain of leaving thee, dear friend. But ever since that sweet and
+      solemn voice summoned me so thrillingly, I know not how it is, but a
+      change has come over my temper; yet I am firm, oh! firmer far than when I
+      struck down the Ishmaelite. Indeed, indeed, fear not for me. The Lord,
+      that knoweth all things, knows full well I am prepared even to the death.
+      Thy prayers, Jabaster, and&mdash;&mdash;&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Stop, stop. I do remember me. See this ring: &lsquo;tis a choice emerald. Thou
+      mayst have wondered I should wear a bauble. Alroy, I had a brother once:
+      still he may live. When we parted, this was the signal of his love: a
+      love, my child, strong, though we greatly differed. Take it. The hour may
+      come that thou mayst need his aid. It will command it. If he live, he
+      prospers. I know his temper well. He was made for what the worldly deem
+      prosperity. God be with thee, sacred boy: the God of our great fathers,
+      the God of Abraham, of Isaac, and of Jacob!&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      They embraced.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;We linger,&rsquo; exclaimed the Cabalist, &lsquo;we linger. Oh! in vain we quell the
+      feelings of our kind. God, God bless and be with thee! Art sure thou hast
+      all? thy dagger and thy wallet? That staff has seen some service. I cut it
+      on the Jordan. Ah! that I could be thy mate! &lsquo;Twould be nothing then. At
+      the worst to die together. Such a fate seems sweeter now than parting.
+      I&rsquo;ll watch thy star, my child. Thou weepest! And I too. Why! what is this?
+      Am I indeed Jabaster? One more embrace, and so&mdash;&mdash;we&rsquo;ll not say
+      farewell, but only think it.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      <a name="link2HCH0004" id="link2HCH0004">
+      <!--  H2 anchor --> </a>
+    </p>
+    <div style="height: 4em;">
+      <br /><br /><br /><br />
+    </div>
+    <h2>
+      CHAPTER IV.
+    </h2>
+<pre xml:space="preserve">
+     <i>Alroy Falls Among Thieves</i>
+</pre>
+    <p>
+      TRADITION taught that the sceptre of Solomon could be found only in the
+      unknown sepulchres of the ancient Hebrew monarchs, and that none might
+      dare to touch it but one of their descendants. Armed with the cabalistic
+      talisman, which was to guide him in his awful and difficult researches,
+      Alroy commenced his pilgrimage to the Holy City. At this time, the love of
+      these sacred wanderings was a reigning passion among the Jews as well as
+      the Christians.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      The Prince of the Captivity was to direct his course into the heart of
+      those great deserts which, in his flight from Hamadan, he had only
+      skirted. Following the track of the caravan, he was to make his way to
+      Babylon, or Bagdad. From the capital of the caliphs, his journey to
+      Jerusalem was one comparatively easy; but to reach Bagdad he must
+      encounter hardship and danger, the prospect of which would have divested
+      any one of hope, who did not conceive himself the object of an omnipotent
+      and particular Providence.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Clothed only in a coarse black frock, common among the Kourds, girded
+      round his waist by a cord which held his dagger, his head shaven, and
+      covered with a large white turban, which screened him from the heat, his
+      feet protected only by slippers, supported by his staff, and bearing on
+      his shoulders a bag of dried meat and parched corn, and a leathern skin of
+      water, behold, toiling over the glowing sands of Persia, a youth whose
+      life had hitherto been a long unbroken dream of domestic luxury and
+      innocent indulgence.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      He travelled during the warm night or the early starlit morn. During the
+      day he rested: happy if he could recline by the side of some charitable
+      well, shaded by a palm-tree, or frighten a gazelle from its resting-place
+      among the rough bushes of some wild rocks. Were these resources wanting,
+      he threw himself upon the sand, and made an awning with his staff and
+      turban.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Three weeks had elapsed since he quitted the cavern of the Cabalist.
+      Hitherto he had met with no human being. The desert became less arid. A
+      scanty vegetation sprang up from a more genial soil; the ground broke into
+      gentle undulations; his senses were invigorated with the odour of wild
+      plants, and his sight refreshed by the glancing form of some wandering
+      bird, a pilgrim like himself, but more at ease.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Soon sprang up a grove of graceful palm-trees, with their tall thin stems,
+      and bending feathery crowns, languid and beautiful. Around, the verdant
+      sod gleamed like an emerald: silver streams, flowing from a bubbling
+      parent spring, wound their white forms within the bright green turf. From
+      the grove arose the softening song of doves, and showers of gay and
+      sparkling butterflies, borne on their tinted wings of shifting light,
+      danced without danger in the liquid air. A fair and fresh Oasis!
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Alroy reposed in this delicious retreat for two days, feeding on the
+      living dates, and drinking of the fresh water. Fain would he have
+      lingered, nor indeed, until he rested, had he been sufficiently conscious
+      of his previous exertion. But the remembrance of his great mission made
+      him restless, and steeled him to the sufferings which yet awaited him.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      At the dawn of the second day of his journey from the Oasis he beheld to
+      his astonishment, faintly but distinctly traced on the far horizon, the
+      walls and turrets of an extensive city.<a href="#linknote-13"
+       name="linknoteref-13" id="linknoteref-13">13</a> Animated by this
+      unexpected prospect, he continued his progress for several hours after
+      sunrise. At length, utterly exhausted, he sought refuge from the
+      overpowering heat beneath the cupola of the ruined tomb of some Moslem
+      saint. At sunset he continued his journey, and in the morning found
+      himself within a few miles of the city. He halted, and watched with
+      anxiety for some evidence of its inhabitants. None was visible. No crowds
+      or cavalcades issued from the gates. Not a single human being, not a
+      solitary camel, moved in the vicinity.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      The day was too advanced for the pilgrim to proceed, but so great was his
+      anxiety to reach this unknown settlement, and penetrate the mystery of its
+      silence, that ere sunset Alroy entered the gates.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      A magnificent city, of an architecture with which he was unacquainted,
+      offered to his entranced vision its gorgeous ruins and deserted splendour;
+      long streets of palaces, with their rich line of lessening pillars, here
+      and there broken by some fallen shaft, vast courts surrounded by ornate
+      and solemn temples, and luxurious baths adorned with rare mosaics, and yet
+      bright with antique gilding; now an arch of triumph, still haughty with
+      its broken friezes; now a granite obelisk covered with strange characters,
+      and proudly towering over a prostrate companion; sometimes a void and
+      crumbling theatre, sometimes a long and elegant aqueduct, sometimes a
+      porphyry column, once breathing with the heroic statue that now lies
+      shivered at its base, all suffused with the warm twilight of an eastern
+      eve.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      He gazed with wonder and admiration upon the strange and fascinating
+      scene. The more he beheld, the more his curiosity was excited. He breathed
+      with difficulty; he advanced with a blended feeling of eagerness and
+      hesitation. Fresh wonders successively unfolded themselves. Each turn
+      developed a new scene of still and solemn splendour. The echo of his step
+      filled him with awe. He looked around him with an amazed air, a fluttering
+      heart, and a changing countenance. All was silent: alone the Hebrew Prince
+      stood amid the regal creation of the Macedonian captains. Empires and
+      dynasties flourish and pass away; the proud metropolis becomes a solitude,
+      the conquering kingdom even a desert; but Israel still remains, still a
+      descendant of the most ancient kings breathed amid these royal ruins, and
+      still the eternal sun could never rise without gilding the towers of
+      living Jerusalem. A word, a deed, a single day, a single man, and we might
+      be a nation.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      A shout! he turns, he is seized; four ferocious Kourdish bandits grapple
+      and bind him.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      The bandits hurried their captive through a street which appeared to have
+      been the principal way of the city. Nearly at its termination, they turned
+      by a small Ionian temple, and, clambering over some fallen pillars,
+      entered a quarter of the city of a more ruinous aspect than that which
+      Alroy had hitherto visited. The path was narrow, often obstructed, and
+      around were signs of devastation for which the exterior of the city had
+      not prepared him.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      The brilliant but brief twilight of the Orient was fast fading away; a
+      sombre purple tint succeeded to the rosy flush; the distant towers rose
+      black, although defined, in the clear and shadowy air; and the moon,
+      which, when he first entered, had studded the heavens like a small white
+      cloud, now glittered with deceptive light.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Suddenly, before them rose a huge pile. Oval in shape, and formed by tiers
+      of arches, it was evidently much dilapidated, and one enormous, irregular,
+      and undulating rent, extending from the top nearly to the foundation,
+      almost separated the side to which Alroy and his companions advanced.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Clambering up the remainder of this massive wall, the robbers and their
+      prisoner descended into an immense amphitheatre, which seemed vaster in
+      the shadowy and streaming moonlight. In it were groups of men, horses, and
+      camels. In the extreme distance, reclining or squatting on mats and
+      carpets, was a large assembly, engaged in a rough but merry banquet. A
+      fire blazed at their side, its red and uncertain flame mingling with the
+      white and steady moonbeam, and throwing a flickering light over their
+      ferocious countenances, their glistening armour, ample drapery, and
+      shawled heads.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;A spy,&rsquo; exclaimed the captors, as they dragged Alroy before the leader of
+      the band.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Hang him, then,&rsquo; said the chieftain, without even looking up.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;This wine, great Scherirah, is excellent, or I am no true Moslem,&rsquo; said a
+      principal robber; &lsquo;but you are too cruel; I hate this summary punishment.
+      Let us torture him a little, and extract some useful information.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;As you like, Kisloch,&rsquo; said Scherirah; &lsquo;it may amuse us. Fellow, where do
+      you come from? He cannot answer. Decidedly a spy. Hang him up.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      The captors half untied the rope that bound Alroy, that it might serve him
+      for a further purpose, when another of the gentle companions of Scherirah
+      interfered.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Spies always answer, captain. He is more probably a merchant in
+      disguise.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;And carries hidden treasure,&rsquo; added Kisloch; &lsquo;these rough coats often
+      cover jewels. We had better search him.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Ah! search him,&rsquo; said Scherirah, with his rough brutal voice; &lsquo;do what
+      you like, only give me the bottle. This Greek wine is choice booty. Feed
+      the fire, men. Are you asleep? And then Kisloch, who hates cruelty, can
+      roast him if he likes.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      The robbers prepared to strip their captive. &lsquo;Friends, friends!&rsquo; exclaimed
+      Alroy, &lsquo;for there is no reason why you should not be friends, spare me,
+      spare me. I am poor, I am young, I am innocent. I am neither a spy nor a
+      merchant. I have no plots, no wealth. I am a pilgrim.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;A decided spy,&rsquo; exclaimed Scherirah; &lsquo;they are ever pilgrims.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;He speaks too well to speak truth,&rsquo; exclaimed Kisloch.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;All talkers are liars,&rsquo; exclaimed Scherirah.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;That is why Kisloch is the most eloquent of the band.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;A jest at the banquet may prove a curse in the field,&rsquo; replied Kisloch.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Pooh!&rsquo; exclaimed Scherirah. &lsquo;Fellows, why do you hesitate? Search the
+      prisoner, I say!&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      They advanced, they seized him. In vain he struggled.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Captain,&rsquo; exclaimed one of the band, &lsquo;he wears upon his breast a jewel!&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;I told you so,&rsquo; said the third robber.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Give it me,&rsquo; said Scherirah.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      But Alroy, in despair at the thought of losing the talisman, remembering
+      the injunctions of Jabaster, and animated by supernatural courage, burst
+      from his searchers, and, seizing a brand from the fire, held them at bay.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;The fellow has spirit,&rsquo; said Scherirah, calmly. &lsquo;&lsquo;Tis pity it will cost
+      him his life.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Bold man,&rsquo; exclaimed Alroy, &lsquo;for a moment hear me! I am a pilgrim, poorer
+      than a beggar. The jewel they talk of is a holy emblem, worthless to you,
+      to me invaluable, and to be forfeited only with my life. You may be
+      careless of that. Beware of your own. The first man who advances dies. I
+      pray you humbly, chieftain, let me go.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Kill him,&rsquo; said Scherirah.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Stab him!&rsquo; exclaimed Kisloch.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Give me the jewel,&rsquo; said the third robber.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;The God of David be my refuge, then!&rsquo; exclaimed Alroy.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;He is a Hebrew, he is a Hebrew,&rsquo; exclaimed Scherirah, jumping up. &lsquo;Spare
+      him, my mother was a Jewess.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      The assailants lowered their arms, and withdrew a few paces. Alroy still
+      remained upon his guard.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Valiant pilgrim,&rsquo; said Scherirah, advancing, with a softened voice, &lsquo;are
+      you for the holy city?&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;The city of my fathers.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;A perilous journey. And whence from?&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Hamadan.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;A dreary way. You need repose. Your name?&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;David.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;David, you are among friends. Rest, and repose in safety. You hesitate.
+      Fear not! The memory of my mother is a charm that always changes me!&rsquo;
+      Scherirah unsheathed his dagger, punctured his arm,<a href="#linknote-14"
+       name="linknoteref-14" id="linknoteref-14">14</a> and, throwing away the
+      weapon, offered the bleeding member to Alroy. The Prince of the Captivity
+      touched the open vein with his lips.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;My troth is pledged,&rsquo; said the bandit; &lsquo;I can never betray him in whose
+      veins my own blood is flowing.&rsquo; So saying, he led Alroy to his carpet.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Eat,&rsquo; David,&rsquo; said Scherirah.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;I will eat bread,&rsquo; answered Alroy.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;What! have you had so much meat lately that you will refuse this delicate
+      gazelle that I brought down this morning with my own lance? &lsquo;Tis food for
+      a caliph.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;I pray you give me bread.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Oh! bread if you like. But that a man should prefer bread to meat, and
+      such meat as this, &lsquo;tis miraculous.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;A thousand thanks, good Scherirah; but with our people the flesh of the
+      gazelle is forbidden. It is unclean. Its foot is <i>cloven</i>.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;I have heard of these things,&rsquo; replied Scherirah, with a thoughtful air.
+      &lsquo;My mother was a Jewess, and my father was a Kourd. Whichever be right, I
+      hope to be saved.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;There is but one God, and Mahomed is his prophet!&rsquo; exclaimed Kisloch;
+      &lsquo;though I drink wine. Your health, Hebrew.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;I will join you,&rsquo; said to the third robber. &lsquo;My father was a Guebre, and
+      sacrificed his property to his faith; and the consequence is, his son has
+      got neither.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;As for me,&rsquo; said a fourth robber, of very dark complexion and singularly
+      small bright eyes, &lsquo;I am an Indian, and I believe in the great golden
+      figure with carbuncle eyes, in the temple of Delhi.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;I have no religion,&rsquo; said a tall negro in a red turban, grinning with his
+      white teeth; &lsquo;they have none in my country; but if I had heard of your God
+      before, Calidas, I would have believed in him.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;I almost wish I had been a Jew,&rsquo; exclaimed Scherirah, musing. &lsquo;My mother
+      was a good woman.&rsquo; &lsquo;The Jews are very rich,&rsquo; said the third robber. &lsquo;When
+      you get to Jerusalem, David, you will see the Christians,&rsquo; continued
+      Scherirah.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;The accursed Giaours,&rsquo; exclaimed Kisloch, &lsquo;we are all against them.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;With their white faces,&rsquo; exclaimed the negro. &lsquo;And their blue eyes,&rsquo; said
+      the Indian. &lsquo;What can you expect of men who live in a country without a
+      sun?&rsquo; observed the Guebre.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Alroy awoke about two hours after midnight. His companions were in deep
+      slumber. The moon had set, the fire had died away, a few red embers alone
+      remaining; dark masses of shadow hung about the amphitheatre. He arose and
+      cautiously stepped over the sleeping bandits. He was not in strictness a
+      prisoner; but who could trust to the caprice of these lawless men?
+      To-morrow might find him their slave, or their companion in some marauding
+      expedition, which might make him almost retrace his steps to the Caucasus,
+      or to Hamadan. The temptation to ensure his freedom was irresistible. He
+      clambered up the ruined wall, descended into the intricate windings that
+      led to the Ionic fane, that served him as a beacon, hurried through the
+      silent and starry streets, gained the great portal, and rushed once more
+      into the desert.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      A vague fear of pursuit made him continue his course many hours without
+      resting. The desert again became sandy, the heat increased. The breeze
+      that plays about the wilderness, and in early spring is often scented with
+      the wild fragrance of aromatic plants, sank away. A lurid brightness
+      suffused the heavens. An appalling stillness pervaded nature; even the
+      insects were silent. For the first time in his pilgrimage, a feeling of
+      deep despondency fell over the soul of Alroy. His energy appeared suddenly
+      to have deserted him. A low hot wind began to rise, and fan his cheek with
+      pestiferous kisses, and enervate his frame with its poisonous embrace. His
+      head and limbs ached with a dull sensation, more terrible than pain; his
+      sight was dizzy, his tongue swollen. Vainly he looked around for aid;
+      vainly he extended his forlorn arms, and wrung them to the remorseless
+      heaven, almost frantic with thirst. The boundless horizon of the desert
+      disappeared, and the unhappy victim, in the midst of his torture, found
+      himself apparently surrounded by bright and running streams, the fleeting
+      waters of the false mirage!
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      The sun became blood-red, the sky darker, the sand rose in fierce eddies,
+      the moaning wind burst into shrieks and exhaled more ardent and still more
+      malignant breath. The pilgrim could no longer sustain himself.<a
+      href="#linknote-15" name="linknoteref-15" id="linknoteref-15">15</a>
+      Faith, courage, devotion deserted him with his failing energies. He strove
+      no longer with his destiny, he delivered himself up to despair and death.
+      He fell upon one knee with drooping head, supporting himself by one
+      quivering hand, and then, full of the anguish of baffled purposes and lost
+      affections, raising his face and arm to heaven, thus to the elements he
+      poured his passionate farewell.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;O life! once vainly deemed a gloomy toil, I feel thy sweetness now!
+      Farewell, O life, farewell my high resolves and proud conviction of
+      almighty fame. My days, my short unprofitable days, melt into the past;
+      and death, with which I struggle, horrible death, arrests me in this
+      wilderness. O my sister, could thy voice but murmur in my ear one single
+      sigh of love; could thine eye with its soft radiance but an instant blend
+      with my dim fading vision, the pang were nothing. Farewell, Miriam! my
+      heart is with thee by thy fountain&rsquo;s side. Fatal blast, bear her my dying
+      words, my blessing. And ye too, friends, whose too neglected love I think
+      of now, farewell! Farewell, my uncle; farewell, pleasant home, and
+      Hamadan&rsquo;s serene and shadowy bowers! Farewell, Jabaster, and the mighty
+      lore of which thou wert the priest and I the pupil! Thy talisman throbs on
+      my faithful heart. Green earth and golden sun, and all the beautiful and
+      glorious sights ye fondly lavish on unthinking man, farewell, farewell! I
+      die in the desert: &lsquo;tis bitter. No more, oh! never more for me the hopeful
+      day shall break, and the fresh breeze rise on its cheering wings of health
+      and joy. Heaven and earth, water and air, my chosen country and my antique
+      creed, farewell, farewell! And thou, too, city of my soul, I cannot name
+      thee, unseen Jerusalem&mdash;&mdash;&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Amid the roar of the wind, the bosom of the earth heaved and opened, swift
+      columns of sand sprang up to the lurid sky, and hurried towards their
+      victim. With the clang of universal chaos, impenetrable darkness descended
+      on the desert.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      <a name="link2HCH0005" id="link2HCH0005">
+      <!--  H2 anchor --> </a>
+    </p>
+    <div style="height: 4em;">
+      <br /><br /><br /><br />
+    </div>
+    <h2>
+      CHAPTER V.
+    </h2>
+<pre xml:space="preserve">
+     <i>Lord Honain Rescues Alroy</i>
+</pre>
+    <p>
+      NOW our dreary way is over, now the desert&rsquo;s toil is past. Soon the river
+      broadly flowing, through its green and palmy banks, to our wearied limbs
+      shall offer baths &lsquo;which caliphs cannot buy. Allah-illah, Allah-hu.
+      Allah-illah, Allah-hu.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Blessed the man who now may bear a relic from our Prophet&rsquo;s tomb; blessed
+      the man who now unfolds the treasures of a distant mart, jewels of the
+      dusky East, and silks of farthest Samarcand. Allah-illah, Allah-hu.
+      Allah-illah, Allah-hu.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Him the sacred mosque shall greet with a reverence grave and low; him the
+      busy Bezestein shall welcome with confiding smile. Holy merchant, now
+      receive the double triumph of thy toil. Allah-illah, Allah-hu.
+      Allah-illah, Allah-hu.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;The camel jibs, Abdallah! See, there is something in the track.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;By the holy stone,<a href="#linknote-16" name="linknoteref-16"
+       id="linknoteref-16">16</a> a dead man. Poor devil! One should never make a
+      pilgrimage on foot. I hate your humble piety. Prick the beast and he will
+      pass the corpse.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;The Prophet preaches charity, Abdallah. He has favoured my enterprise,
+      and I will practise his precept. See if he be utterly dead.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      It was the Mecca caravan returning to Bagdad. The pilgrims were within a
+      day&rsquo;s journey of the Euphrates, and welcomed their approach to fertile
+      earth with a triumphant chorus. Far as the eye could reach, the long line
+      of their straggling procession stretched across the wilderness, thousands
+      of camels in strings, laden with bales of merchandise, and each company
+      headed by an animal of superior size, leading with tinkling bells; groups
+      of horsemen, clusters of litters; all the pilgrims armed to their teeth,
+      the van formed by a strong division of Seljukian cavalry, and the rear
+      protected by a Kourdish clan, who guaranteed the security of the pious
+      travellers through their country.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Abdallah was the favourite slave of the charitable merchant Ali. In
+      obedience to his master&rsquo;s orders, he unwillingly descended from his camel,
+      and examined the body of the apparently lifeless Alroy.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;A Kourd, by his dress,&rsquo; exclaimed Abdallah, with a sneer; &lsquo;what does he
+      here?&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;It is not the face of a Kourd,&rsquo; replied Ali; &lsquo;perchance a pilgrim from
+      the mountains.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Whatever he be, he is dead,&rsquo; answered the slave: &lsquo;I doubt not an accursed
+      Giaour.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;God is great,&rsquo; exclaimed Ali; &lsquo;he breathes; the breast of his caftan
+      heaved.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;&lsquo;Twas the wind,&rsquo; said Abdallah.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;&lsquo;Twas the sigh of a human heart,&rsquo; answered Ali.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Several pilgrims who were on foot now gathered around the group.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;I am a Hakim,&rsquo;<a href="#linknote-17" name="linknoteref-17"
+       id="linknoteref-17">17</a> observed a dignified Armenian. &lsquo;I will feel his
+      pulse; &lsquo;tis dull, but it beats.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;There is but one God,&rsquo; exclaimed Ali.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;And Mahomed is his Prophet,&rsquo; responded Abdallah. &lsquo;You do not believe in
+      him, you Armenian infidel.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;I am a Hakim,&rsquo; replied the dignified Armenian. &lsquo;Although an infidel, God
+      has granted me skill to cure true believers. Worthy Ali, believe me, the
+      boy may yet live.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Hakim, you shall count your own dirhems if he breathe in my divan in
+      Bagdad,&rsquo; answered Ali; &lsquo;I have taken a fancy to the boy. God has sent him
+      to me. He shall carry my slippers.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Give me a camel, and I will save his life.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;We have none,&rsquo; said the servant.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Walk, Abdallah,&rsquo; said the master.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Is a true believer to walk to save the life of a Kourd? Master
+      slipper-bearer shall answer for this, if there be any sweetness in the
+      bastinado,&rsquo; murmured Abdallah.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      The Armenian bled Alroy; the blood flowed slowly but surely. The Prince of
+      the Captivity opened his eyes.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;There is but one God,&rsquo; exclaimed Ali.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;The evil eye fall on him!&rsquo; muttered Abdallah.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      The Armenian took a cordial from his vest, and poured it down his
+      patient&rsquo;s throat. The blood flowed more freely.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;He will live, worthy merchant,&rsquo; said the physician.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;And Mahomed is his Prophet,&rsquo; continued Ali.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;By the stone of Mecca, I believe it is a Jew,&rsquo; shouted Abdallah.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;The dog!&rsquo; exclaimed Ali.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Pah!&rsquo; said a negro slave, drawing back with disgust.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;He will die,&rsquo; said the Christian physician, not even binding up the vein.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;And be damned,&rsquo; said Abdallah, again jumping on his camel.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      The party rode on, the caravan proceeded. A Kourdish horseman galloped
+      forward. He curbed his steed as he passed Alroy bleeding to death.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;What accursed slave has wounded one of my clan?&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      The Kourd leaped off his horse, stripped off a slip of his blue shirt,
+      stanched the wound, and carried the unhappy Alroy to the rear.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      The desert ceased, the caravan entered upon a vast but fruitful plain. In
+      the extreme distance might be descried a long undulating line of
+      palm-trees. The vanguard gave a shout, shook their tall lances in the air,
+      and rattled their scimitars in rude chorus against their small round iron
+      shields. All eyes sparkled, all hands were raised, all voices sounded,
+      save those that were breathless from overpowering joy. After months
+      wandering in the sultry wilderness, they beheld the great Euphrates.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Broad and fresh, magnificent and serene, the mighty waters rolled through
+      the beautiful and fertile earth. A vital breeze rose from their bosom.
+      Every being responded to their genial influence. The sick were cured, the
+      desponding became sanguine, the healthy and light-hearted broke into
+      shouts of laughter, jumped from their camels, and embraced the fragrant
+      earth, or, wild in their renovated strength, galloped over the plain, and
+      threw their wanton jerreeds in the air,<a href="#linknote-18"
+       name="linknoteref-18" id="linknoteref-18">18</a> as if to show that
+      suffering and labour had not deprived them of that skill and strength,
+      without which it were vain again to enter the haunts of their less
+      adventurous brethren.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      The caravan halted on the banks of the broad river, glowing in the cool
+      sunset. The camp was pitched, the plain glittered with tents. The camels,
+      falling on their knees, crouched in groups, the merchandise piled up in
+      masses by their sides. The unharnessed horses rushed neighing about the
+      plain, tossing their glad heads, and rolling in the unaccustomed pasture.
+      Spreading their mats, and kneeling towards Mecca, the pilgrims performed
+      their evening orisons. Never was thanksgiving more sincere. They arose:
+      some rushed into the river, some lighted lamps, some pounded coffee.<a
+      href="#linknote-19" name="linknoteref-19" id="linknoteref-19">19</a>
+      Troops of smiling villagers arrived with fresh provisions, eager to prey
+      upon such light hearts and heavy purses. It was one of those occasions
+      when the accustomed gravity of the Orient disappears. Long through the
+      night the sounds of music and the shouts of laughter were heard on the
+      banks of that starry river; long through the night you might have listened
+      with enchantment to the wild tales of the storier, or gazed with
+      fascination on the wilder gestures of the dancing girls.<a
+      href="#linknote-20" name="linknoteref-20" id="linknoteref-20">20</a>
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      The great bazaar of Bagdad afforded an animated and sumptuous spectacle on
+      the day after the arrival of the caravan. All the rare and costly products
+      of the world were collected in that celebrated mart: the shawls of
+      Cachemire and the silks of Syria, the ivory, and plumes, and gold of
+      Afric, the jewels of Ind, the talismans of Egypt, the perfumes and
+      manuscripts of Persia, the spices and gums of Araby, beautiful horses,
+      more beautiful slaves, cloaks of sable, pelisses of ermine, armour alike
+      magnificent in ornament and temper, rare animals, still rarer birds, blue
+      apes in silver collars, white gazelles bound by a golden chain,
+      greyhounds, peacocks, paroquets. And everywhere strange, and busy, and
+      excited groups; men of all nations, creeds, and climes: the sumptuous and
+      haughty Turk, the graceful and subtle Arab, the Hebrew with his black cap
+      and anxious countenance; the Armenian Christian, with his dark flowing
+      robes, and mild demeanour, and serene visage. Here strutted the lively,
+      affected, and superfine Persian; and there the Circassian stalked with his
+      long hair and chain cuirass. The fair Georgian jostled the ebony form of
+      the merchant of Dongola or Sennaar.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Through the long, narrow, arched, and winding streets of the bazaar, lined
+      on each side with loaded stalls, all was bustle, bargaining, and barter. A
+      passenger approached, apparently of no common rank. Two pages preceded
+      him, beautiful Georgian boys, clothed in crimson cloth, and caps of the
+      same material, sitting tight to their heads, with long golden tassels. One
+      bore a blue velvet bag, and the other a clasped and richly bound volume.
+      Four footmen, armed, followed their master, who rode behind the pages on a
+      milk-white mule. He was a man of middle age, eminently handsome. His ample
+      robes concealed the only fault in his appearance, a figure which
+      indulgence had rendered somewhat too exuberant. His eyes were large, and
+      soft, and dark; his nose aquiline, but delicately moulded; his mouth
+      small, and beautifully proportioned; his lip full and red; his teeth
+      regular and dazzling white. His ebony beard flowed, but not at too great a
+      length, in graceful and natural curls, and was richly perfumed; a delicate
+      mustachio shaded his upper lip, but no whisker was permitted to screen the
+      form and shroud the lustre of his oval countenance and brilliant
+      complexion. Altogether, the animal perhaps predominated too much in the
+      expression of the stranger&rsquo;s countenance; but genius beamed from his
+      passionate eye, and craft lay concealed in that subtle lip. The dress of
+      the rider was sumptuous. His turban, formed by a scarlet Cachemire shawl,
+      was of great breadth, and concealing half of his white forehead, increased
+      by the contrast the radiant height of the other. His under-vest was of
+      white Damascus silk, stiff with silver embroidery, and confined by a
+      girdle formed by a Brusa scarf of gold stuff, and holding a dagger, whose
+      hilt appeared blazing with brilliants and rubies. His loose and exterior
+      robe was of crimson cloth. His white hands sparkled with rings, and his
+      ears glittered with pendulous gems.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Who is this?&rsquo; asked an Egyptian merchant, in a low whisper, of the dealer
+      whose stuffs he was examining.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;&lsquo;Tis the Lord Honain,&rsquo; replied the dealer. &lsquo;And who may he be?&rsquo; continued
+      the Egyptian. &lsquo;Is he the Caliph&rsquo;s son?&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;A much greater man; his physician.&rsquo; The white mule stopped at the very
+      stall where this conversation was taking place. The pages halted, and
+      stood on each side of their master, the footmen kept off the crowd.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Merchant,&rsquo; said Honain, with a gracious smile of condescension, and with
+      a voice musical as a flute, &lsquo;Merchant, did you obtain me my wish?&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;There is but one God,&rsquo; replied the dealer, who was the charitable Ali,
+      &lsquo;and Mahomed is his Prophet. I succeeded, please your highness, in seeing
+      at Aleppo the accursed Giaour, of whom I spoke, and behold, that which you
+      desired is here.&rsquo; So saying, Ali produced several Greek manuscripts, and
+      offered them to his visitor.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Hah!&rsquo; said Honain, with a sparkling eye, &lsquo;&lsquo;tis well; their cost?&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;The infidel would not part with them under five hundred dirhems,&rsquo; replied
+      Ali.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Ibrahim, see that this worthy merchant receive a thousand.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;As many thanks, my Lord Honain.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      The Caliph&rsquo;s physician bowed gracefully.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Advance, pages,&rsquo; continued Honain; &lsquo;why this stoppage? Ibrahim, see that
+      our way be cleared. What is all this?&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      A crowd of men advanced, pulling along a youth, who, almost exhausted,
+      still singly struggled with his ungenerous adversaries.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;The Cadi, the Cadi,&rsquo; cried the foremost of them, who was Abdallah, &lsquo;drag
+      him to the Cadi.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Noble lord,&rsquo; cried the youth, extricating himself by a sudden struggle
+      from the grasp of his captors, and seizing the robe of Honain, &lsquo;I am
+      innocent and injured. I pray thy help.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;The Cadi, the Cadi,&rsquo; exclaimed Abdallah; &lsquo;the knave has stolen my ring,
+      the ring given me by my faithful Fatima on our marriage-day, and which I
+      would not part with for my master&rsquo;s stores.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      The youth still clung to the robe of Honain, and, mute from exhaustion,
+      fixed upon him his beautiful and imploring eye.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Silence,&rsquo; proclaimed Honain, &lsquo;I will judge this cause.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;The Lord Honain, the Lord Honain, listen to the Lord Honain!&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Speak, thou brawler; of what hast thou to complain?&rsquo; said Honain to
+      Abdallah.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;May it please your highness,&rsquo; said Abdallah, in a whining voice, &lsquo;I am
+      the slave of your faithful servant, Ali: often have I had the honour of
+      waiting on your highness. This young knave here, a beggar, has robbed me,
+      while slumbering in a coffee-house, of a ring; I have my witnesses to
+      prove my slumbering. &lsquo;Tis a fine emerald, may it please your highness, and
+      doubly valuable to me as a love-token from my Fatima. No consideration in
+      the world could induce me to part with it; and so, being asleep, here are
+      three honest men who will prove the sleep, comes this little vagabond, may
+      it please your highness, who while he pretends to offer me my coffee,
+      takes him my finger, and slips off this precious ring, which he now wears
+      upon his beggarly paw, and will not restore to me without the bastinado.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Abdallah is a faithful slave, may it please your highness, and a Hadgee,&rsquo;
+      said Ali, his master.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;And what sayest thou, boy?&rsquo; inquired Honain.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;That this is a false knave, who lies as slaves ever will.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Pithy, and perhaps true,&rsquo; said Honain.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;You call me a slave, you young scoundrel?&rsquo; exclaimed Abdallah; &lsquo;shall I
+      tell you what you are? Why, your highness, do not listen to him a moment.
+      It is a shame to bring such a creature into your presence; for, by the
+      holy stone, and I am a Hadgee, I doubt little he is a Jew.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Honain grew somewhat pale, and bit his lip. He was perhaps annoyed that he
+      had interfered so publicly in behalf of so unpopular a character as a
+      Hebrew, but he was unwilling to desert one whom a moment before he had
+      resolved to befriend, and he inquired of the youth where he had obtained
+      the ring.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;The ring was given to me by my dearest friend when I first set out upon
+      an arduous pilgrimage not yet completed. There is but one person in the
+      world, except the donor, to whom I would part with it, and with that
+      person I am unacquainted. All this may seem improbable, but all this is
+      true. I have truth alone to support me. I am destitute and friendless; but
+      I am not a beggar, nor will any suffering induce me to become one.
+      Feeling, from various circumstances, utterly exhausted, I entered a
+      coffee-house and lay down, it may have been to die. I could not sleep,
+      although my eyes were shut, and nothing would have roused me from a
+      tremulous trance, which I thought was dying, but this plunderer here, who
+      would not wait until death had permitted him quietly to possess himself of
+      a jewel I value more than life.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Show me the jewel.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      The youth held up his hand to Honain, who felt his pulse, and then took
+      off the ring.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;O, my Fatima!&rsquo; exclaimed Abdallah.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Silence, sir!&rsquo; said Honain. &lsquo;Page, call a jeweller.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Honain examined the ring attentively. Whether he were near-sighted, or
+      whether the deceptive light of the covered bazaar prevented him from
+      examining it with ease, he certainly raised his hand to his brow, and for
+      some moments his countenance was invisible.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      The jeweller arrived, and, pressing his hand to his heart, bowed before
+      Honain.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Value this ring,&rsquo; said Honain, in a low voice.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      The jeweller took the ring, viewed it in all directions with a
+      scrutinising glance, held it to the light, pressed it to his tongue,
+      turned it over and over, and finally declared that he could not sell such
+      a ring under a thousand dirhems.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Whatever be the justice of the case,&rsquo; said Honain to Abdallah, &lsquo;art thou
+      ready to part with this ring for a thousand dirhems?&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Most certainly,&rsquo; said Abdallah. &lsquo;And thou, lad, if the decision be in thy
+      favour, wilt thou take for the ring double the worth at which the jeweller
+      prizes it?&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;My lord, I have spoken the truth. I cannot part with that ring for the
+      palace of the Caliph.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;The truth for once is triumphant,&rsquo; said Honain. &lsquo;Boy, the ring is thine;
+      and for thee, thou knave,&rsquo; turning to Abdallah, &lsquo;liar, thief, and
+      slanderer!&mdash;for thee the bastinado,<a href="#linknote-21"
+       name="linknoteref-21" id="linknoteref-21">21</a> which thou destinedst for
+      this innocent youth. Ibrahim, see that he receives five hundred. Young
+      pilgrim, thou art no longer destitute or friendless. Follow me to my
+      palace.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      The arched chamber was of great size and beautiful proportion. The
+      ceiling, encrusted with green fretwork, and studded with silver stars,
+      rested upon clustered columns of white and green marble. In the centre of
+      a variegated pavement of the same material, a fountain rose and fell into
+      a green porphyry basin, and by the side of the fountain, upon a couch of
+      silver, reposed Honain.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      He raised his eyes from the illuminated volume on which he had been long
+      intent; he clapped his hands, and a Nubian slave advanced, and, folding
+      his arms upon his breast, bowed in silence before his lord. &lsquo;How fares the
+      Hebrew boy, Analschar?&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Master, the fever has not returned. We gave him the potion; he slumbered
+      for many hours, and has now awakened, weak but well.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Let him rise and attend me.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      The Nubian disappeared.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;There is nothing stranger than sympathy,&rsquo; soliloquised the physician of
+      the Caliph, with a meditative air; &lsquo;all resolves itself into this
+      principle, and I confess this learned doctor treats it deeply and well. An
+      erudite spirit truly, and an eloquent pen; yet he refines too much. &lsquo;Tis
+      too scholastic. Observation will teach us more than dogma. Meditating upon
+      my passionate youth, I gathered wisdom. I have seen so much that I have
+      ceased to wonder. However we doubt, there is a mystery beyond our
+      penetration. And yet &lsquo;tis near our grasp. I sometimes deem a step, a
+      single step, would launch us into light. Here comes my patient. The rose
+      has left his cheek, and his deep brow is wan and melancholy. Yet &lsquo;tis a
+      glorious visage, Meditation&rsquo;s throne; and Passion lingers in that languid
+      eye. I know not why, a strong attraction draws me to this lone child.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Gentle stranger, how fares it with thee?&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Very well, my lord. I come to thank thee for all thy goodness. My only
+      thanks are words, and those too weak; and yet the orphan&rsquo;s blessing is a
+      treasure.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;You are an orphan, then&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;I have no parent but my father&rsquo;s God.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;And that God is&mdash;&mdash;&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;The God of Israel.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;So I deemed. He is a Deity we all must honour; if he be the great Creator
+      whom we all allow.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;He is what he is, and we are what we are, a fallen people, but faithful
+      still.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Fidelity is strength.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Thy words are truth, and strength must triumph.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;A prophecy!&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Many a prophet is little honoured, till the future proves his
+      inspiration.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;You are young and sanguine.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;So was my ancestor within the vale of Elah. But I speak unto a Moslem,
+      and this is foolishness.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;I have read something, and can take your drift. As for my faith, I
+      believe in truth, and wish all men to do the same. By-the-bye, might I
+      inquire the name of him who is the inmate of my house?&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;They call me David.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;David, you have a ring, an emerald cut with curious characters, Hebrew, I
+      believe.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;&lsquo;Tis here.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;A fine stone, and this inscription means&mdash;&mdash;&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;A simple legend, &ldquo;<i>Parted, but one</i>;&rdquo; the kind memorial of a
+      brother&rsquo;s love.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Your brother?&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;I never had a brother.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;I have a silly fancy for this ring: you hesitate. Search my palace, and
+      choose the treasure you deem its match.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Noble sir, the gem is little worth; but were it such might deck a
+      Caliph&rsquo;s brow, &lsquo;twere a poor recompense for all thy goodness. This ring is
+      a trust rather than a possession, and strange to say, although I cannot
+      offer it to thee who mayst command, as thou hast saved, the life of its
+      unhappy wearer, some stranger may cross my path to-morrow, and almost
+      claim it as his own.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;And that stranger is&mdash;&mdash;&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;The brother of the donor.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;The brother of Jabaster?&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Jabaster!&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Even so. I am that parted brother.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Great is the God of Israel! Take the ring. But what is this? the brother
+      of Jabaster a turbaned chieftain! a Moslem! Say, but say, that thou hast
+      not assumed their base belief; say, but say, that thou hast not become a
+      traitor to our covenant, and I will bless the fortunes of this hour.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;I am false to no God. Calm thyself, sweet youth. These are higher
+      questions than thy faint strength can master now. Another time we&rsquo;ll talk
+      of this, my boy; at present of my brother and thyself. He lives and
+      prospers?&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;He lives in faith; the pious ever prosper.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;A glorious dreamer! Though our moods are different, I ever loved him. And
+      thyself? Thou art not what thou seemest. Tell me all. Jabaster&rsquo;s friend
+      can be no common mind. Thy form has heralded thy fame. Trust me.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;I am Alroy.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;What! the Prince of our Captivity?&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Even so.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;The slayer of Alschiroch?&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Ay!&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;My sympathy was prophetic. I loved thee from the first. And what dost
+      thou here? A price is set upon thy head: thou knowest it?&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;For the first time; but I am neither astonished nor alarmed. I am upon
+      the Lord&rsquo;s business.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;What wouldst thou?&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Free his people.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;The pupil of Jabaster: I see it all. Another victim to his reveries. I&rsquo;ll
+      save this boy. David,&mdash;for thy name must not be sounded within this
+      city,&mdash;the sun is dying. Let us to the terrace, and seek the solace
+      of the twilight breeze.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;What is the hour, David?&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Near to midnight. I marvel if thy brother may read in the stars our happy
+      meeting.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Men read that which they wish. He is a learned Cabalist.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;But what we wish comes from above.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;So they say. We make our fortunes, and we call them Fate.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Yet the Voice sounded, the Daughter of the Voice that summoned Samuel.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;You have told me strange things; I have heard stranger solved.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;My faith is a rock.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;On which you may split.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Art thou a Sadducee?&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;I am a man who knows men.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;You are learned, but different from Jabaster.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;We are the same, though different. Day and Night are both portions of
+      Time.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;And thy portion is&mdash;&mdash;&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Truth.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;That is, light.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Yes; so dazzling that it sometimes seems dark.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Like thy meaning.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;You are young.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Is youth a defect?&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;No, the reverse. But we cannot eat the fruit while the tree is in
+      blossom.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;What fruit?&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Knowledge.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;I have studied.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;What?&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;All sacred things.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;How know you that they are sacred?&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;They come from God.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;So does everything. Is everything sacred?&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;They are the deep expression of his will.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;According to Jabaster. Ask the man who prays in yonder mosque, and he
+      will tell you that Jabaster&rsquo;s wrong.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;After all, thou art a Moslem?&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;No.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;What then?&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;I have told you, a man.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;But what dost thou worship?&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;What is worship?&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Adoration due from the creature to the Creator.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Which is he?&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Our God.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;The God of Israel?&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Even so.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;A frail minority, then, burn incense to him.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;We are the chosen people.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Chosen for scoffs, and scorns, and contumelies. Commend me to such
+      choice.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;We forgot Him, before He chastened us.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Why did we?&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Thou knowest the records of our holy race.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Yes, I know them; like all records, annals of blood.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Annals of victory, that will dawn again.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;If redemption be but another name for carnage, I envy no Messiah.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Art thou Jabaster&rsquo;s brother?&rsquo; &lsquo;So our mother was wont to say: a meek and
+      blessed woman.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Lord Honain, thou art rich, and wise, and powerful. Thy fellow-men speak
+      of thee only with praise or fear, and both are cheering. Thou hast quitted
+      our antique ark; why, no matter. We&rsquo;ll not discuss it. &lsquo;Tis something; if
+      a stranger, at least thou art not a renegade. The world goes well with
+      thee, my Lord Honain. But if, instead of bows and blessings, thou, like
+      thy brethren, wert greeted only with the cuff and curse; if thou didst
+      rise each morning only to feel existence to be dishonour, and to find
+      thyself marked out among surrounding men as something foul and fatal; if
+      it were thy lot, like theirs, at best to drag on a mean and dull career,
+      hopeless and aimless, or with no other hope or aim but that which is
+      degrading, and all this, too, with a keen sense of thy intrinsic worth,
+      and a deep conviction of superior race; why, then, perchance, Honain might
+      even discover &lsquo;twere worth a struggle to be free and honoured.&rsquo; &lsquo;I pray
+      your pardon, sir; I thought you were Jabaster&rsquo;s pupil, a dreaming student.
+      I see you have a deep ambition.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;I am a prince; and I fain would be a prince without my fetters.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Listen to me, Alroy,&rsquo; said Honain in a low voice, and he placed his arm
+      around him, &lsquo;I am your friend. Our acquaintance is very brief: no matter,
+      I love you; I rescued you in injury, I tended you in sickness, even now
+      your life is in my power, I would protect it with my own. You cannot doubt
+      me. Our affections are not under our own control; and mine are yours. The
+      sympathy between us is entire. You see me, you see what I am; a Hebrew,
+      though unknown; one of that despised, rejected, persecuted people, of whom
+      you are the chief. I too would be free and honoured. Freedom and honour
+      are mine, but I was my own messiah. I quitted in good time our desperate
+      cause, but I gave it a trial. Ask Jabaster how I fought. Youth could be my
+      only excuse for such indiscretion. I left this country; I studied and
+      resided among the Greeks. I returned from Constantinople, with all their
+      learning, some of their craft. No one knew me. I assumed their turban, and
+      I am the Lord Honain. Take my experience, child, and save yourself much
+      sorrow. Turn your late adventure to good account. No one can recognise you
+      here. I will introduce you amongst the highest as my child by some fair
+      Greek. The world is before you. You may fight, you may love, you may
+      revel. War, and Women, and luxury are all at your command. With your
+      person and talents you may be grand vizir. Clear your head of nonsense. In
+      the present disordered state of the empire, you may even carve yourself
+      out a kingdom, infinitely more delightful than the barren land of milk and
+      honey. I have seen it, child; a rocky wilderness, where I would not let my
+      courser graze.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      He bent down, and fixed his eyes upon his companion with a scrutinising
+      glance. The moonlight fell upon the resolved visage of the Prince of the
+      Captivity.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Honain,&rsquo; he replied, pressing his hand, &lsquo;I thank thee. Thou knowest not
+      me, but still I thank thee.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;You are resolved, then, on destruction.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;On glory, eternal glory.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Is it possible to succeed?&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Is it possible to fail?&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;You are mad.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;I am a believer.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Enough. You have yet one chance. My brother has saddled your enterprise
+      with a condition, and an impossible one. Gain the sceptre of Solomon, and
+      I will agree to be your subject. You will waste a year in this frolic. You
+      are young, and can afford it. I trust you will experience nothing worse
+      than a loss of time, which is, however, valuable. My duty will be, after
+      all your sufferings, to send you forth on your adventures in good
+      condition, and to provide you means for a less toilsome pilgrimage than
+      has hitherto been your lot. Trust me, you will return to Bagdad to accept
+      my offers. At present, the dews are descending, and we will return to our
+      divan, and take some coffee.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Some few days after this conversation on the terrace, as Alroy was
+      reclining in a bower, in the beautiful garden of his host, meditating on
+      the future, some one touched him on the back. He looked up. It was Honain.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Follow me,&rsquo; said the brother of Jabaster.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      The Prince rose, and followed him in silence. They entered the house, and,
+      passing through the saloon already described, they proceeded down a long
+      gallery, which terminated in an arched flight of broad steps leading to
+      the river. A boat was fastened to the end of the stairs, floating on the
+      blue line of the Tigris, bright in the sun.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Honain now gave to Alroy a velvet bag, which he requested him to carry,
+      and then they descended the steps and entered the covered boat; and,
+      without any directions to the rower, they were soon skimming over the
+      water. By the sound of passing vessels, and the occasional shouts of the
+      boatmen, Alroy, although he could observe nothing, was conscious that for
+      some time their course lay through a principal thoroughfare of the city;
+      but by degrees the sounds became less frequent, and in time entirely died
+      away, and all that caught his ear was the regular and monotonous stroke of
+      their own oar.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      At length, after the lapse of nearly an hour from their entrance, the boat
+      stopped, and was moored against a quay. The curtains were withdrawn, and
+      Honain and his companion debarked.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      A low but extensive building, painted in white and gold arabesque, and
+      irregular but picturesque in form, with many small domes, and tall thin
+      towers, rose amid groves of cypress on the bank of the broad and silent
+      river. The rapid stream had carried them far from the city, which was
+      visible but distant. Around was no habitation, no human being. The
+      opposite bank was occupied by enclosed gardens. Not even a boat passed.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Honain, beckoning to Alroy to accompany him, but still silent, advanced to
+      a small portal, and knocked. It was instantly opened by a single Nubian,
+      who bowed reverently as the visitors passed him. They proceeded along a
+      low and gloomy passage, covered with arches of fretwork, until they
+      arrived at a door of tortoise-shell and mother-of-pearl.<a
+      href="#linknote-22" name="linknoteref-22" id="linknoteref-22">22</a> Here
+      Honain, who was in advance, turned round to Alroy, and said, &lsquo;Whatever
+      happen, and whoever may address you, as you value your life and mine, do
+      not speak.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      The door opened, and they found themselves in a vast and gorgeous hall.
+      Pillars of many-coloured marbles rose from a red and blue pavement of the
+      same material, and supported a vaulted, circular, and highly-embossed roof
+      of purple, scarlet, and gold.<a href="#linknote-23" name="linknoteref-23"
+       id="linknoteref-23">23</a> Around a fountain, which rose fifty feet in
+      height from an immense basin of lapis-lazuli, and reclining on small
+      yellow Barbary mats, was a group of Nubian eunuchs, dressed in rich habits
+      of scarlet and gold,<a href="#linknote-24" name="linknoteref-24"
+       id="linknoteref-24">24</a> and armed with ivory battle-axes, the white
+      handles worked in precious arabesque finely contrasting with the blue and
+      brilliant blades.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      The commander of the eunuch-guard rose on seeing Honain, and pressing his
+      hand to his head, mouth, and heart, saluted him. The physician of the
+      Caliph, motioning Alroy to remain, advanced some paces in front of him,
+      and entered into a whispering conversation with the eunuch. After a few
+      minutes, this officer resumed his seat, and Honain, beckoning to Alroy to
+      rejoin him, crossed the hall.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Passing through an open arch, they entered a quadrangular court of roses,<a
+      href="#linknote-25" name="linknoteref-25" id="linknoteref-25">25</a> each
+      bed of flowers surrounded by a stream of sparkling water, and floating
+      like an enchanted islet upon a fairy ocean. The sound of the water and the
+      sweetness of the flowers blended together, and produced a lulling
+      sensation, which nothing but his strong and strange curiosity might have
+      enabled Alroy to resist. Proceeding along a cloister of light airy
+      workmanship which connected the hall with the remainder of the buildings,
+      they stood before a lofty and sumptuous portal.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      It was a monolith gate, thirty feet in height, formed of one block of
+      green and red jasper, and cut into the fanciful undulating arch of the
+      Saracens. The consummate artist had seized the advantage afforded to him
+      by the ruddy veins of the precious stone, and had formed them in bold
+      relief into two vast and sinuous serpents, which shot forth their crested
+      heads and glittering eyes at Honain and his companion.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      The physician of the Caliph, taking his dagger from his girdle, struck the
+      head of one of the serpents thrice. The massy portal opened with a whirl
+      and a roar, and before them stood an Abyssinian giant,<a
+      href="#linknote-26" name="linknoteref-26" id="linknoteref-26">26</a>
+      holding in his leash a roaring lion.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Hush, Haroun!&rsquo; said Honain to the animal, raising at the same time his
+      arm; and the beast crouched in silence. &lsquo;Worthy Morgargon, I bring you a
+      remembrance.&rsquo; The Abyssinian showed his tusks, larger and whiter than the
+      lion&rsquo;s, as he grinningly received the tribute of the courtly Honain; and
+      he uttered a few uncouth sounds, but he could not speak, for he was a
+      mute.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      The jasper portal introduced the companions to a long and lofty and arched
+      chamber, lighted by high windows of stained glass, hung with tapestry of
+      silk and silver, covered with prodigious carpets, and surrounded by
+      immense couches. And thus through similar chambers they proceeded, in some
+      of which were signs of recent habitation, until they arrived at another
+      quadrangle nearly filled by a most singular fountain which rose from a
+      basin of gold encrusted with pearls, and which was surrounded by figures
+      of every rare quadruped<a href="#linknote-27" name="linknoteref-27"
+       id="linknoteref-27">27</a> in the most costly materials. Here a golden
+      tiger, with flaming eyes of ruby and flowing stripes of opal, stole, after
+      some bloody banquet, to the refreshing brink; a camelopard raised its
+      slender neck of silver from the centre of a group of every inhabitant of
+      the forest; and brilliant bands of monkeys, glittering with precious
+      stones, rested, in every variety of fantastic posture, on the margin of
+      the basin.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      The fountain itself was a tree of gold and silver<a href="#linknote-28"
+       name="linknoteref-28" id="linknoteref-28">28</a> spreading into
+      innumerable branches, covered with every variety of curious birds, their
+      plumage appropriately imitated by the corresponding tints of precious
+      stones, which warbled in beautiful melody as they poured forth from their
+      bills the musical and refreshing element.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      It was with difficulty that Alroy could refrain from an admiring
+      exclamation, but Honain, ever quick, turned to him, with his finger
+      pressed on his mouth, and quitting the quadrangle, they entered the
+      gardens.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Lofty terraces, dark masses of cypress, winding walks of acacia, in the
+      distance an interminable paradise, and here and there a glittering
+      pavilion and bright kiosk! Its appearance on the river had not prepared
+      Alroy for the extent of the palace itself. It seemed infinite, and it was
+      evident that he had only viewed a small portion of it. While they were
+      moving on, there suddenly rose a sound of trumpets. The sound grew nearer
+      and nearer, louder and louder: soon was heard the tramp of an approaching
+      troop. Honain drew Alroy aside. A procession appeared advancing from a
+      dark grove of cypress. Four hundred men led as many white bloodhounds with
+      collars of gold and rubies.<a href="#linknote-29" name="linknoteref-29"
+       id="linknoteref-29">29</a> Then came one hundred men, each with a hooded
+      hawk; then six horsemen in rich dresses; after them a single horseman,
+      mounted on a steed, marked on its forehead with a star.<a
+      href="#linknote-30" name="linknoteref-30" id="linknoteref-30">30</a> The
+      rider was middle-aged, handsome, and dignified. He was plainly dressed,
+      but the staff of his hunting-spear was entirely of diamonds and the blade
+      of gold.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      He was followed by a company of Nubian eunuchs, with their scarlet dresses
+      and ivory battle-axes, and the procession closed.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;The Caliph,&rsquo; whispered Honain, when they had passed, placing at the same
+      time his finger on his lip to prevent any inquiry. This was the first
+      intimation that had reached Alroy of what he had already suspected, that
+      he was a visitor to the palace of the Commander of the Faithful.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      The companions turned down a wild and winding walk, which, after some
+      time, brought them to a small and gently sloping lawn, surrounded by
+      cedar-trees of great size. Upon the lawn was a kiosk, a long and
+      many-windowed building, covered with blinds, and further screened by an
+      overhanging roof. The kiosk was built of white and green marble, the
+      ascent to it was by a flight of steps the length of the building,
+      alternately of white and green marble, and nearly covered with rose-trees.
+      Honain went up these steps alone, and entered the kiosk. After a few
+      minutes he looked out from the blinds and beckoned to Alroy. David
+      advanced, but Honain, fearful of some indiscretion, met him, and said to
+      him in a low whisper between his teeth, &lsquo;Remember you are deaf, a mute,
+      and a eunuch.&rsquo; Alroy could scarcely refrain from smiling, and the Prince
+      of the Captivity and the physician of the Caliph entered the kiosk
+      together. Two women, veiled, and two eunuchs of the guard, received them
+      in an antechamber. And then they passed into a room which ran nearly the
+      whole length of the kiosk, opening on one side to the gardens, and on the
+      other supported by an ivory wall, with niches painted in green fresco, and
+      in each niche a rose-tree. Each niche, also, was covered with an almost
+      invisible golden grate, which confined a nightingale, and made him
+      constant to the rose he loved. At the foot of each niche was a fountain,
+      but, instead of water, each basin was replenished with the purest
+      quicksilver.<a href="#linknote-31" name="linknoteref-31"
+       id="linknoteref-31">31</a> The roof of the kiosk was of mother-of-pearl
+      inlaid with tortoise-shell; the pavement, a mosaic of rare marbles and
+      precious stones, representing the most delicious fruits and the most
+      beautiful flowers. Over this pavement, a Georgian page flung at intervals
+      refreshing perfumes. At the end of this elegant chamber was a divan of
+      light green silk, embroidered with pearls, and covered with cushions of
+      white satin and gold. Upon one of these cushions, in the middle of the
+      divan, sat a lady, her eyes fixed in abstraction upon a volume of Persian
+      poetry lying on her knees, one hand playing with a rosary of pearls and
+      emeralds,<a href="#linknote-32" name="linknoteref-32" id="linknoteref-32">32</a>
+      and the other holding a long gold chain, which imprisoned a white gazelle.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      The lady looked up as Honain and his companion entered. She was very
+      young, as youthful as Alroy. Her long light brown hair, drawn off a high
+      white forehead covered with blue veins, fell braided with pearls over each
+      shoulder. Her eyes were large and deeply blue; her nose small, but high
+      and aquiline. The fairness of her face was dazzling, and, when she looked
+      up and greeted Honain, her lustrous cheeks broke into dimples, the more
+      fascinating from their contrast with the general expression of her
+      countenance, which was haughty and derisive. The lady was dressed in a
+      robe of crimson silk girded round her waist by a green shawl, from which
+      peeped forth the diamond hilt of a small poniard.<a href="#linknote-33"
+       name="linknoteref-33" id="linknoteref-33">33</a> Her round white arms
+      looked infinitely small, as they occasionally flashed forth from their
+      large loose hanging sleeves. One was covered with jewels, and the right
+      arm was quite bare.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Honain advanced, and, bending, kissed the lady&rsquo;s proffered hand. Alroy
+      fell into the background.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;They told me that the Rose of the World drooped this morning,&rsquo; said the
+      physician, bending again as he smiled, &lsquo;and her slave hastened at her
+      command to tend her.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;It was a south wind. The wind has changed, and the Rose of the World is
+      better,&rsquo; replied the lady laughing.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Honain touched her pulse.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Irregular,&rsquo; said the physician.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Like myself,&rsquo; said the lady. &lsquo;Is that a new slave?&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;A recent purchase, and a great bargain. He is good-looking, has the
+      advantage of being deaf and dumb, and is harmless in every respect.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;&lsquo;Tis a pity,&rsquo; replied the lady; &lsquo;it seems that all good-looking people
+      are born to be useless. I, for instance.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Yet rumour whispers the reverse,&rsquo; remarked the physician.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;How so?&rsquo; inquired the lady.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;The young King of Karasmé.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Poh! I have made up my mind to detest him. A barbarian!&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;A hero!&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Have you ever seen him?&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;I have.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Handsome?&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;An archangel.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;And sumptuous?&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Is he not a conqueror? All the plunder of the world will be yours.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;I am tired of magnificence. I built this kiosk to forget it.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;It is not in the least degree splendid,&rsquo; said Honain, looking round with
+      a smile.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;No,&rsquo; answered the lady, with a self-satisfied air: &lsquo;here, at least, one
+      can forget one has the misfortune to be a princess.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;It is certainly a great misfortune,&rsquo; said the physician.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;And yet it must be the only tolerable lot,&rsquo; replied the lady.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Assuredly,&rsquo; replied Honain.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;For our unhappy sex, at least.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Very unhappy.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;If I were only a man!&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;What a hero you would be!&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;I should like to live in endless confusion.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;I have not the least doubt of it.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Have you got me the books?&rsquo; eagerly inquired the Princess.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;My slave bears them,&rsquo; replied Honain.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Let me see them directly.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Honain took the bag from Alroy, and unfolded its contents; the very
+      volumes of Greek romances which Ali, the merchant, had obtained for him.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;I am tired of poetry,&rsquo; said the Princess, glancing over the costly
+      volumes, and tossing them away; &lsquo;I long to see the world.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;You would soon be tired of that,&rsquo; replied the physician.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;I suppose common people are never tired.&rsquo; said the Princess.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Except with labour;&rsquo; said the physician; &lsquo;care keeps them alive.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;What is care?&rsquo; asked the Princess, with a smile.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;It is a god,&rsquo; replied the physician, &lsquo;invisible, but omnipotent. It
+      steals the bloom from the cheek and lightness from the pulse; it takes
+      away the appetite, and turns the hair grey.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;It is no true divinity, then,&rsquo; replied the Princess, &lsquo;but an idol we make
+      ourselves. I am a sincere Moslem, and will not worship it. Tell me some
+      news, Honain.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;The young King of Karasmé&mdash;&mdash;&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Again! the barbarian! You are in his pay. I&rsquo;ll none of him. To leave one
+      prison, and to be shut up in another,&mdash;why do you remind me of it?
+      No, my dear Hakim, if I marry at all, I will marry to be free.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;An impossibility,&rsquo; said Honain.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;My mother was free till she was a queen and a slave. I intend to end as
+      she began. You know what she was.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Honain knew well, but he was too politic not to affect ignorance.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;The daughter of a bandit,&rsquo; continued the Princess, &lsquo;who fought by the
+      side of her father. That is existence! I must be a robber. &lsquo;Tis in the
+      blood. I want my fate foretold, Honain. You are an astrologer; do it.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;I have already cast your nativity. Your star is à comet.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;That augurs well; brilliant confusion and erratic splendour. I wish I
+      were a star,&rsquo; added the Princess in a deep rich voice, and with a pensive
+      air; &lsquo;a star in the clear blue sky, beautiful and free. Honain, Honain,
+      the gazelle has broken her chain, and is eating my roses.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Alroy rushed forward and seized the graceful truant. Honain shot him an
+      anxious look; the Princess received the chain from the hand of Alroy, and
+      cast at him a scrutinising glance.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;What splendid eyes the poor beast has got!&rsquo; exclaimed the Princess.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;The gazelle?&rsquo; inquired the physician.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;No, your slave,&rsquo; replied the Princess. &lsquo;Why, he blushes. Were he not deaf
+      as well as dumb, I could almost believe he understood me.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;He is modest,&rsquo; replied Honain, rather alarmed; &lsquo;and is frightened at the
+      liberty he has taken.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;I like modesty,&rsquo; said the Princess; &lsquo;it is interesting. I am modest; you
+      think so?&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Certainly,&rsquo; said Honain.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;And interesting?&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Very.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;I detest an interesting person. After all, there is nothing like plain
+      dulness.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Nothing,&rsquo; said Honain.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;The day flows on so serenely in such society.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;It does,&rsquo; said Honain.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;No confusion; no scenes.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;None.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;I make it a rule only to have ugly slaves.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;You are quite right.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Honain, will you ever contradict me? You know very well I have the
+      handsomest slaves in the world.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Every one knows it.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;And, do you know, I have taken a great fancy to your new purchase, who,
+      according to your account, is eminently qualified for the post. Why, do
+      you not agree with me?&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Why, yes; I doubt not your Highness would find him eminently qualified,
+      and certainly few things would give me greater pleasure than offering him
+      for your acceptance; but I got into such disgrace by that late affair of
+      the Circassian, that&mdash;&mdash;&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Oh! leave it to me,&rsquo; said the Princess.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Certainly,&rsquo; said the physician, turning the conversation; &lsquo;and when the
+      young King of Karasmé arrives at Bagdad, you can offer him to his majesty
+      as a present.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Delightful! and the king is really handsome and young as well as brave;
+      but has he any taste?&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;You have enough for both.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;If he would but make war against the Greeks!&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Why so violent against the poor Greeks?&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;You know they are Giaours. Besides, they might beat him, and then I
+      should have the pleasure of being taken prisoner.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Delightful!&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Charming! to see Constantinople, and marry the Emperor.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Marry the Emperor!&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;To be sure. Of course he would fall in love with me.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Of course.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;And then, and then, I might conquer Paris!&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Paris!&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;You have been at Paris?&rsquo;<a href="#linknote-34" name="linknoteref-34"
+       id="linknoteref-34">34</a>
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Yes.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;The men are shut up there,&rsquo; said the Princess with a smile, &lsquo;are they
+      not? and the women do what they like?&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;You will always do what you like,&rsquo; said Honain, rising.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;You are going?&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;My visits must not be too long.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Farewell, dear Honain!&rsquo; said the Princess, with a melancholy air. &lsquo;You
+      are the only person who has an idea in all Bagdad, and you leave me. A
+      miserable lot is mine, to feel everything, and be nothing. These books and
+      flowers, these sweet birds, and this fair gazelle: ah! poets may feign as
+      they please, but how cheerfully would I resign all these elegant
+      consolations of a captive life for one hour of freedom! I wrote some
+      verses on myself yesterday; take them, and get them blazoned for me by the
+      finest scribe in the city; letters of silver on a violet ground with a
+      fine flowing border; I leave the design to you. Adieu! Come hither, mute.&rsquo;
+      Alroy advanced to her beckon, and knelt. &lsquo;There, take that rosary for thy
+      master&rsquo;s sake, and those dark eyes of thine.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      The companions withdrew, and reached their boat in silence. It was sunset.
+      The musical and sonorous voice of the Muezzin resounded from the
+      innumerable minarets of the splendid city. Honain threw back the curtains
+      of the barque. Bagdad rose before them in huge masses of sumptuous
+      dwellings, seated amid groves and gardens. An infinite population,
+      summoned by the invigorating twilight, poured forth in all directions. The
+      glowing river was covered with sparkling caiques, the glittering terraces
+      with showy groups. Splendour, and power, and luxury, and beauty were
+      arrayed before them in their most captivating forms, and the heart of
+      Alroy responded to their magnificence. &lsquo;A glorious vision!&rsquo; said the
+      Prince of the Captivity.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Very different from Hamadan,&rsquo; said the physician of the Caliph.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;To-day I have seen wonders,&rsquo; said Alroy.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;The world is opening to you,&rsquo; said Honain.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Alroy did not reply; but after some minutes he said, in a hesitating
+      voice, &lsquo;Who was that lady?&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;The Princess Schirene,&rsquo; replied Honain, &lsquo;the favourite daughter of the
+      Caliph. Her mother was a Georgian and a Giaour.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      The moonlight fell upon the figure of Alroy lying on a couch; his face was
+      hidden by his arm. He was motionless, but did not sleep.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      He rose and paced the chamber with agitated steps; sometimes he stopped,
+      and gazed on the pavement, fixed in abstraction. He advanced to the
+      window, and cooled his feverish brow in the midnight air.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      An hour passed away, and the young Prince of the Captivity remained fixed
+      in the same position. Suddenly he turned to a tripod of porphyry, and,
+      seizing a rosary of jewels, pressed it to his lips.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;The Spirit of my dreams, she comes at last; the form for which I have
+      sighed and wept; the form which rose upon my radiant vision when I shut my
+      eyes against the jarring shadows of this gloomy world.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Schirene! Schirene! here in this solitude I pour to thee the passion long
+      stored up: the passion of my life, no common life, a life full of deep
+      feeling and creative thought. O beautiful! O more than beautiful! for thou
+      to me art as a dream unbroken: why art thou not mine? why lose a moment in
+      our glorious lives, and balk our destiny of half its bliss?
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Fool, fool, hast thou forgotten? The rapture of a prisoner in his cell,
+      whose wild fancy for a moment belies his fetters! The daughter of the
+      Caliph and a Jew!
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Give me my fathers&rsquo; sceptre.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;A plague on talismans! Oh! I need no inspiration but her memory, no magic
+      but her name. By heavens! I will enter this glorious city a conqueror, or
+      die.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Why, what is Life? for meditation mingles ever with my passion: why, what
+      is Life? Throw accidents to the dogs, and tear off the painted mask of
+      false society! Here am I a hero; with a mind that can devise all things,
+      and a heart of superhuman daring, with youth, with vigour, with a glorious
+      lineage, with a form that has made full many a lovely maiden of our tribe
+      droop her fair head by Hamadan&rsquo;s sweet fount, and I am&mdash;nothing!
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Out on Society! &lsquo;twas not made for me. I&rsquo;ll form my own, and be the deity
+      I sometimes feel.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;We make our fortunes, and we call them Fate. Thou saidst well, Honain.
+      Most subtle Sadducee! The saintly blood flowed in my fathers&rsquo; veins, and
+      they did nothing; but I have an arm formed to wield a sceptre, and I will
+      win one.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;I cannot doubt my triumph. Triumph is a part of my existence. I am born
+      for glory, as a tree is born to bear its fruit, or to expand its flowers.
+      The deed is done. &lsquo;Tis thought of, and &lsquo;tis done. I will confront the
+      greatest of my diademed ancestors, and in his tomb. Mighty Solomon! he
+      wedded Pharaoh&rsquo;s daughter. Hah! what a future dawns upon my hope. An omen,
+      a choice omen!
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Heaven and earth are mingling to form my fortunes. My mournful youth,
+      which I have so often cursed, I hail thee: thou wert a glorious
+      preparation; and when feeling no sympathy with the life around me, I
+      deemed myself a fool, I find that I was a most peculiar being. By heavens,
+      I am joyful; for the first time in my life I am joyful. I could laugh, and
+      fight, and drink. I am new-born; I am another being; I am mad!
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;O Time, great Time! the world belies thy fame. It calls thee swift.
+      Methinks thou art wondrous slow. Fly on, great Time, and on thy coming
+      wings bear me my sceptre!
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;All is to be. It is a lowering thought. My fancy, like a bright and
+      wearied bird, will sometimes flag and fall, and then I am lost. The young
+      King of Karasmé, a youthful hero! Would he had been Alschiroch! My heart
+      is sick even at the very name. Alas! my trials have not yet begun.
+      Jabaster warned me: good, sincere Jabaster! His talisman presses on my
+      frantic heart, and seems to warn me. I am in danger. Braggart to stand
+      here, filling the careless air with idle words, while all is
+      unaccomplished. I grow dull. The young King of Karasmé! Why, what am I
+      compared to this same prince? Nothing, but in my thoughts. In the full
+      bazaar, they would not deem me worthy even to hold his stirrup or his
+      slipper&mdash;&mdash; Oh! this contest, this constant, bitter,
+      never-ending contest between my fortune and my fancy! Why do I exist? or,
+      if existing, why am I not recognised as I would be?
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Sweet voice, that in Jabaster&rsquo;s distant cave de-scendedst from thy holy
+      home above, and whispered consolation, breathe again! Again breathe thy
+      still summons to my lonely ear, and chase away the thoughts that hover
+      round me; thoughts dark and doubtful, like fell birds of prey hovering
+      around a hero in expectation of his fall, and gloating on their triumph
+      over the brave. There is something fatal in these crowded cities. Faith
+      flourishes in solitude.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      He threw himself upon the couch, and, leaning down his head, seemed lost
+      in meditation. He started up, and, seizing his tablets, wrote upon them
+      these words:
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Honain, I have been the whole night like David in the wilderness of Ziph;
+      but, by the aid of the Lord, I have conquered. I fly from this dangerous
+      city upon his business, which I have too much neglected. Attempt not to
+      discover me, and accept my gratitude.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      <a name="link2HCH0006" id="link2HCH0006">
+      <!--  H2 anchor --> </a>
+    </p>
+    <div style="height: 4em;">
+      <br /><br /><br /><br />
+    </div>
+    <h2>
+      CHAPTER VI.
+    </h2>
+<pre xml:space="preserve">
+     <i>The Learned Rabbi Zimri.</i>
+</pre>
+    <p>
+      A SCORCHING sun, a blue and burning sky, on every side lofty ranges of
+      black and barren mountains, dark ravines, deep caverns, unfathomable
+      gorges! A solitary being moved in the distance. Faint and toiling, a
+      pilgrim slowly clambered up the steep and stony track.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      The sultry hours moved on; the pilgrim at length gained the summit of the
+      mountain, a small and rugged table-land, strewn with huge masses of loose
+      and heated, rock. All around was desolation: no spring, no herbage; the
+      bird and the insect were alike mute. Still it was the summit: no loftier
+      peaks frowned in the distance; the pilgrim stopped, and breathed with more
+      facility, and a faint smile played over his languid and solemn
+      countenance.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      He rested a few minutes; he took from his wallet some locusts and wild
+      honey, and a small skin of water. His meal was short as well as simple. An
+      ardent desire to reach his place of destination before nightfall urged him
+      to proceed. He soon passed over the table-land, and commenced the descent
+      of the mountain. A straggling olive-tree occasionally appeared, and then a
+      group, and soon the groups swelled into a grove. His way wound through the
+      grateful and unaccustomed shade. He emerged from the grove, and found that
+      he had proceeded down more than half the side of the mountain. It ended
+      precipitously in a dark and narrow ravine, formed on the other side by an
+      opposite mountain, the lofty steep of which was crested by a city gently
+      rising on a gradual slope.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Nothing could be conceived more barren, wild, and terrible than the
+      surrounding scenery, unillumined by a single trace of culture. The city
+      stood like the last gladiator in an amphitheatre of desolation.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      It was surrounded by a lofty turreted wall, of an architecture to which
+      the pilgrim was unaccustomed: gates with drawbridge and portcullis, square
+      towers, and loopholes for the archer. Sentinels, clothed in steel and
+      shining in the sunset, paced, at regular intervals, the cautious wall, and
+      on a lofty tower a standard waved, a snowy standard, with a red, red
+      cross!
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      The Prince of the Captivity at length beheld the lost capital of his
+      fathers.<a href="#linknote-35" name="linknoteref-35" id="linknoteref-35">35</a>
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      A few months back, and such a spectacle would have called forth all the
+      latent passion of Alroy; but time and suffering, and sharp experience, had
+      already somewhat curbed the fiery spirit of the Hebrew Prince. He gazed
+      upon Jerusalem, he beheld the City of David garrisoned by the puissant
+      warriors of Christendom, and threatened by the innumerable armies of the
+      Crescent. The two great divisions of the world seemed contending for a
+      prize, which he, a lonely wanderer, had crossed the desert to rescue.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      If his faith restrained him from doubting the possibility of his
+      enterprise, he was at least deeply conscious that the world was a very
+      different existence from what he had fancied amid the gardens of Hamadan
+      and the rocks of Caucasus, and that if his purpose could be accomplished,
+      it could only be effected by one means. Calm, perhaps somewhat depressed,
+      but full of pious humiliation, and not deserted by holy hope, he descended
+      into the Valley of Jehoshaphat, and so, slaking his thirst at Siloah, and
+      mounting the opposite height, David Alroy entered Jerusalem by the gate of
+      Zion.<a href="#linknote-36" name="linknoteref-36" id="linknoteref-36">36</a>
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      He had been instructed that the quarter allotted to his people was near
+      this entrance. He inquired the direction of the sentinel, who did not
+      condescend to answer him. An old man, in shabby robes, who was passing,
+      beckoned to him.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;What want you, friend?&rsquo; inquired Alroy.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;You were asking for the quarter of our people. You must be à stranger,
+      indeed, in Jerusalem, to suppose that a Frank would speak to a Jew. You
+      were lucky to get neither kicked nor cursed.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Kicked and cursed! Why, these dogs&mdash;&mdash;&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Hush! hush! for the love of God,&rsquo; said his new companion, much alarmed.
+      &lsquo;Have you lent money to their captain that you speak thus? In Jerusalem
+      our people speak only in a whisper.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;No matter: the cure is not by words. Where is our quarter?&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Was the like ever seen! Why, he speaks as if he were a Frank. I save him
+      from having his head broken by a gauntlet, and&mdash;&mdash;&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;My friend, I am tired. Our quarter?&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Whom may you want?&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;The Chief Rabbi.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;You bear letters to him?&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;What is that to you?&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Hush! hush! You do not know what Jerusalem is, young man. You must not
+      think of going on in this way. Where do you come from?&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Bagdad.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Bagdad! Jerusalem is not Bagdad. A Turk is a brute, but a Christian is a
+      demon.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;But our quarter, our quarter?&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Hush! you want the Chief Rabbi?&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Ay! ay!&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Rabbi Zimri?&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;It may be so. I neither know nor care.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Neither knows nor cares! This will never do; you must not go on in this
+      way at Jerusalem. You must not think of it.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Fellow, I see thou art a miserable prattler. Show me our quarter, and I
+      will pay thee well, or be off.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Be off! Art thou a Hebrew? to say &ldquo;be off&rdquo; to any one. You come from
+      Bagdad! I tell you what, go back to Bagdad. You will never do for
+      Jerusalem.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Your grizzled beard protects you. Old fool, I am a pilgrim just arrived,
+      wearied beyond expression, and you keep me here listening to your flat
+      talk!&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Flat talk! Why! what would you?&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Lead me to the Rabbi Zimri, if that be his name.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;If that be his name! Why, every one knows Rabbi Zimri, the Chief Rabbi of
+      Jerusalem, the successor of Aaron. We have our temple yet, say what they
+      like. A very learned doctor is Rabbi Zimri.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Wretched driveller. I am ashamed to lose my patience with such a dotard.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Driveller! dotard! Why, who are you?&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;One you cannot comprehend. Without another word, lead me to your chief.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Chief! you have not far to go. I know no one of the nation who holds his
+      head higher than I do here, and they call me Zimri.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;What, the Chief Rabbi, that very learned doctor?&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;No less; I thought you had heard of him.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Let us forget the past, good Zimri. When great men play the incognito,
+      they must sometimes hear rough phrases. It is the Caliph&rsquo;s lot as well as
+      yours. I am glad to make the acquaintance of so great a doctor. Though
+      young, and roughly habited, I have seen the world a little, and may offer
+      next Sabbath in the synagogue more dirhems than you would perhaps suppose.
+      Good and learned Zimri, I would be your guest.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;A very worshipful young man! And he speaks low and soft now! But it was
+      lucky I was at hand. Good, what&rsquo;s your name?&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;David.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;A very honest name, good David. It was lucky I was at hand when you spoke
+      to the sentinel, though. A Jew speak to a Frank, and a sentinel too! Hah!
+      hah! hah! that is good. How Rabbi Maimon will laugh! Faith it was very
+      lucky, now, was not it?&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Indeed, most fortunate.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Well that is candid! Here! this way. &lsquo;Tis not far. We number few, sir, of
+      our brethren here, but a better time will come, a better time will come.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;I think so. This is your door?&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;An humble one. Jerusalem is not Bagdad, but you are welcome.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;King Pirgandicus<a href="#linknote-37" name="linknoteref-37"
+       id="linknoteref-37">37</a> entered them,&rsquo; said Rabbi Maimon, &lsquo;but no one
+      since.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;And when did he live?&rsquo; inquired Alroy. &lsquo;His reign is recorded in the
+      Talmud,&rsquo; answered Rabbi Zimri, &lsquo;but in the Talmud there are no dates.&rsquo; &lsquo;A
+      long while ago?&rsquo; asked Alroy. &lsquo;Since the Captivity,&rsquo; answered Rabbi
+      Maimon. &lsquo;I doubt that,&rsquo; said Rabbi Zimri, &lsquo;or why should he be called
+      king?&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Was he of the house of David?&rsquo; said Alroy.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Without doubt,&rsquo; said Rabbi Maimon; &lsquo;he was one of our greatest kings, and
+      conquered Julius Caesar.&lsquo;<a href="#linknote-38" name="linknoteref-38"
+       id="linknoteref-38">38</a>
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;His kingdom was in the northernmost parts of Africa,&rsquo; said Rabbi Zimri,
+      &lsquo;and exists to this day, if we could but find it.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Ay, truly,&rsquo; added Rabbi Maimon, &lsquo;the sceptre has never departed out of
+      Judah; and he rode always upon a white elephant.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Covered with cloth of gold,&rsquo; added Rabbi Zimri. &lsquo;And he visited the Tombs
+      of the Kings?&rsquo;<a href="#linknote-39" name="linknoteref-39"
+       id="linknoteref-39">39</a> inquired Alroy.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Without doubt,&rsquo; said Rabbi Maimon. &lsquo;The whole account is in the Talmud.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;And no one can now find them?&rsquo; &lsquo;No one,&rsquo; replied Rabbi Zimri: &lsquo;but,
+      according to that learned doctor, Moses Hallevy, they are in a valley in
+      the mountains of Lebanon, which was sealed up by the Archangel Michael.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;The illustrious Doctor Abarbanel, of Babylon,&rsquo; said Rabbi Maimon, &lsquo;gives
+      one hundred and twenty reasons in his commentary on the Gemara to prove
+      that they sunk under the earth at the taking of the Temple.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;No one reasons like Abarbanel of Babylon,&rsquo; said Rabbi Zimri.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;The great Rabbi Akiba, of Pundebita, has answered them all,&rsquo; said Rabbi
+      Maimon, &lsquo;and holds that they were taken up to heaven.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;And which is right?&rsquo; inquired Rabbi Zimri.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Neither,&rsquo; said Rabbi Maimon.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;One hundred and twenty reasons are strong proof,&rsquo; said Rabbi Zimri.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;The most learned and illustrious Doctor Aaron Mendola, of Granada,&rsquo; said
+      Rabbi Maimon, &lsquo;has shown that we must look for the Tombs of the Kings in
+      the south of Spain.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;All that Mendola writes is worth attention,&rsquo; said Rabbi Zimri.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Rabbi Hillel,<a href="#linknote-40" name="linknoteref-40"
+       id="linknoteref-40">40</a> of Samaria, is worth two Mendolas any day,&rsquo;
+      said Rabbi Maimon.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;&lsquo;Tis a most learned doctor,&rsquo; said Rabbi Zimri; &lsquo;and what thinks he?&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Hillel proves that there are two Tombs of the Kings,&rsquo; said Rabbi Maimon,
+      &lsquo;and that neither of them are the right ones.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;What a learned doctor!&rsquo; exclaimed Rabbi Zimri.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;And very satisfactory,&rsquo; remarked Alroy.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;These are high subjects,&rsquo; continued Maimon, his blear eyes twinkling with
+      complacency. &lsquo;Your guest, Rabbi Zimri, must read the treatise of the
+      learned Shimei, of Damascus, on &ldquo;Effecting Impossibilities.&rdquo;&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;That is a work!&rsquo; exclaimed Zimri.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;I never slept for three nights after reading that work,&rsquo; said Rabbi
+      Maimon. &lsquo;It contains twelve thousand five hundred and thirty-seven
+      quotations from the Pentateuch, and not a single original observation.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;There were giants in those days,&rsquo; said Rabbi Zimri; &lsquo;we are children
+      now.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;The first chapter makes equal sense, read backward or forward,&rsquo; continued
+      Rabbi Maimon. &lsquo;Ichabod!&rsquo; exclaimed Rabbi Zimri. &lsquo;And the initial letter of
+      every section is a cabalistical type of a king of Judah.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;The temple will yet be built,&rsquo; said Rabbi Zimri. &lsquo;Ay, ay! that is
+      learning!&rsquo; exclaimed Rabbi Maimon; &lsquo;but what is the great treatise on
+      &ldquo;Effecting Impossibilities&rdquo; to that profound, admirable, and&mdash;&mdash;&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Holy Rabbi!&rsquo; said a youthful reader of the synagogue, who now entered,
+      &lsquo;the hour is at hand.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;You don&rsquo;t say so! Learned Miamon, I must to the synagogue. I could sit
+      here all day listening to you. Come, David, the people await us.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Zimri and Alroy quitted the house, and proceeded along the narrow hilly
+      streets to the chief temple of the Hebrews.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;It grieves the venerable Maimon much that he cannot join us,&rsquo; said Rabbi
+      Zimri. &lsquo;You have doubtless heard of him at Bagdad; a most learned doctor.&rsquo;
+      Alroy bowed in silence.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;He bears his years well. You would hardly believe that he was my master.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;I perceive that you inherit much of his erudition.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;You are kind. If he have breathed one year, Rabbi Maimon will be a
+      hundred and ten next Passover.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;I doubt it not.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;When he is gathered to his fathers, a great light will be extinguished in
+      Israel. You wanted to know something about the Tombs of the Kings; I told
+      you he was your man. How full he was! His mind, sir, is an egg.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;A somewhat ancient one. I fear his guidance will hardly bring me the
+      enviable fortune of King Pirgandicus.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Between ourselves, good David, talking of King Pirgandicus, I cannot help
+      fancying that the learned Maimon made a slight mistake. I hold Pirgandicus
+      was only a prince. It was after the Captivity, and I know no authority for
+      any of our rulers since the destruction assuming a higher title. Clearly a
+      prince, eh? But, though I would whisper it to no one but you, I think our
+      worthy friend grows a little old. We should remember his years, sir. A
+      hundred and ten next Passover. &lsquo;Tis a great burden.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Ay! with his learning added, a very fearful burden indeed!&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;You have been a week in Jerusalem, and have not yet visited our
+      synagogue. It is not of cedar and ivory, but it is still a temple. This
+      way. It is only a week that you have been here? Why, you look another man!
+      I shall never forget our first meeting: you did not know me. That was
+      good, eh? And when I told you I was the chief Rabbi Zimri, how you
+      changed! You have quite regained your appetite. Ah! &lsquo;tis pleasant to mix
+      once more with our own people. To the left. So! we must descend a little.
+      We hold our meetings in an ancient cemetery. You have a finer temple, I
+      warrant me, in Bagdad. Jerusalem is not Bagdad. But this has its
+      conveniences. &lsquo;Tis safe, and we are not very rich, nor wish to seem so.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      A long passage brought them to a number of small, square, low chambers<a
+      href="#linknote-41" name="linknoteref-41" id="linknoteref-41">41</a>
+      leading into each other. They were lighted by brass lamps, placed at
+      intervals in vacant niches, that once held corpses, and which were now
+      soiled by the smoky flame. Between two and three hundred individuals were
+      assembled in these chambers, at first scarcely distinguishable by those
+      who descended from the broad daylight; but by degrees the eyesight became
+      accustomed to the dim and vaporous atmosphere, and Al-roy recognised in
+      the final and more illumined chamber a high cedar cabinet, the type of the
+      ark, and which held the sacred vessels and the sanctified copy of the law.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Standing in lines, with their heads mystically covered,<a
+      href="#linknote-42" name="linknoteref-42" id="linknoteref-42">42</a> the
+      forlorn remnant of Israel, captives in their ancient city, avowed, in
+      spite of all their sufferings, their fidelity to their God, and,
+      notwithstanding all the bitterness of hope delayed, their faith in the
+      fulfilment of his promises. Their simple service was completed, their
+      prayers were read, their responses made, their law exhibited, and their
+      charitable offerings announced by their high priest. After the service,
+      the venerable Zimri, opening a volume of the Talmud, and fortified by the
+      opinions of all those illustrious and learned doctors, the heroes of his
+      erudite conversations with the aged Maimon, expounded the law to the
+      congregation of the people.<a href="#linknote-43" name="linknoteref-43"
+       id="linknoteref-43">43</a>
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;It is written,&rsquo; said the Rabbi, &lsquo;&ldquo;Thou shalt have none other God but me.&rdquo;
+       Now know ye what our father Abraham said when Nimrod ordered him to
+      worship fire? &ldquo;Why not water,&rdquo; answered Abraham, &ldquo;which can put out fire?
+      why not clouds, which can pour forth water? why not the winds, which can
+      produce clouds? why not God, which can create winds?&rdquo;&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      A murmur of approbation sounded throughout the congregation.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Eliezer,&rsquo; said Zimri, addressing himself to a young Rabbi, &lsquo;it is
+      written, that he took a rib from Adam when he was asleep. Is God then a
+      robber?&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      The young Rabbi looked puzzled, and cast his eyes on the ground. The
+      congregation was perplexed and a little alarmed.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Is there no answer?&rsquo; said Zimri.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Rabbi,&rsquo; said a stranger, a tall, swarthy African pilgrim, standing in a
+      corner, and enveloped in a red mantle, over which a lamp threw a
+      flickering light; &lsquo;Rabbi, some robbers broke into my house last night, and
+      stole an earthen pipkin, but they left a golden vase in its stead.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;It is well said; it is well said,&rsquo; exclaimed the congregation. The
+      applause was loud.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Learned Zimri,&rsquo; continued the African, &lsquo;it is written in the Gemara, that
+      there was a youth in Jerusalem who fell in love with a beautiful damsel,
+      and she scorned him. And the youth was so stricken with his passion that
+      he could not speak; but when he beheld her, he looked at her imploringly,
+      and she laughed. And one day the youth, not knowing what to do with
+      himself, went out into the desert; and towards night he returned home, but
+      the gates of the city were shut. And he went down into the valley of
+      Jehoshaphat, and entered the tomb of Absalom and slept;<a
+      href="#linknote-44" name="linknoteref-44" id="linknoteref-44">44</a> and
+      he dreamed a dream; and next morning he came into the city smiling. And
+      the maiden met him, and she said, &ldquo;Is that thou; art thou a laugher?&rdquo; and
+      he answered, &ldquo;Behold, yesterday being disconsolate, I went out of the city
+      into the desert, and I returned home, and the gates of the city were shut,
+      and I went down into the valley of Jehoshaphat, and I entered the tomb of
+      Absalom, and I slept, and I dreamed a dream, and ever since then I have
+      laughed.&rdquo; And the damsel said, &ldquo;Tell me thy dream.&rdquo; And he answered and
+      said, &ldquo;I may not tell my dream only to my wife, for it regards her
+      honour.&rdquo; And the maiden grew sad and curious, and said, &ldquo;I am thy wife,
+      tell me thy dream.&rdquo; And straightway they went and were married and ever
+      after they both laughed. Now, learned Zimri, what means this tale, an idle
+      jest for a master of the law, yet it is written by the greatest doctor of
+      the Captivity?&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;It passeth my comprehension,&rsquo; said the chief Rabbi.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Rabbi Eliezer was silent; the congregation groaned.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Now hear the interpretation,&rsquo; said the African. &lsquo;The youth is our people,
+      and the damsel is our lost Sion, and the tomb of Absalom proves that
+      salvation can only come from the house of David. Dost thou hear this,
+      young man?&rsquo; said the African, coming forward and laying his hand on Alroy.
+      &lsquo;I speak to thee, because I have observed a deep attention in thy
+      conduct.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      The Prince of the Captivity started, and shot a glance at the dark visage
+      before him, but the glance read nothing. The upper part of the countenance
+      of the African was half concealed by masses of dark matted hair, and the
+      lower by his uncouth robes. A flashing eye was its only characteristic,
+      which darted forth like lightning out of a black cloud.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Is my attention the only reason that induces you to address me?&rsquo; inquired
+      Alroy.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Whoever gave all his reasons?&rsquo; replied the African, with a laughing
+      sneer.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;I seek not to learn them. Suffice it, stranger, that how much soever you
+      may mean, as much I can understand.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;&lsquo;Tis well. Learned Zimri, is this thy pupil? I congratulate thee. I will
+      match him against the hopeful Eliezer.&rsquo; So saying, the lofty African
+      stalked out of the chamber. The assembly also broke up. Alroy would
+      willingly have immediately followed the African, and held some further and
+      more private conversation with him; but some minutes elapsed, owing to the
+      officious attentions of Zimri, before he could escape; and, when he did,
+      his search after the stranger was vain. He inquired among the
+      congregation, but none knew the African. He was no man&rsquo;s guest and no
+      man&rsquo;s debtor, and apparently had never before been seen.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      The trumpet was sounding to close the gates, as Alroy passed the Zion
+      entrance. The temptation was irresistible. He rushed out, and ran for more
+      than one hundred yards without looking back, and when he did, he had the
+      satisfaction of ascertaining that he was fairly shut out for the night.
+      The sun had set, still the Mount of Olives was flushed with the reflection
+      of his dying beams, but Jehoshaphat at its feet was in deep shadow.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      He wandered among the mountains for some time, beholding Jerusalem from a
+      hundred different points of view, and watching the single planets and
+      clustering constellations that gradually burst into beauty, or gathered
+      into light. At length, somewhat exhausted, he descended into the vale. The
+      scanty rill of Siloah<a href="#linknote-45" name="linknoteref-45"
+       id="linknoteref-45">45</a> looked like a thread of silver winding in the
+      moonlight. Some houseless wretches were slumbering under the arch of its
+      fountain. Several isolated tombs of considerable size<a href="#linknote-46"
+       name="linknoteref-46" id="linknoteref-46">46</a> rose at the base of
+      Olivet, and the largest of these Alroy entered. Proceeding through a
+      narrow passage, he entered a small square chamber. On each side was an
+      empty sarcophagus of granite, one with its lid broken. Between these the
+      Prince of the Captivity laid his robe, and, wearied by his ramble, soon
+      soundly slept.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      After some hours he woke. He fancied that he had been wakened by the sound
+      of voices. The chamber was not quite dark. A straggling moonbeam fought
+      its way through an open fretwork pattern in the top of the tomb, and just
+      revealed the dim interior. Suddenly a voice spoke, a strange and singular
+      voice.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Brother, brother, the sounds of the night begin.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Another voice answered,
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Brother, brother, I hear them, too.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;The woman in labour!&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;The thief at his craft!&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;The sentinel&rsquo;s challenge!&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;The murderer&rsquo;s step!&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Oh! the merry sounds of the night!&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Brother, brother, let us come forth and wander about the world.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;We have seen all things. I&rsquo;ll lie here and listen to the baying hound.
+      &lsquo;Tis music for a tomb.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Choice and rare. You are idle. I like to sport in the starry air. Our
+      hours are few, they should be fair.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;What shall we see, Heaven or Earth?&rsquo; &lsquo;Hell for me, &lsquo;tis more amusing.&rsquo;
+      &lsquo;As for me, I am sick of Hades.&rsquo; &lsquo;Let us visit Solomon!&rsquo; &lsquo;In his unknown
+      metropolis?&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;That will be rare.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;But where, oh! where?&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Even a spirit cannot tell. But they say, but they say, I dare not whisper
+      what they say.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Who told you?&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;No one. I overheard an Afrite whispering to a female Ghoul he wanted to
+      seduce.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Hah! hah! hah! hah! choice pair, choice pair! We are more ethereal.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;She was a beauty in her way. Her eyes were luminous, though somewhat
+      dank, and her cheek tinged with carnation caught from infant blood.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Oh! gay; oh! gay; what said they?&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;He was a deserter without leave from Solomon&rsquo;s body-guard. The trull
+      wriggled the secret out.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Tell me, kind brother.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;I&rsquo;ll show, not tell.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;I pr&rsquo;ythee tell me.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Well, then, well. In Genthesma&rsquo;s gloomy cave there is a river none has
+      reached, and you must sail, and you must sail&mdash;&mdash; Brother!&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Ay.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Methinks I smell something too earthly.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;What&rsquo;s that?&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;The breath of man.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Scent more fatal than the morning air! Away, away!&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      In the range of mountains that lead from Olivet to the river Jordan is the
+      great cavern of Genthesma, a mighty excavation formed by the combined and
+      immemorial work of Nature and of Art; for on the high basaltic columns are
+      cut strange characters and unearthly forms,<a href="#linknote-47"
+       name="linknoteref-47" id="linknoteref-47">47</a> and in many places the
+      natural ornaments have been completed by the hands of the
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      sculptor into symmetrical entablatures and fanciful capitals, the work,
+      they say, of captive Dives and conquered Afrites for the great king.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      It was midnight; the cold full moon showered it brilliancy upon this
+      narrow valley, shut in on all sides by black and barren mountains. A
+      single being stood at the entrance of the cave.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      It was Alroy. Desperate and determined, after listening to the spirits in
+      the tomb, he resolved to penetrate the mysteries of Genthesma. He took
+      from his girdle a flint and steel, with which he lighted a torch and then
+      he entered.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      The cavern narrowed as he cautiously advanced, and soon he found himself
+      at the head of an evidently artificial gallery. A crowd of bats rushed
+      forward and extinguished his torch <a href="#linknote-48"
+       name="linknoteref-48" id="linknoteref-48">48</a> He leant down to relight
+      it and in so doing observed that he had trod upon an artificial pavement.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      The gallery was of great extent, with a gradual declination <a
+      href="#linknote-49" name="linknoteref-49" id="linknoteref-49">49</a> Being
+      in a straight line with the mouth of the cavern, the moonlit scene was
+      long visible, but Alroy, on looking round, now perceived that the exterior
+      was shut out by the eminence that he had left behind him. The sides of the
+      gallery were covered with strange and sculptured forms.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      The Prince of the Captivity proceeded along this gallery for nearly two
+      hours. A distant murmur of falling water, which might have been
+      distinguished nearly from the first, increased in sound as he advanced,
+      and now, from the loud roar and dash at hand, he felt that he was on the
+      brink of some cataract. It as very dark. His heart trembled. He felt his
+      footing ere he ventured to advance. The spray suddenly leaped forward and
+      extinguished his torch.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      His eminent danger filled him with terror, and he receded some paces, but
+      in vain endeavoured to reillumine his torch, which was soaked with water.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      His courage deserted him. Energy and exertion seemed hopeless. He was
+      about to deliver himself up to despair, when and expanding lustre
+      attracted his attention in the opposing gloom.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      A small and bright red cloud seemed sailing towards him. It opened,
+      discharged from its bosom as silvery star, and dissolved again into
+      darkness. But the star remained, the silvery star, and threw a long line
+      of tremulous light upon the vast and raging rapid, which now, fleet and
+      foaming, revealed itself on all sides to the eye of Alroy.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      The beautiful interposition in his favour re-animated the adventurous
+      pilgrim. A dark shadow in the foreground, breaking the line of light shed
+      by the star upon the waters, attracted his attention. He advanced,
+      regained his former footing, and more nearly examined it. It was a boat,
+      and in the boat, mute and immovable, sat one of those vast, singular, and
+      hidden forms which eh had observed sculptured on the walls of the gallery.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      David Alry, committing his fortunes to the God of Israel, leapt into the
+      boat.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      And at the same moment the Afrite, for it was one of those dread beings,<a
+      href="#linknote-50" name="linknoteref-50" id="linknoteref-50">50</a>
+      raised the oars, and the barque moved. The falling waters suddenly parted
+      in the long line of the star&rsquo;s reflection, and the barque glided through
+      their high and severed masses.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      In this wise they proceeded for a few minutes, until they entered a
+      beautiful and moonlit lake. In the distance was mountainous country. Alroy
+      examined his companion with a feeling of curiosity not
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      unmixed with terror. It was remarkable that Alroy could never succeed in
+      any way in attracting his notice. The Afrite seemed totally unconscious of
+      the presence of his passenger. At length the boat reached the opposite
+      shore of the lake, and the Prince of the Captivity debarked.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      He debarked at the head of an avenue of colossal lions of red granite,<a
+      href="#linknote-51" name="linknoteref-51" id="linknoteref-51">51</a>
+      extending far as the eye could reach, and ascending the side of the
+      mountain, which was cut into a flight of magnificent steps. The easy
+      ascent was in consequence soon accomplished, and Alroy, proceeding along
+      the avenue of lions, soon gained the summit of the mountain.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      To his infinite astonishment he beheld Jerusalem. That strongly-marked
+      locality could not be mistaken: at his feet were Jehoshaphat, Kedron,
+      Siloah; he stood upon Olivet; before him was Zion. But in all other
+      respects, how different was the landscape from the one that he had gazed
+      upon a few days back, for the first time! The surrounding hills sparkled
+      with vineyards, and glowed with summer palaces, and voluptuous pavilions,
+      and glorious gardens of pleasure. The city, extending all over Mount Sion,
+      was encompassed with a wall of white marble, with battlements of gold; a
+      gorgeous mass of gates and pillars, and gardened terraces; lofty piles of
+      rarest materials, cedar, and ivory, and precious stones; and costly
+      columns of the richest workmanship and the most fanciful orders, capitals
+      of the lotus and the palm, and flowing friezes of the olive and the vine.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      And in the front a mighty Temple rose, with inspiration in its very form;
+      a Temple so vast, so sumptuous, that there needed no priest to tell us
+      that no human hand planned that sublime magnificence!
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;God of my fathers!&rsquo; said Alroy, &lsquo;I am a poor, weak thing, and my life has
+      been a life of dreams and visions, and I have sometimes thought my brain
+      lacked a sufficient master; where am I? Do I sleep or live? Am I a
+      slumberer or a ghost? This trial is too much.&rsquo; He sank down, and hid his
+      face in his hands: his over-exerted mind appeared to desert him: he wept.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Many minutes elapsed before Alroy grew composed. His wild bursts of
+      weeping sank into sobs, and the sobs died off into sighs. And at length,
+      calm from exhaustion, he again looked up, and lo! the glorious city was no
+      more! Before him was a moon-lit plain, over which the avenue of lions
+      still advanced, and appeared to terminate only in the mountainous
+      distance.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      This limit the Prince of the Captivity at length reached, and stood before
+      a stupendous portal, cut out of the solid rock, four hundred feet in
+      height, and supported by clusters of colossal Caryatides.<a
+      href="#linknote-52" name="linknoteref-52" id="linknoteref-52">52</a> Upon
+      the portal were engraven some Hebrew characters, which upon examination
+      proved to be the same as those upon the talisman of Jabaster. And so,
+      taking from his bosom that all-precious and long-cherished deposit, David
+      Alroy, in obedience to his instructions, pressed the signet against the
+      gigantic portal.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      The portal opened with a crash of thunder louder than an earthquake. Pale,
+      panting, and staggering, the Prince of the Captivity entered an
+      illimitable hall, illumined by pendulous balls of glowing metal. On each
+      side of the hall, sitting on golden thrones, was ranged a line of kings,
+      and, as the pilgrim entered, the monarchs rose, and took off their
+      diadems, and waved them thrice, and thrice repeated, in solemn chorus,
+      &lsquo;All hail, Alroy! Hail to thee, brother king! Thy crown awaits thee!&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      The Prince of the Captivity stood trembling, with his eyes fixed upon the
+      ground, and leaning breathless against a column. And when at length he had
+      a little recovered himself, and dared again to look up, he found that the
+      monarchs were re-seated; and, from their still and vacant visages,
+      apparently unconscious of his presence. And this emboldened him, and so,
+      staring alternately at each side of the hall, but with a firm, perhaps
+      desperate step, Alroy advanced.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      And he came to two thrones which were set apart from the others in the
+      middle of the hall. On one was seated a noble figure, far above the common
+      stature, with arms folded and downcast eyes. His feet rested upon a broken
+      sword and a shivered sceptre, which told that he was a monarch, in spite
+      of his discrowned head.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      And on the opposite throne was a venerable personage, with a long flowing
+      beard, and dressed in white raiment. His countenance was beautiful,
+      although ancient. Age had stolen on without its imperfections, and time
+      had only invested it with a sweet dignity and solemn grace. The
+      countenance of the king was upraised with a seraphic gaze, and, as he thus
+      looked up on high, with eyes full of love, and thanksgiving, and praise,
+      his consecrated fingers seemed to touch the trembling wires of a golden
+      harp.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      And further on, and far above the rest, upon a throne that stretched
+      across the hall, a most imperial presence straightway flashed upon the
+      startled vision of Alroy. Fifty steps of ivory, and each step guarded by
+      golden lions,<a href="#linknote-53" name="linknoteref-53"
+       id="linknoteref-53">53</a> led to a throne of jasper. A dazzling light
+      blazed forth from the glittering diadem and radiant countenance of him who
+      sat upon the throne, one beautiful as a woman, but with the majesty of a
+      god. And in one hand he held a seal, and in the other a sceptre.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      And when Alroy had reached the foot of the throne, he stopped, and his
+      heart misgave him. And he prayed for some minutes in silent devotion, and,
+      without daring to look up, he mounted the first step of the throne, and
+      the second, and the third, and so on, with slow and faltering feet, until
+      he reached the forty-ninth step.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      The Prince of the Captivity raised his eyes. He stood before the monarch
+      face to face. In vain Alroy attempted to attract his attention, or to fix
+      his gaze. The large dark eyes, full of supernatural lustre, appeared
+      capable of piercing all things, and illuminating all things, but they
+      flashed on without shedding a ray upon Alroy.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Pale as a spectre, the pilgrim, whose pilgrimage seemed now on the point
+      of completion, stood cold and trembling before the object of all his
+      desires and all his labours. But he thought of his country, his people,
+      and his God; and, while his noiseless lips breathed the name of Jehovah,
+      solemnly he put forth his arm, and with a gentle firmness grasped the
+      unresisting sceptre of his great ancestor.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      And, as he seized it, the whole scene vanished from his sight!
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Hours or years might have passed away, so far as the sufferer was
+      concerned, when Alroy again returned to self-consciousness. His eyes
+      slowly opened, he cast around a vacant stare, he was lying in the cavern
+      of Genthesma. The moon had set, but the morn had not broken. A single star
+      glittered over the brow of the black mountains. He faintly moved his
+      limbs; he would have raised his hand to his bewildered brain, but found
+      that it grasped a sceptre. The memory of the past returned to him. He
+      tried to rise, and found that he was reposing in the arms of a human
+      being. He turned his head; he met the anxious gaze of Jabaster!
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      <a name="link2HCH0007" id="link2HCH0007">
+      <!--  H2 anchor --> </a>
+    </p>
+    <div style="height: 4em;">
+      <br /><br /><br /><br />
+    </div>
+    <h2>
+      CHAPTER VII.
+    </h2>
+<pre xml:space="preserve">
+     <i>Conquest of the Seljuks</i>
+</pre>
+    <p>
+      YOUR face is troubled, uncle.&rsquo; &lsquo;So is my mind.&rsquo; &lsquo;All may go well.&rsquo;
+      &lsquo;Miriam, we have seen the best. Prepare yourself for sorrow, gentle girl.
+      I care not for myself, for I am old, and age makes heroes of us all. I
+      have endured, and can endure more. As we approach our limit, it would
+      appear that our minds grow callous. I have seen my wealth, raised with the
+      labours of a thoughtful life, vanish in a morn: my people, a fragile
+      remnant, nevertheless a people, dispersed, or what is worse. I have wept
+      for them, although no tear of selfish grief has tinged this withered
+      cheek. And, were I but alone, ay! there&rsquo;s the pang. The solace of my days
+      is now my sorrow.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Weep not for me, dear uncle. Rather let us pray that our God will not
+      forsake us.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;We know not when we are well. Our hours stole tranquilly along, and then
+      we murmured. Prospering, we murmured, and now we are rightly stricken. The
+      legend of the past is Israel&rsquo;s bane. The past is a dream; and, in the
+      waking present, we should discard the enervating shadow. Why should we be
+      free? We murmured against captivity. This <i>is</i> captivity: this damp,
+      dim cell, where we are brought to die.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;O! youth, rash youth, thy being is destruction. But yesterday a child, it
+      seems but yesterday I nursed him in these arms, a thoughtless child, and
+      now our house has fallen by his deeds. I will not think of it; &lsquo;twill make
+      me mad.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Uncle, dearest uncle, we have lived together, and we will die together,
+      and both in love; but, I pray you, speak no harsh word of David.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Shall I praise him?&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Say nothing. What he has done, if done in grief, has been done all in
+      honour. Would you that he had spared Alschiroch?&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Never! I would have struck him myself. Brave boy, he did his duty; and I,
+      I, Miriam, thy uncle, at whom they wink behind his back and call him
+      niggard, was I wanting in that hour of trial? Was my treasure spared to
+      save my people? Did I shrink from all the toil and trouble of that time? A
+      trying time, my Miriam, but compared with this, the building of the Temple&mdash;&mdash;&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;You were then what you have ever been, the best and wisest. And since our
+      fathers&rsquo; God did not forsake us, even in that wilderness of wildest woe, I
+      offer gratitude in present faith, and pay him for past mercies by my
+      prayers for more.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Well, well, life must end. The hour approaches when we must meet our
+      rulers and mock trial; precious justice that begins in threats and ends in
+      torture. You are silent, Miriam.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;I am speaking to my God.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;What is that noise? A figure moves behind the dusky grate. Our gaoler.
+      No, no, it is Caleb! Faithful child, I fear you have perilled much.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;I enter with authority, my lord, and bear good tidings.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;He smiles! Is&rsquo;t possible? Speak on, speak on!&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Alroy has captured the harem of our Governor, as they journeyed from
+      Bagdad to this city, guarded by his choicest troops. And he has sent to
+      offer that they shall be exchanged for you and for your household. And
+      Hassan has answered that his women shall owe their freedom to nothing but
+      his sword. But, in the meantime, it is agreed between him and the
+      messenger of your nephew, that both companies of prisoners shall be
+      treated with all becoming courtesy. You, therefore, are remanded to your
+      palace, and the trumpet is now sounding before the great mosque to summon
+      all the host against Alroy, whom Hassan has vowed to bring to Hamadan dead
+      or alive.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;The harem of the Governor, guarded too by his choicest troops! &lsquo;Tis a
+      great deed. He did remember us. Faithful boy! The harem of the Governor!
+      his choicest troops! &lsquo;Tis a very great deed. Me-thinks the Lord is with
+      him. He has his great father&rsquo;s heart. Only think of David, a child! I
+      nursed him, often. Caleb! Can this be David, our David, a child, a girl?
+      Yet he struck Alschiroch! Miriam! where is she? Worthy Caleb, look to your
+      mistress; she has fallen. Quite gone! Fetch water. &lsquo;Tis not very pure, but
+      we shall be in our palace soon. The harem of the Governor! I can&rsquo;t believe
+      it. Sprinkle, sprinkle. David take them prisoners! Why, when they pass, we
+      are obliged to turn our heads, and dare not look. More water: I&rsquo;ll rub her
+      hand. &lsquo;Tis warmer! Her eyes open! Miriam, choice news, my child! The harem
+      of the Governor! I&rsquo;ll not believe it!
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Once more within our walls, Caleb. Life is a miracle. I feel young again.
+      This is home; and yet I am a prisoner. You said the host were assembling;
+      he can have no chance. Think you, Caleb, he has any chance? I hope he will
+      die. I would not have him taken. I fear their tortures. We will die too;
+      we will all die. Now I am out of that dungeon, me-thinks I could even
+      fight. Is it true that he has joined with robbers?&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;I saw the messenger, and learnt that he first repaired to some bandits in
+      the ruins in the desert. He had become acquainted with them in his
+      pilgrimage. They say their leader is one of our people.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;I am glad of that. He can eat with him. I would not have him eat unclean
+      things with the Ishmaelites.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Lord, sir! our people gather to him from all quarters. &lsquo;Tis said that
+      Jabaster, the great Cabalist, has joined him from the mountains with ten
+      thousand men.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;The great Jabaster! then there is some chance. I know Jabaster well. He
+      is too wise to join a desperate cause. Art sure about Jabaster? &lsquo;Tis a
+      great name, a very potent spirit. I have heard such things of that
+      Jabaster, sir, would make you stare like Saul before the spirit! Only
+      think of our David, Caleb, making all this noise! I am full of hope. I
+      feel not like a prisoner. He beat the harem guard, and, now he has got
+      Jabaster, he will beat them all.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;The messenger told me he captured the harem, only to free his uncle and
+      his sister.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;He ever loved me; I have done my duty to him; I think I have. Jabaster!
+      why, man, the name is a spell I There are men at Bagdad who will get up in
+      the night to join Jabaster. I hope David will follow his counsels in all
+      things. I would I had seen his servant, I could have sent him a message.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Lord, sir! the Prince Alroy has no great need of counsellors, I can tell
+      you. &lsquo;Tis said he bears the sceptre of great Solomon, which he himself
+      obtained in the unknown tombs of Palestine.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;The sceptre of Solomon! could I but believe it! &lsquo;Tis an age of wonders!
+      Where are we? Call for Miriam, I&rsquo;ll tell her this. Only think of David, a
+      mere child, our David with the sceptre of Solomon! and Jabaster too! I
+      have great faith. The Lord confound his enemies!&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Gentle Rachel, I fear I trouble you; sweet Beruna, I thank you for your
+      zeal. I am better now; the shock was great. These are strange tidings,
+      maidens.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Yes, dear lady! who would have thought of your brother turning out a
+      Captain?&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;I am sure I always thought he was the quietest person in the world,&rsquo; said
+      Beruna, &lsquo;though he did kill Alschiroch.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;One could never get a word out of him,&rsquo; said Rachel.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;He was always moping alone,&rsquo; said Beruna.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;And when one spoke to him he always turned away,&rsquo; said Leah.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Or blushed,&rsquo; added Imra.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Well, for my part,&rsquo; said the beautiful Bathsheba, &lsquo;I always thought
+      Prince David was a genius. He had such beautiful eyes!&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;I hope he will conquer Hassan,&rsquo; said Rachel.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;So do I,&rsquo; said Beruna.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;I wonder what he has done with the harem,&rsquo; said Leah.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;I don&rsquo;t think he will dare to speak to them,&rsquo; said Imra.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;You are very much mistaken,&rsquo; said Bathsheba.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Hark!&rsquo; said Miriam.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;&lsquo;Tis Hassan,&rsquo; said Bathsheba; &lsquo;may he never return!&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      The wild drum of the Seljuks sounded, then a flourish of their fierce
+      trumpets, and soon the tramp of horse. Behind the blinds of their chamber,
+      Miriam and her maidens beheld the magnificent troop of tur-baned horsemen,
+      who, glittering with splendid armour and bright shawls, and proudly
+      bounding on their fiery steeds, now went forth to crush and conquer the
+      only hope of Israel. Upon an Arab, darker than night, rode the superb
+      Hassan, and, as he passed the dwelling of his late prisoners, whether from
+      the exulting anticipation of coming triumph, or from a soft suspicion
+      that, behind that lattice, bright eyes and brilliant faces were gazing on
+      his state, the haughty but handsome Seljuk flourished his scimitar over
+      his head, as he threw his managed steed into attitudes that displayed the
+      skill of its rider.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;He is handsomer than Alschiroch,&rsquo; said Rachel.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;What a shawl!&rsquo; said Beruna.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;His scimitar was like lightning,&rsquo; said Leah.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;And his steed like thunder,&rsquo; said Imra.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;The evil eye fall on him!&rsquo; said Bathsheba.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Lord,&rsquo; exclaimed Miriam, &lsquo;remember David and all his afflictions!&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      The deserted city of the wilderness presented a very different appearance
+      from that which met the astonished gaze of Alroy, when he first beheld its
+      noble turrets, and wandered in its silent streets of palaces.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Without the gates was pitched a numerous camp of those low black tents
+      common among the Kourds and Turkmans; the principal street was full of
+      busy groups engaged in all the preparations of warfare, and all the
+      bustling expedients of an irregular and adventurous life; steeds were
+      stalled in ruined chambers, and tall camels raised their still visages
+      among the clustering columns, or crouched in kneeling tranquillity amid
+      fallen statues and prostrate obelisks.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Two months had scarcely elapsed since Alroy and Jabaster had sought
+      Scherirah in his haunt, and announced to him their sacred mission. The
+      callous heart of him, whose &lsquo;mother was a Jewess,&rsquo; had yielded to their
+      inspired annunciations. He embraced their cause with all the fervour of
+      conversion, and his motley band were not long sceptical of a creed which,
+      while it assuredly offered danger and adventure, held out the prospects of
+      wealth and even empire. From the city of the wilderness the new Messiah
+      sent forth his messengers to the neighbouring cities, to announce his
+      advent to his brethren in captivity. The Hebrews, a proud and stiff-necked
+      race, ever prone to rebellion, received the announcement of their
+      favourite prince with transport. The descendant of David, and the slayer
+      of Alschiroch, had double claims upon their confidence and allegiance, and
+      the flower of the Hebrew youth in the neighbouring cities of the Caliphate
+      repaired in crowds to pay their homage to the recovered sceptre of
+      Solomon.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      The affair was at first treated by the government with contempt, and the
+      sultan of the Seljuks contented himself with setting a price upon the head
+      of the murderer of his brother; but, when several cities had been placed
+      under contribution, and more than one Moslem caravan stopped, and
+      plundered in the name of the God of Abraham, of Isaac, and of Jacob,
+      orders were despatched from Bagdad to the new governor of Hamadan, Hassan
+      Subah, to suppress the robbers, or the rebels, and to send David Alroy
+      dead or alive to the capital.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      The Hebrew malcontents were well apprised by their less adventurous but
+      still sympathising brethren of everything that took place at the
+      head-quarters of the enemy. Spies arrived on the same day at the city of
+      the wilderness, who informed Alroy that his uncle was thrown into a
+      dungeon at Hamadan, and that a body of chosen troops were about to escort
+      a royal harem from Bagdad into Persia.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Alroy attacked the escort in person, utterly discomfited them, and
+      captured their charge. It proved to be the harem of the Governor of
+      Hamadan, and if for a moment the too sanguine fancy of the captor
+      experienced a passing pang of disappointment, the prize at least obtained,
+      as we have seen, the freedom and security of his dear though distant
+      friends. This exploit precipitated the expedition which was preparing at
+      Hamadan for his destruction. The enraged Hassan Subah started from his
+      divan, seized his scimitar, and without waiting for the auxiliaries he had
+      summoned from the neighbouring chieftains, called to horse, and at the
+      head of two thousand of the splendid Seljuk cavalry, hurried to vindicate
+      his love and satiate his revenge.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Within the amphitheatre which he first entered as a prisoner, Alroy sat in
+      council. On his right was Jabaster, Scherirah on his left. A youth, little
+      his senior, but tall as a palm-tree, and strong as a young lion, was the
+      fourth captain. In the distance, some standing, some reclining, were about
+      fifty men completely armed.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Are the people numbered, Abner?&rsquo; inquired Alroy of the youth.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Even so; three hundred effective horsemen, and two thousand footmen; but
+      the footmen lack arms.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;The Lord will send them in good time,&rsquo; said Jabaster; &lsquo;meanwhile let them
+      continue to make javelins.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Trust in the Lord,&rsquo; murmured Scherirah, bending his head, with his eyes
+      fixed on the ground.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      A loud shout was heard throughout the city. Alroy started from his carpet.
+      The messenger had returned. Pale and haggard, covered with sweat and sand,
+      the faithful envoy was borne into the amphitheatre almost upon the
+      shoulders of the people. In vain the guard endeavoured to stem the passage
+      of the multitude. They clambered up the tiers of arches, they filled the
+      void and crumbling seats of the antique circus, they supported themselves
+      upon each other&rsquo;s shoulders, they clung to the capitals of the lofty
+      columns. The whole multitude had assembled to hear the intelligence; the
+      scene recalled the ancient purpose of the building, and Alroy and his
+      fellow-warriors seemed like the gladiators of some old spectacle.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Speak,&rsquo; said Alroy, &lsquo;speak the worst. No news can be bitter to those whom
+      the Lord will avenge.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Ruler of Israel! thus saith Hassan Subah,&rsquo; answered the messenger: &lsquo;My
+      harem shall owe their freedom to nothing but my sword. I treat not with
+      rebels, but I war not with age or woman; and between Bostenay and his
+      household on one side, and the prisoners of thy master on the other, let
+      there be peace. Go, tell Alroy, I will seal it in his best blood. And lo!
+      thy uncle and thy sister are again in their palace.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Alroy placed his hand for a moment to his eyes, and then instantly
+      resuming his self-possession, he enquired as to the movements of the
+      enemy.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;I have crossed the desert on a swift dromedary<a href="#linknote-54"
+       name="linknoteref-54" id="linknoteref-54">54</a> lent to me by Shelomi of
+      the Gate, whose heart is with our cause. I have not tarried, neither have
+      I slept. Ere to-morrow&rsquo;s sunset the Philistines will be here, led by
+      Hassan Subah himself. The Lord of Hosts be with us! Since we conquered
+      Canaan, Israel hath not struggled with such a power!&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      A murmur ran through the assembly. Men exchanged enquiring glances, and
+      involuntarily pressed each other&rsquo;s arms.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;The trial has come,&rsquo; said a middle-aged Hebrew, who had fought twenty
+      years ago with Jabaster.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Let me die for the Ark!&rsquo; said a young enthusiast of the band of Abner.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;I thought we should get into a scrape,&rsquo; whispered Kisloch the Kourd to
+      Calidas the Indian. &lsquo;What could have ever induced us to give up robbing in
+      a quiet manner?&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;And turn Jews!&rsquo; said the Guebre, with a sneer.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Look at Scherirah,&rsquo; said the Negro, grinning. &lsquo;If he is not kissing the
+      sceptre of Solomon!&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;I wish to heaven he had only hung Alroy the first time he met him,&rsquo; said
+      Calidas.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Sons of the Covenant!&rsquo; exclaimed Alroy, &lsquo;the Lord hath delivered them
+      into our hands. To-morrow eve we march to Hamadan!&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      A cheer followed this exclamation.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;It is written,&rsquo; said Jabaster, opening a volume, &lsquo;&ldquo;Lo! I will defend this
+      city, to save it, for mine own sake, and for my servant David&rsquo;s sake.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;&ldquo;And it came to pass that night that the angel of the Lord went out, and
+      smote in the camp of the Assyrians, an hundred four score and five
+      thousand; and when they arose early in the morning, behold! they were all
+      dead corpses.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Now, as I was gazing upon the stars this morn, and reading the celestial
+      alphabet known to the true Cabalist,<a href="#linknote-55"
+       name="linknoteref-55" id="linknoteref-55">55</a> behold! the star of the
+      house of David and seven other stars moved, and met together, and formed
+      into a circle. And the word they formed was a mystery to me; but lo! I
+      have opened the book, and each star is the initial letter of each line of
+      the Targum that I have now read to you. Therefore the fate of Sennacherib
+      is the fate of Hassan Subah!&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;<i>&ldquo;Trust in him at all times, ye people; pour out your heart before
+      him.&rdquo; god is a refuge for us. Selah!</i>&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      At this moment a female form appeared on the very top of the amphitheatre,
+      upon the slight remains of the upper most tier of which a solitary arch
+      alone was left. The chorus instantly died away, every tongue was silent,
+      every eye fixed. Hushed, mute, and immovable, even Kisloch and his
+      companions were appalled as they gazed upon Esther the Prophetess.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Her eminent position, her imposing action, the flashing of her immense
+      eyes, her beautiful but awful countenance, her black hair, that hung
+      almost to her knees, and the white light of the moon, just rising over the
+      opposite side of the amphitheatre, and which threw a silvery flash upon
+      her form, and seemed to invest her with some miraculous emanation, while
+      all beneath her was in deep gloom,-these circumstances combined to render
+      her an object of universal interest and attention, while in a powerful but
+      high voice she thus addressed them:
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;They come, they come! But will they go? Lo! hear ye this, O house of
+      Jacob, which are called by the name of Israel, and are come forth out of
+      the waters of Judah! I hear their drum in the desert, and the voice of
+      their trumpets is like the wind of eve, but a decree hath gone forth, and
+      it says, that a mortal shall be more precious than fine gold, yea, a man
+      than the rich ore of Ophir.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;They come, they come! But will they go? I see the flash of their
+      scimitars, I mark the prancing of their cruel steeds; but a decree hath
+      gone forth, and it says, a gleaning shall be left among them, as in the
+      shaking of the olive-tree; two or three berries on the top of the
+      uppermost bough; four or five on the straggling branches.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;They come, they come! But will they go? Lo! a decree hath gone forth, and
+      it says, Hamadan shall be to thee for a spoil, and desolation shall fall
+      upon Babylon. And there shall the wild beasts of the desert lodge, and
+      howling monsters shall fill their houses, and there shall the daughters of
+      the ostrich dwell, and there shall the screech-owl pitch her tent, and
+      there shall the night-raven lay her eggs, and there shall the satyrs hold
+      their revels. And wolves shall howl to one another in their palaces, and
+      dragons in their voluptuous pavilions. Her time is near at hand; her days
+      shall not be prolonged; the reed and the lotus shall wither in her rivers;
+      and the meadows by her canals shall be as the sands of the desert. For, is
+      it a light thing that the Lord should send his servant to raise up the
+      tribes of Jacob, and to restore the preserved of Israel? Sing, O heavens,
+      and be joyful, O earth, and break forth into singing, O mountains, for the
+      Lord hath comforted his people, and will have mercy upon his afflicted!&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      She ceased; she descended the precipitous side of the amphitheatre with
+      rapid steps, vaulting from tier to tier, and bounding with wonderful
+      agility from one mass of ruin to another. At length she reached the level;
+      and then, foaming and panting, she rushed to Alroy, threw herself upon the
+      ground, embraced his feet, and wiped off the dust from his sandals with
+      her hair.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      The assembly broke into long and loud acclamations of supernatural
+      confidence and sanguine enthusiasm. They beheld their Messiah wave his
+      miraculous sceptre. They thought of Hassan Subah and his Seljuks only as
+      of victims, and of to-morrow only as of a day which was to commence a new
+      era of triumph, freedom, and empire!
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Hassan Subah after five days&rsquo; forced marches pitched his sumptuous
+      pavilion in that beautiful Oasis, which had afforded such delightful
+      refreshment to Alroy when a solitary pilgrim. Around for nearly a mile,
+      were the tents of his warriors, and of the numerous caravan that had
+      accompanied him, laden with water and provisions for his troops. Here,
+      while he reposed, he also sought information as to the position of his
+      enemy.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      A party of observation, which he had immediately despatched, returned
+      almost instantly with a small caravan that had been recently plundered by
+      the robbers. The merchant, a venerable and pious Moslem, was ushered into
+      the presence of the Governor of Hamadan.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;From the robbers&rsquo; haunt?&rsquo; enquired Hassan.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Unfortunately so,&rsquo; answered the merchant.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Is it far?&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;A day&rsquo;s journey.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;And you quitted it?&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Yesterday morn.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;What is their force?&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      The merchant hesitated.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Do they not make prisoners?&rsquo; enquired the Governor, casting a
+      scrutinising glance at his companion.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Holy Prophet! what a miserable wretch am I!&rsquo; exclaimed the venerable
+      merchant, bursting into tears. &lsquo;A faithful subject of the Caliph, I am
+      obliged to serve rebels, a devout Moslem, I am forced to aid Jews! Order
+      me to be hanged at once, my lord,&rsquo; continued the unfortunate merchant,
+      wringing his hands. &lsquo;Order me to be hanged at once. I have lived long
+      enough.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;What is all this?&rsquo; enquired Hassan; &lsquo;speak, friend, without fear.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;I am a faithful subject of the Caliph,&rsquo; answered the merchant; &lsquo;I am a
+      devout Moslem, but I have lost ten thousand dirhems.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;I am sorry for you, sir; I also have lost something, but my losses are
+      nothing to you, nor yours to me.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Accursed be the hour when these dogs tempted me! Tell me, is it sin to
+      break faith with a Jew?&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;On the contrary, I could find you many reverend Mollahs, who will tell
+      you that such a breach is the highest virtue. Come! come, I see how it is:
+      you have received your freedom on condition of not betraying your merciful
+      plunderers. Promises exacted by terror are the bugbears of fools. Speak,
+      man, all you know. Where are they? What is their force? Are we supposed to
+      be at hand?&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;I am a faithful subject of the Caliph, and I am bound to serve him,&rsquo;
+      replied the merchant; &lsquo;I am a devout Moslem, and &lsquo;tis my duty to destroy
+      all Giaours, but I am also a man, and I must look after my own interest.
+      Noble Governor, the long and the short is, these scoundrels have robbed me
+      of ten thousand dirhems, as my slaves will tell you: at least, goods to
+      that amount. No one can prove that they be worth less. It is true that I
+      include in that calculation the fifty per cent. I was to make on my shawls
+      at Hamadan, but still to me it is as good as ten thousand dirhems. Ask my
+      slaves if such an assortment of shawls was ever yet beheld.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;To the point, to the point. The robbers?&rsquo; &lsquo;I am at the point. The shawls
+      is the point. For when I talked of the shawls and the heaviness of my
+      loss, you must know that the captain of the robbers&mdash;&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Alroy?&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;A fierce young gentleman, I do not know how they call him: said the
+      captain to me, &ldquo;Merchant, you look gloomy.&rdquo; &ldquo;Gloomy,&rdquo; I said, &ldquo;you would
+      look gloomy if you were a prisoner, and had lost ten thousand dirhems.&rdquo;
+       &ldquo;What, is this trash worth ten thousand dirhems?&rdquo; said he. &ldquo;With the fifty
+      per cent. I was to make at Hamadan.&rdquo; &ldquo;Fifty per cent.,&rdquo; said he; &ldquo;you are
+      an old knave.&rdquo; &ldquo;Knave! I should like to hear any one call me knave at
+      Bagdad.&rdquo; &ldquo;Well, knave or not, you may get out of this scrape.&rdquo; &ldquo;How?&rdquo; &ldquo;Why
+      you are a respectable-looking man,&rdquo; said he, &ldquo;and are a good Moslem into
+      the bargain, I warrant.&rdquo; &ldquo;That I am,&rdquo; said I, &ldquo;although you be a Jew: but
+      how the faith is to serve me here I am sure I don&rsquo;t know, unless the angel
+      Gabriel, as in the fifty-fifth verse of the twenty-seventh chapter of the
+      Koran&mdash;&mdash;&ldquo;&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Tush, tush!&rsquo; exclaimed Hassan; &lsquo;to the point.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;I always am at the point, only you put me out. However, to make it as
+      short as possible, the captain knows all about your coming, and is
+      frightened out of his wits, although he did talk big; I could easily see
+      that. And he let me go, you see, with some of my slaves, and gave me an
+      order for five thousand dirhems on one Bostenay, of Hamadan (perhaps you
+      know him; is he a good man?), on condition that I would fall in with you,
+      and, Mohammed forgive me, tell you a lie!&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;A lie!&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Yes, a lie; but these Jewish dogs do not understand what a truly
+      religious man is, and when I began to tell the lie, I was soon put out.
+      Now, noble Hassan, if a promise to a Jew be not binding on a true
+      believer, and you will see me straight with the five thousand dirhems, I
+      will betray everything at once.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Be easy about the five thousand dirhems, good man, and tell me all.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;You will see me paid?&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;My honour upon it.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;&lsquo;Tis well! Know then, the infamous dogs are very weak, and terrified at
+      the news of your progress: one, whom I think they call Jabaster, has
+      departed with the great majority of the people into the interior of the
+      desert, about seven hundred strong. I heard so; but mind, I do not know
+      it. The young man, whom you call Alroy, being wounded in a recent
+      conflict, could not depart with them, but remains among the ruins with
+      some female prisoners, some treasure, and about a hundred companions
+      hidden in sepulchres. He gave me my freedom on condition that I should
+      fall in with you, and assure you that the dogs, full five thousand strong,
+      had given you the go-by in the night, and marched towards Hamadan. They
+      wanted me to frighten you; it was a lie, and I could not tell it. And now
+      you know the plain truth; and if it be a sin to break faith with an
+      infidel, you are responsible for it, as well as for the five thousand
+      dirhems, which, by-the-bye, ought to have been ten.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Where is your order?&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;&lsquo;Tis here,&rsquo; said the merchant, drawing it from his vest, &lsquo;a very
+      business-like document, drawn upon one Bostenay, whom they described as
+      very rich, and who is here enjoined to pay me five thousand dirhems, if,
+      in consequence of my information, Hassan Subah, that is yourself, return
+      forthwith to Hamadan without attacking them.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Old Bostenay&rsquo;s head shall answer for this.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;I am glad of it. But were I you, I would make him pay me first.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Merchant,&rsquo; said Hassan, &lsquo;have you any objection to pay another visit to
+      your friend Alroy?&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Allah forbid!&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;In my company?&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;That makes a difference.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Be our guide. The dirhems shall be doubled.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;That will make up for the fifty per cent. I hardly like it; but in your
+      company that makes a difference. Lose no time. If you push on, Alroy must
+      be captured. Now or never! The Jewish dogs, to rifle a true believer!&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Oglu,&rsquo; said Hassan to one of his officers. &lsquo;To horse! You need not strike
+      the tents. Can we reach the city by sunset, merchant?&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;An hour before, if you be off at once.&rsquo; &lsquo;Sound the drums. To horse! to
+      horse!&rsquo; The Seljuks halted before the walls of the deserted city. Their
+      commander ordered a detachment to enter and reconnoitre. They returned and
+      reported its apparent desolation. Hassan Subah, then directing that a
+      guard should surround the walls to prevent any of the enemy from escaping,
+      passed with his warriors through the vast portal into the silent street.
+      The still magnificence of the strange and splendid scene influenced the
+      temper even of this ferocious cavalry. They gazed around them with awe and
+      admiration. The fierceness of their visages was softened, the ardour of
+      their impulse stilled. A supernatural feeling of repose stole over their
+      senses. No one brandished his scimitar, the fiery courser seemed as
+      subdued as his lord, and no sound was heard but the melancholy, mechanical
+      tramp of the disciplined march, unrelieved by martial music, inviolate by
+      oath or jest, and unbroken even by the ostentatious caracoling of any
+      showy steed.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      It was sunset; the star of eve glittered over the white Ionian fane that
+      rose serene and delicate in the flashing and purple sky.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;This way, my lord!&rsquo; said the merchant guide, turning round to Hassan
+      Subah, who, surrounded by his officers, led the van. The whole of the
+      great way of the city was filled with the Seljukian warriors. Their ebon
+      steeds, their snowy turbans, adorned with plumes of the black eagle and
+      the red heron, their dazzling shawls, the blaze of their armour in the
+      sunset, and the long undulating perspective of beautiful forms and
+      brilliant colours, this regiment of heroes in a street of palaces. War had
+      seldom afforded a more imposing or more picturesque spectacle.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;This way, my lord!&rsquo; said the merchant, pointing to the narrow turning
+      that, at the foot of the temple, led through ruined streets to the
+      amphitheatre.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Halt!&rsquo; exclaimed a wild shrill voice. Each warrior suddenly arrested his
+      horse.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Who spoke?&rsquo; exclaimed Hassan Subah.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;I!&rsquo; answered a voice. A female form stood in the portico of the temple,
+      with uplifted arms.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;And who art thou?&rsquo; enquired Hassan Subah, not a little disconcerted.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Thine evil genius, Seljuk!&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Hassan Subah, pale as his ivory battle-axe, did not answer; every man
+      within hearing shuddered; still the dread woman remained immovable within
+      the porch of the temple.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Woman, witch, or goddess,&rsquo; at length exclaimed Hassan Subah, &lsquo;what
+      wouldst thou here?&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Seljuk! behold this star. &lsquo;Tis a single drop of light, yet who even of
+      thy wild band can look upon it without awe? And yet thou worse than
+      Sisera, thou comest to combat against those for whom even &ldquo;the stars in
+      their courses fought.&rdquo;&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;A Jewish witch!&rsquo; exclaimed the Seljuk.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;A Jewish witch! Be it so; behold, then, my spell falls upon thee, and
+      that spell is Destruction.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Awake, awake, Deborah: awake, awake, utter a song; arise, Barak, and lead
+      thy captivity captive, thou son of Abinoam!&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Immediately the sky appeared to darken, a cloud of arrows and javelins
+      broke from all sides upon the çlevoted Seljuks: immense masses of stone
+      and marble were hurled from all directions, horses were stabbed by spears
+      impelled by invisible hands, and riders fell to the ground without a
+      struggle, and were trampled upon by their disordered and affrighted
+      brethren.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;We are betrayed,&rsquo; exclaimed Hassan Subah, hurling a javelin at the
+      merchant, but the merchant was gone. The Seljuks raised their famous war
+      cry.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Oglu, regain the desert,&rsquo; ordered the chieftain.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      But no sooner had the guard without the walls heard the war cry of their
+      companions, than, alarmed, for their safety, they rushed to their
+      assistance. The retreating forces of Subah, each instant diminishing as
+      they retreated, were baffled in their project by the very eagerness of
+      their auxiliaries. The unwilling contention of the two parties increased
+      the confusion; and when the Seljuks, recently arrived, having at length
+      formed into some order, had regained the gate, they found to their dismay
+      that the portal was barricadoed and garrisoned by the enemy. Uninspired by
+      the presence of their commander, who was in the rear, the puzzled soldiers
+      were seized with a panic, and spurring their horses, dispersed in all
+      directions of the city. In vain Hassan Subah endeavoured to restore order.
+      The moment was past. Dashing with about thirty men to an open ground,
+      which his quick eye had observed in his progress down the street, and
+      dealing destruction with every blow, the dreaded Governor of Hamadan, like
+      a true soldier, awaited an inevitable fate, not wholly despairing that
+      some chance might yet turn up to extricate him from his forlorn situation.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      And now, as it were by enchantment, wild armed men seemed to arise from
+      every part of the city. From every mass of ruin, from every crumbling
+      temple and mouldering mansion, from every catacomb and cellar, from behind
+      every column and every obelisk, upstarted some desperate warrior with a
+      bloody weapon. The massacre of the Seljuks was universal. The horsemen
+      dashed wildly about the ruined streets, pursued by crowds of footmen;
+      sometimes, formed in small companies, the Seljuks charged and fought
+      desperately; but, however stout might be their resistance to the open foe,
+      it was impossible to withstand their secret enemies. They had no place of
+      refuge, no power of gaining even a moment&rsquo;s breathing time. If they
+      retreated to a wall it instantly bristled with spears; if they endeavoured
+      to form, in a court, they sank under the falling masses which were
+      showered upon them. Strange shouts of denunciation blended with the harsh
+      braying of horns, and the clang and clash of cymbals and tambours sounded
+      in every quarter of the city.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;If we could only mount the walls, Ibrahim, and leap into the desert!&rsquo;
+      exclaimed Hassan Subah to one of his few remaining comrades; &lsquo;&lsquo;tis our
+      only chance. We die here like dogs! Could I but meet Alroy!&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Three of the Seljuks dashed swiftly across the open ground in front,
+      followed by several Hebrew horsemen.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Smite all, Abner. Spare none, remember Amalek,&rsquo; exclaimed their youthful
+      leader, waving his bloody scimitar.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;They are down; one, two, there goes the third. My javelin has done for
+      him.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Your horse bleeds freely. Where&rsquo;s Jabaster?&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;At the gates; my arm aches with slaughter. The Lord hath delivered them
+      into our hands. Could I but meet their chieftain!&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Turn, bloodhound, he is here,&rsquo; exclaimed Hassan Subah.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Away, Abner, this affair is mine.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Prince, you have already slain your thousands.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;And Abner his tens of thousands. Is it so? This business is for me only.
+      Come on, Turk.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Art thou Alroy?&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;The same.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;The slayer of Alschiroch?&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Even so.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;A rebel and a murderer.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;What you please. Look to yourself.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      The Hebrew Prince flung a javelin at the Seljuk. It glanced from the
+      breastplate; but Hassan Subah staggered in his seat. Recovering, he
+      charged Alroy with great force. Their scimitars crossed, and the blade of
+      Hassan shivered.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;He who sold me that blade told me it was charmed, and could be broken
+      only by a caliph,&rsquo; said Hassan Subah. &lsquo;He was a liar.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;As it may be,&rsquo; said Alroy, and he cut the Seljuk to the ground. Abner had
+      dispersed his comrades. Alroy leaped from his fainting steed, and,
+      mounting the ebon courser of his late enemy, dashed again into the
+      thickest of the fight.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      The shades of night descended, the clamour gradually decreased, the
+      struggle died away. A few unhappy Moslemin who had quitted their saddles
+      and sought concealment among the ruins, were occasionally hunted out, and
+      brought forward and massacred. Long ere midnight the last of the Seljuks
+      had expired.<a href="#linknote-56" name="linknoteref-56"
+       id="linknoteref-56">56</a>
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      The moon shed a broad light upon the street of palaces crowded with the
+      accumulated slain and the living victors. Fires were lit, torches
+      illumined, the conquerors prepared the eager meal as they sang hymns of
+      praise and thanksgiving.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      A procession approached. Esther the prophetess, clashing her cymbals,
+      danced before the Messiah of Israel, who leant upon his victorious
+      scimitar, surrounded by Jabaster, Abner, Scherirah, and his chosen
+      chieftains. Who could now doubt the validity of his mission? The wide and
+      silent desert rang with the acclamations of his enthusiastic votaries.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Heavily the anxious hours crept on in the Jewish quarter of Hamadan. Again
+      and again the venerable Bostenay discussed the chances of success with the
+      sympathising but desponding elders. Miriam was buried in constant prayer.
+      Their most sanguine hopes did not extend beyond the escape of their
+      Prince.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      A fortnight had elapsed, and no news had been received of the progress of
+      the expedition, when suddenly, towards sunset, a sentinel on a watch-tower
+      announced the appearance of an armed force in the distance. The walls were
+      instantly lined with the anxious inhabitants, the streets and squares
+      filled with curious crowds. Exultation sat on the triumphant brow of the
+      Moslemin; a cold tremor stole over the fluttering heart of the Hebrew.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;There is but one God,&rsquo; said the captain of the gate.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;And Mahomed is His prophet,&rsquo; responded a sentinel.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;To-morrow we will cut off the noses of all these Jewish dogs.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;The sceptre has departed,&rsquo; exclaimed the despairing Bostenay.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Lord, remember David!&rsquo; whispered Miriam, as she threw herself upon the
+      court of the palace, and buried her face in ashes.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      The Mollahs in solemn procession advanced to the ramparts, to shed their
+      benediction on the victorious Hassan Subah. The Muezzin ascended the
+      minarets to watch the setting sun, and proclaim the power of Allah with
+      renewed enthusiasm.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;I wonder if Alroy be dead or alive,&rsquo; said the captain of the gate.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;If he be alive, he will be impaled,&rsquo; responded a sentinel.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;If dead, the carcass will be given to the dogs,&rsquo; rejoined the captain;
+      &lsquo;that is the practice.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Bostenay will be hung,&rsquo; said the sentinel.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;And his niece, too,&rsquo; answered the captain.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Hem!&rsquo; said the sentinel. &lsquo;Hassan Subah loves a black eye.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;I hope a true Moslem will not touch a Jewess,&rsquo; exclaimed an indignant
+      black eunuch.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;They approach. What a dust!&rsquo; said the captain of the gate.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;I see Hassan Subah!&rsquo; said the sentinel.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;So do I,&rsquo; said the eunuch, &lsquo;I know his black horse.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;I wonder how many dirhems old Bostenay is worth,&rsquo; said the captain.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Immense!&rsquo; said the sentinel.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;No plunder, I suppose?&rsquo; said the eunuch.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;We shall see,&rsquo; said the captain; &lsquo;at any rate, I owe a thousand to old
+      Shelomi. We need not pay now, you know.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Certainly not,&rsquo; said the black eunuch. &lsquo;The rebels.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      A body of horsemen dashed forward. Their leader in advance reined in his
+      fiery charger beneath the walls.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;In the name of the Prophet, who is that?&rsquo; exclaimed the captain of the
+      gate, a little confused.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;I never saw him before,&rsquo; said the sentinel, &lsquo;although he is in the Seljuk
+      dress. &lsquo;Tis some one from Bagdad, I guess.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      A trumpet sounded.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Who keeps the gate?&rsquo; called out the warrior.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;I am the captain of the gate,&rsquo; answered our friend.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Open it, then, to the King of Israel.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;To whom?&rsquo; enquired the astonished captain.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;To King David. The Lord hath delivered Hassan Subah and his host into our
+      hands, and of all the proud Seljuks none remaineth. Open thy gates, I say,
+      and lose no time. I am Jabaster, a lieutenant of the Lord; this scimitar
+      is my commission. Open thy gates, and thou and thy people shall have that
+      mercy which they have never shown; but if thou delayest one instant, thus
+      saith the King our master, &ldquo;I will burst open your portal, and smite, and
+      utterly destroy all that you have, and spare them not; but slay both man
+      and woman, infant and suckling, ox and sheep, camel and ass.&rdquo;&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Call forth the venerable Lord Bostenay,&rsquo; said the captain of the gate,
+      with chattering teeth. &lsquo;He will intercede for us.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;And the gentle Lady Miriam,&rsquo; said the sentinel. &lsquo;She is ever charitable.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;I will head the procession,&rsquo; said the black eunuch; &lsquo;I am accustomed to
+      women.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      The procession of Mollahs shuffled back to their college with profane
+      precipitation; the sun set, and the astounded Muezzin stood with their
+      mouths open, and quite forgot to announce the power of their Deity, and
+      the validity of their Prophet. The people all called out for the venerable
+      Lord Bostenay and the gentle Lady Miriam, and ran in crowds to see who
+      could first kiss the hem of their garments.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      The principal gate of Hamadan opened into the square of the great mosque.
+      Here the whole population of the city appeared assembled. The gates were
+      thrown open; Jabaster and his companions mounted guard. The short twilight
+      died away, the shades of night descended. The minarets were illumined,<a
+      href="#linknote-57" name="linknoteref-57" id="linknoteref-57">57</a> the
+      houses hung with garlands, the ramparts covered with tapestry and carpets.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      A clang of drums, trumpets, and cymbals announced the arrival of the
+      Hebrew army. The people shouted, the troops without responded with a long
+      cheer of triumph. Amid the blaze of torches, a youth waving his scimitar,
+      upon a coal-black steed, bounded into the city, at the head of his guards,
+      the people fell upon their knees, and shouted &lsquo;Long live Alroy!&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      A venerable man, leading a beauteous maiden with downcast eyes, advanced.
+      They headed a deputation of the chief inhabitants of the city. They came
+      to solicit mercy and protection. At the sight of them, the youthful
+      warrior leaped from his horse, flung away his scimitar, and clasping the
+      maiden in his arms, exclaimed, &lsquo;Miriam, my sister, this, this indeed is
+      triumph!&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Drink,&rsquo; said Kisloch the Kourd to Calidas the Indian; &lsquo;you forget,
+      comrade, we are no longer Moslemin.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Wine, methinks, has a peculiarly pleasant flavour in a golden cup,&rsquo; said
+      the Guebre. &lsquo;I got this little trifle to-day in the Bazaar,&rsquo; he added,
+      holding up a magnificent vase studded with gems.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;I thought plunder was forbidden,&rsquo; grinned the Negro.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;So it is,&rsquo; replied the Guebre; &lsquo;but we may purchase what we please, upon
+      credit.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Well, for my part, I am a moderate man,&rsquo; exclaimed Calidas the Indian,
+      &lsquo;and would not injure even these accursed dogs of Turks. I have not cut my
+      host&rsquo;s throat, but only turned him into my porter, and content myself with
+      his harem, his baths, his fine horses, and other little trifles.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;What quarters we are in! There is nothing like a true Messiah!&rsquo; exclaimed
+      Kisloch, devoutly.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Nothing,&rsquo; said Calidas; &lsquo;though to speak truth, I did not much believe in
+      the efficacy of Solomon&rsquo;s sceptre, till his Majesty clove the head of the
+      valiant Seljuk with it.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;But now there&rsquo;s no doubt of it,&rsquo; said the Guebre.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;We should indeed be infidels if we doubted now,&rsquo; replied the Indian.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;How lucky,&rsquo; grinned the Negro, &lsquo;as I had no religion before, that I have
+      now fixed upon the right one!&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Most fortunate!&rsquo; said the Guebre. &lsquo;What shall we do to amuse ourselves
+      to-night?&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Let us go to the coffee-houses and make the Turks drink wine,&rsquo; said
+      Calidas the Indian.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;What say you to burning down a mosque?&rsquo; said Kisloch the Kourd.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;I had great fun with some Dervishes this morning,&rsquo; said the Guebre. &lsquo;I
+      met one asking alms with a wire run through his cheek,<a
+      href="#linknote-58" name="linknoteref-58" id="linknoteref-58">58</a> so I
+      caught another, bored his nose, and tied them both together!&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Hah! hah! hah!&rsquo; burst the Negro.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Asia resounded with the insurrection of the Jews, and the massacre of the
+      Seljuks. Crowds of Hebrews, from the rich cities of Persia and the
+      populous settlements on the Tigris and the Euphrates, hourly poured into
+      Hamadan.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      The irritated Moslemin persecuted the brethren of the successful rebel,
+      and this impolicy precipitated their flight. The wealth of Bagdad flowed
+      into the Hebrew capital. Seated on the divan of Hassan Subah, and wielding
+      the sceptre of Solomon, the King of Israel received the homage of his
+      devoted subjects, and despatched his envoys to Syria and to Egypt. The
+      well-stored magazines and arsenals of Hamadan soon converted the pilgrims
+      into warriors. The city was unable to accommodate the increased and
+      increasing population. An extensive camp, under the command of Abner, was
+      formed without the walls, where the troops were daily disciplined, and
+      where they were prepared for greater exploits than a skirmish in a desert.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Within a month after the surrender of Hamadan, the congregation of the
+      people assembled in the square of the great mosque, now converted into a
+      synagogue. The multitude was disposed in ordered ranks, and the terrace of
+      every house was crowded. In the centre of the square was an altar of cedar
+      and brass, and on each side stood a company of priests guarding the
+      victims, one young bullock, and two rams without blemish.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Amid the flourish of trumpets, the gates of the synagogue opened, and
+      displayed to the wondering eyes of the Hebrews a vast and variegated
+      pavilion planted in the court. The holy remnant, no longer forlorn, beheld
+      that tabernacle of which they had so long dreamed, once more shining in
+      the sun, with its purple and scarlet hangings, its curtains of rare skins,
+      and its furniture of silver and gold.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      A procession of priests advanced, bearing, with staves of cedar, run
+      through rings of gold, a gorgeous ark, the work of the most cunning
+      artificers of Persia. Night and day had they laboured, under the direction
+      of Jabaster, to produce this wondrous spectacle. Once more the children of
+      Israel beheld the cherubim. They burst into a triumphant hymn of
+      thanksgiving, and many drew their swords, and cried aloud to be led
+      against the Canaanites.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      From the mysterious curtains of the tabernacle, Alroy came forward,
+      leading Jabaster. They approached the altar. And Alroy took robes from the
+      surrounding priests, and put them upon Jabaster, and a girdle, and a
+      breastplate of jewels. And Alroy took a mitre, and placed it upon the head
+      of Jabaster, and upon the mitre he placed a crown; and pouring oil upon
+      his head, the pupil anointed the master High Priest of Israel.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      The victims were slain, the sin-offering burnt. Amid clouds of incense,
+      bursts of music, and the shouts of a devoted people; amid odour, and
+      melody, and enthusiasm, Alroy mounted his charger, and at the head of
+      twenty thousand men, departed to conquer Media.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      The extensive and important province of Aderbijan, of which Hamadan was
+      the capital, was formed of the ancient Media. Its fate was decided by one
+      battle. On the plain of Nehauend, Alroy met the hastily-raised levies of
+      the Atabek of Kermanshah, and entirely routed them. In the course of a
+      month, every city of the province had acknowledged the supremacy of the
+      new Hebrew monarch, and, leaving Abner to complete the conquest of
+      Louristan, Alroy entered Persia.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      The incredible and irresistible progress of Alroy roused Togrul, the
+      Turkish Sultan of Persia, from the luxurious indolence of the palaces of
+      Nishapur. He summoned his emirs to meet him at the imperial city of Rhey,
+      and crush, by one overwhelming effort, the insolent rebel.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Religion, valour, and genius, alike inspired the arms of Alroy, but he
+      was, doubtless, not a little assisted by the strong national sympathy of
+      his singular and scattered people, which ever ensured him prompt
+      information of all the movements of his enemy. Without any preparation, he
+      found agents in every court, and camp, and cabinet; and, by their
+      assistance, he anticipated the designs of his adversaries, and turned even
+      their ingenuity to their confusion. The imperial city of Rhey was
+      surprised in the night, sacked, and burnt to the ground. The scared and
+      baffled emirs who escaped, flew to the Sultan Togrul, tearing their
+      beards, and prophesying the approaching termination of the world. The
+      palaces of Nishapur resounded with the imprecations of their master, who,
+      cursing the Jewish dogs, and vowing a pilgrimage to Mecca, placed himself
+      at the head of a motley multitude of warriors, and rushed upon the plains
+      of Irak, to exterminate Alroy.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      The Persian force exceeded the Hebrew at least five times in number.
+      Besides a large division of Seljuks, the Caucasus had poured forth its
+      strange inhabitants to swell the ranks of the Faithful. The wild tribes of
+      the Bactiari were even enlisted, with their fatal bows, and the savage
+      Turkmans, tempted by the sultan&rsquo;s gold, for a moment yielded their
+      liberty, and shook their tall lances in his ranks.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      But what is a wild Bactiari, and what is a savage Turkman, and what even a
+      disciplined and imperious Seljuk, to the warriors of the God of Abraham,
+      of Isaac, and of Jacob? At the first onset, Alroy succeeded in dividing
+      the extended centre of Togrul, and separating the greater part of the
+      Turks from their less disciplined comrades. At the head of his Median
+      cavalry, the Messiah charged and utterly routed the warriors of the
+      Caucasus. The wild tribes of the Bactiari discharged their arrows and
+      fled, and the savage Turkmans plundered the baggage of their own
+      commander.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      The Turks themselves fought desperately; but, deserted by their allies,
+      and surrounded by an inspired foe, their efforts were unavailing, and
+      their slaughter terrible. Togrul was slain while heading a desperate and
+      fruitless charge, and, after his fall, the battle resembled a massacre
+      rather than a combat. The plain was glotted with Seljuk gore. No quarter
+      was given or asked. Twenty thousand chosen troops fell on the side of the
+      Turks; the rest dispersed and gained the mountains. Leaving Scherirah to
+      restore order, Alroy the next morning pushed on to Nishapur at the head of
+      three thousand horsemen, and summoned the city ere the inhabitants were
+      apprised of the defeat and death of their sultan. The capital of Persia
+      escaped the fate of Rhey by an inglorious treaty and a lavish tribute. The
+      treasures of the Chosroes and the Gasnevides were despatched to Hamadan,
+      on which city day dawned, only to bring intelligence of a victory or a
+      conquest.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      While Alroy dictated peace on his own terms in the palaces of Nishapur,
+      Abner, having reduced Louristan, crossed the mountains, and entered Persia
+      with the reinforcements he had received from Jabaster. Leaving the
+      government and garrisoning of his new conquests to this valiant captain,
+      Alroy, at the head of the conquerors of Persia, in consequence of
+      intelligence received from Hamadan, returned by forced marches to that
+      city.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Leaving the army within a day&rsquo;s march of the capital, Alroy, accompanied
+      only by his staff, entered Hamadan in the evening, and, immediately
+      repairing to the citadel, summoned Jabaster to council. The night was
+      passed by the king and the high priest in deep consultation. The next
+      morning, a decree apprised the inhabitants of the return of their monarch,
+      of the creation of the new &lsquo;Kingdom of the Medes and Persians,&rsquo; of which
+      Hamadan was declared the capital, and Abner the viceroy, and of the
+      intended and immediate invasion of Syria, and re-conquest of the Land of
+      Promise.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      The plan of this expedition had been long matured, and the preparations to
+      effect it were considerably advanced. Jabaster had not been idle during
+      the absence of his pupil. One hundred thousand warriors were now assembled<a
+      href="#linknote-59" name="linknoteref-59" id="linknoteref-59">59</a> at
+      the capital of the kingdom of the Medes and Persians; of these the greater
+      part were Hebrews, but many Arabs, wearied of the Turkish yoke, and many
+      gallant adventurers from the Caspian, easily converted from a vague
+      idolatry to a religion of conquest, swelled the ranks of the army of the
+      Lord of Hosts.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      The plain of Hamadan was covered with tents, the streets were filled with
+      passing troops, the bazaars loaded with military stores; long caravans of
+      camels laden with supplies every day arrived from the neighbouring towns;
+      each instant some high-capped Tatar with despatches<a href="#linknote-60"
+       name="linknoteref-60" id="linknoteref-60">60</a> rushed into the city and
+      galloped his steed up the steep of the citadel. The clang of arms, the
+      prance of horses, the flourish of warlike music, resounded from all
+      quarters. The business and the treasure of the world seemed, as it were in
+      an instant, to have become concentrated in Hamadan. Every man had some
+      great object; gold glittered in every hand. All great impulses were
+      stirring; all the causes of human energy were in lively action. Every eye
+      sparkled, every foot trod firm and fast. Each man acted as if the
+      universal fate depended upon his exertions; as if the universal will
+      sympathised with his particular desire. A vast population influenced by a
+      high degree of excitement is the most sublime of spectacles.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      The commander of the Faithful raised the standard of the Prophet on the
+      banks of the Tigris. It was the secret intelligence of this intended event
+      that had recalled Alroy so suddenly from Persia. The latent enthusiasm of
+      the Moslemin was excited by the rare and mystic ceremony, and its effects
+      were anticipated by previous and judicious preparations. The Seljuks of
+      Bagdad alone amounted to fifty thousand men; the Sultan of Syria
+      contributed the warriors who had conquered the Arabian princes of Damascus
+      and Aleppo; while the ancient provinces of Asia Minor, which formed the
+      rich and powerful kingdom of Seljukian Roum, poured forth a myriad of that
+      matchless cavalry, which had so often baffled the armies of the Cæsars.
+      Never had so imposing a force been collected on the banks of the Tigris
+      since the reign of Haroun Alraschid. Each day some warlike Atabek, at the
+      head of his armed train, poured into the capital of the caliphs,<a
+      href="#linknote-61" name="linknoteref-61" id="linknoteref-61">61</a> or
+      pitched his pavilion on the banks of the river; each day the proud emir of
+      some remote principality astonished or affrighted the luxurious
+      Babylonians by the strange or uncouth warriors that had gathered round his
+      standard in the deserts of Arabia, or on the shores of the Euxine. For the
+      space of twenty miles, the banks of the river were, on either side, far as
+      the eye could reach, covered with the variegated pavilions, the glittering
+      standards, the flowing streamers and twinkling pennons of the mighty host,
+      of which Malek, the Grand Sultan of the Seljuks, and Governor of the
+      Caliph&rsquo;s palace, was chief commander.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Such was the power assembled on the plains of Asia to arrest the progress
+      of the Hebrew Prince, and to prevent the conquest of the memorable land
+      promised to the faith of his fathers, and forfeited by their infidelity.
+      Before the walls of Hamadan, Alroy reviewed the army of Israel, sixty
+      thousand heavy-armed footmen, thirty thousand archers and light troops,
+      and twenty thousand cavalry. Besides these, there had been formed a body
+      of ten thousand picked horsemen, styled the &lsquo;Sacred Guard,&rsquo; all of whom
+      had served in the Persian campaign. In their centre, shrouded in a case of
+      wrought gold, studded with carbuncles, and carried on a lusty lance of
+      cedar, a giant&mdash;for the height of Elnebar exceeded that of common men
+      by three feet&mdash;bore the sceptre of Solomon. The Sacred Guard was
+      commanded by Asriel, the brother of Abner.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      The army was formed into three divisions. All marched in solemn order
+      before the throne of Alroy, raised upon the ramparts, and drooped their
+      standards and lances as they passed their heroic leader. Bostenay, and
+      Miriam, and the whole population of the city witnessed the inspiring
+      spectacle from the walls. That same eve, Scherirah, at the head of forty
+      thousand men, pushed on towards Bagdad, by Kermanshah; and Jabaster, who
+      commanded in his holy robes, and who had vowed not to lay aside his sword
+      until the rebuilding of the temple, conducted his division over the
+      victorious plain of Nehauend. They were to concentrate at the pass of
+      Kerrund, which conducted into the province of Bagdad, and await the
+      arrival of the king.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      At the dawn of day, the royal division and the Sacred Guard, the whole
+      under the command of Asriel, quitted the capital. Alroy still lingered,
+      and for some hours the warriors of his staff might have been observed
+      lounging about the citadel, or practising their skill in throwing the
+      jerreed as they exercised their impatient chargers before the gates.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      The king was with the Lady Miriam, walking in the garden of their uncle.
+      One arm was wound round her delicate waist, and with the other he clasped
+      her soft and graceful hand. The heavy tears burst from her downcast eyes,
+      and stole along her pale and pensive cheek. They walked in silence, the
+      brother and the sister, before the purity of whose surpassing love even
+      ambition vanished. He opened the lattice gate. They entered into the
+      valley small and green; before them was the marble fountain with its
+      columns and cupola, and in the distance the charger of Alroy and his
+      single attendant.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      They stopped, and Alroy gathered flowers, and placed them in the hair of
+      Miriam. He would have softened the bitterness of parting with a smile.
+      Gently he relaxed his embracing arm, almost insensibly he dropped her
+      quivering hand.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Sister of my soul,&rsquo; he whispered, &lsquo;when we last parted here, I was a
+      fugitive, and now I quit you a conqueror.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      She turned, she threw herself upon his neck, and buried her face in his
+      breast.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;My Miriam, we shall meet at Bagdad.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      He beckoned to her distant maidens; they advanced, he delivered Miriam
+      into their arms. He pressed her hand to his lips, and, rushing to his
+      horse, mounted and disappeared.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      A body of irregular cavalry feebly defended the pass of Kerrund. It was
+      carried, with slight loss, by the vanguard of Scherirah, and the fugitives
+      prepared the host of the caliph for the approach of the Hebrew army.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Upon the plain of the Tigris the enemy formed into battle array. The
+      centre was commanded by Malek, the Grand Sultan of the Seljuks himself;
+      the right wing, headed by the Sultan of Syria, was protected by the river;
+      and the left, under the Sultan of Roum, was posted upon the advantageous
+      position of some irregular and rising ground. Thus proud in the number,
+      valour, discipline, and disposition of his forces, Malek awaited the
+      conqueror of Persia.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      The glittering columns of the Hebrews might even now be perceived defiling
+      from the mountains, and forming at the extremity of the plain. Before
+      nightfall the camp of the invaders was pitched within hearing of that of
+      Malek. The moving lights in the respective tents might plainly be
+      distinguished; and ever and anon the flourish of hostile music fell with
+      an ominous sound upon the ears of the opposed foe-men. A few miles only
+      separated those mighty hosts. Upon to-morrow depended, perhaps, the
+      fortunes of ages. How awful is the eve of battle!
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Alroy, attended by a few chieftains, personally visited the tents of the
+      soldiery, promising them on the morrow a triumph, before which the
+      victories of Nehauend and Nishapur would sink into insignificance. Their
+      fiery and excited visages proved at once their courage and their faith.
+      The sceptre of Solomon was paraded throughout the camp in solemn
+      procession. On the summit of a huge tumulus, perhaps the sepulchre of some
+      classic hero, Esther, the prophetess, surrounded by the chief zealots of
+      the host, poured forth her exciting inspirations. It was a grand picture,
+      that beautiful wild girl, the groups of stern, devoted warriors, the red
+      flame of the watch-fires mixing with the silver shadows of the moon as
+      they illumined the variegated turbans and gleaming armour of her votaries!
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      In the pavilion of Alroy, Jabaster consulted with his pupil on the conduct
+      of the morrow.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;This is a different scene from the cavern of the Caucasus,&rsquo; said Alroy,
+      as the high priest rose to retire.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;It has one great resemblance, sire; the God of our fathers is with us.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Ay! the Lord of Hosts. Moses was a great man. There is no career except
+      conquest.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;You muse.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Of the past. The present is prepared. Too much thought will mar it.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;The past is for wisdom, the present for action, but for joy the future.
+      The feeling that the building of the temple is at hand, that the Lord&rsquo;s
+      anointed will once again live in the house of David, absorbs my spirit;
+      and, when I muse over our coming glory, in my fond ecstasy I almost lose
+      the gravity that doth beseem my sacred office.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Jerusalem; I have seen it. How many hours to dawn?&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Some three.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;&lsquo;Tis strange I could sleep. I remember, on the eve of battle I was ever
+      anxious. How is this, Jabaster?&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Your faith, sire, is profound.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Yes, I have no fear. My destiny is not complete. Good night, Jabaster.
+      See, Asriel, valiant priest. Pharez!&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;My lord!&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Rouse me at the second watch. Good night, boy.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Good night, my lord.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Pharez! Be sure you rouse me at the second watch. Think you it wants
+      three hours to dawn?&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;About three hours, my lord.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Well! at the second watch, remember; good night.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;It is the second watch, my lord.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;So soon! Have I slept? I feel fresh as an eagle. Call Scherirah, boy.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;&lsquo;Tis strange I never dream now. Before my flight my sleep was ever
+      troubled. Say what they like, man is made for action. My life is now
+      harmonious, and sleep has now become what nature willed it, a solace, not
+      a contest. Before, it was a struggle of dark passions and bright dreams,
+      in whose creative fancy and fair vision my soul sought refuge from the
+      dreary bale of daily reality.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;I will withdraw the curtains of my tent. O most majestic vision! And have
+      I raised this host? Over the wide plain, far as my eye can range, their
+      snowy tents studding the purple landscape, embattled legions gather round
+      their flags to struggle for my fate. It is the agony of Asia.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;A year ago, upon this very spot, I laid me down to die, an unknown thing,
+      or known and recognised only to be despised, and now the sultans of the
+      world come forth to meet me. I have no fear. My destiny is not complete.
+      And whither tends it? Let that power decide which hitherto has fashioned
+      all my course.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Jerusalem, Jerusalem! ever harping on Jerusalem. With all his lore, he is
+      a narrow-minded zealot whose dreaming memory would fondly make a future
+      like the past. O Bagdad, Bagdad, within thy glittering halls, there is a
+      charm worth all his Cabala!
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Hah! Scherirah! The dawn is near at hand, the stars are still shining.
+      The air is very pleasant. Tomorrow will be a great day, Scherirah, for
+      Israel and for you. You lead the attack. A moment in my tent, my brave
+      Scherirah!&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      The dawn broke; a strong column of the Hebrews, commanded by Scherirah,
+      poured down upon the centre of the army of the caliph. Another column,
+      commanded by Jabaster, attacked the left wing, headed by the Sultan of
+      Roum. No sooner had Alroy perceived that the onset of Scherirah had
+      succeeded in penetrating the centre of the Turks, than he placed himself
+      at the head of the Sacred Guard, and by an irresistible charge completed
+      their disorder and confusion. The division of the Sultan of Syria, and a
+      great part of the centre, were entirely routed and driven into the river,
+      and the remainder of the division of Malek was effectually separated from
+      his left wing.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      But while to Alroy the victory seemed already decided, a far different
+      fate awaited the division of Jabaster. The Sultan of Roum, posted in an
+      extremely advantageous position, and commanding troops accustomed to the
+      discipline of the Romans of Constantinople, received the onset of Jabaster
+      without yielding, and not only repelled his attack, but finally made a
+      charge which completely disordered and dispersed the column of the
+      Hebrews. In vain Jabaster endeavoured to rally his troops, in vain he
+      performed prodigies of valour, in vain he himself struck down the
+      standard-bearer of the sultan, and once even penetrated to the pavilion of
+      the monarch. His division was fairly routed. The eagerness of the Sultan
+      of Roum to effect the annihilation of his antagonists prevented him from
+      observing the forlorn condition of the Turkish centre. Had he, after
+      routing the division of Jabaster, only attacked Alroy in the rear, the
+      fortune of the day might have been widely different. As it was, the eagle
+      eye of Alroy soon detected his inadvertence, and profited by his
+      indiscretion. Leaving Ithamar to keep the centre in check, he charged the
+      Sultan of Roum with the Sacred Guard, and afforded Jabaster an opportunity
+      of rallying some part of his forces. The Sultan of Roum, perceiving that
+      the day was lost by the ill-conduct of his colleagues, withdrew his
+      troops, retreated in haste, but in good order to Bagdad, carried off the
+      caliph, his harem, and some of his treasure, and effected his escape into
+      Syria. In the meantime the discomfiture of the remaining Turkish army was
+      complete. The Tigris was dyed with their blood, and the towns through
+      which the river flowed were apprised of the triumph of Alroy by the
+      floating corpses of his enemies. Thirty thousand Turks were slain in
+      battle: among them the Sultans of Bagdad and Syria, and a vast number of
+      atabeks, emirs, and chieftains. A whole division, finding themselves
+      surrounded, surrendered on terms, and delivered up their arms. The camps
+      and treasures of the three sultans were alike captured, and the troops
+      that escaped so completely dispersed, that they did not attempt to rally,
+      but, disbanded and desperate, prowled over and plundered the adjoining
+      provinces. The loss of the division of Jabaster was also severe, but the
+      rest of the army suffered little. Alroy himself was slightly wounded. The
+      battle lasted barely three hours. Its results were immense. David Alroy
+      was now master of the East.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      The plain was covered with the corpses of men and horses, arms and
+      standards, and prostrate tents. Returning from the pursuit of the Sultan
+      of Roum, Alroy ordered the trumpets to sound to arms, and, covered with
+      gore and dust, dismounted from his charger, and stood before the pavilion
+      of Malek, leaning on his bloody scimitar, and surrounded by his victorious
+      generals.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Ah, Jabaster!&rsquo; said the conqueror, giving his hand to the pontiff, &lsquo;&lsquo;twas
+      well your troops had such a leader. No one but you could have rallied
+      them.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      You must drill your lads a little before they again meet the Cappadocian
+      cavalry. Brave Scherirah, we shall not forget our charge. Asriel, tell the
+      guard, from me, that the victory of the Tigris was owing to their
+      scimitars. Ithamar, what are our freshest troops?&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;The legion of Aderbijan, sire.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;How strong can they muster?&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;It counts twelve thousand men: we might collect two-thirds.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Valiant Ithamar, take the Aderbijans and a division of the guards, push
+      on towards Bagdad, and summon the city. If his Sultanship of Roum offer
+      battle, take up a position, and he shall quickly have his desire. For the
+      present, after these hasty marches and sharp fighting, the troops must
+      rest. I think he will not tarry. Summon the city, and say that if any
+      resistance be offered, I will make it as desolate as old Babylon. Treat
+      with no armed force. Where is the soldier that saved me a cracked skull;
+      his name Benaiah?&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;I wait your bidding, sire.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;You&rsquo;re a captain. Join the division of Ithamar, and win fresh laurels ere
+      we meet again. Gentle Asriel, let your brother know our fortune.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Sire, several Tartars have already been despatched to Hamadan.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;&lsquo;Tis well. Send another with these tablets to the Lady Miriam. Despatch
+      the pavilion of Malek as a trophy for the town. Elnebar, Goliath of the
+      Hebrews, you bore our sacred standard like a hero! How fares the
+      prophetess? I saw her charging in our ranks, waving a sabre with her snowy
+      arm, her long, dark hair streaming like a storm, from which her eyes
+      flashed lightning.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;The king bleeds,&rsquo; said Jabaster.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Slightly. It will do me service. I am somewhat feverish. A kingdom for a
+      draught of water! And now for our wounded friends. Asriel, do you marshal
+      the camp. It is the Sabbath eve.<a href="#linknote-62"
+       name="linknoteref-62" id="linknoteref-62">62</a> Time presses.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      The dead were plundered, and thrown into the river, the encampment of the
+      Hebrews completed. Alroy, with his principal officers, visited the
+      wounded, and praised the valiant. The bustle which always succeeds a
+      victory was increased in the present instance by the anxiety of the army
+      to observe with grateful strictness the impending Sabbath.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      When the sun set, the Sabbath was to commence. The undulating horizon
+      rendered it difficult to ascertain the precise moment of the setting. The
+      crimson orb sunk behind the purple mountains, the sky was flushed with a
+      rich and rosy glow. Then might be perceived the zealots, proud in their
+      Talmudical lore, holding a skein of white silk in their hands, and
+      announcing the approach of the Sabbath by their observation of its
+      shifting tints. While the skein was yet golden, the forge of the armourer
+      still sounded, the fire of the cook still blazed, still the cavalry led
+      their steeds to the river, and still the busy footmen braced up their
+      tents and hammered at their palisades. The skein of silk became rosy, the
+      armourer worked with renewed energy, the cook puffed with increased zeal,
+      the horsemen scampered from the river, the footmen cast an anxious glance
+      at the fading twilight.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      The skein of silk became blue; a dim, dull, sepulchral, leaden tinge fell
+      over its purity. The hum of gnats arose, the bat flew in circling whirls
+      over the tents, horns sounded from all quarters, the sun had set, the
+      Sabbath had commenced. &lsquo;The forge was mute, the fire extinguished, the
+      prance of horses and the bustle of men in a moment ceased. A deep, a
+      sudden, an all-pervading stillness dropped over that mighty host. It was
+      night; the sacred lamp of the Sabbath sparkled in every tent of the camp,
+      which vied in silence and in brilliancy with the mute and glowing heavens.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Morn came; the warriors assembled around the altar and the sacrifice. The
+      high priest and his attendant Levites proclaimed the unity and the
+      omnipotence of the God of Israel, and the sympathetic responses of his
+      conquering and chosen people reechoed over the plain. They retired again
+      to their tents, to listen to the expounding of the law; even the distance
+      of a Sabbath walk was not to exceed that space which lies between
+      Jerusalem and the Mourft of Olives. This was the distance between the
+      temple and the tabernacle; it had been nicely measured, and every Hebrew
+      who ventured forth from the camp this day might be observed counting the
+      steps of a Sabbath-day&rsquo;s journey. At length the sun again set, and on a
+      sudden fires blazed, voices sounded, men stirred, in the same enchanted
+      and instantaneous manner that had characterised the stillness of the
+      preceding eve. Shouts of laughter, bursts of music, announced the
+      festivity of the coming night; supplies poured in from all the
+      neighbouring villages, and soon the pious conquerors commemorated their
+      late triumph in a round of banqueting.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      On the morrow, a Tatar arrived from Ithamar, informing Alroy that the
+      Sultan of Roum had retreated into Syria, that Bagdad was undefended, but
+      that he had acceded to the request of the inhabitants that a deputation
+      should wait upon Alroy before the troops entered the city, and had granted
+      a safe conduct for their passage.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      On the morrow, messengers announced the approach of the deputation. All
+      the troops were under arms. Alroy directed that the suppliants should be
+      conducted through the whole camp before they arrived at the royal
+      pavilion, on each side of which the Sacred Guard was mustered in array.
+      The curtains of his tent withdrawn displayed the conqueror himself, seated
+      on a sumptuous divan. On his right hand stood Jabaster in his priestly
+      robes, on his left Scherirah. Behind him, the giant Elnebar supported the
+      sacred sceptre. A crowd of chieftains was ranged on each side of the
+      pavilion.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Cymbals sounded, muffled kettle-drums, and the faint flourish of trumpets;
+      the commencement of the procession might be detected in the long
+      perspective of the tented avenue. First came a company of beauteous
+      youths, walking two by two, and strewing flowers; then a band of musicians
+      in flowing robes of cloth of gold, plaintively sounding their silver
+      trumpets. After these followed slaves of all climes, bearing a tribute of
+      the most rare and costly productions of their countries: Negroes with
+      tusks and teeth of the elephant, plumes of ostrich feathers, and caskets
+      of gold dust; Syrians with rich armour; Persians with vases of atar-gul,
+      and Indians with panniers of pearls of Ormuz, and soft shawls of
+      Cachemire. Encircled by his children, each of whom held alternately a
+      white or fawn-coloured gazelle, an Arab clothed in his blue bornouz, led
+      by a thick cord of crimson silk a tall and tawny giraffe. Fifty stout men
+      succeeded two by two, carrying in company a silver shield laden with gold
+      coin, or chased goblets studded with gems.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      The clash of cymbals announced the presence of the robes of honour,<a
+      href="#linknote-63" name="linknoteref-63" id="linknoteref-63">63</a>
+      culled from the wardrobe of the commander of the Faithful; the silk of
+      Aleppo and the brocade of Damascus, lined with the furs of the sable and
+      the ermine, down from the breast of the swan, and the skins of white
+      foxes.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      After these followed two grey dromedaries, with furniture of silver, and
+      many caparisoned horses, each led by a groom in rich attire. The last of
+      these was a snow-white steed, upon whose front was the likeness of a ruby
+      star, a courser of the sacred stud of Solomon, and crossed only by the
+      descendants of the Prophet.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      The muffled kettle-drums heralded the company of black eunuchs, with their
+      scarlet vests and ivory battle-axes. They surrounded and shrouded from the
+      vulgar gaze fourteen beautiful Circassian girls, whose brilliant visages
+      and perfect forms were otherwise concealed by their long veils and ample
+      drapery.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      The gorgeous procession, as they approached the conqueror, bowed humbly to
+      Alroy, and formed in order on each side of the broad avenue. The
+      deputation appeared; twelve of the principal citizens of Bagdad, with
+      folded arms, and downcast eyes, and disordered raiment. Meekly and mutely
+      each touched the earth with his hand, and kissed it in token of
+      submission, and then, moving aside, made way for the chief envoy and
+      orator of the company, Honain!
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Humbly, but gracefully, the physician of the caliph bowed before the
+      conqueror of the East. His appearance and demeanour afforded a contrast to
+      the aspect of his brother envoys; not less calm or contented his
+      countenance, not less sumptuous or studied his attire, than when he first
+      rescued Alroy in the bazaar of Bagdad from the grip of the false Abdallah.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      He spoke, and every sound was hushed before the music of his voice.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Conqueror of the world, that destiny with which it is in vain to struggle
+      has placed our lives and fortunes in your power. Your slaves offer for
+      your approbation specimens of their riches; not as tribute, for all is
+      yours; but to show you the products of security and peace, and to induce
+      you to believe that mercy may be a policy as profitable to the conqueror
+      as to the conquered; that it may be better to preserve than to destroy;
+      and wiser to enjoy than to extirpate.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Fate ordained that we should be born the slaves of the caliph; that same
+      fate has delivered his sceptre into your hands. We offer you the same
+      devotion that we yielded to him, and we entreat the same protection which
+      he granted to us.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Whatever may be your decision, we must bow to your decree with the
+      humility that recognises superior force. Yet we are not without hope. We
+      cannot forget that it is our good fortune not to be addressing a barbarous
+      chieftain, unable to sympathise with the claims of civilisation, the
+      creations of art, and the finer impulses of humanity. We acknowledge your
+      irresistible power, but we dare to hope everything from a prince whose
+      genius all acknowledge and admire, who has spared some portion of his
+      youth from the cares of government and the pursuits of arms to the
+      ennobling claims of learning, whose morality has been moulded by a pure
+      and sublime faith, and who draws his lineage from a sacred and celebrated
+      race, the unrivalled antiquity of which even the Prophet acknowledges.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      He ceased: a buzz of approbation sounded throughout the pavilion, which
+      was hushed instantly as the lips of the conqueror moved.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Noble emir,&rsquo; replied Alroy, &lsquo;return to Bagdad, and tell your
+      fellow-subjects that the King of Israel grants protection to their
+      persons, and security to their property.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;And for their faith?&rsquo; enquired the envoy, in a lower voice.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Toleration,&rsquo; replied Alroy, turning to Jabaster.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Until further regulations,&rsquo; added the high priest.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Emir,&rsquo; said Alroy, &lsquo;the person of the caliph will be respected.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;May it please your highness,&rsquo; replied Honain, &lsquo;the Sultan of Roum has
+      retired with our late ruler.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;And his harem?&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;And his harem.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;It was needless. We war not with women.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Men, as well as women, must acknowledge the gracious mercy of your
+      highness.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Benomi,&rsquo; said Alroy, addressing himself to a young officer of the guard,
+      &lsquo;command the guard of honour that will attend this noble emir on his
+      return. We soldiers deal only in iron, sir, and cannot vie with the
+      magnificence of Bagdad, yet wear this dagger for the donor&rsquo;s sake:&rsquo; and
+      Alroy held out to Honain a poniard flaming with gems.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      The Envoy of Bagdad advanced, took the dagger, pressed it to his lips, and
+      placed it in his vest.<a href="#linknote-64" name="linknoteref-64"
+       id="linknoteref-64">64</a>
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Scherirah,&rsquo; continued Alroy, &lsquo;this noble emir is your charge. See that a
+      choice pavilion of the host be for his use, and that his train complain
+      not of the rough customs of our camp.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;May it please your highness,&rsquo; replied Honain, &lsquo;I have fulfilled my
+      office, and, with your gracious permission, would at once return. I have
+      business only less urgent than the present, because it concerns myself.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;As you will, noble emir. Benomi, to your post. Farewell, sir.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      The deputation advanced, bowed, and retired. Alroy turned to Jabaster.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;No common person that, Jabaster?&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;A very gracious Turk, sire.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Think you he is a Turk?&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;By his dress.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;It may be so. Asriel, break up the camp. We&rsquo;ll march at once to Bagdad.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      The chiefs dispersed to make the necessary arrangements for the march. The
+      news that the army was immediately to advance to Bagdad soon circulated
+      throughout the camp, and excited the most lively enthusiasm. Every hand
+      was at work, striking the tents, preparing the arms and horses. Alroy
+      retired to his pavilion. The curtains were drawn. He was alone, and
+      plunged in profound meditation.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Alroy!&rsquo; a voice sounded.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      He started, and looked up. Before him stood Esther the prophetess.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Esther! is it thou?&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Alroy! enter not into Babylon.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Indeed.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;As I live, the Lord hath spoken it. Enter not into Babylon.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Not enjoy my fairest conquest, maiden?&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Enter not into Babylon.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;What affrights thee?&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Enter not into Babylon.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;I shall surely change the fortunes of my life without a cause.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;The Lord hath spoken. Is not that a cause?&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;I am the Lord&rsquo;s anointed. His warning has not reached me.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Now it reaches thee. Doth the king despise the prophetess of the Lord? It
+      is the sin of Ahab.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Despise thee! Despise the mouth that is the herald of my victories!
+      &lsquo;Twere rank blasphemy. Prophesy triumph, Esther, and Alroy will never
+      doubt thy inspiration.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;He doubts it now. I see he doubts it now. O my king, I say again, enter
+      not into Babylon.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Beauteous maiden, those eyes flash lightning. Who can behold their wild
+      and liquid glance, and doubt that Esther is inspired! Be calm, sweet girl,
+      some dream disturbs thy fancy.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Alroy, Alroy, enter not into Babylon!&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;I have no fear, I bear a charmed life.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Ah me! he will not listen.&rsquo; All is lost!&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;All is gained, my beautiful.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;I would we were upon the Holy Mount, and gazing on the stars of sacred
+      Zion.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Esther,&rsquo; said Alroy, advancing, and gently taking her hand, &lsquo;the capital
+      of the East will soon unfold its marvels to thy sight. Prepare thyself for
+      wonders. Girl, we are no longer in the desert. Forget thy fitful fancies.
+      Come, choose a husband from my generals, child, and I will give a kingdom
+      for thy dower. I would gladly see a crown upon that imperial brow. It well
+      deserves one.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      The prophetess turned her dark eyes full upon Alroy. What passed in her
+      mind was neither evident nor expressed. She gazed intently upon the calm
+      and inscrutable countenance of the conqueror, then flung away his hand,
+      and rushed out of the pavilion.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      <a name="link2HCH0008" id="link2HCH0008">
+      <!--  H2 anchor --> </a>
+    </p>
+    <div style="height: 4em;">
+      <br /><br /><br /><br />
+    </div>
+    <h2>
+      CHAPTER VIII.
+    </h2>
+<pre xml:space="preserve">
+     <i>Bagdad and the Princess</i>
+</pre>
+    <p>
+      THE waving of banners, the flourish of trumpets, the neighing of steeds,
+      and the glitter of spears! On the distant horizon they gleam like the
+      morning, when the gloom of the night shivers bright into day. Hark! the
+      tramp of the foemen, like the tide of the ocean, flows onward and onward,
+      and conquers the shore. From the brow of the mountain, like the rush of a
+      river, the column defiling melts into the plain.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Warriors of Judah! holy men that battle for the Lord! The land wherein
+      your fathers wept, and touched their plaintive psalteries; the haughty
+      city where your sires bewailed their cold and distant hearths; your steeds
+      are prancing on its plain, and you shall fill its palaces. Warriors of
+      Judah! holy men that battle for the Lord!
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      March, onward march, ye valiant tribes, the hour has come, the hour has
+      come! All the promises of ages, all the signs of sacred sages, meet in
+      this ravishing hour. Where is now the oppressor&rsquo;s chariot, where your
+      tyrant&rsquo;s purple robe? The horse and the rider are both overthrown, the
+      horse and the rider are both overthrown!
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Rise, Rachel, from thy wilderness, arise, and weep no more. No more thy
+      lonely palm-tree&rsquo;s shade need shroud thy secret sorrowing. The Lord hath
+      heard the widow&rsquo;s sigh, the Lord hath stilled the widow&rsquo;s tear. Be
+      comforted, be comforted, thy children live again!
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Yes! yes! upon the bounding plain fleet Asriel glances like a star, and
+      stout Scherirah shakes his spear by stern Jabaster&rsquo;s scimitar. And He is
+      there, the chosen one, hymned by prophetic harps, whose life is like the
+      morning dew on Zion&rsquo;s holy hill: the chosen one, the chosen one, that
+      leads his race to victory; warriors of Judah! holy men that battle for the
+      Lord!
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      They come, they come, they come!
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      The ramparts of the city were crowded with the inhabitants, the river
+      sparkled with ten thousand boats, the bazaars were shut, the streets lined
+      with the populace, and the terrace of every house covered with spectators.
+      In the morning, Ithamar had entered with his division and garrisoned the
+      city. And now the vanguard of the Hebrew army, after having been long
+      distinguished in the distance, approached the walls. A large body of
+      cavalry dashed forward at full speed from the main force. Upon a
+      milk-white charger, and followed by a glittering train of warriors, amid
+      the shouts of the vast multitude, Alroy galloped up to the gates.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      He was received by Ithamar and the members of the deputation, but Honain
+      was not there. Accompanied by his staff and a strong detachment of the
+      Sacred Guard, Alroy was conducted through the principal thoroughfares of
+      the city, until he arrived at the chief entrance of the serail, or palace,
+      of the caliph. The vast portal conducted him into a large quadrangular
+      court, where he dismounted, and where he was welcomed by the captain of
+      the eunuch guard. Accompanied by his principal generals and his immediate
+      attendants, Alroy was then ushered through a suite of apartments which
+      reminded him of his visit with Honain, until he arrived at the grand
+      council-chamber of the caliphs.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      The conqueror threw himself upon the gorgeous divan of the commander of
+      the Faithful.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;An easy seat after a long march,&rsquo; said Alroy, as he touched with his lips
+      the coffee, which the chief of the eunuchs presented to him in a cup of
+      transparent pink porcelain, studded with pearls.<a href="#linknote-65"
+       name="linknoteref-65" id="linknoteref-65">65</a> &lsquo;Itha-mar, now for your
+      report. What is the temper of the city? Where is his Sultanship of Roum?&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;The city, sire, is calm, and I believe content. The sultan and the caliph
+      are still hovering on the borders of the province.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;So I supposed. Scherirah will settle that. Let the troops be encamped
+      without the walls, the garrison, ten thousand strong, must be changed
+      monthly. Ithamar, you are governor of the city: Asriel commands the
+      forces. Worthy Jabaster, draw up a report of the civil affairs of the
+      capital. Your quarters are the College of the Dervishes. Brave Scherirah,
+      I cannot afford you a long rest. In three days you must have crossed the
+      river with your division. It will be quick work. I foresee that they will
+      not fight. Meet me all here in council by to-morrow&rsquo;s noon. Farewell.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      The chieftains retired, the high priest lingered.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Were it not an intrusion, sire, I would fain entreat a moment&rsquo;s
+      audience.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;My own Jabaster, you have but to speak.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Sire, I would speak of Abidan, as valiant a warrior as any in the host.
+      It grieves me much, that by some fatality, his services seem ever
+      overlooked.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Abidan! I know him well, a valiant man, but a dreamer, a dreamer.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;A dreamer, sire! Believe me, a true son of Israel, and one whose faith is
+      deep.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Good Jabaster, we are all true sons of Israel. Yet let me have men about
+      me who see no visions in a mid-day sun. We must beware of dreamers.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Dreams are the oracles of God.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;When God sends them. Very true, Jabaster. But this Abidan and the company
+      with whom he consorts are filled with high-flown notions, caught from old
+      traditions, which, if acted on, would render government impracticable; in
+      a word, they are dangerous men.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;The very flower of Israel! Some one has poisoned your sacred ear against
+      them.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;No one, worthy Jabaster. I have no counsellor except yourself. They may
+      be the flower of Israel, but they are not the fruit. Good warriors, bad
+      subjects: excellent means, by which we may accomplish greater ends. I&rsquo;ll
+      have no dreamers in authority. I must have practical men about me,
+      practical men. See how Abner, Asriel, Ithamar, Medad, see how these
+      conform to what surrounds them, yet invincible captains, invincible
+      captains. But then they are practical men, Jabaster; they have eyes and
+      use them. They know the difference of times and seasons. But this Abidan,
+      he has no other thought but the rebuilding of the temple: a narrow-souled
+      bigot, who would sacrifice the essence to the form. The rising temple soon
+      would fall again with such constructors. Why, sir, what think you, this
+      same Abidan preached in the camp against my entry into what the quaint
+      fanatic chooses to call &ldquo;Babylon,&rdquo; because he had seen what he calls a
+      vision.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;There was a time your Majesty thought not so ill of visions.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Am I Abidan, sir? Are other men to mould their conduct or their thoughts
+      by me? In this world I stand alone, a being of a different order from
+      yourselves, incomprehensible even to you. Let this matter cease. I&rsquo;ll hear
+      no more and have heard too much. To-morrow at council.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      The high priest withdrew in silence.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;He is gone; at length I am alone. I cannot bear the presence of these
+      men, except in action. Their words, even their looks, disturb the still
+      creation of my brooding thought. I am once more alone, and loneliness hath
+      been the cradle of my empire. Now I do feel inspired. There needs no
+      mummery now to work a marvel.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;The sceptre of Solomon! It may be so. What then? Here&rsquo;s now the sceptre
+      of Alroy. What&rsquo;s that without his mind? The legend said that none should
+      free our people but he who bore the sceptre of great Solomon. The legend
+      knew that none could gain that sceptre, but with a mind to whose supreme
+      volition the fortunes of the world would bow like fate. I gained it; I
+      confronted the spectre monarchs in their sepulchre; and the same hand that
+      grasped their shadowy rule hath seized the diadem of the mighty caliphs by
+      the broad rushing of their imperial river.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;The world is mine: and shall I yield the prize, the universal and heroic
+      prize, to realise the dull tradition of some dreaming priest, and
+      consecrate a legend? He conquered Asia, and he built the temple. Are these
+      my annals? Shall this quick blaze of empire sink to a glimmering and a
+      twilight sway over some petty province, the decent patriarch of a pastoral
+      horde? Is the Lord of Hosts so slight a God, that we must place a barrier
+      to His sovereignty, and fix the boundaries of Omnipotence between the
+      Jordan and the Lebanon? It is not thus written; and were it so, I&rsquo;ll pit
+      my inspiration against the prescience of my ancestors. I also am a
+      prophet, and Bagdad shall be my Zion. The daughter of the Voice! Well, I
+      am clearly summoned. I am the Lord&rsquo;s servant, not Jabaster&rsquo;s. Let me make
+      His worship universal as His power; and where&rsquo;s the priest shall dare
+      impugn my faith, because His altars smoke on other hills than those of
+      Judah?
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;I must see Honain. That man has a great mind. He alone can comprehend my
+      purpose. Universal empire must not be founded on sectarian prejudices and
+      exclusive rights. Jabaster would massacre the Moslemin like Amalek; the
+      Moslemin, the vast majority, and most valuable portion, of my subjects. He
+      would depopulate my empire, that it might not be said that Ishmael shared
+      the heritage of Israel. Fanatic! I&rsquo;ll send him to conquer Judah. We must
+      conciliate. Something must be done to bind the conquered to our conquering
+      fortunes. That bold Sultan of Roum: I wish Abner had opposed him. To run
+      off with the harem! I have half a mind to place myself at the head of the
+      pursuing force, and&mdash;&mdash; Passion and policy alike combine: and
+      yet Honain is the man; I might send him on a mission. Could we make terms?
+      I detest treaties. My fancy flies from all other topics. I must see him.
+      Could I but tell him all I think! This door, whither leads it? Hah!
+      methinks I do remember yon glittering gallery! No one in attendance. The
+      discipline of our palace is somewhat lax. My warriors are no courtiers.
+      What an admirable marshal of the palace Honain would make! Silence
+      everywhere. So! &lsquo;tis well. These saloons I have clearly passed through
+      before. Could I but reach the private portal by the river side, unseen or
+      undetected! &lsquo;Tis not impossible. Here are many dresses. I will disguise
+      myself. Trusty scimitar, thou hast done thy duty, rest awhile. &lsquo;Tis lucky
+      I am beardless. I shall make a capital eunuch. So! a handsome robe. One
+      dagger for a pinch, slippers powdered with pearls,<a href="#linknote-66"
+       name="linknoteref-66" id="linknoteref-66">66</a>a caftan of cloth of gold,
+      a Cachemire girdle, and a pelisse of sables. One glance at the mirror.
+      Good! I begin to look like the conqueror of the world!&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      It was twilight: a small and solitary boat, with a single rower, glided
+      along the Tigris, and stopped at the archway of a house that descended
+      into the river. It stopped, the boatman withdrew the curtains, and his
+      single passenger disembarked, and ascended the stairs of the archway.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      The stranger reached the landing-place, and unfastening a golden grate,
+      proceeded along a gallery, and entered a beautiful saloon of white and
+      green marble, opening into gardens. No one was in the apartment; the
+      stranger threw himself upon a silver couch, placed at the side of a
+      fountain that rose from the centre of the chamber and fell into a porphyry
+      basin. A soft whisper roused the stranger from his reverie, a soft whisper
+      that faintly uttered the word &lsquo;Honain.&rsquo; The stranger looked up, a figure,
+      enveloped in a veil, that touched the ground, advanced from the gardens.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Honain!&rsquo; said the advancing figure, throwing off the veil. &lsquo;Honain! Ah!
+      the beautiful mute returned!&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      A woman more lovely than the rosy morn, beheld an unexpected guest. They
+      stood, the lady and the stranger, gazing on each other in silence. A man,
+      with a light, entered the extremity of the hall. Carefully he closed the
+      portal, slowly he advanced, with a subdued step; he approached the lady
+      and the stranger.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Alroy!&rsquo; said the astonished Honain, the light fell from his hand.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Alroy!&rsquo; exclaimed the lady, with a bewildered air: she turned pale, and
+      leant against a column.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Daughter of the caliph!&rsquo; said the leader of Israel; and he advanced, and
+      fell upon his knee, and stole her passive hand. &lsquo;I am indeed that Alroy to
+      whom destiny has delivered the empire of thy sire; but the Princess
+      Schirene can have nothing to fear from one who values above all his
+      victories this memorial of her goodwill;&rsquo; and he took from his breast a
+      rosary of pearls and emeralds, and, rising slowly, left it in her
+      trembling hand.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      The princess turned and hid her face in her arm, which reclined against
+      the column.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;My kind Honain,&rsquo; said Alroy, &lsquo;you thought me forgetful of the past; you
+      thought me ungrateful. My presence here proves that I am not so. I come to
+      enquire all your wishes. I come to gratify and to fulfil them, if that be
+      in my power.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Sire,&rsquo; replied Honain, who had recovered from the emotion in which he
+      rarely indulged, and from the surprise which seldom entrapped him, &lsquo;Sire,
+      my wishes are slight. You see before you the daughter of my master. An
+      interview, for which I fear I shall not easily gain that lady&rsquo;s pardon,
+      has made you somewhat acquainted with her situation and her sentiments.
+      The Princess Schirene seized the opportunity of the late convulsions to
+      escape from a mode of life long repugnant to all her feelings, and from a
+      destiny at which she trembled. I was her only counsellor, and she may feel
+      assured, a faithful, although perhaps an indiscreet one. The irresistible
+      solicitation of the inhabitants that I should become their deputy to their
+      conqueror prevented us from escaping as we had intended. Since then, from
+      the movement of the troops, I have deemed it more prudent that we should
+      remain at present here, although I have circulated the intelligence of my
+      departure. In the kiosk of my garden, the princess is now a willing
+      prisoner. At twilight she steals forth for the poor relaxation of my
+      society, to listen to the intelligence which I acquire during the day in
+      disguise. The history, sire, is short and simple. We are in your power:
+      but instead of deprecating your interference, I now solicit your
+      protection.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Dear Honain, &lsquo;tis needless. The Princess Schirene has only to express a
+      wish that it may be fulfilled. I came to speak with you on weighty
+      matters, Honain, but I retire, for I am an intruder now. Tomorrow, if it
+      please you, at this hour, and in this disguise, I will again repair
+      hither. In the meantime, this lady may perchance express to you her
+      wishes, and you will bear them to me. If an escort to any country, if any
+      palace or province for her rule and residence&mdash;&mdash; But I will not
+      offer to one who should command. Lady! farewell. Pardon the past!
+      Tomorrow, good Honain! prythee let us meet. Good even!&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;The royal brow was clouded,&rsquo; said Ithamar to Asriel, as, departing from
+      the council, they entered their magnificent barque.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;With thought; he has so much upon his mind, &lsquo;tis wondrous how he bears
+      himself.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;I have seen him gay on the eve of battle, and lively though calm, with
+      weightier matters than now oppress him. His brow was clouded, but not,
+      me-thinks, with <i>thought</i>; one might rather say with <i>temper</i>.
+      Mark you, how he rated Jabaster?&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Roundly! The stern priest writhed under it; and as he signed the
+      ordinance, shivered his reed in rage. I never saw a man more pale.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Or more silent. He looked like an embodied storm. I tell you what,
+      Asriel, that stern priest loves not us.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Have you just discovered that secret, Ithamar? We are not of his school.
+      Nor, in good faith, is our ruler. I am glad to see the king is so staunch
+      about Abidan. Were he in council he would support Jabaster.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Oh! his mere tool. What think you of Scherirah?&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;I would not trust him. As long as there is fighting, he will meddle with
+      nothing else; but, mark my words, Ithamar: in quiet times he will support
+      the priest.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Medad will have a place in council. He is with us.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Heart and soul. I would your brother were here, Asriel: he alone could
+      balance Jabaster. Alroy loves your brother like himself. Is it true that
+      he marries the Lady Miriam?&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;So the king wishes. &lsquo;Twill be a fine match for Abner.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;The world is all before us. I wonder who will be viceroy of Syria.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;When we conquer it. Not Scherirah. Mark my words, Ithamar: he never will
+      have a government. You or I perchance. For my own part, I would rather
+      remain as I am.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Yours is a good post; the best.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;With the command of the city. It should go with the guard.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Well, then, help me in getting Syria, and you can ask for my command.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Agreed. Jabaster will have it that, in a Hebrew monarchy, the chief
+      priest is in fact the grand vizir.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Alroy will be his own minister.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;I am not so sure of that. He may choose to command the Syrian expedition
+      in person; he must leave some head at Bagdad. Jabaster is no general.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Oh! none at all. Alroy will be glad to leave him at home. The Sultan of
+      Roum may not be always so merciful.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Hah! hah! that was an escape!&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;By heavens! I thought it was all over. You made a fine charge.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;I shall never forget it. I nearly ran over Jabaster.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Would that you had!&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      It is the tender twilight hour when maidens in their lonely bower sigh
+      softer than the eve! The languid rose her head upraises, and listens to
+      the nightingale, while his wild and thrilling praises from his trembling
+      bosom gush: the languid rose her head upraises, and listens with a blush.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      In the clear and rosy air, sparkling with a single star, the sharp and
+      spiry cypress-tree rises like a gloomy thought, amid the flow of revelry.
+      A singing bird, a single star, a solemn tree, an odorous flower, are
+      dangerous in the tender hour, when maidens in their twilight bower sigh
+      softer than the eve!
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      The daughter of the caliph comes forth to breathe the air: her lute her
+      only company. She sits her down by a fountain&rsquo;s side, and gazes on the
+      waterfall. Her cheek reclines upon her arm, like fruit upon a graceful
+      bough. Very pensive is the face of that bright and beauteous lady. She
+      starts; a warm voluptuous lip presses her soft and idle hand. It is her
+      own gazelle. With his large and lustrous eyes, more eloquent than many a
+      tongue, the fond attendant mutely asks the cause of all her
+      thoughtfulness.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Ah! bright gazelle! Ah! bright gazelle!&rsquo; the princess cried, the princess
+      cried; &lsquo;thy lips are softer than the swan, thy lips are softer than the
+      swan; but his breathed passion when they pressed, my bright gazelle! my
+      bright gazelle!
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Ah! bright gazelle! Ah! bright gazelle!&rsquo; the princess cried, the princess
+      cried; &lsquo;thine eyes are like the stars of night, thine eyes are like the
+      stars of night; but his glanced passion when they gazed, my bright
+      gazelle! my bright gazelle!&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      She seized her lute, she wildly threw her fingers o&rsquo;er its thrilling
+      strings, and, gazing on the rosy sky, to borrow all its poetry, thus, thus
+      she sang&mdash;thus, thus she sang:
+    </p>
+<pre xml:space="preserve">
+     He rose in beauty like the morn
+     That brightens in bur Syrian skies;
+     Dark passion glittered in his eyes,
+     And Empire sparkled in his form!
+
+     My soul! thou art the dusky earth,
+     On which his sunlight fell;
+     The dusky earth, that dim no longer,
+     Now breathes with light, now beams with love!
+
+     He rose in beauty, like the morn
+     That brightens in our Syrian skies;
+     Dark passion glittered in his eyes,
+     And Empire sparkled in his form!
+</pre>
+    <p>
+      <a name="linkimage-0006" id="linkimage-0006">
+      <!-- IMG --></a>
+    </p>
+    <div class="fig" style="width:80%;">
+      <img src="images/alroy_frontis_174.jpg" alt="Page174 " width="100%" /><br />
+    </div>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Once more, once more! Ah! sing that strain once more!&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      The princess started and looked round. Before her stood Alroy. She rose,
+      she would have retired; but, advancing, the conqueror stole her hand.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Fair princess,&rsquo; said Alroy, &lsquo;let it not be said that my presence banished
+      at once beauty and music.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Sire, I doubt not that Honain awaits you. Let me summon him.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Lady, it is not with Honain that I would speak.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      He seated himself by her side. His countenance was pale, his heart
+      trembled.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;This garden,&rsquo; at length he observed in a low voice, &lsquo;this garden, a
+      brief, brief space has glided away since first I wandered within its
+      beauteous limits, and yet those days seem like the distant memory of
+      another life.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;It is another life,&rsquo; said the princess. &lsquo;Ourselves, the world, all forms
+      and usages, all feelings and all habits, verily they have changed, as if
+      we had breathed within another sphere.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;&lsquo;Tis a great change.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Since first you visited my bright kiosk. Pretty bauble! I pray it may be
+      spared.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;It is sacred, like yourself.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;You are a courteous conqueror.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;I am no conqueror, fair Schirene, but a slave more lowly than when I
+      first bowed humbly in your presence.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;And bore away a token not forgotten. Your rosary is here.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Let me claim it. It has been my consolation in much peril, beauteous
+      lady. On the eve of battle I wound it round my heart.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      She held forth the rosary, and turned away her head. Her hand remained in
+      his; he pressed it to his lips. His right arm retained her hand; he wound
+      the other round her waist, as he fell upon his knee.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;O beautiful! O more than beautiful! for thou to me art like a dream
+      unbroken,&rsquo; exclaimed the young leader of Israel, &lsquo;let me, let me breathe
+      my adoration. I offer thee not empire: I offer thee not wealth; I offer
+      thee not all the boundless gratification of magnificent fancy,&mdash;these
+      may be thine, but all these thou hast proved; but, if the passionate
+      affections of a spirit which never has yielded to the power of woman or
+      the might of man, if the deep devotion of the soul of Alroy, be deemed an
+      offering meet for the shrine of thy surpassing loveliness, I worship thee,
+      Schirene. I worship thee, I worship thee!
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Since I first gazed upon thee, since thy beauty first rose upon my
+      presence like a star bright with my destiny, in the still sanctuary of my
+      secret love, thy idol has ever rested. Then, then, I was a thing whose
+      very touch thy creed might count a contumely. I have avenged the insults
+      of long centuries in the best blood of Asia; I have returned, in glory and
+      in pride, to claim my ancient sceptre; but sweeter far than vengeance,
+      sweeter far than the quick gathering of my sacred tribes, the rush of
+      triumph and the blaze of empire, is this brief moment of adoring love,
+      wherein I pour the passion of my life!
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;O my soul, my life, my very being! thou art silent, but thy silence is
+      sweeter than others&rsquo; speech. Yield, yield thee, dear Schirene, yield to
+      thy suppliant! Thy faith, thy father&rsquo;s faith, thy native customs, these,
+      these shall be respected, beauteous lady! Pharaoh&rsquo;s daughter yielded her
+      dusky beauty to my great ancestor. Thy face is like the bright inspiring
+      day! Let it not be said that the daughter of the Nile shared Israel&rsquo;s
+      crown, the daughter of the Tigris spurned our sceptre. I am not Solomon,
+      but I am one that, were Schirene the partner of my throne, would make his
+      glowing annals read like a wearisome and misty tale to our surpassing
+      lustre!&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      He ceased, the princess turned her hitherto hidden countenance, and bowed
+      it on his heart. &lsquo;O Alroy!&rsquo; she exclaimed, &lsquo;I have no creed, no country,
+      no life, but thee!&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;The king is late to-day.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Is it true, Asriel, there is an express from Hamadan?&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Of no moment, Ithamar. I have private letters from Abner. All is quiet.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;&lsquo;Tis much past the hour. When do you depart, Scherirah?&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;The troops are ready. I wait orders. This morning&rsquo;s council will
+      perchance decide.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;This morning&rsquo;s council is devoted to the settlement of the civil affairs
+      of the capital,&rsquo; remarked Jabaster.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Indeed!&rsquo; said Asriel. &lsquo;Is your report prepared, Jabaster?&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;&lsquo;Tis here,&rsquo; replied the high priest. &lsquo;The Hebrew legislator requires but
+      little musing to shape his order. He has a model which time cannot
+      destroy, nor thought improve.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Ithamar and Asriel exchanged significant glances. Scherirah looked solemn.
+      There was a pause, which was broken by Asriel.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;&lsquo;Tis a noble city, this Bagdad. I have not yet visited your quarters,
+      Jabaster. You are well placed.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;As it may be. I hope we shall not tarry here long. The great point is
+      still not achieved.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;How far is it to the holy city?&rsquo; enquired Scherirah.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;A month&rsquo;s march,&rsquo; replied Jabaster.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;And when you get there?&rsquo; enquired Ithamar.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;You may fight with the Franks,&rsquo; replied Asriel.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Jabaster, how large is Jerusalem?&rsquo; enquired Ithamar. &lsquo;Is it true, as I
+      have sometimes heard, that it is not bigger than the serail here, gardens
+      and all?&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Its glory hath departed,&rsquo; replied the high priest; &lsquo;the bricks have
+      fallen, but we will rebuild with marble; and Zion, that is now without the
+      Christian walls, shall yet sparkle, as in the olden time, with palaces and
+      pavilions.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      A flourish of trumpets, the portals flew open, and Alroy entered, leaning
+      on the arm of the Envoy of Bagdad.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Valiant leaders,&rsquo; said Alroy to the astonished chieftains, &lsquo;in this noble
+      stranger, you see one like yourselves entrusted with my unbounded
+      confidence. Jabaster, behold thy brother!&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Honain! art <i>thou</i> Honain?&rsquo; exclaimed the pontiff starting from his
+      seat. &lsquo;I have a thousand messengers after thee.&rsquo; With a countenance
+      alternately pallid with surprise and burning with affection, Jabaster
+      embraced his brother, and, overpowered with emotion, hid his face on his
+      shoulder.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Sire,&rsquo; at length exclaimed the high priest, in a low and tremulous voice,
+      &lsquo;I must pray your pardon that for an instant in this character I have
+      indulged in any other thoughts than those that may concern your welfare.
+      Tis past: and you, who know all, will forgive me.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;All that respects Jabaster must concern my welfare. He is the pillar of
+      my empire;&rsquo; and holding forth his hand, Alroy placed the high priest on
+      his right. &lsquo;Scherirah, you depart this eve.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      The rough captain bowed in silence.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;What is this?&rsquo; continued Alroy, as Jabaster offered him a scroll. &lsquo;Ah!
+      your report. &ldquo;Order of the Tribes,&rdquo; &ldquo;Service of the Lévites,&rdquo; &ldquo;Princes of
+      the People,&rdquo; &ldquo;Elders of Israel!&rdquo; The day may come when this may be
+      effected. At present, Jabaster, we must be moderate, and content ourselves
+      with arrangements which may ensure that order shall be maintained,
+      property respected, and justice administered. Is it true that a gang has
+      rifled a mosque?&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Sire! of that I would speak. They are no plunderers, but men, perhaps too
+      zealous, who have read and who have remembered that &ldquo;Ye shall utterly
+      destroy all the places wherein the nations which ye shall possess, served
+      their gods upon the high mountains, and upon the hill, and under every
+      green tree. And ye shall overthrow their altars, and&mdash;&mdash;&ldquo;&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Jabaster, is this a synagogue? Come I to a council of valiant statesmen
+      or dreaming Rabbis? For a thousand years we have been quoting the laws we
+      dared not practise. Is it with such aid that we captured Nishapur and
+      crossed the Tigris? Valiant, wise Jabaster, thou art worthy of better
+      things, and capable of all. I entreat thee, urge such matters for the last
+      time. Are these fellows in custody?&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;They were in custody. I have freed them.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Freed them! Hang them! Hang them in the most public grove. Is this the
+      way to make the Moslem a duteous subject? Jabaster! Israel honours thee;
+      and I, its chief, know that one more true, more valiant, or more learned,
+      crowds not around our standard; but I see, the caverns of the Caucasus are
+      not a school for empire.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Sire, I had humbly deemed the school for empire was the law of Moses.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Ay! adapted to these times.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Can aught divine be changed?&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Am I as tall as Adam? If man, the crown, the rose of all this fair
+      creation, the most divine of all divine inventions, if Time have altered
+      even this choicest of all godlike works, why shall it spare a law made but
+      to rule his conduct? Good Jabaster, we must establish the throne of
+      Israel, that is my mission, and for the means, no matter how, or where.
+      Asriel, what news of Medad?&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;All is quiet between the Tigris and Euphrates. It would be better to
+      recall his division, which has been much harassed. I thought of relieving
+      him by Abidan.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;I think so, too. We may as well keep Abidan out of the city. If the truth
+      were known, I&rsquo;ll wager some of his company plundered the mosque. We must
+      issue a proclamation on that subject. My good Jabaster, we&rsquo;ll talk over
+      these matters alone. At present I will leave you with your brother.
+      Scherirah, sup with me to-night; before you quit Asriel, come with me to
+      my cabinet.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;I must see the king!&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Holy priest, his highness has retired. It is impossible.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;I must see the king. Worthy Pharez, I take all peril on myself.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Indeed his highness&rsquo; orders are imperative. You cannot see him.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Knowest thou who I am?&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;One whom all pious Hebrews reverence.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;I say I must see the king.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Indeed, indeed, holy Jabaster, it cannot be.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Shall Israel perish for a menial&rsquo;s place? Go to; I <i>will</i> see him.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Nay! if you <i>will</i>, I&rsquo;ll struggle for my duty.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Touch not the Lord&rsquo;s anointed. Dog, you shall suffer for this!&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      So saying, Jabaster threw aside Pharez, and, with the attendant clinging
+      to his robes, rushed into the royal chamber.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;What is all this?&rsquo; exclaimed Alroy, starting from the divan. &lsquo;Jabaster!
+      Pharez, withdraw! How now, is Bagdad in insurrection?&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Worse, much worse, Israel soon will be.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Ay!&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;My fatal brother has told me all, nor would I sleep, until I lifted up my
+      voice to save thee.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Am I in danger?&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;In the wilderness, when the broad desert quivered beneath thy trembling
+      feet, and the dark heavens poured down their burning torrents, thou wert
+      less so. In that hour of death, One guarded thee, who never forgets His
+      fond and faithful offspring, and now, when He has brought thee out of the
+      house of bondage; now, when thy fortunes, like a noble cedar, swell in the
+      air and shadow all the land; thou, the very leader of His people, His
+      chosen one, for whom He hath worked such marvels, thy heart is turned from
+      thy fathers&rsquo; God, and hankers after strange abominations.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Through the broad arch that led into the gardens of the serail, the
+      moonlight fell upon the tall figure and the upraised arm of the priest;
+      Alroy stood with folded arms at some distance, watching Jabaster as he
+      spoke, with a calm but searching glance. Suddenly he advanced with a quick
+      step, and, placing his hand upon Jabaster&rsquo;s arm, said, in a low, enquiring
+      tone, &lsquo;You are speaking of this marriage?&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Of that which ruined Solomon.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Listen to me, Jabaster,&rsquo; said Alroy, interrupting him, in a calm but
+      peremptory tone, &lsquo;I cannot forget that I am speaking to my master, as well
+      as to my friend. The Lord, who knoweth all things, hath deemed me worthy
+      of His mission. My fitness for this high and holy office was not admitted
+      without proof. A lineage, which none else could offer, mystic studies
+      shared by few, a mind that dared encounter all things, and a frame that
+      could endure most, these were my claims. But no more of this. I have
+      passed the great ordeal; the Lord of Hosts hath found me not unworthy of
+      His charge; I have established His ancient people; His altars blaze with
+      sacrifices; His priests are honoured, bear witness thou, Jabaster, His
+      omnipotent unity is declared. What wouldst thou more?&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;All!&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Then Moses knew you well. It is a stiff-necked people.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Sire, bear with me. If I speak in heat, I speak in zeal. You ask me what
+      I wish: my answer is, a national existence, which we have not. You ask me
+      what I wish: my answer is, the Land of Promise. You ask me what I wish: my
+      answer is, Jerusalem. You ask me what I wish: my answer is, the Temple,
+      all we have forfeited, all we have yearned after, all for which we have
+      fought, our beauteous country, our holy creed, our simple manners, and our
+      ancient customs.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Manners change with time and circumstances; customs may be observed
+      everywhere. The ephod on thy breast proves our faith; and, for a country,
+      is the Tigris less than Siloah, or the Euphrates inferior to the Jordan?&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Alas! alas! there was a glorious prime when Israel stood aloof from other
+      nations, a fair and holy thing that God had hallowed. We were then a
+      chosen family, a most peculiar people, set apart for God&rsquo;s entire
+      enjoyment. All about us was solemn, deep, and holy. We shunned the
+      stranger as an unclean thing that must defile our solitary sanctity, and,
+      keeping to ourselves and to our God, our lives flowed on in one great
+      solemn tide of deep religion, making the meanest of our multitude feel
+      greater than the kings of other lands. It was a glorious time: I thought
+      it had returned; but I awake from this, as other dreams.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;We must leave off dreaming, good Jabaster, we must act. Were I, by any
+      chance, to fall into one of those reveries, with which I have often lost
+      the golden hours at Hamadan, or in our old cave, I should hear, some fine
+      morning, his Sultanship of Roum rattling at my gates.&rsquo; Alroy smiled as he
+      spoke; he would willingly have introduced a lighter tone into the
+      dialogue, but the solemn countenance of the priest was not sympathetic
+      with his levity.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;My heart is full, and yet I cannot speak: the memory of the past
+      overpowers my thought. I had vainly deemed that my voice, inspired by the
+      soul of truth, might yet preserve him; and now I stand here in his
+      presence, silent and trembling, like a guilty thing. O, my prince! my
+      pupil!&rsquo; said the priest, advancing, falling on his knee, and seizing the
+      robe of Alroy, &lsquo;by thy sacred lineage; by the sweet memory of thy ardent
+      youth, and our united studies, by all thy zealous thoughts, and solemn
+      musings, and glorious aspirations after fame; by all thy sufferings, and
+      by all thy triumphs, and chiefly by the name of that great God, who hath
+      elected thee his favoured child; by all the marvels of thy mighty mission,
+      I do adjure thee! Arise, Alroy, arise and rouse thyself. The lure that
+      snared thy fathers may trap thee, this Delilah may shear thy mystic locks.
+      Spirits like thee act not by halves. Once fall out from the straight
+      course before thee, and, though thou deemest &lsquo;tis but to saunter &lsquo;mid the
+      summer trees, soon thou wilt find thyself in the dark depths of some
+      infernal forest, where none may rescue thee!&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;What if I do inherit the eager blood of my great ancestor, at least I
+      hold his sceptre. Shall aught of earthly power prevail against the
+      supernatural sway of Heaven and Hades?&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Sire, sire, the legend that came from Sinai is full of high instruction.
+      But shape thy conduct by its oracles, and all were well. It says our
+      people can be established only by him who rules them with the rod of
+      Solomon. Sire, when the Lord offered his pleasure to that mighty king,
+      thou knowest his deep discretion. Riches and length of days, empire and
+      vengeance, these were not the choice of one to whom all accidents were
+      proffered. The legend bears an inward spirit, as well as an outward
+      meaning. The capture of the prize was a wise test of thy imperial fitness.
+      Thou hast his sceptre, but, without his wisdom, &lsquo;tis but a staff of
+      cedar.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Hah! Art thou there? I am glad to see Jabaster politic. Hear me, my
+      friend. What my feelings be unto this royal lady, but little matters. Let
+      them pass, and let us view this question by the light wherein you have
+      placed it, the flame of policy and not of passion. I am no traitor to the
+      God of Israel, in whose name I have conquered, and in whose name I shall
+      rule; but thou art a learned doctor, thou canst inform us. I have heard no
+      mandate to yield my glorious empire for my meanest province. I am Lord of
+      Asia, so would I have my long posterity. Our people are but a remnant, a
+      feeble fraction of the teeming millions that own my sway. What I hold I
+      can defend; but my children may not inherit the spirit of their sire. The
+      Moslemin will recognise their rule with readier hearts, when they remember
+      that a daughter of their caliphs gave them life. You see I too am politic,
+      my good Jabaster!&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;The policy of the son of Kareah<a href="#linknote-67"
+       name="linknoteref-67" id="linknoteref-67">67</a>, &lsquo;twas fatal. He
+      preferred Egypt to Judah, and he suffered. Sire, the Lord hath blessed
+      Judah: it is His land. He would have it filled by His peculiar people, so
+      that His worship might ever flourish. For this He has, by many curious
+      rites and customs, marked us out from all other nations, so that we
+      cannot, at the same time, mingle with them and yet be true to Him. We must
+      exist alone. To preserve that loneliness is the great end and essence of
+      our law. What have we to do with Bagdad, or its people, where every
+      instant we must witness some violation of our statutes? Can we pray with
+      them? Can we eat with them? Alike in the highest duties, and the lowest
+      occupations of existence, we cannot mingle. From the altar of our God to
+      our domestic boards, we are alike separated from them. Sire, you may be
+      King of Bagdad, but you cannot, at the same time, be a Jew.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;I am what I am. I worship the Lord of Hosts. Perhaps, in His mercy, He
+      will accept the days of Nishapur and the Tigris as a compensation for some
+      slight relaxation in the ritual of the baker and the bath.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;And mark my words: it was by the ritual of the baker and the bath that
+      Alroy rose, and without it he will fall. The genius of the people, which
+      he shared, raised him; and that genius has been formed by the law of
+      Moses. Based on that law, he might indeed have handed down an empire to
+      his long posterity; and now, though the tree of his fortunes seems
+      springing up by the water-side, fed by a thousand springs, and its
+      branches covered with dew, there is a gangrene in the sap, and to-morrow
+      he may shrink like a shrivelled gourd. Alas! alas! for Israel! We have
+      long fed on mallows; but to lose the vintage in the very day of fruition,
+      &lsquo;tis very bitter. Ah! when I raised thy exhausted form in the cavern of
+      Genthesma, and the star of David beamed brightly in the glowing heavens
+      upon thy high fulfilment, who could have dreamed of a night like this?
+      Farewell, sire.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Stop, Jabaster! earliest, dearest friend, prythee, prythee stop!&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      The priest slowly turned, the prince hesitated.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Part not in anger, good Jabaster.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;In sorrow, sire, only in sorrow; but deep and terrible.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Israel is Lord of Asia, my Jabaster. Why should we fear?&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Solomon built Tadmor in the wilderness, and his fleet brought gold from
+      Ophir; and yet Alroy was born a slave.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;But did not die one. The sultans of the world have fallen before me. I
+      have no fear. Nay, do not go. At least you will give some credence to the
+      stars, my learned Cabalist. See, my planet shines as brightly as my
+      fortunes.&rsquo; Alroy withdrew the curtain, and with Jabaster stepped out upon
+      the terrace. A beautiful star glittered on high. As they gazed, its colour
+      changed, and a blood-red meteor burst from its circle, and fell into
+      space. The conqueror and the priest looked at each other at the same time.
+      Their countenances were pale, enquiring, and agitated.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Sire,&rsquo; said Jabaster, &lsquo;march to Judah.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;It portends war,&rsquo; replied Alroy, endeavouring to recover himself.
+      &lsquo;Perchance some troubles in Persia.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Troubles at home, no other. The danger is nigh. Look to thyself.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      A wild scream was heard in the gardens. It sounded thrice.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;What is this?&rsquo; exclaimed Alroy, really agitated. &lsquo;Rouse the guard,
+      Jabaster, search the gardens.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;&lsquo;Tis useless and may do harm. It was a spirit that shrieked.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;What said it?&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;<i>Mené, Mené, Tekel, Upharsin!</i>&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;The old story, the priest against the king,&rsquo; said Honain to Alroy, when
+      at his morrow&rsquo;s interview, he had listened to the events of the preceding
+      night. &lsquo;My pious brother wishes to lead you back to the Theocracy, and is
+      fearful that, if he prays at Bagdad instead of Zion, he may chance to
+      become only the head of an inferior sect, instead of revelling in the
+      universal tithes of a whole nation. As for the meteor, Scherirah must have
+      crossed the river about the same time, and the Sultan of Roum may explain
+      the bloody portent. For the shriek, as I really have no acquaintance with
+      spirits, I must leave the miraculous communication to the favoured ears
+      and initiated intelligences of your highness and my brother. It seems that
+      it differed from &ldquo;the Daughter of the Voice&rdquo; in more respects than one,
+      since it was not only extremely noisy, but, as it would appear, quite
+      unintelligible except to the individual who had an interest in the
+      interpretation, an ingenious one, I confess. When I enter upon my
+      functions as your highness&rsquo;s chamberlain, I will at least guarantee that
+      your slumbers shall not be disturbed either by spirits or more unwelcome
+      visitors.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Enter upon them at once, good Honain. How fares my Persian rose to-day,
+      my sweet Schirene?&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Feeding on your image in your absence. She spares no word to me, I do
+      assure your highness.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Nay, nay, we know you are a general favourite with the sex, Honain.
+      I&rsquo;faith I&rsquo;m jealous.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;I would your highness had cause,&rsquo; said Honain, demurely.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      The approaching marriage between the King of the Hebrews and the Princess
+      of Bagdad was published throughout Asia. Preparations were made on the
+      plain of the Tigris for the great rejoicing. Whole forests were felled to
+      provide materials for the buildings and fuel for the banqueting. All the
+      governors of provinces and cities, all the chief officers and nobility of
+      both nations, were specially invited, and daily arrived in state at
+      Bagdad. Among them the Viceroy of the Medes and Persians, and his recent
+      bride, the Princess Miriam, were conspicuous, followed by a train of
+      nearly ten thousand persons.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      A throne, ascended by one hundred steps covered with crimson cloth, and
+      crowned by a golden canopy, was raised in the middle of the plain; on each
+      side was a throne less elevated, but equally gorgeous. In the front of
+      these thrones an immense circus was described, formed by one hundred
+      chartaks or amphitheatres, ample room for the admittance of the multitude
+      being left between the buildings. These chartaks were covered with bright
+      brocades and showy carpets; on each was hoisted a brilliant banner. In
+      some of them were bands of choice musicians, in others companies of
+      jugglers, buffoons, and storiers. Five chartaks on each side of the
+      thrones were allotted for the convenience of the court; the rest were
+      filled by the different trades of the city. In one the fruiterers had
+      formed a beautiful garden, glowing with pomegranates and gourds and
+      watermelons, oranges, almonds, and pistachio-nuts; in another the butchers
+      exhibited their meats carved in fanciful shapes, and the skins of animals
+      formed into ludicrous figures. Here assembled the furriers, all dressed in
+      masquerade, like leopards, lions, tigers and foxes; and in another booth
+      mustered the upholsterers, proud of a camel made of wood, and reeds, and
+      cord, and painted linen, a camel which walked about as if alive, though
+      ever and anon a curtain drawn aside discovered to the marvelling multitude
+      the workman within, performing in his own piece. Further on might be
+      perceived the cotton manufacturers, whose chartak was full of birds of all
+      shapes and plumage, formed nevertheless of their curious plant; and, in
+      the centre rose a lofty minaret, constructed of the same material, with
+      the help of reeds, although every one imagined it to be built with bricks
+      and mortar. It was covered with embroidered work, and on the top was
+      placed a stork, so cunningly devised that the children pelted it with
+      pistachio-nuts. The saddlers showed their skill in two litters, open at
+      top, each carried on a dromedary, and in each a beautiful woman, who
+      diverted the spectators with light balls of gilt leather, throwing them up
+      both with their hands and feet. Nor were the mat-makers backward in the
+      proof of their dexterity, since, instead of a common banner, they
+      exhibited a large standard of reeds worked with two lines of writing in
+      Kufic, proclaiming the happy names of Alroy and Schirene.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      But indeed in every chartak might be seen some wondrous specimens of the
+      wealth of Bagdad, and of the ingenuity of its unrivalled artisans.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Around this mighty circus, on every side for the space of many miles, the
+      plain was studded with innumerable pavilions. At measured intervals were
+      tables furnished with every species of provision, and attended by
+      appointed servants; flagons of wine and jars of sherbets, mingled with
+      infinite baskets of delicious fruits and trays of refreshing
+      confectionery. Although open to all comers, so great and rapid was the
+      supply, that these banqueting tables seemed ever laden; and that the joys
+      of the people might be complete, they were allowed to pursue whatever
+      pleasures they thought fit without any restraint, by proclamation, in
+      these terms.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;<i>This is the time of feasting, pleasure, and rejoicing. Let no person
+      reprimand or complain of another: let not the rich insult the poor, or the
+      strong the weak: let no one ask another, &ldquo;why have you done this </i>?&rdquo;&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Millions of people were collected in this Paradise. They rejoiced, they
+      feasted, they frolicked, they danced, they sang. They listened to the
+      tales of the Arabian story-teller, at once enchanted and enchanting, or
+      melted to the strain of the Persian poet as he painted the moon-lit
+      forehead of his heroine and the wasting and shadowy form of his love-sick
+      hero; they beheld with amazement the feats of the juggler of the Ganges,
+      or giggled at the practised wit and the practical buffoonery of the Syrian
+      mime. And the most delighted could still spare a fascinating glance to the
+      inviting gestures and the voluptuous grace of the dancing girls of Egypt.<a
+      href="#linknote-68" name="linknoteref-68" id="linknoteref-68">68</a>
+      Everywhere reigned melody and merriment, rarity and beauty. For once
+      mankind forgot their cares, and delivered themselves up to infinite
+      enjoyment.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;I grow courteous,&rsquo; said Kisloch the Kourd, assisting a party into one of
+      the shows.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;And I humane,&rsquo; said Calidas the Indian. &lsquo;Fellow, how dare you violate the
+      proclamation, by thrashing that child?&rsquo; He turned to one of the stewards
+      of the table, who was belabouring the unfortunate driver of a camel which
+      had stumbled and in its fall had shivered its burden, two panniers of
+      porcelain.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Mind your own business, fellow,&rsquo; replied the steward, &lsquo;and be thankful
+      that for once in your life you can dine.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Is this the way to speak to an officer?&rsquo; said Calidas the Indian; &lsquo;I have
+      half a mind to cut your tongue out.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Never mind, little fellow,&rsquo; said the Guebre, &lsquo;here is a dirhem for you.
+      Run away and be merry.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;A miracle!&rsquo; grinned the Negro; &lsquo;he giveth alms.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;And you are witty,&rsquo; rejoined the Guebre. &lsquo;&lsquo;Tis a wondrous day.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;What shall we do?&rsquo; said Kisloch.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Let us dine,&rsquo; proposed the Negro.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Ay! under this plane-tree,&rsquo; said Calidas. &lsquo;&lsquo;Tis pleasant to be alone. I
+      hate everybody but ourselves.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Here stop, you rascal,&rsquo; said the Guebre. &lsquo;What&rsquo;s your name?&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;I am a Hadgee,&rsquo; said our old friend Abdallah, the servant of the
+      charitable merchant Ali, and who was this day one of the officiating
+      stewards.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Are you a Jew, you scoundrel?&rsquo; said the Guebre, &lsquo;that is the only thing
+      worth being. Bring some wine, you accursed Giaour!&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Instantly,&rsquo; said Kisloch, &lsquo;and a pilau.&rsquo; &lsquo;And a gazelle stuffed with
+      almonds,&rsquo; said Calidas. &lsquo;And some sugar-plums,&rsquo; said the Negro. &lsquo;Quick,
+      you infernal Gentile, or I&rsquo;ll send this javelin in your back,&rsquo; hallooed
+      the Guebre.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      The servile Abdallah hastened away, and soon bustled back, bearing two
+      flagons of wine, and followed by four servants, each with a tray covered
+      with dainties.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Where are you going, you accursed scoundrels?&rsquo; grumbled Kisloch; &lsquo;wait
+      upon the true believers.&rsquo; &lsquo;We shall be more free alone,&rsquo; whispered
+      Calidas. &lsquo;Away, then, dogs,&rsquo; growled Kisloch. Abdallah and his attendants
+      hurried off, but were soon summoned back.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Why did you not bring Schiraz wine?&rsquo; asked Calidas, with an eye of fire.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;The pilau is overdone,&rsquo; thundered Kisloch. &lsquo;You have brought a lamb
+      stuffed with pistachio-nuts, instead of a gazelle with almonds,&rsquo; said the
+      Guebre.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Not half sugar-plums enough,&rsquo; said the Negro. &lsquo;Everything is wrong,&rsquo; said
+      Kisloch. &lsquo;Go, and get us a kabob.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      In time, however, even this unmanageable crew were satisfied; and, seated
+      under their plane-tree, and stuffing themselves with all the dainties of
+      the East, they became more amiable as their appetites decreased. &lsquo;A
+      bumper, Calidas, and a song,&rsquo; said Kisloch. &lsquo;&lsquo;Tis rare stuff,&rsquo; said the
+      Guebre; &lsquo;come, Cally, it should inspire you.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Here goes, then; mind the chorus.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+<pre xml:space="preserve">
+     Drink, drink, deeply drink,
+     Never feel, and never think;
+     What&rsquo;s love? what&rsquo;s fame? a sigh, a smile.
+     Friendship? but a hollow wile.
+     If you&rsquo;ve any thought or woe,
+     Drown them in the goblet&rsquo;s flow.
+     Yes! dash them in this brimming cup;
+     Dash them in, and drink them up.
+     Drink, drink, deeply drink,
+     Never feel, and never think.
+</pre>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Hark, the trumpets! The King and Queen! &lsquo;The procession is coming. Let&rsquo;s
+      away.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Again! they must be near. Hurry, hurry, for good places.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Break all the cups and dishes. Come along!&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      The multitude from all quarters hurried to the great circus, amid the
+      clash of ten thousand cymbals and the blast of innumerable trumpets. In
+      the distance, issuing from the gates of Bagdad, might be discerned a
+      brilliant crowd, the advance company of the bridal procession.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      There came five hundred maidens crowned with flowers, and beauteous as the
+      buds that girt their hair. Their flowing robes were whiter than the swan,
+      and each within her hand a palm-branch held. Followed these a band of
+      bright musicians, clothed in golden robes, and sounding silver trumpets.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Then five hundred youths, brilliant as stars, clad in jackets of white-fox
+      skin, and alternately bearing baskets of fruit or flowers.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Followed these a band of bright musicians, clothed in silver robes, and
+      sounding golden trumpets.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Six choice steeds, sumptuously caparisoned, each led by an Arab groom.<a
+      href="#linknote-69" name="linknoteref-69" id="linknoteref-69">69</a>
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      The household of Medad, in robes of crimson, lined with sable.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      The standard of Medad.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Medad, on a coal-black Arab, followed by three hundred officers of his
+      division, all mounted on steeds of pure race.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Slaves, bearing the bridal present of Medad; six Damascus sabres of
+      unrivalled temper.<a href="#linknote-70" name="linknoteref-70"
+       id="linknoteref-70">70</a>
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Twelve choice steeds, sumptuously caparisoned, each led by an Anatolian
+      groom.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      The household of Ithamar, in robes of violet, lined with ermine.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      The standard of Ithamar.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Ithamar, on a snow-white Anatolian charger, followed by six hundred
+      officers of his division, all mounted on steeds of pure race.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Slaves bearing the marriage present of Ithamar; a golden vase of rubies
+      borne on a violet throne.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      One hundred Negroes, their noses bored, and hung with rings of brilliants,
+      playing upon wind instruments and kettle-drums.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      The standard of the City of Bagdad.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      The deputation from the citizens of Bagdad.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Two hundred mules, with caparisons of satin, embroidered with gold, and
+      adorned with small golden bells. These bore the sumptuous wardrobe,
+      presented by the city to their princess. Each mule was attended by a girl,
+      dressed like a Péri, with starry wings, and a man, masked as a hideous
+      Dive.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      The standard of Egypt.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      The deputation from the Hebrews of Egypt, mounted on dromedaries, with
+      silver furniture.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Fifty slaves, bearing their present to the princess, with golden cords, a
+      mighty bath of jasper, beautifully carved, the sarcophagus of some ancient
+      temple, and purchased for an immense sum.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      The standard of Syria.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      The deputation from the Hebrews of the Holy Land, headed by Rabbi Zimri
+      himself, each carrying in his hand his offering to the nuptial pair, a
+      precious vase, containing earth from the Mount of Zion.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      The standard of Hamadan.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      The deputation from the citizens of Hamadan, headed by the venerable
+      Bostenay himself, whose sumptuous charger was led by Caleb.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      The present of the city of Hamadan to David Al-roy, offered at his own
+      suggestion; the cup in which the Prince of the Captivity carried his
+      tribute, now borne full of sand.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Fifty choice steeds, sumptuously caparisoned, each led by a Median or
+      Persian groom.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      The household of Abner and Miriam, in number twelve hundred, clad in chain
+      armour of ivory and gold.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      The standard of the Medes and Persians.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Two white elephants, with golden litters, bearing the Viceroy and his
+      Princess.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      The offering of Abner to Alroy; twelve elephants of state, with furniture
+      embroidered with jewels, each tended by an Indian clad in chain armour of
+      ivory and gold.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      The offering of Miriam to Schirene; fifty plants of roses from Rocnabad;<a
+      href="#linknote-71" name="linknoteref-71" id="linknoteref-71">71</a> a
+      white shawl of Cachemire fifty feet in length, which folded into the
+      handle of a fan; fifty screens, each made of a feather of the roc;<a
+      href="#linknote-72" name="linknoteref-72" id="linknoteref-72">72</a> and
+      fifty vases of crystal full of exquisite perfumes, and each sealed with a
+      talisman of precious stones.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      After these followed the eunuch guard.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Then came the band of the serail, consisting of three hundred dwarfs,
+      hideous indeed to behold, but the most complete musicians in the world.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      The steeds of Solomon, in number one hundred, each with a natural star
+      upon its front, uncaparisoned, and led only by a bridle of diamonds.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      The household of Alroy and Schirene. Foremost, the Lord Honain riding upon
+      a chestnut charger, shod with silver; the dress of the rider, pink with
+      silver stars. From his rosy turban depended a tremulous aigrette of
+      brilliants,<a href="#linknote-73" name="linknoteref-73" id="linknoteref-73">73</a>
+      blazing with a thousand shifting tints.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Two hundred pages followed him; and then servants of both sexes,
+      gorgeously habited, amounting to nearly two thousand, carrying rich vases,
+      magnificent caskets, and costly robes. The treasurer and two hundred of
+      his underlings came next, showering golden dirhems on all sides.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      The sceptre of Solomon borne by Asriel himself.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      A magnificent and lofty car, formed of blue enamel with golden wheels, and
+      axletrees of turquoises and brilliants, and drawn by twelve snow-white and
+      sacred horses, four abreast; in the car Alroy and Schirene.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Five thousand of the Sacred Guard closed the procession.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Amid the exclamations of the people, this gorgeous procession crossed the
+      plain, and moved around the mighty circus. The conqueror and his bride
+      ascended their throne; its steps were covered by the youths and maidens.
+      On the throne upon their right sat the venerable Bostenay; on the left,
+      the gallant Viceroy and his Princess. The chartaks on each side were
+      crowded with the court.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      The deputations made their offerings, the chiefs and captains paid their
+      homage, the trades of the city moved before the throne in order, and
+      exhibited their various ingenuity. Thrice was the proclamation made, amid
+      the sound of trumpets, and then began the games.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      A thousand horsemen dashed into the arena and threw the jerreed. They
+      galloped at full speed; they arrested their fiery charges in mid course,
+      and flung their long javelins at the minute but sparkling target, the
+      imitative form of a rare and brilliant bird. The conquerors received their
+      prizes from the hand of the princess herself, bright shawls, and jewelled
+      daggers, and rosaries of gems. Sometimes the trumpets announced a prize
+      from the vice-queen, sometimes from the venerable Bostenay, sometimes from
+      the victorious generals, or the loyal deputations, sometimes from the
+      united trades, sometimes from the City of Bagdad, sometimes from the City
+      of Hamadan. The hours flew away in gorgeous and ceaseless variety.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;I would we were alone, my own Schirene,&rsquo; said Alroy to his bride.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;I would so too; and yet I love to see all Asia prostrate at the feet of
+      Alroy.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Will the sun never set? Give me thy hand to play with.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Hush! See, Miriam smiles.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Lovest thou my sister, my own Schirene?&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;None dearer but thyself.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Talk not of my sister, but ourselves. Thinkest thou the sun is nearer
+      setting, love?&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;I cannot see; thine eyes they dazzle me, they are so brilliant, sweet!&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Oh, my soul! I could pour out my passion on thy breast.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Thou art very serious.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Love is ever so.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Nay, sweet! It makes me wild and fanciful. Now I could do such things,
+      but what I know not. I would we had wings, and then we would fly away.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;See, I must salute this victor in the games. Must I unloose thy hand!
+      Dear hand, farewell! Think of me while I speak, my precious life. &lsquo;Tis
+      done. Give back thy hand, or else methinks I shall die. What&rsquo;s this?&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      A horseman, in no holiday dress, but covered with dust, rushed into the
+      circus, bearing in his hand a tall lance, on which was fixed a scroll. The
+      marshals of the games endeavoured to prevent his advance, but he would not
+      be stayed. His message was to the king alone. A rumour of news from the
+      army circulated throughout the crowd. And news from the army it was.
+      Another victory! Scherirah had defeated the Sultan of Roum, who was now a
+      suppliant for peace and alliance. Sooth to say, the intelligence had
+      arrived at dawn of day, but the courtly Honain had contrived that it
+      should be communicated at a later and more effective moment.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      There scarcely needed this additional excitement to this glorious day. But
+      the people cheered, the golden dirhems were scattered with renewed
+      profusion, and the intelligence was received by all parties as a solemn
+      ratification by Jehovah, or by Allah, of the morning ceremony.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      The sun set, the court rose, and returned in the same pomp to the serail.
+      The twilight died away, a beacon fired on a distant eminence announced the
+      entrance of Alroy and Schirene into the nuptial chamber, and suddenly, as
+      by magic, the mighty city, every mosque, and minaret, and tower, and
+      terrace, and the universal plain, and the numberless pavilions, and the
+      immense circus, and the vast and winding river, blazed with light. From
+      every spot a lamp, a torch, a lantern, tinted with every hue, burst forth;
+      enormous cressets of silver radiancy beamed on the top of each chartak,
+      and huge bonfires of ruddy flame started up along the whole horizon.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      For seven days and seven nights this unparalleled scene of rejoicing,
+      though ever various, never ceased. Long, long was remembered the bridal
+      feast of the Hebrew prince and the caliph&rsquo;s daughter; long, long did the
+      peasantry on the plains of Tigris sit down by the side of that starry
+      river, and tell the wondrous tale to their marvelling posterity.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Now what a glorious man was David Alroy, lord of the mightiest empire in
+      the world, and wedded to the most beautiful princess, surrounded by a
+      prosperous and obedient people, guarded by invincible armies, one on whom
+      Earth showered all its fortune, and Heaven all its favour; and all by the
+      power of his own genius!
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      <a name="link2HCH0009" id="link2HCH0009">
+      <!--  H2 anchor --> </a>
+    </p>
+    <div style="height: 4em;">
+      <br /><br /><br /><br />
+    </div>
+    <h2>
+      CHAPTER IX.
+    </h2>
+<pre xml:space="preserve">
+     <i>The Death of Jabaster</i>
+</pre>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;TWAS midnight, and the storm still raged; &lsquo;mid the roar of the thunder
+      and the shrieks of the wind, the floods of forky lightning each instant
+      revealed the broad and billowy breast of the troubled Tigris. Jabaster
+      stood gazing upon the wild scene from the gallery of his palace. His
+      countenance was solemn, but disquieted.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;I would that he were here!&rsquo; exclaimed the high priest. &lsquo;Yet why should I
+      desire his presence, who heralds only gloom? Yet in his absence am I gay?
+      I am nothing. This Bagdad weighs upon me like a cloak of lead: my spirit
+      is dull and broken.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;They say Alroy gives a grand banquet in the serail to-night, and toasts
+      his harlot &lsquo;mid the thunderbolts. Is there no hand to write upon the wall?
+      He is found wanting, he is weighed, and is indeed found wanting. The
+      parting of his kingdom soon will come, and then, I could weep, oh! I could
+      weep, and down these stern and seldom yielding cheeks pour the wild
+      anguish of my desperate woe. So young, so great, so favoured! But one more
+      step a God, and now a foul Belshazzar!
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Was it for this his gentle youth was passed in musing solitude and mystic
+      studies? Was it for this the holy messenger summoned his most religious
+      spirit? Was it for this he crossed the fiery desert, and communed with his
+      fathers in their tombs? Is this the end of all his victories and all his
+      vast achievements? To banquet with a wanton!
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;A year ago, this very night, it was the eve of battle, I stood within his
+      tent to wait his final word. He mused awhile, and then he said, &ldquo;Good
+      night, Jabaster!&rdquo; I believed myself the nearest to his heart, as he has
+      ever been nearest to mine, but that&rsquo;s all over. He never says, &ldquo;Good
+      night, Jabaster,&rdquo; now. Why, what&rsquo;s all this? Methinks I am a child.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;The Lord&rsquo;s anointed is a prisoner now in the light grating of a bright
+      kiosk, and never gazes on the world he conquered. Egypt and Syria, even
+      farthest Ind, send forth their messengers to greet Alroy, the great, the
+      proud, the invincible. And where is he? In a soft Paradise of girls and
+      eunuchs, crowned with flowers, listening to melting lays, and the wild
+      trilling of the amorous lute. He spares no hours to council; all is left
+      to his prime favourites, of whom the leader is that juggling fiend I
+      sometime called my brother.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Why rest I here? Whither should I fly? Methinks my presence is still a
+      link to decency. Should I tear off the ephod, I scarcely fancy &lsquo;twould
+      blaze upon another&rsquo;s breast. He goes not to the sacrifice; they say he
+      keeps no fast, observes no ritual, and that their festive fantasies will
+      not be balked, even by the Sabbath. I have not seen him thrice since the
+      marriage. Honain has told her I did oppose it, and she bears to me a
+      hatred that only women feel. Our strong passions break into a thousand
+      purposes: women have one. Their love is dangerous, but their hate is
+      fatal.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;See! a boat bounding on the waters. On such a night, but one would dare
+      to venture.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Now visible, now in darkness, a single lantern at the prow, Jabaster
+      watched with some anxiety the slight bark buffeting the waves. A flash of
+      lightning illumined the whole river, and tipped with a spectral light even
+      the distant piles of building. The boat and the toiling figure of the
+      single rower were distinctly perceptible. Now all again was darkness; the
+      wind suddenly subsided; in a few minutes the plash of the oars was
+      audible, and the boat apparently stopped beneath the palace.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      There was a knocking at the private portal.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Who knocks?&rsquo; enquired Jabaster.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;A friend to Israel.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Abidan, by his voice. Art thou alone?&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;The prophetess is with me; only she.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;A moment. I&rsquo;ll open the gate. Draw the boat within the arch.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Jabaster descended from the gallery, and in a few moments returned with
+      two visitors: the youthful prophetess Esther, and her companion, a man
+      short in stature, but with a powerful and well-knit frame. His countenance
+      was melancholy, and, with harshness in the lower part, not without a
+      degree of pensive beauty in the broad clear brow and sunken eyes, unusual
+      in Oriental visages.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;A rough night,&rsquo; said Jabaster.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;To those who fear it,&rsquo; replied Abidan. &lsquo;The sun has brought so little joy
+      to me, I care not for the storm.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;What news?&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Woe! woe! woe!&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Thy usual note, my sister. Will the day never come when we may change
+      it?&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Woe! woe! woe! unutterable woe!&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Abidan, how fares it?&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Very well.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Indeed!&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;As it may turn out.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;You are brief.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Bitter.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Have you been to court, that you have learnt to be so wary in your words,
+      my friend?&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;I know not what may happen. In time we may all become courtiers, though I
+      fear, Jabaster, we have done too much to be rewarded. I gave him my blood,
+      and you something more, and now we are at Bagdad. &lsquo;Tis a fine city. I wish
+      to Heaven the shower of Sodom would rain upon its terraces.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;I know thou hast something terrible to tell. I know it by that gloomy
+      brow of thine, that lowers like the tempest. Speak out, man, I can bear
+      the worst, for which I am prepared.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Take it, then. Alroy has proclaimed himself Caliph. Abner is made Sultan
+      of Persia; Asriel, Ithamar, Medad, and the chief captains, Vizirs, Honain
+      their chief. Four Moslem nobles are sworn into the council. The Princess
+      goes to mosque in state next Friday; &lsquo;tis said thy pupil doth accompany
+      her.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;I&rsquo;ll not believe it! By the God of Sinai, I&rsquo;ll not believe it! Were my
+      own eye the accursed witness of the deed, I&rsquo;d not believe it. Go to
+      mosque! They play with thee, my good Abidan, they play with thee.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;As it may be. Tis a rumour, but rumours herald deeds. The rest of my
+      intelligence is true. I had it from my kinsman, stout Zalmunna. He left
+      the banquet.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Shall I go to him? Methinks one single word, To mosque! only a rumour and
+      a false one. I&rsquo;ll never believe it; no, no, no, never, never! Is he not
+      the Lord&rsquo;s anointed? The ineffable curse upon this daughter ot the
+      Moabite! No marvel that it thunders! By heavens, I&rsquo;ll go and beard him in
+      his orgies!&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;You know your power better than Abidan. You bearded him before his
+      marriage, yet&mdash;&mdash;&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;He married. Tis true. Honain, their chief. And I kept his ring! Honain is
+      my brother. Have I ne&rsquo;er a dagger to cut the bond of brotherhood?&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;We have all daggers, Jabaster, if we knew but how to use them.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;&lsquo;Tis strange, we met after twenty years of severance. You were not in the
+      chamber, Abidan. &lsquo;Twas at council. We met after twenty years of severance.
+      He is my brother. &lsquo;Tis strange, I say: I felt that man shrink from my
+      embrace.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Honain is a philosopher, and believes in sympathy. &lsquo;Twould appear there
+      was none between you. His system, then, absolves you from all ties.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;You are sure the rest of the intelligence is true? I&rsquo;ll not believe the
+      mosque, the rest is bad enough.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Zalmunna left the banquet. Hassan Subah&rsquo;s brother sat above him.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Subah&rsquo;s brother! &lsquo;Tis all over, then. Is he of the council?&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Ay, and others.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Where now is Israel?&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;She should be in her tents.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Woe! woe! unutterable woe!&rsquo; exclaimed the prophetess, who, standing
+      motionless at the back of the chamber, seemed inattentive to their
+      conversation.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Jabaster paced the gallery with agitated steps. Suddenly he stopped, and,
+      walking up to Abidan, seized his arm, and looked him sternly in the face.
+      &lsquo;I know thy thoughts, Abidan,&rsquo; exclaimed the priest; &lsquo;but it cannot be. I
+      have dismissed, henceforth and for ever I have dismissed all feeling from
+      my mind; now I have no brother, no friend, no pupil, and, I fear, no
+      Saviour. Israel is all in all to me. I have no other life. &lsquo;Tis not
+      compunction, then, that stays my arm. My heart&rsquo;s as hard as thine.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Why stays it then?&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Because with him we fall. He is the last of all his sacred line. There is
+      no other hand to grasp our sceptre.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;<i>Our</i> sceptre! what sceptre?&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;The sceptre of our kings.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Kings!&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Ay, why dost thou look so dark?&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;How looked the prophet when the stiff-necked populace forsooth must have
+      a king! Did he smile? Did he shout, and clap his hands, and cry, God save
+      his Majesty! O, Jabaster! honoured, rare Jabaster! thou second Samuel of
+      our lightheaded people! there was a time when Israel had no king except
+      their God. Were we viler then? Did kings conquer Canaan? Who was Moses,
+      who was Aaron, who was mighty Joshua? Was the sword of Gideon a kingly
+      sword? Did the locks of Samson shade royal temples? Would a king have kept
+      his awful covenant like solemn Jephtha? Royal words are light as air,
+      when, to maintain them, you injure any other than a subject.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Kings! why, what&rsquo;s a king? Why should one man break the equal sanctity of
+      our chosen race? Is their blood purer than our own? We are all the seed of
+      Abraham. Who was Saul, and who was David? I never heard that they were a
+      different breed from our fathers. Grant them devout, which they were not;
+      and brave and wise, which other men were; have their posterity a patent
+      for all virtues? No, Jabaster! thou ne&rsquo;er didst err, but when thou
+      placedst a crown upon this haughty stripling. What he did, a thousand
+      might have done. &lsquo;Twas thy mind inspired the deed. And now he is a king;
+      and now Jabaster, the very soul of Israel, who should be our Judge and
+      leader, Jabaster trembles in disgrace, while our unhallowed Sanhedrim is
+      filled with Ammonites!&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Abidan, thou hast touched me to the quick; thou hast stirred up thoughts
+      that ever and anon, like strong and fatal vapours, have risen from the
+      dark abyss of thought, and I have quelled them.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Let them rise, I say; let them drown the beams of that all-scorching sun
+      we suffer under, that drinks all vegetation up, and makes us languish with
+      a dull exhaustion!&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Joy! joy! unutterable joy!&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Hark! the prophetess has changed her note; and yet she hears us not. The
+      spirit of the Lord is truly with her. Come, Jabaster, I see thy heart is
+      opening to thy people&rsquo;s sufferings; thy people, my Jabaster, for art not
+      thou our Judge? At least, thou shalt be.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Can we call back the Theocracy? Is&rsquo;t possible?&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;But say the word, and it is done, Jabaster. Nay, stare not. Dost thou
+      think there are no true hearts in Israel? Dost thou suppose thy children
+      have beheld, without a thought, the foul insults poured on thee; thee,
+      their priest, their adored high priest, one who recalls the best days of
+      the past, the days of their great Judges? But one word, one single
+      movement of that mitred head, and&mdash;&mdash; But I speak unto a mind
+      that feels more than I can express. Be silent, tongue, thou art a babbling
+      counsellor. Jabaster&rsquo;s patriot soul needs not the idle schooling of a
+      child. If he be silent, &lsquo;tis that his wisdom deems that the hour is not
+      ripe, but when her leader speaks, Israel will not be slack.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;The Moslemin in council! We know what must come next. Our national
+      existence is in its last agony. Methinks the time is very ripe, Abidan.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Why, so we think, great sir; and say the word, and twenty thousand spears
+      will guard the Ark. I&rsquo;ll answer for my men. Stout Scherirah looks grimly
+      on the Moabites. A word from thee, and the whole Syrian army will join our
+      banner, the Lion of Judah, that shall be our flag. The tyrant and his
+      satraps, let them die, and then the rest must join us. We&rsquo;ll proclaim the
+      covenant, and, leaving Babylon to a bloody fate, march on to Zion!&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Zion, his youthful dream, Zion!&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;You muse!&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;King or no king, he is the Lord&rsquo;s anointed. Shall this hand, that poured
+      the oil on his hallowed head, wash out the balmy signet with his blood?
+      Must I slay him? Shall this kid be seethed even in its mother&rsquo;s milk?&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;His voice is low, and yet his face is troubled. How now, sir?&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;What art thou? Ah! Abidan, trusty, stanch Abidan! You see, Abidan, I was
+      thinking, my good Abidan, all this may be the frenzy of a revel.
+      Tomorrow&rsquo;s dawn may summon cooler counsels. The tattle of the table, it is
+      sacred. Let us forget it; let us pass it over. The Lord may turn his
+      heart. Who knows, who knows, Abidan!&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Noble sir, a moment since your mind was like your faith, firm and
+      resolved, and now&mdash;&mdash;&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;School me not, school me not, good Abidan. There is that within my mind
+      you cannot fathom; some secret sorrows which are all my own. Leave me,
+      good friend, leave me awhile. When Israel calls me I shall not be wanting.
+      Be sure of that, Abidan, be sure of that. Nay, do not go; the night is
+      very rough, and the fair prophetess should not again stem the swelling
+      river. I&rsquo;ll to my closet, and will soon return.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Jabaster quitted the gallery, and entered a small apartment. Several large
+      volumes, unclasped and open, were lying on various parts of the divan.
+      Before them stood his brazen cabalistic table. He closed the chamber with
+      a cautious air. He advanced into the centre of the apartment. He lifted up
+      his hands to heaven, and clasped them with an expression almost of agony.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Is it come to this?&rsquo; he muttered in a tone of deep oppression. &lsquo;Is it
+      come to this? What is&rsquo;t I have heard? what done? Down, tempting devil,
+      down! O life! O glory! O my country, my chosen people, and my sacred
+      creed! why do we live, why act? Why have we feeling for aught that&rsquo;s
+      famous, or for aught that&rsquo;s holy? Let me die! let, let me die! The torture
+      of existence is too great.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      He flung himself upon the couch; he buried his awful countenance in his
+      robes. His mighty heart was convulsed with passion. There did he lie, that
+      great and solemn man, prostrate and woe-begone.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;The noisy banquet lingers in my ear; I love to be alone.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;With me?&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Thou art myself; I have no other life.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Sweet bird! It is now a caliph.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;I am what thou wiliest, soul of my sweet existence! Pomp and dominion,
+      fame and victory, seem now but flawed and dimly-shaded gems compared with
+      thy bright smile!&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;My plaintive nightingale, shall we hunt to-day?&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Alas! my rose, I would rather lie upon this lazy couch, and gaze upon thy
+      beauty!&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Or sail upon the cool and azure lake, in some bright barque, like to a
+      sea-nymph&rsquo;s shell, and followed by the swans?&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;There is no lake so blue as thy deep eye; there is no swan so white as
+      thy round arm!&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Or shall we launch our falcons in the air, and bring the golden pheasant
+      to our feet?&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;I am the golden pheasant at thy feet; why wouldst thou richer prey?&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Rememberest thou thy earliest visit to this dear kiosk, my gentle mute?
+      There thou stoodst with folded arms and looks demure as day, and ever and
+      anon with those dark eyes stealing a glance which made my cheek quite
+      pale. Methinks I see thee even yet, shy bird. Dost know, I was so foolish
+      when it quitted me, dost know I cried?&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Ah, no! thou didst not cry?&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Indeed, I think I did.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Tell me again, my own Schirene, indeed didst cry?&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Indeed I did, my soul!&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;I would those tears were in some crystal vase, I&rsquo;d give a province for
+      the costly urn.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      She threw her arms around his neck and covered his face with kisses.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Sunset sounded from the minarets. They arose and wandered together in the
+      surrounding paradise. The sky was tinted with a pale violet flush, a
+      single star floating by the side of the white moon, that beamed with a dim
+      lustre, soft and shapely as a pearl.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Beautiful!&rsquo; exclaimed the pensive Schirene, as she gazed upon the star.
+      &lsquo;O, my Alroy, why cannot we ever live alone, and ever in a paradise?&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;I am wearied of empire,&rsquo; replied Alroy with a smile, &lsquo;let us fly!&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Is there no island, with all that can make life charming, and yet
+      impervious to man? How little do we require! Ah! if these gardens, instead
+      of being surrounded by hateful Bagdad, were only encompassed by some
+      beautiful ocean!&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;My heart, we live in a paradise, and are seldom disturbed, thanks to
+      Honain!&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;But the very consciousness that there are any other persons existing
+      besides ourselves is to me painful. Every one who even thinks of you seems
+      to rob me of a part of your being. Besides, I am weary of pomp and
+      palaces. I should like to live in a sparry grot, and sleep upon a couch of
+      sweet leaves!&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      This interesting discussion was disturbed by a dwarf, who, in addition to
+      being very small and very ugly, was dumb. He bowed before the Princess;
+      and then had recourse to a great deal of pantomimic action, by which she
+      discovered that it was dinnertime. No other person could have ventured to
+      disturb the royal pair, but this little being was a privileged favourite.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      So Alroy and Schirene entered the serail. An immense cresset-lamp, fed
+      with perfumed oil, threw a soft light round the sumptuous chamber. At the
+      end stood a row of eunuchs in scarlet dresses, and each holding a tall
+      silver staff. The Caliph and the Sultana threw themselves upon a couch
+      covered with a hundred cushions; on one side stood a group consisting of
+      the captain of the guard and other officers of the household, on the
+      other, of beautiful female slaves magnificently attired.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      The line of domestics at the end of the apartment opened, and a body of
+      slaves advanced, carrying trays of ivory and gold, and ebony and silver,
+      covered with the choicest dainties, curiously prepared. These were in turn
+      offered to the Caliph and the Sultana by their surrounding attendants. The
+      Princess accepted a spoon made of a single pearl, the long, thin golden
+      handle of which was studded with rubies, and condescended to partake of
+      some saffron soup, of which she was fond. Afterwards she regaled herself
+      with the breast of a cygnet, stuffed with almonds, and stewed with violets
+      and cream. Having now a little satisfied her appetite, and wishing to show
+      a mark of her favour to a particular individual, she ordered the captain
+      of the guard instantly to send him the whole of the next course<a
+      href="#linknote-74" name="linknoteref-74" id="linknoteref-74">74</a> with
+      her compliments. Her attention was then engaged with a dish of those
+      delicate ortolans that feed upon the vine-leaves of Schiraz, and with
+      which the Governor of Nishapur took especial care that she should be well
+      provided. Tearing the delicate birds to pieces with her still more
+      delicate fingers, she insisted upon feeding Alroy, who of course yielded
+      to her solicitations. In the meantime, they refreshed themselves with
+      their favourite sherbet of pomegranates, and the golden wine of Mount
+      Lebanon.<a href="#linknote-75" name="linknoteref-75" id="linknoteref-75">75</a>
+      The Caliph, who could eat no more ortolans, although fed by such delicate
+      fingers, was at length obliged to call for &lsquo;rice,&rsquo; which was synonymous to
+      commanding the banquet to disappear. The attendants now brought to each
+      basins of gold, and ewers of rock crystal filled with rose water, with
+      towels of that rare Egyptian linen which can be made only of the cotton
+      that grows upon the banks of the Nile. While they amused themselves with
+      eating sugar-plums, and drinking coffee flavoured with cinnamon, the
+      female slaves danced before them in the most graceful attitudes to the
+      melody of invisible musicians.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;My enchanting Schirene,&rsquo; said the Caliph, &lsquo;I have dined, thanks to your
+      attention, very well. These slaves of yours dance admirably, and are
+      exceedingly beautiful. Your music, too, is beyond all praise; but, for my
+      own part, I would rather be quite alone, and listening to one of your
+      songs.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;I have written a new one to-day. You shall hear it.&rsquo; So saying, she
+      clapped her little white hands, and all the attendants immediately
+      withdrew.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;The stars are stealing forth, and so will I. Sorry sight! to view
+      Jabaster, with a stealthy step, skulk like a thing dishonoured! Oh! may
+      the purpose consecrate the deed! the die is cast.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      So saying, the High Priest, muffled up in his robe, emerged from his
+      palace into the busy streets. It is at night that the vitality of Oriental
+      life is most impressive. The narrow winding streets, crowded with a
+      population breathing the now sufferable air, the illuminated
+      coffee-houses, the groups of gay yet sober revellers, the music, and the
+      dancing, and the animated recitals of the poet and the story-teller, all
+      combine to invest the starry hours with a beguiling and even fascinating
+      character of enjoyment and adventure.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      It was the night after the visit of Abidan and the prophetess. Jabaster
+      had agreed to meet Abidan in the square of the great mosque two hours
+      after sunset, and thither he now repaired.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;I am somewhat before my time,&rsquo; he said, as he entered the great square,
+      over which the rising moon threw a full flood of light. A few dark shadows
+      of human beings alone moved in the distance. The world was in the streets
+      and coffee-houses. &lsquo;I am somewhat before my time,&rsquo; said Jabaster.
+      &lsquo;Conspirators are watchful. I am anxious for the meeting, and yet I dread
+      it. Since he broke this business, I have never slept. My mind is a chaos.
+      I will not think. If &lsquo;tis to be done, let it be done at once. I am more
+      tempted to sheathe this dagger in Jabaster&rsquo;s breast than in Alroy&rsquo;s. If
+      life or empire were the paltry stake, I would end a life that now can
+      bring no joy, and yield authority that hath no charm; but Israel, Israel,
+      thou for whom I have endured so much, let me forget Jabaster had a mother!
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;But for this thought that links me with my God, and leads my temper to a
+      higher state, how vain and sad, how wearisome and void, were this said
+      world they think of! But for this thought, I could sit down and die. Yea!
+      my great heart could crack, worn out, worn out; my mighty passions, with
+      their fierce but flickering flame, sink down and die; and the strong brain
+      that ever hath urged my course, and pricked me onward with perpetual
+      thought, desert the rudder it so long hath held, like some baffled pilot
+      in blank discomfiture, in the far centre of an unknown sea.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Study and toil, anxiety and sorrow, mighty action, perchance Time, and
+      disappointment, which is worse than all, have done their work, and not in
+      vain. I am no longer the same Jabaster that gazed upon the stars of
+      Caucasus. Methinks even they look dimmer than of yore. The glory of my
+      life is fading. My leaves are sear, tinged, but not tainted. I am still
+      the same in one respect; I have not left my God, in deed or thought. Ah!
+      who art thou?&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;A friend to Israel.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;I am glad that Israel hath a friend. Noble Abi-dan, I have well
+      considered all that hath passed between us. Sooth to say, you touched upon
+      a string I&rsquo;ve played before, but kept it for my loneliness; a jarring
+      tune, indeed a jarring tune, but so it is, and being so, let me at once
+      unto your friends, Abi-dan.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Noble Jabaster, thou art what I deemed thee.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Abidan, they say the consciousness of doing justly is the best basis of a
+      happy mind.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Even so.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;And thou believest it?&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Without doubt.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;We are doing very justly?&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;&lsquo;Tis a weak word for such a holy purpose.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;I am most wretched!&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      The High Priest and his companion entered the house of Abidan. Jabaster
+      addressed the already assembled guests.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Brave Scherirah, it joys me to find thee here. In Israel&rsquo;s cause when was
+      Scherirah wanting? Stout Zalmunna, we have not seen enough of each other:
+      the blame is mine. Gentle prophetess, thy blessing!
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Good friends, why we meet here is known to all. Little did we dream of
+      such a meeting when we crossed the Tigris. But that is nothing. We come to
+      act, and not to argue. Our great minds, they are resolved: our solemn
+      purpose requires no demonstration. If there be one among us who would have
+      Israel a slave to Ishmael, who would lose all we have prayed for, all we
+      have fought for, all we have won, and all for which we are prepared to
+      die, if there be one among us who would have the Ark polluted, and
+      Jehovah&rsquo;s altar stained with a Gentile sacrifice, if there be one among us
+      who does not sigh for Zion, who would not yield his breath to build the
+      Temple and gain the heritage his fathers lost, why, let him go! There is
+      none such among us: then stay, and free your country!&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;We are prepared, great Jabaster; we are prepared, all, all!&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;I know it; you are like myself. Necessity hath taught decision. Now for
+      our plans. Speak, Zalmunna.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Noble Jabaster, I see much difficulty. Alroy no longer quits his palace.
+      Our entrance unwatched is, you well know, impossible. What say you,
+      Scherirah?&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;I doubt not of my men, but war against Alroy is, to say nought of danger,
+      of doubtful issue.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;I am prepared to die, but not to fail,&rsquo; said Abidan. &lsquo;We must be certain.
+      Open war I fear. The mass of the army will side with their leaders, and
+      they are with the tyrant. Let us do the deed, and they must join us.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Is it impossible to gain his presence to some sacrifice in honour of some
+      by-gone victory; what think ye?&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;I doubt much, Jabaster. At this moment he little wishes to sanction our
+      national ceremonies with his royal person. The woman assuredly will stay
+      him. And, even if he come, success is difficult, and therefore doubtful.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Noble warriors, list to a woman&rsquo;s voice,&rsquo; exclaimed the prophetess,
+      coming forward. &lsquo;&lsquo;Tis weak, but with such instruments, even the
+      aspirations of a child, the Lord will commune with his chosen people.
+      There is a secret way by which I can gain the gardens of the palace.
+      To-morrow night, just as the moon is in her midnight bower, behold the
+      accursed pile shall blaze. Let Abidan&rsquo;s troops be all prepared, and at the
+      moment when the flames first ascend, march to the Seraglio gate as if with
+      aid. The affrighted guard will offer no opposition. While the troops
+      secure the portals, you yourselves, Zalmunna, Abidan, and Jabaster, rush
+      to the royal chamber and do the deed. In the meantime, let brave
+      Scherirah, with his whole division, surround the palace, as if unconscious
+      of the mighty work. Then come you forward, show, if it need, with tears,
+      the fated body to the soldiery, and announce the Theocracy.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;It is the Lord who speaks,&rsquo; said Abidan, who was doubtless prepared for
+      the proposition. &lsquo;He has delivered them into our hands.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;A bold plan,&rsquo; said Jabaster, musing, &lsquo;and yet I like it. &lsquo;Tis quick, and
+      that is something. I think &lsquo;tis sure.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;It cannot fail,&rsquo; exclaimed Zalmunna, &lsquo;for if the flame ascend not, still
+      we are but where we were.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;I am for it,&rsquo; said Scherirah.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Well, then,&rsquo; said Jabaster, &lsquo;so let it be. Tomorrow&rsquo;s eve will see us
+      here again prepared. Good night.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Good night, holy Priest. How seem the stars, Jabaster?&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Very troubled; so have they been some days. What they portend I know
+      not.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Health to Israel.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Let us hope so. Good night, sweet friends.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Good night, holy Jabaster. Thou art our cornerstone.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Israel hath no other hope but in Jabaster.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;My Lord,&rsquo; said Abidan, &lsquo;remain, I pray, one moment.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;What is&rsquo;t? I fain would go.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Alroy must die, my Lord, but dost thou think a single death will seal the
+      covenant?&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;The woman?&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Ay! the woman! I was not thinking of the woman. Asriel, Ithamar, Medad?&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Valiant soldiers! doubt not we shall find them useful instruments. I do
+      not fear such loose companions. They follow their leaders, like other
+      things born to obey. Having no head themselves, they must follow us who
+      have.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;I think so too. There is no other man who might be dangerous?&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Zalmunna and Scherirah cast their eyes upon the ground. There was a dead
+      silence, broken by the prophetess.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;A judgment hath gone forth against Honain!&rsquo; &lsquo;Nay! he is Lord Jabaster&rsquo;s
+      brother,&rsquo; said Abidan.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;It is enough to save a more inveterate foe to Israel, if such there be.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;I have no brother, Sir. The man you speak of I will not slay, since there
+      are others who may do that deed. And so again, good night.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      It was the dead of night, a single lamp burned in the chamber, which
+      opened into an arched gallery that descended by a flight of steps into the
+      gardens of the Serail.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      A female figure ascended the flight with slow and cautious steps. She
+      paused on the gallery, she looked around, one foot was in the chamber.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      She entered. She entered a chamber of small dimensions, but richly
+      adorned. In the farthest corner was a couch of ivory, hung with a gauzy
+      curtain of silver tissue, which, without impeding respiration, protected
+      the slumberer from the fell insects of an Oriental night. Leaning against
+      an ottoman was a large brazen shield of ancient fashion, and near it some
+      helmets and curious weapons.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;An irresistible impulse hath carried me into this chamber!&rsquo; exclaimed the
+      prophetess. &lsquo;The light haunted me like a spectre; and wheresoever I moved,
+      it seemed to summon me.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;A couch and a slumberer!&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      She approached the object, she softly withdrew the curtain. Pale and
+      panting, she rushed back, yet with a light step. She beheld Alroy!
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      For a moment she leant against the wall, overpowered by her emotions.
+      Again she advanced, and gazed on her unconscious victim.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Can the guilty sleep like the innocent? Who would deem this gentle
+      slumberer had betrayed the highest trust that ever Heaven vouchsafed to
+      favoured man? He looks not like a tyrant and a traitor: calm his brow, and
+      mild his placid breath! His long dark hair, dark as the raven&rsquo;s wing, hath
+      broken from its fillet, and courses, like a wild and stormy night, over
+      his pale and moon-lit brow. His cheek is delicate, and yet repose hath
+      brought a flush; and on his lip there seems some word of love, that will
+      not quit it. It is the same Alroy that blessed our vision when, like the
+      fresh and glittering star of morn, he rose up in the desert, and bringing
+      joy to others, brought to me only&mdash;&mdash;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Oh! hush my heart, and let thy secret lie hid in the charnel-house of
+      crushed affections. Hard is the lot of woman: to love and to conceal is
+      our sharp doom! O bitter life! O most unnatural lot! Man made society, and
+      made us slaves. And so we droop and die, or else take refuge in idle
+      fantasies, to which we bring the fervour that is meant for nobler ends.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Beauteous hero! whether I bear thee most hatred or most love I cannot
+      tell. Die thou must; yet I feel I should die with thee. Oh! that to-night
+      could lead at the same time unto our marriage bed and funeral pyre. Must
+      that white bosom bleed? and must those delicate limbs be hacked and
+      handled by these bloody butchers? Is that justice? They lie, the traitors,
+      when they call thee false to our God. Thou art thyself a god, and I could
+      worship thee! See those beauteous lips; they move. Hark to the music!&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Schirene, Schirene!&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;There wanted but that word to summon back my senses. Fool! whither is thy
+      fancy wandering? I will not wait for tardy justice. I will do the deed
+      myself. Shall I not kill my Sisera?&rsquo; She seized a dagger from the ottoman,
+      a rare and highly-tempered blade. Up she raised it in the air, and dashed
+      it to his heart with superhuman force. It struck against the talisman
+      which Jabaster had given to Alroy, and which, from a lingering
+      superstition, he still wore; it struck, and shivered into a thousand
+      pieces. The Caliph sprang from his couch; his eyes met the prophetess,
+      standing over him in black despair, with the hilt of the dagger in her
+      hand.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;What is all this? Schirene! Who art thou? Esther!&rsquo; He jumped from the
+      couch, called to Pharez, and seized her by both hands. &lsquo;Speak!&rsquo; he
+      continued. &lsquo;Art thou Esther? What dost thou here?&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      She broke into a wild laugh; she wrestled with his grasp, and pulled him
+      towards the gallery. He beheld the chief tower of the Serail in flames.
+      Joining her hands together, grasping them both in one of his, and dragging
+      her towards the ottoman, he seized a helmet and flung it upon the mighty
+      shield. It sounded like a gong. Pharez started from his slumbers, and
+      rushed into the chamber.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Pharez! Treason! treason! Send instant orders that the palace gates be
+      opened on no pretence whatever. Go, fly! See the captain himself. Summon
+      the household. Order all to arms. Speed, for our lives!&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      The whole palace was now roused. Alroy delivered Esther, exhausted, and
+      apparently senseless, to a guard of eunuchs. Slaves and attendants poured
+      in from all directions. Soon arrived Schirene, with dishevelled hair and
+      hurried robes, attended by a hundred maidens, each bearing a torch.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;My soul, what ails thee?&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Nothing, sweetest; all will soon be well,&rsquo; replied Alroy, picking up, and
+      examining the fragments of the shivered dagger, which he had just
+      discovered.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;My life has been attempted; the palace is in flames; I suspect the city
+      is in insurrection. Look to your mistress, maidens!&rsquo; Schirene fell into
+      their arms. &lsquo;I will soon be back.&rsquo; So saying, he hurried to the grand
+      court.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Several thousand persons, for the population of the Serail and its
+      liberties was very considerable, were assembled in the grand court;
+      eunuchs, women, pages, slaves, and servants, and a few soldiers; all in
+      confusion and alarm, fire raging within, and mysterious and terrible
+      outcries without. A cry of &lsquo;The Caliph! the Caliph!&rsquo; announced the arrival
+      of Alroy, and produced a degree of comparative silence.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Where is the captain of the guard?&rsquo; he exclaimed. &lsquo;That&rsquo;s well. Open the
+      gates to none. Who will leap the wall and bear a message to Asriel? You?
+      That&rsquo;s well too. To-morrow you shall yourself command. Where&rsquo;s Mesrour?
+      Take the eunuch guard and the company of gardeners,<a href="#linknote-76"
+       name="linknoteref-76" id="linknoteref-76">76</a>and suppress the flames at
+      all cost. Pull down the intervening buildings. Abidan&rsquo;s troop arrived with
+      succour, eh! I doubt it not. I expected them. Open to none. They force an
+      entrance, eh! I thought so. So that javelin has killed a traitor. Feed me
+      with arms. I&rsquo;ll keep the gate. Send again to Asriel. Where&rsquo;s Pharez?&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;By your side, my lord.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Run to the Queen, my faithful Pharez, and tell her that all&rsquo;s well. I
+      wish it were! Didst ever hear a din so awful? Methinks all the tambours
+      and cymbals of the city are in full chorus. Foul play, I guess. Oh! for
+      Asriel! Has Pharez returned?&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;I am by your side, my lord.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;How&rsquo;s the Queen?&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;She would gladly join your side.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;No, no! Keep the gates there. Who says they are making fires before them?
+      Tis true. We must sally, if the worst come to the worst, and die at least
+      like soldiers. O Asriel! Asriel!&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;May it please your Highness, the troops are pouring in from all
+      quarters.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;&lsquo;Tis Asriel.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;No, your Highness, &lsquo;tis not the guard. Methinks they are Scherirah&rsquo;s
+      men.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Hum! What it all is, I know not; but very foul play I do not doubt.
+      Where&rsquo;s Honain?&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;With the Queen, Sire.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;&lsquo;Tis well. What&rsquo;s that shout?&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Here&rsquo;s the messenger from Asriel. Make way! way!&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Well! how is&rsquo;t, Sir?&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Please your Highness, I could not reach the guard.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Could not reach the guard! God of my fathers! who should let thee?&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Sire, I was taken prisoner.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Prisoner! By the thunder of Sinai, are we at war? Who made thee
+      prisoner?&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Sire, they have proclaimed thy death.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Who?&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;The council of the Elders. So I heard. Abidan, Zalmunna&mdash;&mdash;&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Rebels and dogs! Who else?&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;The High Priest.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Hah! Is it there? Pharez, fetch me some drink. Is it true Scherirah has
+      joined them?&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;His force surrounds the Serail. No aid can reach us without cutting
+      through his ranks.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Oh! that I were there with my good guard! Are we to die here like rats,
+      fairly murdered? Cowardly knaves! Hold out, hold out, my men! &lsquo;Tis sharp
+      work, but some of us will smile at this hereafter. Who stands by Alroy
+      to-night bravely and truly, shall have his heart&rsquo;s content to-morrow. Fear
+      not: I was not born to die in a civic broil. I bear a charmed life. So to
+      it.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Go to the Caliph, good Honain, I pray thee, go. I can support myself, he
+      needs thy counsel. Bid him not expose his precious life. The wicked men!
+      Asriel must soon be here. What sayest thou?&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;There is no fear. Their plans are ill-devised. I have long expected this
+      stormy night, and feel even now more anxious than alarmed.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;&lsquo;Tis at me they aim; it is I whom they hate. The High Priest, too! Ay,
+      ay! Thy proud brother, good Honain, I have ever felt he would not rest
+      until he drove me from this throne, my right; or washed my hated name from
+      out our annals in my life&rsquo;s blood. Wicked, wicked Jabaster! He frowned
+      upon me from the first, Honain. Is he indeed thy brother?&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;I care not to remember. He aims at something further than thy life; but
+      Time will teach us more than all our thoughts.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      The fortifications of the Serail resisted all the efforts of the rebels.
+      Scherirah remained in his quarters, with his troops under arms, and
+      recalled the small force that he had originally sent out as much to watch
+      the course of events as to assist Abidan. Asriel and Ithamar poured down
+      their columns in the rear of that chieftain, and by dawn a division of the
+      guard had crossed the river, the care of which had been entrusted to
+      Scherirah, and had thrown themselves into the palace. Alroy sallied forth
+      at the head of these fresh troops. His presence decided a result which was
+      perhaps never doubtful. The division of Abidan fought with the desperation
+      that became their fortunes. The carnage was dreadful, but their
+      discomfiture complete. They no longer acted in masses, or with any general
+      system. They thought only of self-preservation, or of selling their lives
+      at the dearest cost. Some dispersed, some escaped. Others entrenched
+      themselves in houses, others fortified the bazaar. All the horrors of war
+      in the streets were now experienced. The houses were in flames, the
+      thoroughfares flowed with blood.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      At the head of a band of faithful followers, Abidan proved himself, by his
+      courage and resources, worthy of success. At length, he was alone, or
+      surrounded only by his enemies. With his back against a building in a
+      narrow street, where the number of his opponents only embarrassed them,
+      the three foremost of his foes fell before his irresistible scimitar. The
+      barricaded door yielded to the pressure of the multitude. Abidan rushed up
+      the narrow stairs, and, gaining a landing-place, turned suddenly round,
+      and cleaved the skull of his nearest pursuer. He hurled the mighty body at
+      his followers, and, retarding their advance, himself dashed onward, and
+      gained the terrace of the mansion. Three soldiers of the guard followed
+      him as he bounded from terrace to terrace. One, armed with a javelin,
+      hurled it at the chieftain. The weapon slightly wounded Abidan, who,
+      drawing it from his arm, sent it back to the heart of its owner. The two
+      other soldiers, armed only with swords, gained upon him. He arrived at the
+      last terrace in the cluster of buildings. He stood at bay on the brink of
+      the precipice. He regained his breath. They approached him. He dodged them
+      in their course. Suddenly, with admirable skill, he flung his scimitar
+      edgewise at the legs of his farthest foe, who stopped short, roaring with
+      pain. The chieftain sprang at the foremost, and hurled him down into the
+      street below, where he was dashed to atoms. A trap-door offered itself to
+      the despairing eye of the rebel. He descended and found himself in a room
+      filled with women. They screamed, he rushed through them, and descending a
+      Staircase, entered a chamber tenanted by a bed-ridden old man. The ancient
+      invalid enquired the cause of the uproar, and died of fright before he
+      could receive an answer, at the sight of the awful being before him,
+      covered with streaming blood. Abidan secured the door, washed his
+      blood-stained face, and disguising himself in the dusty robes of the
+      deceased Armenian, sallied forth to watch the fray. The obscure street was
+      silent. The chieftain proceeded unmolested. At the corner he found a
+      soldier holding a charger for his captain. Abidan, unarmed, seized a
+      poniard from the soldier&rsquo;s belt, stabbed him to the heart, and vaulting on
+      the steed, galloped towards the river. No boat was to be found; he
+      breasted the stream upon the stout courser. He reached the opposite bank.
+      A company of camels were reposing by the side of a fountain. Alarm had
+      dispersed their drivers. He mounted the fleetest in appearance; he dashed
+      to the nearest gate of the city. The guard at the gate refused him a
+      passage. He concealed his agitation. A marriage procession, returning from
+      the country, arrived. He rushed into the centre of it, and overset the
+      bride in her gilded wagon. In the midst of the confusion, the shrieks, the
+      oaths, and the scuffle, he forced his way through the gate, scoured over
+      the country, and never stopped until he had gained the desert.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      The uproar died away. The shouts of warriors, the shrieks of women, the
+      wild clang of warfare, all were silent. The flames were extinguished, the
+      carnage ceased. The insurrection was suppressed, and order restored. The
+      city, all the houses of which were closed, was patrolled by the conquering
+      troops, and by sunset the conqueror himself, in his hall of state,
+      received the reports and the congratulations of his chieftains. The escape
+      of Abidan seemed counterbalanced by the capture of Jabaster. After
+      performing prodigies of valour, the High Priest had been overpowered, and
+      was now a prisoner in the Serail. The conduct of Scherirah was not too
+      curiously criticised; a commission was appointed to enquire into the
+      mysterious affair; and Alroy retired to the bath<a href="#linknote-77"
+       name="linknoteref-77" id="linknoteref-77">77</a> to refresh himself after
+      the fatigues of the victory which he could not consider a triumph.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      As he reposed upon his couch, melancholy and exhausted, Schirene was
+      announced. The Princess threw herself upon his neck and covered him with
+      embraces. His heart yielded to her fondness, his spirit became lighter,
+      his depression melted away.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;My ruby!&rsquo; said Schirene, and she spoke in a low smothered voice, her face
+      hidden and nestled in his breast. &lsquo;My ruby! dost thou love me?&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      He smiled in fondness as he pressed her to his heart.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;My ruby, thy pearl is so frightened, it dare not look upon thee. Wicked
+      men! &lsquo;tis I whom they hate, &lsquo;tis I whom they would destroy.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;There is no danger, sweet. &lsquo;Tis over now. Speak not, nay, do not think of
+      it.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Ah! wicked men! There is no joy on earth while such things live. Slay
+      Alroy, their mighty master, who, from vile slaves, hath made them princes!
+      Ungrateful churls! I am so alarmed, I ne&rsquo;er shall sleep again. What! slay
+      my innocent bird, my pretty bird, my very heart! I&rsquo;ll not believe it. It
+      is I whom they hate. I am sure they will kill me. You shall never leave
+      me, no, no, no, no! You shall not leave me, love, never, never! Didst hear
+      a noise? Methinks they are even here, ready to plunge their daggers in our
+      hearts, our soft, soft hearts! I think you love me, child; indeed, I think
+      you do!&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Take courage, heart! There is no fear, my soul; I cannot love thee more,
+      or else I would.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;All joy is gone! I ne&rsquo;er shall sleep again. O my soul! art thou indeed
+      alive? Do I indeed embrace my own Alroy, or is it all a wild and troubled
+      dream, and are my arms clasped round a shadowy ghost, myself a spectre in
+      a sepulchre? Wicked, wicked men! Can it indeed be true? What, slay Alroy!
+      my joy, my only life! Ah! woe is me; our bright felicity hath fled for
+      ever!&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Not so, sweet child; we are but as we were. A few quick hours, and all
+      will be as bright as if no storm had crossed our sunny days.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Hast seen Asriel? He says such fearful things!&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;How now?&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Ah me! I am desolate. I have no friend.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Schirene!&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;They will have my blood. I know they will have my blood.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Indeed, an idle fancy.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Idle! Ask Asriel, question Ithamar. Idle! &lsquo;tis written in their tablets,
+      their bloody scroll of rapine and of murder. Thy death led only to mine,
+      and, had they hoped my bird would but have yielded his gentle mate, they
+      would have spared him. Ay! ay! &lsquo;tis I whom they hate, &lsquo;tis I whom they
+      would destroy. This form, I fear it has lost its lustre, but still &lsquo;tis
+      thine, and once thou saidst thou lovedst it; this form was to have been
+      hacked and mangled; this ivory bosom was to have been ripped up and
+      tortured, and this warm blood, that flows alone for thee, that fell
+      Jabaster was to pour its tide upon the altar of his ancient vengeance. He
+      ever hated me!&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Jabaster! Schirene! Where are we, and what are we? Life, life, they lie,
+      that call thee Nature! Nature never sent these gusts of agony. Oh! my
+      heart will break. I drove him from my thought, and now she calls him up,
+      and now must I remember he is my-prisoner! God of heaven, God of my
+      fathers, is it come to this? Why did he not escape? Why must Abidan, a
+      common cut-throat, save his graceless life, and this great soul, this
+      stern and mighty being&mdash;&mdash; Ah me! I have lived long enough.
+      Would they had not failed, would&mdash;&mdash;&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Stop, stop, Alroy! I pray thee, love, be calm. I came to soothe thee, not
+      to raise thy passions. I did not say Jabaster willed thy death, though
+      Asriel says so; &lsquo;tis me he wars against; and if indeed Jabaster be a man
+      so near thy heart, if he indeed be one so necessary to thy prosperity, and
+      cannot live in decent order with thy slave that&rsquo;s here, I know my duty,
+      Sir. I would not have thy fortunes farred to save my single heart,
+      although I think &lsquo;twill break. I will go, I will die, and deem the hardest
+      accident of life but sheer prosperity if it profit thee.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;O Schirene! what wouldst thou? This, this is torture.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;To see thee safe and happy; nothing more.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;I am both, if thou art.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Care not for me, I am nothing.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Thou art all to me.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Calm thyself, my soul. It grieves me much that when I came to soothe I
+      have only galled thee. All&rsquo;s well, all&rsquo;s well. Say that Jabaster lives.
+      What then? He lives, and may he prove more duteous than before; that&rsquo;s
+      all.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;He lives, he is my prisoner, he awaits his doom. It must be given.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Yes, yes!&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Shall we pardon?&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;My lord will do that which it pleases him.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Nay, nay, Schirene, I pray thee be more kind. I am most wretched. Speak,
+      what wouldst thou?&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;If I must speak, I say at once, his life.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Ah me!&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;If our past loves have any charm, if the hope ot future joy, not less
+      supreme, be that which binds thee to this shadowy world, as it does me,
+      and does alone, I say his life, his very carnal life. He stands between us
+      and our loves, Alroy, and ever has done. There is no happiness if Jabaster
+      breathe; nor can I be the same Schirene to thee as I have been, if this
+      proud rebel live to spy my conduct.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Banish him, banish him!&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;To herd with rebels. Is this thy policy?&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;O Schirene! I love not this man, although me-thinks I should: yet didst
+      thou know but all!&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;I know too much, Alroy. From the first he has been to me a hateful
+      thought. Come, come, sweet bird, a boon, a boon unto thy own Schirene, who
+      was so frightened by these wicked men! I fear it has done more mischief
+      than thou deemest. Ay! robbed us of our hopes. It may be so. A boon, a
+      boon! It is not much I ask: a traitor&rsquo;s head. Come, give me thy signet
+      ring. It will not; nay, then, I&rsquo;ll take it. What, resist! I know thou oft
+      hast told me a kiss could vanquish all denial. There it is. Is&rsquo;t sweet?
+      Shalt have another, and another too. I&rsquo;ve got the ring! Farewell, my
+      lovely bird, I&rsquo;ll soon return to pillow in thy nest.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;She has got the ring! What&rsquo;s this? what&rsquo;s this? Schirene! art gone? Nay,
+      surely not. She jests. Jabaster! A traitor&rsquo;s head! What ho! there. Pharez,
+      Pharez!&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;My lord.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Passed the Queen that way?&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;She did, my lord.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;In tears?&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Nay! very joyful!&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Call Honain, quick as my thought. Honain! Honain! He waits without. I
+      have seen the best of life, that&rsquo;s very sure. My heart is cracking. She
+      surely jests! Hah! Honain. Pardon these distracted looks. Fly to the
+      Armoury! fly, fly!&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;For what, my lord?&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Ay! for what, for what! My brain it wanders. Thy brother, thy great
+      brother, the Queen, the Queen has stolen my signet ring, that is, I gave
+      it her. Fly, fly! or in a word, Jabaster is no more. He is gone. Pharez!
+      your arm; I swoon!&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;His Highness is sorely indisposed to-day.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;They say he swooned this morn.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Ay, in the bath.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;No, not in the bath. &lsquo;Twas when he heard of Jabaster&rsquo;s death.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;How died he, Sir?&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Self-strangled. His mighty heart could not endure disgrace, and thus he
+      ended all his glorious deeds.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;A great man!&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;We shall not soon see his match. The Queen had gained his pardon, and
+      herself flew to the Armoury to bear the news; alas! too late.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;These are strange times. Jabaster dead!&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;A very great event.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Who will be High Priest?&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;I doubt if the appointment will be filled up.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Sup you with the Lord Ithamar to-night?&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;I do.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;I also. We&rsquo;ll go together. The Queen had gained his pardon. Hum! &lsquo;tis
+      strange.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Passing so. They say Abidan has escaped?&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;I hear it. Shall we meet Medad to-night?&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;&lsquo;Tis likely.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      <a name="link2HCH0010" id="link2HCH0010">
+      <!--  H2 anchor --> </a>
+    </p>
+    <div style="height: 4em;">
+      <br /><br /><br /><br />
+    </div>
+    <h2>
+      CHAPTER X.
+    </h2>
+<pre xml:space="preserve">
+     <i>The Fall of Alroy</i>
+</pre>
+    <p>
+      SHE comes not yet! her cheerful form, not yet it sparkles in our mournful
+      sky. She comes not yet! the shadowy stars seem sad and lustreless without
+      their Queen. She comes not yet!&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;<i>WE ARE THE WATCHERS OF THE MOON,<a href="#linknote-78"
+       name="linknoteref-78" id="linknoteref-78">78</a> AND LIVE IN LONELINESS TO
+      HERALD LIGHT.</i>&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;She comes not yet! her sacred form, not yet it summons to our holy feast.
+      She comes not yet! our brethren far wait mute and motionless the saintly
+      beam. She comes not yet!&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;<i>WE ARE THE WATCHERS OF THE MOON, AND LIVE IN LONELINESS TO HERALD
+      LIGHT</i>.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;She comes, she comes! her beauteous form sails with soft splendour in the
+      glittering air. She comes, she comes! The beacons fire, and tell the
+      nation that the month begins! She comes, she comes!&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;<i>WE ARE THE WATCHERS OF THE MOON, TO TELL THE NATION THAT THE MONTH
+      BEGINS</i>.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Instantly the holy watchers fired the beacons on the mountain top, and
+      anon a thousand flames blazed round the land. From Caucasus to Lebanon, on
+      every peak a crown of light.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Sire! a Tatar has arrived from Hamadan, who will see none but thyself. I
+      have told him your Highness was engaged, and sent him to the Lord Honain;
+      but all denial is lost upon him. And as I thought perhaps the Lady Miriam&mdash;&mdash;&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;From Hamadan? You did well, Pharez. Admit him.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      The Tatar entered.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Well, Sir; good news, I hope!&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Sire, pardon me, the worst. I come from the Lord Abner, with orders to
+      see the Caliph, and none else.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Well, Sir, you see the Caliph. Your mission? What of the Viceroy?&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Sire, he bade me tell thee, that, the moment the beacon that announced
+      the Feast of the New Moon was fired on Caucasus, the dreaded monarch of
+      Karasmé, the great Alp Arslan, entered thy kingdom, and now overruns all
+      Persia.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Hah! and Abner?&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Is in the field, and prays for aid.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;He shall have it. This is indeed great news! When left you Hamadan?&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Night and day I have journeyed upon the swiftest dromedary. The third
+      morn sees me at Bagdad.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;You have done your duty. See this faithful courier be well tended,
+      Pharez. Summon the Lord Honain.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Alp Arslan! Hah! a very famous warrior. The moment the beacon was fired.
+      No sudden impulse then, but long matured. I like it not.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Sire,&rsquo; said Pharez, re-entering, &lsquo;a Tatar has arrived from the frontiers
+      of the province, who will see none but thyself. I have told him your
+      Highness was deeply busied, and as methinks he brings but the same news, I&mdash;&mdash;&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;&lsquo;Tis very likely; yet never <i>think</i>, good Pharez. I&rsquo;ll see the man.&rsquo;
+      The Tatar entered.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Well, Sir, how now! from whom?&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;From Mozul. The Governor bade me see the Caliph and none else, and tell
+      your Highness that the moment the beacon that announced the Feast of the
+      New Moon was fired on the mountains, the fell rebel Abidan raised the
+      standard of Judah in the province, and proclaimed war against your
+      Majesty.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;In any force?&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;The royal power keeps within their walls.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Sufficient answer. Part of the same movement. We shall have some trouble.
+      Hast summoned Honain?&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;I have, Sire.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Go, see this messenger be duly served, and, Pharez, come hither: let none
+      converse with them. You understand?&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Your Highness may assure yourself.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Abidan come to life. He shall not escape so well this time. I must see
+      Scherirah. I much suspect&mdash;&mdash;what&rsquo;s this? More news!&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      A third Tatar entered.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;May it please your Highness, this Tatar has arrived from the Syrian
+      frontier.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Mischief in the wind, I doubt not. Speak out, knave!&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Sire! pardon me; I bear but sad intelligence.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Out with the worst!&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;I come from the Lord Medad.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Well! has he rebelled? It seems a catching fever.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Ah! no, dread Sire, Lord Medad has no thought but for thy glory. Alas!
+      alas! he has now to guard it against fearful odds. Lord Medad bade me see
+      the Caliph and none else, and tell your Highness, that the moment the
+      beacon which announced the Feast of the New Moon was fired on Lebanon, the
+      Sultan of Roum and the old Arabian Caliph unfurled the standard of their
+      Prophet, in great array, and are now marching towards Bagdad.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;A clear conspiracy! Has Honain arrived? Summon a council of the Vizirs
+      instantly. The world is up against me. Well! I&rsquo;m sick of peace. They shall
+      not find me napping!&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;You see, my lords,&rsquo; said Alroy, ere the council broke up, &lsquo;we must attack
+      them singly. There can be no doubt of that. If they join, we must combat
+      at great odds. &lsquo;Tis in detail that we must route them. I will myself to
+      Persia. Ithamar must throw himself between the Sultan and Abidan, Medad
+      fall back on Ithamar. Scherirah must guard the capital. Honain, you are
+      Regent. And so farewell. I shall set off to-night. Courage, brave
+      companions. &lsquo;Tis a storm, but many a cedar survives the thunderbolt.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      The council broke up.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;My own Scherirah!&rsquo; said the Caliph, as they retired, &lsquo;stay awhile. I
+      would speak with you alone. Honain,&rsquo; continued Alroy, following the Grand
+      Vizir out of the chamber, and leaving Scherirah alone, &lsquo;Honain, I have not
+      yet interchanged a word with you in private. What think you of all this?&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Sire, I am prepared for the worst, but hope the best.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;&lsquo;Tis wise. If Abner could only keep that Karasmian in check! I am about
+      to speak with Scherirah alone. I do suspect him much.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;I&rsquo;ll answer for his treason.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Hah! I do suspect him. Therefore I give him no command. I would not have
+      him too near his old companion, eh? We will garrison the city with his
+      rebels.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Sire, these are not moments to be nice. Scherirah is a valiant captain, a
+      very valiant captain, but lend me thy signet ring, I pray thee, Sire.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Alroy turned pale.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;No, Sir, it has left me once, and never shall again. You have touched
+      upon a string that makes me sad. There is a burden on my conscience, why,
+      or what, I know not. I am innocent, you know I am innocent, Honain!&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;I&rsquo;ll answer for your Highness. He who has enough of the milk of human
+      kindness to spare a thing like Scherirah, when he stands in his way, may
+      well be credited for the nobler mercy that spared his better.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Ah me! there&rsquo;s madness in the thought. Why is he not here? Had I but
+      followed; tush! tush! Go see the Queen, and tell her all that has
+      happened. I&rsquo;ll to Scherirah.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      The Caliph returned.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Thy pardon, brave Scherirah; in these moments my friends will pardon
+      lapse of courtesy.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Your Highness is too considerate.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;You see, Scherirah, how the wind blows, brave heart. There&rsquo;s much to do,
+      no doubt. I am in sad want of some right trusty friend, on whose devoted
+      bosom I can pillow all my necessities. I was thinking of sending you
+      against this Arslan, but perhaps &lsquo;tis better that I should go myself.
+      These are moments one should not seem to shrink, and yet we know not how
+      affairs may run; no, we know not. The capital, the surrounding province:
+      one disaster and these false Moslemin may rise against us. I should stay
+      here, but if I leave Scherirah, I leave myself. I feel that deeply; &lsquo;tis a
+      consolation. It may be that I must fall back upon the city. Be prepared,
+      Scherirah. Let me fall back upon supporting friends. You have a great
+      trust. Oh! use it wisely! Worthily I am sure you must do.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Your Highness may rest assured I have no other thought but for your weal
+      and glory. Doubt not my devotion, Sire. I am not one of those
+      mealy-mouthed youths, full of their own deeds and lip-worship, Sire, but I
+      have a life devoted to your service, and ready at all times to peril all
+      things.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;I know that, Scherirah, I know it; I feel it deeply. What think you of
+      these movements?&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;They are not ill combined, and yet I doubt not your Majesty will prove
+      your fortunes most triumphant.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Think you the soldiery are in good cue?&rsquo; &lsquo;I&rsquo;ll answer for my own. They
+      are rough fellows, like myself, a little too blunt, perhaps, your
+      Highness. We are not holiday guards, but we know our duty, and we will do
+      it.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;That&rsquo;s well, that&rsquo;s all I want. I shall review the troops before I go.
+      Let a donative be distributed among them; and, &lsquo;by-the-bye, I have always
+      forgotten it, your legion should be called the Legion of Syria. We owe our
+      fairest province to their arms.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;I shall convey to them your Highness&rsquo; wish. Were it possible, &lsquo;twould add
+      to their devotion.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;I do not wish it. They are my very children. Sup at the Serail to-night,
+      Scherirah. We shall be very private. Yet let us drink together ere we
+      part. We are old friends, you know. Hast not forgotten our ruined city?&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Alroy entered the apartment of Schirene. &lsquo;My soul! thou knowest all?&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      She sprang forward and threw her arms around his neck.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Fear not, my life, we&rsquo;ll not disgrace our Queen. &lsquo;Twill be quick work.
+      Two-thirds of them have been beaten before, and for the new champion, our
+      laurels must not fade, and his blood shall nourish fresh ones.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Dearest, dearest Alroy, go not thyself, I pray thee. May not Asriel
+      conquer?&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;I hope so, in my company. For a time we part, a short one. &lsquo;Tis our first
+      parting: may it be our last!&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Oh! no, no, no: oh! say not we must part.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;The troops are under arms; to-morrow&rsquo;s dawn will hear my trumpet.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;I will not quit thee, no! I will not quit thee. What business has
+      Schirene without Alroy? Hast thou not often told me I am thy inspiration?
+      In the hour of danger shall I be wanting? Never! I will not quit thee; no,
+      I will not quit thee.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Thou art ever present in my thoughts, my soul. In the battle I shall
+      think of her for whom alone I conquer.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Nay, nay, I&rsquo;ll go, indeed I must, Alroy. I&rsquo;ll be no hindrance, trust me,
+      sweet boy, I will not. I&rsquo;ll have no train, no, not a single maid. Credit
+      me, I know how a true soldier&rsquo;s wife should bear herself. I&rsquo;ll watch thee
+      sleeping, and I&rsquo;ll tend thee wounded, and when thou goest forth to combat
+      I&rsquo;ll gird thy sabre round thy martial side, and whisper triumph with
+      victorious kisses.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;My own Schirene, there&rsquo;s victory in thine eyes. We&rsquo;ll beat them, girl.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Abidan, doubly false Abidan! would he were doubly hanged! Ere she died,
+      the fatal prophetess foretold this time, and gloated on his future
+      treachery.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Think not of him.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;And the Karasmian; think you he is very strong?&rsquo; &lsquo;Enough, love, for our
+      glory. He is a potent warrior: I trust that Abner will not rob us of our
+      intended victory.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;So you triumph, I care not by whose sword. Dost go indeed to-morrow?&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;At break of dawn. I pray thee stay, my sweet!&rsquo; &lsquo;Never! I will not quit
+      thee. I am quite prepared. At break of dawn? &lsquo;Tis near on midnight now.
+      I&rsquo;ll lay me down upon this couch awhile, and travel in my litter. Art sure
+      Alp Arslan is himself in the field?&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Quite sure, my sweet.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Confusion on his crown! We&rsquo;ll conquer. Goes Asriel with us?&rsquo; &lsquo;Ay!&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;That&rsquo;s well; at break of dawn. I&rsquo;m somewhat drowsy. Methinks I&rsquo;ll sleep
+      awhile.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Do, my best heart; I&rsquo;ll to my cabinet, and at break of dawn I&rsquo;ll wake
+      thee with a kiss.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      The Caliph repaired to his cabinet, where his secretaries were occupied in
+      writing. As he paced the chamber, he dictated to them the necessary
+      instructions.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Who is the officer on guard?&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Benaiah, Sire.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;I remember him. He saved me a broken skull upon the Tigris. This is for
+      him. The Queen accompanies us. She is his charge. These papers for the
+      Vizir. Let the troops be under arms by daybreak. This order of the day for
+      the Lord Asriel. Send this instantly to Hamadan. Is the Tatar despatched
+      to Medad? &lsquo;Tis well. You have done your duty. Now to rest. Pharez?&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;My lord.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;I shall not sleep to-night. Give me my drink. Go rest, good boy. I have
+      no wants. Good night.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Good night, my gracious lord!&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Let me ponder! I am alone. I am calm, and yet my spirit is not quick. I
+      am not what I was. Four-and-twenty hours ago who would have dreamed of
+      this? All at stake again! Once more in the field, and struggling at once
+      for empire and existence! I do lack the mighty spirit of my former days. I
+      am not what I was. I have little faith. All about me seems changed, and
+      dull, and grown mechanical. Where are those flashing eyes and conquering
+      visages that clustered round me on the battle eve, round me, the Lord&rsquo;s
+      anointed? I see none such. They are changed, as I am. Why! this Abidan was
+      a host, and now he fights against me. She spoke of the prophetess; I
+      remember that woman was the stirring trumpet of our ranks, and now where
+      is she? The victim of my justice! And where is he, the mightier far, the
+      friend, the counsellor, the constant guide, the master of my boyhood; the
+      firm, the fond, the faithful guardian of all my bright career; whose days
+      and nights were one unbroken study to make me glorious? Alas! I feel more
+      like a doomed and desperate renegade than a young hero on the eve of
+      battle, flushed with the memory of unbroken triumphs!
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Hah! what awful form art thou that risest from the dusky earth before me?
+      Thou shouldst be one I dare not name, yet will: the likeness of Jabaster.
+      Away! why frownest thou upon me? I did not slay thee. Do I live, or dream,
+      or what? I see him, ay! I see thee. I fear thee not, I fear nothing. I am
+      Alroy.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Speak, oh speak! I do conjure thee, mighty spectre, speak. By all the
+      memory of the past, although &lsquo;tis madness, I do conjure thee, let me hear
+      again the accents of my boyhood.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;<i>Alroy, Alroy, Alroy</i>!&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;I listen, as to the last trump.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;<i>Meet me on the plain of Nehauend.</i>&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;&lsquo;Tis gone! As it spoke it vanished. It was Jabaster! God of my fathers,
+      it was Jabaster! Life is growing too wild. My courage is broken! I could
+      lie down and die. It was Jabaster! The voice sounds in my ear like distant
+      thunder: &ldquo;<i>Meet me on the plain of Nehauend</i>.&rdquo; I&rsquo;ll not fail thee,
+      noble ghost, although I meet my doom. Jabaster! Have I seen Jabaster!
+      Indeed! indeed! Methinks I&rsquo;m mad. Hah! What&rsquo;s that?&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      An awful clap of thunder broke over the palace, followed by a strange
+      clashing sound that seemed to come from one of the chambers. The walls of
+      the Serail rocked.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;An earthquake!&rsquo; exclaimed Alroy. &lsquo;Would that the earth would open and
+      swallow all! Hah! Pharez, has it roused thee, too? Pharez, we live in
+      strange times.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Your Highness is very pale.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;And so art thou, lad! Wouldst have me merry? Pale! we may well be pale,
+      didst thou know all. Hah! that awful sound again! I cannot bear it,
+      Pharez, I cannot bear it. I have borne many things, but this I cannot.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;My lord, &lsquo;tis in the Armoury.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Run, see. No, I&rsquo;ll not be alone. Where&rsquo;s Benaiah? Let him go. Stay with
+      me, Pharez, stay with me. I pray thee stay, my child.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Pharez led the Caliph to a couch, on which Alroy lay pale and trembling.
+      In a few minutes he inquired whether Benaiah had returned.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Even now he comes, Sire.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Well, how is it?&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Sire! a most awful incident. As the thunder broke over the palace, the
+      sacred standard fell from its resting-place, and has shivered into a
+      thousand pieces. Strange to say, the sceptre of Solomon can neither be
+      found nor traced.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Say nothing of the past, as ye love me, lads. Let none enter the Armoury.
+      Leave me, Benaiah, leave me, Pharez.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      They retired. Alroy watched their departure with a glance of inexpressible
+      anguish. The moment that they had disappeared, he flew to the couch, and
+      throwing himself upon his knees, and, covering his face with his hands,
+      burst into passionate tears, and exclaimed, &lsquo;O! my God, I have deserted
+      thee, and now thou hast deserted me!&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Sleep crept over the senses of the exhausted and desperate Caliph. He
+      threw himself upon the divan, and was soon buried in profound repose. He
+      might have slept an hour; he awoke suddenly. From the cabinet in which he
+      slept, you entered a vast hall, through a lofty and spacious arch,
+      generally covered with drapery, which was now withdrawn. To the
+      astonishment of Alroy, this presence-chamber appeared at this moment to
+      blaze with light. He rose from his couch, he advanced; he perceived, with
+      feelings of curiosity and fear, that the hall was filled with beings,
+      terrible indeed to behold, but to his sight more terrible than strange. In
+      the colossal and mysterious forms that lined the walls of the mighty
+      chamber, and each of which held in its extended arm a streaming torch, he
+      recognised the awful Afrites. At the end of the hall, upon a sumptuous
+      throne, surrounded by priests and courtiers, there was seated a monarch,
+      on whom Alroy had before gazed, Solomon the Great! Alroy beheld him in
+      state and semblance the same Solomon, whose sceptre the Prince of the
+      Captivity had seized in the royal tombs of Judah.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      The strange assembly seemed perfectly unconscious of the presence of the
+      child of Earth, who, with a desperate courage, leant against a column of
+      the arch, and watched, with wonder, their mute and motionless society.
+      Nothing was said, nothing done. No one moved, no one, even by gesture,
+      seemed sensible of the presence of any other apparition save himself.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Suddenly there advanced from the bottom of the hall, near unto Alroy, a
+      procession. Pages and dancing girls, with eyes of fire and voluptuous
+      gestures, warriors with mighty arms, and venerable forms with ample robes
+      and flowing beards. And, as they passed, even with all the activity of
+      their gestures, they made no sound; neither did the musicians, whereof
+      there was a great band playing upon harps and psalteries, and timbrels and
+      cornets, break, in the slightest degree, the almighty silence.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      This great crowd poured on in beautiful order, the procession never
+      terminating, yet passing thrice round the hall, bowing to him that was
+      upon the throne, and ranging themselves in ranks before the Afrites.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      And there came in twelve forms, bearing a great seal: the stone green, and
+      the engraven characters of living flame, and the characters were those on
+      the talisman of Jabaster, which Alroy still wore next to his heart. And
+      the twelve forms placed the great seal before Solomon, and humbled
+      themselves, and the King bowed. At the same moment Alroy was sensible of a
+      pang next to his heart. He instantly put his hand to the suffering spot,
+      and lo! the talisman crumbled into dust.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      The procession ceased; a single form advanced. Recent experience alone
+      prevented Alroy from sinking before the spectre of Jabaster. Such was the
+      single form. It advanced, bearing the sceptre. It advanced, it knelt
+      before the throne, it offered the sceptre to the crowned and solemn
+      vision. And the form of Solomon extended its arm, and took the sceptre,
+      and instantly the mighty assembly vanished!
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Alroy advanced immediately into the chamber, but all was dark and silent.
+      A trumpet sounded. He recognised the note of his own soldiery. He groped
+      his way to a curtain, and, pulling it aside, beheld the first streak of
+      dawn.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Once more upon his charger, once more surrounded by his legions, once more
+      his senses dazzled and inflamed by the waving banners and the inspiring
+      trumpets, once more conscious of the power still at his command, and the
+      mighty stake for which he was about to play, Alroy in a great degree
+      recovered his usual spirit and self-possession. His energy returned with
+      his excited pulse, and the vastness of the impending danger seemed only to
+      stimulate the fertility of his genius.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      He pushed on by forced marches towards Media, at the head of fifty
+      thousand men. At the end of the second day&rsquo;s march, fresh couriers arrived
+      from Abner, informing him that, unable to resist the valiant and almost
+      innumerable host of the King of Karasmé, he had entirely evacuated Persia,
+      and had concentrated his forces in Louristan. Alroy, in consequence of
+      this information, despatched orders to Scherirah, to join him with his
+      division instantly, and leave the capital to its fate.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      They passed again the mountains of Kerrund, and joined Abner and the army
+      of Media, thirty thousand strong, on the river Abzah. Here Alroy rested
+      one night, to refresh his men, and on the ensuing morn pushed on to the
+      Persian frontier, unexpectedly attacked the advanced posts of Alp Arslan,
+      and beat them back with great loss into the province. But the force of the
+      King of Karasmé was so considerable, that the Caliph did not venture on a
+      general engagement, and therefore he fell back, and formed in battle array
+      upon the neighbouring plain of Nehauend, the theatre of one of his
+      earliest and most brilliant victories, where he awaited the
+      hourly-expected arrival of Scherirah.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      The King of Karasmé, who was desirous of bringing affairs to an issue, and
+      felt confident in his superior force, instantly advanced. In two or three
+      days at farthest, it was evident that a battle must be fought that would
+      decide the fate of the East.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      On the morn ensuing their arrival at Nehauend, while the Caliph was out
+      hunting, attended only by a few officers, he was suddenly attacked by an
+      ambushed band of Karasmians. Alroy and his companions defended themselves
+      with such desperation that they at length succeeded in beating off their
+      assailants, although triple their number. The leader of the Karasmians, as
+      he retreated, hurled a dart at the Caliph, which must have been fatal, had
+      not a young officer of the guard interposed his own breast, and received
+      the deadly wound. The party, in confusion, returned with all speed to the
+      camp, Alroy himself bearing the expiring victim of desperate loyalty and
+      military enthusiasm.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      The bleeding officer was borne to the royal pavilion, and placed upon the
+      imperial couch. The most skilful leech was summoned; he examined the
+      wound, but shook his head. The dying warrior was himself sensible of his
+      desperate condition. His agony could only be alleviated by withdrawing the
+      javelin, which would occasion his immediate decease. He desired to be left
+      alone with his Sovereign.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Sire!&rsquo; said the officer, &lsquo;I must die; and I die without a pang. To die in
+      your service, I have ever considered the most glorious end. Destiny has
+      awarded it to me;, and if I have not met my fate upon the field of battle,
+      it is some consolation that my death has preserved the most valuable of
+      lives. Sire! I have a sister.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Waste not thy strength, dear friend, in naming her. Rest assured I shall
+      ever deem thy relatives my own.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;I doubt it not. Would I had a thousand lives for such a master! I have a
+      burden on my conscience, Sire, nor can I die in peace unless I speak of
+      it.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Speak, speak freely. If thou hast injured any one, and the power or
+      wealth of Alroy can redeem thy oppressed spirit, he will not spare, he
+      will not spare, be assured of that.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Noble, noble master, I must be brief; for, although, while this javelin
+      rests within my body, I yet may live, the agony is great. Sire, the deed
+      of which I speak doth concern thee.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Ay!&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;I was on guard the day Jabaster died.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Powers of heaven! I am all ear. Speak on, speak on!&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;He died self-strangled, so they say?&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;So they ever told me.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Thou art innocent, thou art innocent! I thank my God, my King is
+      innocent!&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Rest assured of that, as there is hope in Israel. Tell me all.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;The Queen came with the signet ring. To such authority I yielded way. She
+      entered, and after her, the Lord Honain. I heard high words! I heard
+      Jabaster&rsquo;s voice. He struggled, yes! he struggled; but his mighty form,
+      wounded and fettered, could not long resist. Foul play, foul play, Sire!
+      What could I do against such adversaries? They left the chamber with a
+      stealthy step. Her eyes met mine. I never could forget that fell and
+      glittering visage.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Thou ne&rsquo;er hast spoken of this awful end?&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;To none but thee. And why I speak it now I cannot tell, save that it
+      seems some inspiration urges me; and methinks they who did this may do
+      even feller works, if such there be.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Thou hast robbed me of all peace and hope of peace; and yet I thank thee.
+      Now I know the worth of life. I have never loved to think of that sad day;
+      and yet, though I have sometimes dreamed of villainous work, the worst
+      were innocence to thy dread tale.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Tis told; and now I pray thee secure thy secret, by drawing from my
+      agonised frame this javelin.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Trusty heart, &lsquo;tis a sad office.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;I die with joy if thou performest it.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;&lsquo;Tis done.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;God save Alroy.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      While Alroy, plunged in thought, stood over the body of the officer, there
+      arose a flourish of triumphant music, and a eunuch, entering the pavilion,
+      announced the arrival of Schirene from Kerrund. Almost immediately
+      afterwards, the Princess descending from her litter, entered the tent;
+      Alroy tore off his robe, and threw it over the corpse.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;My own,&rsquo; exclaimed the Princess, as she ran up to the Caliph. &lsquo;I have
+      heard all. Be not alarmed for me. I dare look upon a corpse. You know I am
+      a soldier&rsquo;s bride. I am used to blood.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Alas!&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Why so pale? Thou dost not kiss me! Has this unhinged thee so? &lsquo;Tis a sad
+      deed; and yet tomorrow&rsquo;s dawn may light up thousands to as grim a fate.
+      Why? thou tremblest! Alas! kind soul! The single death of this fond,
+      faithful heart hath quite upset my love. Yet art thou used to battle. Why!
+      this is foolishness. Art not glad to see me? What, not one smile! And I
+      have come to fight for thee! I will be kissed!&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      She flung herself upon his neck. Alroy faintly returned her embrace, and
+      bore her to a couch. He clapped his hands, and two soldiers entered and
+      bore away the corpse.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;The pavilion, Schirene, is now fitter for thy presence. Rest thyself; I
+      shall soon return.&rsquo; Thus speaking, he quitted her.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      He quitted her; but her humbled look of sorrowful mortification pierced to
+      his heart. He thought of all her love and all her loveliness, he called to
+      mind all the marvellous story of their united fortunes. He felt that for
+      her and her alone he cared to live, that without her quick sympathy, even
+      success seemed unendurable. His judgment fluctuated in an eddy of passion
+      and reason. Passion conquered. He dismissed from his intelligence all
+      cognizance of good and evil; he determined, under all circumstances, to
+      cling ever to her; he tore from his mind all memory of the late
+      disclosure. He returned to the pavilion with a countenance beaming with
+      affection; he found her weeping, he folded her in his arms, he kissed her
+      with a thousand kisses, and whispered between each kiss his ardent love.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Twas midnight. Schirene reposed in the arms of Alroy. The Caliph, who was
+      restless and anxious for the arrival of Scherirah, was scarcely slumbering
+      when the sound of a voice thoroughly aroused him. He looked around; he
+      beheld the spectre of Jabaster. His hair stood on end, his limbs seemed to
+      loosen, a cold dew crept over his frame, as he gazed upon the awful form
+      within a yard of his couch. Unconsciously he disembarrassed his arms of
+      their fair burden, and, rising on the couch, leant forward.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;<i>Alroy, Alroy, Alroy</i>!&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;I am here.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;<i>To-morrow Israel is avenged!</i>&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Who is that?&rsquo; exclaimed the Princess, wakening.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      In a frenzy of fear, Alroy, quite forgetting the spectre, turned and
+      pressed his hand over her eyes. When he again looked round the apparition
+      was invisible.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;What wouldst thou, Alroy?&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Nothing, sweet! A soldier&rsquo;s wife must bear strange sights, yet I would
+      save you some. One of my men, forgetful you were here, burst into my tent
+      in such a guise as scarce would suit a female eye. I must away, my child.
+      I&rsquo;ll call thy slaves. One kiss! Farewell! but for a time.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;&ldquo;To-morrow Israel will be avenged.&rdquo; What! in Karasmian blood? I have no
+      faith. No matter. All is now beyond my influence. A rushing destiny
+      carries me onward. I cannot stem the course, nor guide the vessel. How
+      now! Who is the officer on guard?&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Benomi, Sire, thy servant.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Send to the Viceroy. Bid him meet me here. Who is this?&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;A courier from the Lord Scherirah, Sire, but just arrived. He passed last
+      night the Kerrund mountains, Sire, and will be with you by the break of
+      day.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Good news. Go fetch Abner. Haste! He&rsquo;ll find me here anon. I&rsquo;ll visit the
+      camp awhile. Well, my brave fellows, you have hither come to conquer again
+      with Alroy. You have fought before, I warrant, on the plain of Nehauend.
+      &lsquo;Tis a rich soil, and shall be richer with Karasmian gore.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;God save your Majesty! Our lives are thine.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Please you, my little ruler,&rsquo; said a single soldier, addressing Alroy;
+      &lsquo;pardon my bluntness, but I knew you before you were a Caliph.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Stout heart, I like thy freedom. Pr&rsquo;ythee say on.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;I was a-saying, I hope you will lead us in the charge to-morrow. Some say
+      you will not.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;They say falsely.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;I thought so. I&rsquo;ll ever answer for my little ruler, but then the Queen?&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Is a true soldier&rsquo;s wife, and lives in the camp.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;That&rsquo;s brave! There, I told you so, comrades; you would not believe me,
+      but I knew our little ruler before you did. I lived near the gate at
+      Hamadan, please your Highness: old Shelomi&rsquo;s son.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Give me thy hand; a real friend. What is&rsquo;t ye eat here, boys? Let me
+      taste your mess. I&rsquo;faith I would my cook could dress me such a pilau! Tis
+      admirable!&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      The soldiers gathered round their chieftain with eyes beaming with
+      adoration. &lsquo;Twas a fine picture, the hero in the centre, the various
+      groups around, some conversing with him, some cooking, some making coffee,
+      all offering him by word or deed some testimonial of their devotion, and
+      blending with that devotion the most perfect frankness.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;We shall beat them, lads!&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;There is no fear with you, you always conquer.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;I do my best, and so do you. A good general without good troops is little
+      worth.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;I&rsquo;faith that&rsquo;s true. One must have good troops. What think you of Alp
+      Arslan?&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;I think he may give us as much trouble as all our other enemies together,
+      and that&rsquo;s not much.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Brave, brave! God save Alroy!&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Benomi approached, and announced that the Viceroy was in attendance.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;I must quit you, my children,&rsquo; said Alroy. &lsquo;We&rsquo;ll sup once more together
+      when we have conquered.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;God save you, Sire; and we will confound your enemies.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Good night, my lads. Ere the dawn break we may have hot work.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;We are ready, we are ready. God save Alroy.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;They are in good cue, and yet &lsquo;twas a different spirit that inspired our
+      early days. That I strongly feel. These are men true to a leader who has
+      never failed them, and confident in a cause that leads to plunder. They
+      are but splendid mercenaries.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      No more. Oh! where are now the fighting men of Judah! Where are the men
+      who, when they drew their scimitars, joined in a conquering psalm of holy
+      triumph! Last eve of battle you would have thought the field a mighty
+      synagogue. Priests and altars, flaming sacrifices, and smoking censers,
+      groups of fiery zealots hanging with frenzy on prophetic lips, and sealing
+      with their blood and holiest vows a solemn covenant to conquer Canaan. All
+      is changed, as I am. How now, Abner? You are well muffled!&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Is it true Scherirah is at hand?&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;I doubt not all is right. Would that the dawn would break!&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;The enemy is advancing. Some of their columns are in sight. My scouts
+      have dodged them. They intend doubtless to form upon the plain.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;They are in sight, eh! Then we will attack them at once ere they are
+      formed. Rare, rare! We&rsquo;ll beat them yet. Courage, dear brother. Scherirah
+      will be here at dawn in good time, very good time: very, very good time.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;I like the thought&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;The men are in good heart. At break of dawn, charge with thirty thousand
+      cavalry upon their forming ranks. I&rsquo;ll take the right, Asriel the left. It
+      shall be a family affair, dear Abner. How is Miriam?&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;I heard this morn, quite well. She sends you her love and prayers. The
+      Queen is here?&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;She came this eve. Quite well.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;She must excuse all courtesy.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Say nothing. She is a soldier&rsquo;s wife. She loves thee well, dear Abner.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;I know that. I hope my sword may guard her children&rsquo;s throne.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Well, give thy orders. Instant battle, eh?&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Indeed I think so.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;I&rsquo;ll send couriers to hurry Scherirah. All looks well. Reserve the
+      guard.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Ay, ay! Farewell, dear Sire. When we meet again, I trust your enemies may
+      be your slaves!&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      At the first streak of dawn the Hebrew cavalry, with the exception of the
+      Guard, charged the advancing columns of the Karasmians with irresistible
+      force, and cut them in pieces. Alp Arslan rallied his troops, and at
+      length succeeded in forming his main body in good order. Alroy and Asriel
+      led on their divisions, and the battle now became general. It raged for
+      several hours, and was on both sides well maintained. The slaughter of the
+      Karasmians was great, but their stern character and superior numbers
+      counterbalanced for a time all the impetuosity of the Hebrews and all the
+      energy of their leaders. This day Alroy threw into the shade all his
+      former exploits. Twelve times he charged at the head of the Sacred Guard,
+      and more than once penetrated to the very pavilion of Alp Arslan.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      In vain he endeavoured singly, and hand to hand, to meet that famous
+      chieftain. Both monarchs fought in the ranks, and yet Fate decided that
+      their scimitars should never cross. Four hours before noon, it was evident
+      to Alroy, that, unless Scherirah arrived, he could not prevail against the
+      vast superiority of numbers. He was obliged early to call his reserve into
+      the field, and although the number of the slain on the side of Arslan
+      exceeded any in the former victories of the Hebrews, still the Karasmians
+      maintained an immense front, which was constantly supplied by fresh
+      troops. Confident in his numbers, and aware of the weakness of his
+      antagonists, Arslan contented himself with acting on the defensive, and
+      wearying his assailants by resisting their terrible and repeated charge.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      For a moment, Alroy at the head of the Sacred Guard had withdrawn from the
+      combat. Abner and Asriel still maintained the fight, and the Caliph was at
+      the same time preparing for new efforts, and watching with anxiety for the
+      arrival of Scherirah. In the fifth hour, from an eminence he marked with
+      exultation the advancing banners of his expected succours. Confident now
+      that the day was won, he announced the exhilarating intelligence to his
+      soldiers; and, while they were excited by the animating tidings, led them
+      once more to the charge. It was irresistible; Scherirah seemed to have
+      arrived only for the pursuit, only in time to complete the victory. What
+      then was the horror, the consternation of Alroy, when Benaiah, dashing up
+      to him, informed him that the long-expected succours consisted of the
+      united forces of Scherirah and Abidan, and had attacked him in the rear.
+      Human genius could afford no resource. The exhausted Hebrews, whose
+      energies had been tasked to the utmost, were surrounded. The Karasmians
+      made a general and simultaneous advance. In a few minutes the Hebrew army
+      was thrown into confusion. The stoutest warriors threw away their swords
+      in despair. Every one thought only of self-preservation. Even Abner fled
+      towards Hamadan. Asriel was slain. Alroy, finding it was all over, rushed
+      to his pavilion at the head of about three hundred of the guards, seized
+      the fainting Schirene, threw her before him on his saddle, and cutting his
+      way through all obstacles, dashed into the desert.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      For eight-and-forty hours they never stopped. Their band was soon reduced
+      one-third. On the morning of the third day they dismounted and refreshed
+      themselves at a well. Half only regained their saddles. Schirene never
+      spoke. On they rushed again, each hour losing some exhausted co-mate. At
+      length, on the fifth day, about eighty strong, they arrived at a grove of
+      palm-trees. Here they dismounted. And Alroy took Schirene in his arms, and
+      the shade seemed to revive her. She opened her eyes, and pressed his hand
+      and smiled. He gathered her some dates, and she drank some water.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Our toils will soon be over, sweetest,&rsquo; he whispered to her; &lsquo;I have lost
+      everything but thee.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Again they mounted, and, proceeding at a less rapid pace, they arrived
+      towards evening at the ruined city, whither Alroy all this time had been
+      directing his course. Dashing down the great street, they at length
+      entered the old amphitheatre. They dismounted. Alroy made a couch with
+      their united cloaks for Schirene. Some collected fuel, great store of
+      which was found, and kindled large fires. Others, while it was yet light,
+      chased the gazelles, and were sufficiently fortunate to provide their
+      banquet, or fetched water from the well known to their leader. In an
+      hour&rsquo;s time, clustering round their fires in groups, and sharing their
+      rude fare, you might have deemed them, instead of the discomfited and
+      luxurious guards of a mighty monarch, the accustomed tenants of this wild
+      abode.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Come, my lads,&rsquo; said Alroy, as he rubbed his hands over the ascending
+      flame, &lsquo;at any rate, this is better than the desert.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      After all his exertions, Alroy fell into profound and dreamless sleep.
+      When he awoke, the sun had been long up. Schirene was still slumbering. He
+      embraced her, and she opened her eyes and smiled.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;You are now a bandit&rsquo;s bride,&rsquo; he said. &lsquo;How like you our new life?&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Well! with thee.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Rest here, my sweetest: I must rouse our men, and see how fortune
+      speeds.&rsquo; So saying, and tripping lightly over many a sleeping form, he
+      touched Benaiah.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;So! my brave captain of the guard, still napping! Come! stir, stir.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Benaiah jumped up with a cheerful face. &lsquo;I am ever ready, Sire.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;I know it; but remember I am no more a king, only a co-mate. Away with
+      me, and let us form some order.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      The companions quitted the amphitheatre and reconnoitred the adjoining
+      buildings. They found many stores, the remains of old days, mats, tents,
+      and fuel, drinking-bowls, and other homely furniture. They fixed upon a
+      building for their stable, and others for the accommodation of their band.
+      They summoned their companions to the open place, the scene of Hassan
+      Subah&rsquo;s fate, where Alroy addressed them and explained to them his plans.
+      They were divided into companies; each man had his allotted duty. Some
+      were placed on guard at different parts; some were sent out to the chase,
+      or to collect dates from the Oasis; others led the horses to the
+      contiguous pasture, or remained to attend to their domestic arrangements.
+      The amphitheatre was cleared out. A rude but convenient pavilion was
+      formed for Schirene. They covered its ground with mats, and each emulated
+      the other in his endeavours to study her accommodation. Her kind words and
+      inspiring smiles animated at the same time their zeal and their invention.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      They soon became accustomed to their rough but adventurous life. Its
+      novelty pleased them, and the perpetual excitement of urgent necessity
+      left them no time to mourn over their terrible vicissitudes. While Alroy
+      lived, hope indeed never deserted their sanguine bosoms. And such was the
+      influence of his genius, that the most desponding felt that to be
+      discomfited with him, was preferable to conquest with another. They were a
+      faithful and devoted band, and merry faces were not wanting when at night
+      they assembled in the amphitheatre for their common meal.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      No sooner had Alroy completed his arrangements than he sent forth spies in
+      all directions to procure intelligence, and especially to communicate, if
+      possible, with Ithamar and Medad, provided that they still survived and
+      maintained themselves in any force.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      A fortnight passed away without the approach of any stranger; at the end
+      of which, there arrived four personages at their haunt, not very welcome
+      to their chief, who, however, concealed his chagrin at their appearance.
+      These were Kisloch the Kourd, and Calidas the Indian, and their
+      inseparable companions, the Guebre and the Negro.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Noble Captain,&rsquo; said Kisloch, &lsquo;we trust that you will permit us to enlist
+      in the band. This is not the first time we have served under your orders
+      in this spot. Old co-mates, i&rsquo;faith, who have seen the best and the worst.
+      We suspected where you might be found, although, thanks to the ever
+      felicitous invention of man, it is generally received that you died in
+      battle. I hope your Majesty is well,&rsquo; added Kisloch, bowing to Schirene.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;You are welcome, friends,&rsquo; replied Alroy; &lsquo;I know your worth. You have
+      seen, as you say, the best and the worst, and will, I trust, see better.
+      Died in battle, eh! that&rsquo;s good.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;&lsquo;Tis so received,&rsquo; said Calidas.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;And what news of our friends?&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Not over good, but strange.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;How so?&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Hamadan is taken.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;I am prepared; tell me all.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Old Bostenay and the Lady Miriam are borne prisoners to Bagdad.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Prisoners?&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;But so; all will be well with them, I trow. The Lord Honain is in high
+      favour with the conqueror, and will doubtless protect them.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Honain in favour?&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Even so. He made terms for the city, and right good ones.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Hah! he was ever dexterous. Well! if he save my sister, I care not for
+      his favour.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;There is no doubt. All may yet be well, Sir.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Let us act, not hope. Where&rsquo;s Abner?&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Dead.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;How?&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;In battle.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Art sure?&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;I saw him fall, and fought beside him.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;A soldier&rsquo;s death is all our fortune now. I am glad he was not captured.
+      Where&rsquo;s Medad, Ithamar?&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Fled into Egypt.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;We have no force whatever, then?&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;None but your guards here.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;They are strong enough to plunder a caravan. Honain, you say, in favour?&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Very high. He&rsquo;ll make good terms for us.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;This is strange news.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Very, but true.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Well! you are welcome! Share our fare; &lsquo;tis rough, and somewhat scanty;
+      but we have feasted, and may feast again. Fled into Egypt, eh?&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Ay! Sir.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Schirene, shouldst like to see the Nile?&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;I have heard of crocodiles.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      If the presence of Kisloch and his companions were not very pleasing to
+      Alroy, with the rest of the band they soon became great favourites. Their
+      local knowledge, and their experience of desert life, made them valuable
+      allies, and their boisterous jocularity and unceasing merriment were not
+      unwelcome in the present monotonous existence of the fugitives. As for
+      Alroy himself, he meditated an escape to Egypt. He determined to seize the
+      first opportunity of procuring some camels, and then, dispersing his band,
+      with the exception of Benaiah and a few faithful retainers, he trusted
+      that, disguised as merchants, they might succeed in crossing Syria, and
+      entering Africa by Palestine. With these plans and prospects, he became
+      each day more cheerful and more sanguine as to the future. He had in his
+      possession some valuable jewels, which he calculated upon disposing of at
+      Cairo for a sum sufficient for all his purposes; and having exhausted all
+      the passions of life while yet a youth, he looked forward to the tranquil
+      termination of his existence in some poetic solitude with his beautiful
+      companion.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      One evening, as they returned from the Oasis, Alroy guiding the camel that
+      bore Schirene, and ever and anon looking up in her inspiring face, her
+      sanguine spirit would have indulged in a delightful future.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Thus shall we pass the desert, sweet,&rsquo; said Schirene. &lsquo;Can this be toil?&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;There is no toil with love,&rsquo; replied Alroy.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;And we were made for love, and not for empire,&rsquo; rejoined Schirene.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;The past is a dream,&rsquo; said Alroy. &lsquo;So sages teach us; but, until we act,
+      their wisdom is but wind. I feel it now. Have we ever lived in aught but
+      deserts, and fed on aught but dates? Methinks &lsquo;tis very natural. But that
+      I am tempted by the security of distant lands, I could remain here a free
+      and happy outlaw. Time, custom, and necessity form our natures. When I
+      first met Scherirah in these ruins, I shrank with horror from degraded
+      man; and now I sigh to be his heir. We must not think!&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;No, love, we&rsquo;ll only hope,&rsquo; replied Schirene; and they passed through the
+      gates.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      The night was beautiful, the air was still warm and sweet. Schirene gazed
+      upon the luminous heavens. &lsquo;We thought not of these skies when we were at
+      Bagdad,&rsquo; she exclaimed; &lsquo;and yet, my life, what was the brightness of our
+      palaces compared to these? All is left to us that man should covet,
+      freedom, beauty, and youth. I do believe, ere long, Alroy, we shall look
+      back upon the wondrous past as on another and a lower world. Would that
+      this were Egypt! Tis my only wish.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;And it shall soon be gratified. All will soon be arranged. A few brief
+      days, and then Schirene will mount her camel for a longer ride than just
+      to gather dates. You&rsquo;ll make a sorry traveller, I fear!&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Not I; I&rsquo;ll tire you all.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      They reached the circus, and seated themselves round the blazing fire.
+      Seldom had Alroy, since his fall, appeared more cheerful. Schirene sang an
+      Arab air to the band, who joined in joyous chorus. It was late ere they
+      sought repose; and they retired to their rest, sanguine and contented.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      A few hours afterwards, at the break of dawn, Alroy was roused from his
+      slumbers by a rude pressure on his breast. He started; a ferocious soldier
+      was kneeling over him; he would have spurned him; he found his hand
+      manacled. He would have risen; his feet were bound. He looked round for
+      Schirene, and called her name; he was answered only by a shriek. The
+      amphitheatre was filled with Karasmian troops. His own men were surprised
+      and overpowered. Kisloch and the Guebre had been on guard. He was raised
+      from the ground, and flung upon a camel, which was instantly trotted out
+      of the circus. On every side he beheld a wild scene of disorder and
+      dismay. He was speechless from passion and despair. The camel was dragged
+      into the desert. A body of cavalry instantly surrounded it, and they set
+      off at a rapid pace. The whole seemed the work of an instant.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      How many days had passed Alroy knew not. He had taken no account of time.
+      Night and day were to him the same. He was in a stupor. But the sweetness
+      of the air and the greenness of the earth at length partially roused his
+      attention. He was just conscious that they had quitted the desert. Before
+      him was a noble river; he beheld the Euphrates from the very spot he had
+      first viewed it in his pilgrimage. The strong association of ideas called
+      back his memory. A tear stole down his cheek; the bitter drop stole to his
+      parched lips; he asked the nearest horseman for water. The guard gave him
+      a wetted sponge, with which he contrived with difficulty to wipe his lips,
+      and then he let it fall to the ground. The Karasmian struck him.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      They arrived at the river. The prisoner was taken from the camel and
+      placed in a covered boat. After some hours they stopped and disembarked at
+      a small village. Alroy was placed upon an ass with his back to its head.
+      His clothes were soiled and tattered. The children pelted him with mud. An
+      old woman, with a fanatic curse, placed a crown of paper on his brow. With
+      difficulty his brutal guards prevented their victim from being torn to
+      pieces. And in such fashion, towards noon of the fourteenth day, David
+      Alroy again entered Bagdad.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      The intelligence of the capture of Alroy spread through the agitated city.
+      The Moolahs bustled about as if they had received a fresh demonstration of
+      the authenticity of the prophetic mission. All the Dervishes began
+      begging. The men discussed affairs in the coffee-houses, and the women
+      chatted at the fountains.<a href="#linknote-79" name="linknoteref-79"
+       id="linknoteref-79">79</a>
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;They may say what they like, but I wish him well,&rsquo; said a fair Arab, as
+      she arranged her veil. &lsquo;He may be an impostor, but he was a very handsome
+      one.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;All the women are for him, that&rsquo;s the truth,&rsquo; responded a companion; &lsquo;but
+      then we can do him no good.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;We can tear their eyes out,&rsquo; said a third.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;And what do you think of Alp Arslan, truly?&rsquo; inquired a fourth.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;I wish he were a pitcher, and then I could break his neck,&rsquo; said a fifth.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Only think of the Princess!&rsquo; said a sixth.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Well! she has had a glorious time of it,&rsquo; said a seventh.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Nothing was too good for her,&rsquo; said an eighth.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;I like true love,&rsquo; said a ninth.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Well! I hope he will be too much for them all yet,&rsquo; said a tenth.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;I should not wonder,&rsquo; said an eleventh.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;He can&rsquo;t,&rsquo; said a twelfth, &lsquo;he has lost his sceptre.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;You don&rsquo;t say so?&rsquo; said a thirteenth.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;It is too true,&rsquo; said a fourteenth.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Do you think he was a wizard?&rsquo; said a fifteenth. &lsquo;I vow, if there be not
+      a fellow looking at us behind those trees.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Impudent scoundrel!&rsquo; said a sixteenth. &lsquo;I wish it were Alroy. Let us all
+      scream, and put down our veils.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      And the group ran away.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Two stout soldiers were playing chess<a href="#linknote-80"
+       name="linknoteref-80" id="linknoteref-80">80</a> in a coffee-house.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;May I slay my mother,&rsquo; said one, &lsquo;but I cannot make a move. I fought
+      under him at Nehauend; and though I took the amnesty, I have half a mind
+      now to seize my sword and stab the first Turk that enters.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;&lsquo;Twere but sheer justice,&rsquo; said his companion. &lsquo;By my father&rsquo;s blessing,
+      he was the man for a charge. They may say what they like, but compared
+      with him, Alp Arslan is a white-livered Giaour.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Here is confusion to him and to thy last move. There&rsquo;s the dirhem, I can
+      play no more. May I slay my mother, though, but I did not think he would
+      let himself be taken.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;By the blessing of my father, nor I; but then he was asleep.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;That makes a difference. He was betrayed.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;All brave men are. They say Kisloch and his set pocket their fifty
+      thousand by the job.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;May each dirhem prove a plague-spot!&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Amen! Dost remember Abner?&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;May I slay my mother if I ever forget him. He spoke to his men like so
+      many lambs. What has become of the Lady Miriam?&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;She is here.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;That will cut Alroy.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;He was ever fond of her. Dost remember she gained Adoram&rsquo;s life?&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Oh! she could do anything next to the Queen.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Before her, I say, before her. He has refused the Queen, he never refused
+      the Lady Miriam.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Because she asked less.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Dost know it seemed to me that things never went on so well after
+      Jabaster&rsquo;s death?&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;So say I. There was a something, eh?&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;A sort of a peculiar, as it were, kind of something, eh?&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;You have well described it. Every man felt the same. I have often
+      mentioned it to my comrades. Say what you like, said I, but slay my mother
+      if ever since the old man strangled himself, things did not seem, as it
+      were, in their natural propinquity. &lsquo;Twas the phrase I used.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;A choice one. Unless there is a natural propinquity, the best-arranged
+      matters will fall out. However, the ass sees farther than his rider, and
+      so it was with Alroy, the best commander I ever served under, all the
+      same.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Let us go forth and see how affairs run.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Ay, do. If we hear any one abuse Alroy, we&rsquo;ll cleave his skull.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;That will we. There are a good many of our stout fellows about; we might
+      do something yet.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Who knows?&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      A subterranean dungeon of the citadel of Bagdad held in its gloomy limits
+      the late lord of Asia. The captive did not sigh, or weep, or wail. He did
+      not speak. He did not even think. For several days he remained in a state
+      of stupor. On the morning of the fourth day, he almost unconsciously
+      partook of the wretched provision which his gaolers brought him. Their
+      torches, round which the bats whirled and flapped their wings, and
+      twinkled their small eyes, threw a ghastly glare over the nearer walls of
+      the dungeon, the extremity of which defied the vision of the prisoner;
+      and, when the gaolers retired, Alroy was in complete darkness.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      The image of the past came back to him. He tried in vain to penetrate the
+      surrounding gloom. His hands were manacled, his legs also were loaded with
+      chains. The notion that his life might perhaps have been cruelly spared in
+      order that he might linger on in this horrible state of conscious
+      annihilation filled him with frenzy. He would have dashed his fetters
+      against his brow, but the chain restrained him. He flung himself upon the
+      damp and rugged ground. His fall disturbed a thousand obscene things. He
+      heard the quick glide of a serpent, the creeping retreat of the clustering
+      scorpions, and the swift escape of the dashing rats. His mighty calamities
+      seemed slight when compared with these petty miseries. His great soul
+      could not support him under these noisome and degrading incidents. He
+      sprang, in disgust, upon his feet, and stood fearful of moving, lest every
+      step should introduce him to some new abomination. At length, exhausted
+      nature was unable any longer to sustain him. He groped his way to the rude
+      seat, cut in the rocky wall, which was his only accommodation. He put
+      forth his hand. It touched the slimy fur of some wild animal, that
+      instantly sprang away, its fiery eyes sparkling in the dark. Alroy
+      recoiled with a sensation of woe-begone dismay. His shaken nerves could
+      not sustain him under this base danger, and these foul and novel trials.
+      He could not refrain from an exclamation of despair; and, when he
+      remembered that he was now far beyond the reach of all human solace and
+      sympathy, even all human aid, for a moment his mind seemed to desert him;
+      and he wrung his hands in forlorn and almost idiotic woe. An awful thing
+      it is, the failure of the energies of a master-mind. He who places
+      implicit confidence in his genius will find himself some day utterly
+      defeated and deserted. &lsquo;Tis bitter! Every paltry hind seems but to breathe
+      to mock you. Slow, indeed, is such a mind to credit that the never-failing
+      resource can at least be wanting. But so it is. Like a dried-up fountain,
+      the perennial flow and bright fertility have ceased, and ceased for ever.
+      Then comes the madness of retrospection.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Draw a curtain! draw a curtain! and fling it over this agonising anatomy.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      The days of childhood, his sweet sister&rsquo;s voice and smiling love, their
+      innocent pastimes, and the kind solicitude of faithful servants, all the
+      soft detail of mild domestic life: these were the sights and memories that
+      flitted in wild play before the burning vision of Alroy, and rose upon his
+      tortured mind. Empire and glory, his sacred nation, his imperial bride;
+      these, these were nothing. Their worth had vanished with the creative soul
+      that called them into action. The pure sympathies of nature alone
+      remained, and all his thought and grief, all his intelligence, all his
+      emotion, were centred in his sister.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      It was the seventh morning. A guard entered at an unaccustomed hour, and,
+      sticking a torch into a niche in the wall, announced that a person was
+      without who had permission to speak to the prisoner. They were the first
+      human accents that had met the ear of Alroy during his captivity, which
+      seemed to him an age, a long dark period, that cancelled all things. He
+      shuddered at the harsh tones. He tried to answer, but his unaccustomed
+      lips refused their office. He raised his heavy arms, and endeavoured to
+      signify his consciousness of what had been uttered. Yet, indeed, he had
+      not listened to the message without emotion. He looked forward to the
+      grate with strange curiosity; and, as he looked, he trembled. The visitor
+      entered, muffled in a dark caftan. The guard disappeared; and the caftan
+      falling to the ground, revealed Honain.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;My beloved Alroy,&rsquo; said the brother of Jabaster; and he advanced, and
+      pressed him to his bosom. Had it been Miriam, Alroy might have at once
+      expired; but the presence of this worldly man called back his worldliness.
+      The revulsion of his feelings was wonderful. Pride, perhaps even hope,
+      came to his aid; all the associations seemed to counsel exertion; for a
+      moment he seemed the same Alroy.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;I rejoice to find at least thee safe, Honain.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;I also, if my security may lead to thine.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Still whispering hope!&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Despair is the conclusion of fools.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;O Honain! &lsquo;tis a great trial. I can play my part, and yet methinks &lsquo;twere
+      better we had not again met. How is Schirene?&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Thinking of thee.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Tis something that she can think. My mind has gone. Where&rsquo;s Miriam?&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Free.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;That&rsquo;s something. Thou hast done that. Good, good Honain, be kind to that
+      sweet child, if only for my sake. Thou art all she has left.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;She hath thee.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Her desolation.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Live and be her refuge.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;How&rsquo;s that? These walls! Escape? No, no; it is impossible.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;I do not deem it so.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Indeed! I&rsquo;ll do anything. Speak! Can we bribe? can we cleave their
+      skulls? can we&mdash;&mdash;&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Calm thyself, my friend. There is no need of bribes, no need of
+      bloodshed. We must make terms.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Terms! We might have made them on the plain of Nehauend. Terms! Terms
+      with a captive victim?&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Why victim?&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Is Arslan then so generous?&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;He is a beast, more savage than the boar that grinds its tusks within his
+      country&rsquo;s forests.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Why speakest thou then of hope?&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;I spoke of certainty. I did not mention hope.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Dear Honain, my brain is weak; but I can bear strange things, or else I
+      should not be here. I feel thy thoughtful friendship; but indeed there
+      need no winding words to tell my fate. Pr&rsquo;ythee speak out.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;In a word, thy life is safe.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;What! spared?&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;If it please thee.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Please me? Life is sweet. I feel its sweetness. I want but little.
+      Freedom and solitude are all I ask. My life spared! I&rsquo;ll not believe it.
+      Thou hast done this deed, thou mighty man, that masterest all souls. Thou
+      hast not forgotten me; thou hast not forgotten the days gone by, thou hast
+      not forgotten thine own Alroy! Who calls thee worldly is a slanderer. O
+      Honain! thou art too faithful!&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;I have no thought but for thy service, Prince.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Call me not Prince, call me thine own Alroy. My life spared! &lsquo;Tis
+      wonderful! When may I go? Let no one see me. Manage that, Honain. Thou
+      canst manage all things. I am for Egypt. Thou hast been to Egypt, hast
+      thou not, Honain?&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;A very wondrous land, &lsquo;twill please thee much.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;When may I go? Tell me when I may go. When may I quit this dark and
+      noisome cell? &lsquo;Tis worse than all their tortures, dear Honain. Air and
+      light, and I really think my spirit never would break, but this horrible
+      dungeon&mdash;&mdash; I scarce can look upon thy face, sweet friend. &lsquo;Tis
+      serious.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Wouldst thou have me gay?&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Yes! if we are free.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Alroy! thou art a great spirit, the greatest that I e&rsquo;er knew, have ever
+      read of. I never knew thy like, and never shall.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Tush, tush, sweet friend, I am a broken reed, but still I am free. This
+      is no time for courtly phrases. Let&rsquo;s go, and go at once.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;A moment, dear Alroy. I am no flatterer. What I said came from my heart,
+      and doth concern us much and instantly. I was saying thou hast no common
+      mind, Alroy; indeed thou hast a mind unlike all others. Listen, my Prince.
+      Thou hast read mankind deeply and truly. Few have seen more than thyself,
+      and none have so rare a spring of that intuitive knowledge of thy race,
+      which is a gem to which experience is but a jeweller, and without which no
+      action can befriend us.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Well, well!&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;A moment&rsquo;s calmness. Thou hast entered Bagdad in triumph, and thou hast
+      entered the same city with every contumely which the base spirit of our
+      race could cast upon its victim. &lsquo;Twas a great lesson.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;I feel it so.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;And teaches us how vile and valueless is the opinion of our fellow-men.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Alas! &lsquo;tis true.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;I am glad to see thee in this wholesome temper. &lsquo;Tis full of wisdom.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;The miserable are often wise.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;But to believe is nothing unless we act. Speculation should only sharpen
+      practice. The time hath come to prove thy lusty faith in this philosophy.
+      I told thee we could make terms. I have made them. To-morrow it was doomed
+      Alroy should die&mdash;and what a death! A death of infinite torture! Hast
+      ever seen a man impaled?&rsquo;<a href="#linknote-81" name="linknoteref-81"
+       id="linknoteref-81">81</a>
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Hah!&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;To view it is alone a doom.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;God of Heaven!&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;It is so horrible, that &lsquo;tis ever marked, that when this direful ceremony
+      occurs, the average deaths in cities greatly increase. &lsquo;Tis from the
+      turning of the blood in the spectators, who yet from some ungovernable
+      madness cannot refrain from hurrying to the scene. I speak with some
+      authority. I speak as a physician.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Speak no more, I cannot endure it.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;To-morrow this doom awaited thee. As for Schirene&mdash;&mdash;&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Not for her, oh! surely not for her?&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;No, they were merciful. She is a Caliph&rsquo;s daughter. &lsquo;Tis not forgotten.
+      The axe would close her life. Her fair neck would give slight trouble to
+      the headsman&rsquo;s art. But for thy sister, but for Miriam, she is a witch, a
+      Jewish witch! They would have burnt her alive!&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;I&rsquo;ll not believe it, no, no, I&rsquo;ll not believe it: damnable, bloody
+      demons! When I had power I spared all, all but&mdash;&mdash;ah, me! ah,
+      me! why did I live?&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Thou dost forget thyself; I speak of that which was to have been, not of
+      that which is to be. I have stepped in and communed with the conqueror. I
+      have made terms.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;What are they, what can they be?&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Easy. To a philosopher like Alroy an idle ceremony.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Be brief, be brief.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Thou seest thy career is a great scandal to the Moslemin. I mark their
+      weakness, and I have worked upon it. Thy mere defeat or death will not
+      blot out the stain upon their standard and their faith. The public mind is
+      wild with fantasies since Alroy rose. Men&rsquo;s opinions flit to and fro with
+      that fearful change that bodes no stable settlement of states. None know
+      what to cling to, or where to place their trust. Creeds are doubted,
+      authority disputed. They would gladly account for thy success by other
+      than human means, yet must deny thy mission. There also is the fame of a
+      fair and mighty Princess, a daughter of their Caliphs, which they would
+      gladly clear. I mark all this, observe and work upon it. So, could we
+      devise some means by which thy lingering followers could be for ever
+      silenced, this great scandal fairly erased, and the public frame brought
+      to a sounder and more tranquil pulse, why, they would concede much, much,
+      very much.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Thy meaning, not thy means, are evident.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;They are in thy power.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;In mine? &lsquo;Tis a deep riddle. Pr&rsquo;ythee solve it.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Thou wilt be summoned at to-morrow&rsquo;s noon before this Arslan. There in
+      the presence of the assembled people who are now with him as much as they
+      were with thee, thou wilt be accused of magic, and of intercourse with the
+      infernal powers. Plead guilty.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Well! is there more?&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Some trifle. They will then examine thee about the Princess. It is not
+      difficult to confess that Alroy won the Caliph&rsquo;s daughter by an
+      irresistible spell, and now &lsquo;tis broken.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;So, so. Is that all?&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;The chief. Thou canst then address some phrases to the Hebrew prisoners,
+      denying thy Divine mission, and so forth, to settle the public mind,
+      observe, upon this point for ever.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Ay, ay, and then&mdash;&mdash;?&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;No more, except for form. (Upon the completion of the conditions, mind,
+      you will be conveyed to what land you please, with such amount of treasure
+      as you choose.) There is no more, except, I say, for form, I would, if I
+      were you (&lsquo;twill be expected), I would just publicly affect to renounce
+      our faith, and bow before their Prophet.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Hah! Art thou there? Is this thy freedom? Get thee behind me, tempter!
+      Never, never, never! Not a jot, not a jot: I&rsquo;ll not yield a jot. Were my
+      doom one everlasting torture, I&rsquo;d spurn thy terms! Is this thy high
+      contempt of our poor kind, to outrage my God! to prove myself the vilest
+      of the vile, and baser than the basest? Rare philosophy! O Honain! would
+      we had never met!&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Or never parted. True. Had my word been taken, Alroy would ne&rsquo;er have
+      been betrayed.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;No more; I pray thee, sir, no more. Leave me.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Were this a palace, I would. Harsh words are softened by a friendly ear,
+      when spoken in affliction.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Say what they will, I am the Lord&rsquo;s anointed. As such I should have
+      lived, as such at least I&rsquo;ll die.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;And Miriam?&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;The Lord will not desert her: she ne&rsquo;er deserted Him.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Schirene?&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Schirene! why! for her sake alone I will die a hero. Shall it be said she
+      loved a craven slave, a base impostor, a vile renegade, a villainous
+      dealer in drugs and charms? Oh! no, no, no! if only for her sake, her
+      sweet, sweet sake, my end shall be like my great life. As the sun I rose,
+      like him I set. Still the world is warm with my bright fame, and my last
+      hour shall not disgrace my noon, stormy indeed, but glorious!&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Honain took the torch from the niche, and advanced to the grate. It was
+      not fastened: he drew it gently open, and led forward a veiled and female
+      figure. The veiled and female figure threw herself at the feet of Alroy,
+      who seemed lost to what was passing. A soft lip pressed his hand. He
+      started, his chains clanked.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Alroy!&rsquo; softly murmured the kneeling female.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;What voice is that?&rsquo; wildly exclaimed the Prince of the Captivity. &lsquo;It
+      falls upon my ear like long-forgotten music. I&rsquo;ll not believe it. No! I&rsquo;ll
+      not believe it. Art thou Schirene?&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;I am that wretched thing they called thy bride.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Oh! this indeed is torture! What impalement can equal this sharp moment?
+      Look not on me, let not our eyes meet! They have met before, like to the
+      confluence of two shining rivers blending in one great stream of rushing
+      light. Bear off that torch, sir. Let impenetrable darkness cover our
+      darker fortunes.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Alroy.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;She speaks again. Is she mad, as I am, that thus she plays with agony?&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Sire,&rsquo; said Honain advancing, and laying his hand gently on the arm of
+      the captive, &lsquo;I pray thee moderate this passion. Thou hast some faithful
+      friends here, who would fain commune in calmness for thy lasting welfare.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Welfare! He mocks me.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;I beseech, thee, Sire, be calm. If, indeed, I speak unto that great Alroy
+      whom all men fear and still may fear, I pray remember, &lsquo;tis not in palaces
+      or in the battle-field alone that the heroic soul can conquer and command.
+      Scenes like these are the great proof of a superior soul. While we live,
+      our body is a temple where our genius pours forth its godlike inspiration,
+      and while the altar is not overthrown, the deity may still work marvels.
+      Then rouse thyself, great Sire; bethink thee that, a Caliph or a captive,
+      there is no man within this breathing world like to Alroy. Shall such a
+      being fall without a struggle, like some poor felon, who has naught to
+      trust to but the dull shuffling accident of Chance? I, too, am a prophet,
+      and I feel thou still wilt conquer.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Give me my sceptre, then, give me the sceptre! I speak to the wrong
+      brother! It was not thou, it was not thou that gavest it me.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Gain it once more. The Lord deserted David for a time; still he pardoned
+      him, and still he died a king.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;A woman worked his fall.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;But thee a woman raises. This great Princess, has she not suffered too?
+      Yet her spirit is still unbroken. List to her counsel: it is deep and
+      fond.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;So was our love.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;And is, my Alroy!&rsquo; exclaimed the Princess. &lsquo;Be calm, I pray thee! For my
+      sake be calm; I am calm for thine. Thou hast listened to all Honain has
+      told thee, that wise man, my Alroy, who never erred.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Tis but a word he counsels, an empty word, a most unmeaning form. But
+      speak it, and thou art free, and Alroy and Schirene may blend again their
+      glorious careers and lives of sweet fruition. Dost thou not remember when,
+      walking in the garden of our joy, and palled with empire, how often hast
+      thou sighed for some sweet isle unknown to man, where thou mightst pass
+      thy days with no companion but my faithful self, and no adventures but our
+      constant loves? O my beloved, that life may still be thine! And dost thou
+      falter? Dost call thyself forlorn with such fidelity, and deem thyself a
+      wretch, when Paradise with all its beauteous gates but woos thy entrance?
+      Oh! no, no, no, no! thou hast forgot Schirene: I fear me much, thy
+      over-fond Schirene, who doats upon thy image in thy chains more than she
+      did when those sweet hands of thine were bound with gems and played with
+      her bright locks!&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;She speaks of another world. I do remember something. Who has sent this
+      music to a dungeon? My spirit softens with her melting words. My eyes are
+      moist. I weep! &lsquo;Tis pleasant. Sorrow is joy compared with my despair. I
+      never thought to shed a tear again. My brain is cooler.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Weep, weep, I pray thee weep; but let me kiss away thy tears, my soul!
+      Didst think thy Schirene had deserted thee? Ah! that was it that made my
+      bird so sad. It shall be free, and fly in a sweet sky, and feed on flowers
+      with its faithful mate. Ah me! I am once more happy with my boy. There was
+      no misery but thy absence, sweet! Methinks this dungeon is our bright
+      kiosk! Is that the sunbeam, or thy smile, my love, that makes the walls so
+      joyful?&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Did I smile? I&rsquo;ll not believe it.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Indeed you did. Ah! see he smiles again. Why this is freedom! There is no
+      such thing as sorrow. Tis a lie to frighten fools!&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Why, Honain, what&rsquo;s this? &lsquo;Twould seem I am really joyful. There&rsquo;s
+      inspiration in her very breath. I am another being. Nay! waste not kisses
+      on those ugly fetters.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Methinks they are gold.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      They were silent. Schirene drew Alroy to his rough seat, and gently
+      placing herself on his knees, threw her arms round his neck, and buried
+      her face in his breast. After a few minutes she raised her head, and
+      whispered in his ear in irresistible accents of sweet exultation, &lsquo;We
+      shall be free to-morrow!&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;To-morrow! is the trial so near?&rsquo; exclaimed the captive, with an agitated
+      voice and changing countenance. &lsquo;To-morrow!&rsquo; He threw Schirene aside
+      somewhat hastily, and sprang from his seat. &lsquo;To-morrow! would it were
+      over! To-morrow! Methinks there is within that single word the fate of
+      ages! Shall it be said to-morrow that Alroy&mdash;&mdash; Hah! what art
+      thou that risest now before me? Dread, mighty spirit, thou hast come in
+      time to save me from perdition. Take me to thy bosom, &lsquo;tis not stabbed.
+      They did not stab thee. Thou seest me here communing with thy murderers.
+      What then? I am innocent. Ask them, dread ghost, and call upon their
+      fiendish souls to say I am pure. They would make me dark as themselves,
+      but shall not.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Honain, Honain!&rsquo; exclaimed the Princess in a terrible whisper as she flew
+      to the Physician. &lsquo;He is wild again. Calm him, calm him. Mark! how he
+      stands with his extended arms, and fixed vacant eyes, muttering most awful
+      words! My spirit fails me. It is too fearful.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      The Physician advanced and stood by the side of Alroy, but in vain
+      attempted to catch his attention. He ventured to touch his arm. The Prince
+      started, turned round, and recognising him, exclaimed in a shrieking
+      voice, &lsquo;Off, fratricide!&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Honain recoiled, pale and quivering. Schirene sprang to his arm. &lsquo;What
+      said he, Honain? Thou dost not speak. I never saw thee pale before. Art
+      thou, too, mad?&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Would I were!&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;All men are growing wild. I am sure he said something. I pray thee tell
+      me what was it?&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Ask him.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;I dare not. Tell me, tell me, Honain!&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;That I dare not.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Was it a word?&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Ay! a word to wake the dead. Let us begone.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Without our end? Coward! I&rsquo;ll speak to him. My own Alroy,&rsquo; sweetly
+      whispered the Princess, as she advanced before him.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;What, has the fox left the tigress! Is&rsquo;t so, eh? Are there no judgments?
+      Are the innocent only haunted? I am innocent! I did not strangle thee! He
+      said rightly, &ldquo;Beware, beware! they who did this may do even feller
+      deeds.&rdquo; And here they are quick at their damned work. Thy body suffered,
+      great Jabaster, but me they would strangle body and soul!&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      The Princess shrieked, and fell into the arms of the advancing Honain, who
+      bore her out of the dungeon.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      After the fall of Hamadan, Bostenay and Miriam had been carried prisoners
+      to Bagdad. Through the interference of Honain, their imprisonment had been
+      exempted from the usual hardships, but they were still confined to their
+      chambers in the citadel. Hitherto all the endeavours of Miriam to visit
+      her brother had been fruitless. Honain was the only person to whom she
+      could apply for assistance, and he, in answer to her importunities, only
+      regretted his want of power to aid her. In vain had she attempted, by the
+      offer of some remaining jewels, to secure the co-operation of her guards,
+      with whom her loveliness and the softness of her manners had already
+      ingratiated her. She had not succeeded even in communicating with Alroy.
+      But after the unsuccessful mission of Honain to the dungeon, the late
+      Vizier visited the sister of the captive, and, breaking to her with
+      delicate skill the intelligence of the impending catastrophe, he announced
+      that he had at length succeeded in obtaining for her the desired
+      permission to visit her brother; and, while she shuddered at the proximity
+      of an event for which she had long attempted to prepare herself, Honain,
+      with some modifications, whispered the means by which he flattered himself
+      that it might yet be averted. Miriam listened to him in silence, nor could
+      he, with all his consummate art, succeed in extracting from her the
+      slightest indication of her own opinion as to their expediency. They
+      parted, Honain as sanguine as the wicked ever are.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      As Miriam dreaded, both for herself and for Alroy, the shock of an
+      unexpected meeting, she availed herself of the influence of Honain to send
+      Caleb to her brother, to prepare him for her presence, and to consult him
+      as to the desirable moment. Caleb found his late master lying exhausted on
+      the floor of his dungeon. At first he would not speak or even raise his
+      head, nor did he for a long time apparently recognise the faithful
+      retainer of his uncle. But at length he grew milder, and when he fully
+      comprehended who the messenger was, and the object of his mission, he at
+      first seemed altogether disinclined to see his sister, but in the end
+      postponed their meeting for the present, and, pleading great exhaustion,
+      fixed for that sad interview the first hour of dawn.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      The venerable Bostenay had scarcely ever spoken since the fall of his
+      nephew; indeed it was but too evident that his faculties, even if they had
+      not entirely deserted him, were at least greatly impaired. He never
+      quitted his couch; he took no notice of what occurred. He evinced no
+      curiosity, scarcely any feeling. If indeed he occasionally did mutter an
+      observation, it was generally of an irritable character, nor truly did he
+      appear satisfied if anyone approached him, save Miriam, from whom alone he
+      would accept the scanty viands which he ever appeared disinclined to
+      touch. But his devoted niece, amid all her harrowing affliction, could
+      ever spare to the protector of her youth a placid countenance, a watchful
+      eye, a gentle voice, and a ready hand. Her religion and her virtue, the
+      strength of her faith, and the inspiration of her innocence, supported
+      this pure and hapless lady amid all her undeserved and unparalleled
+      sorrows.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      It was long past midnight; the young widow of Abner reposed upon a couch
+      in a soft slumber. The amiable Beruna and the beautiful Bathsheba, the
+      curtains drawn, watched the progress of the night.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Shall I wake her?&rsquo; said the beautiful Bathsheba. &lsquo;Methinks the stars are
+      paler! She bade me rouse her long before the dawn.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Her sleep is too benign! Let us not wake her,&rsquo; replied the amiable
+      Beruna. &lsquo;We rouse her only to sorrow.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;May her dreams at least be happy;&rsquo; rejoined the beautiful Bathsheba. &lsquo;She
+      sleeps tranquilly, as a flower.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;The veil has fallen from her head,&rsquo; said the amiable Beruna. &lsquo;I will
+      replace it lightly on her brow. Is that well, my Bathsheba?&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;It is well, sweet Beruna. Her face shrouded by the shawl is like a pearl
+      in its shell. See! she moves!&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Bathsheba!&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;I am here, sweet lady.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Is it near dawn?&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Not yet, sweet lady; it is yet night. It is long past the noon of night,
+      sweet lady; methinks I scent the rising breath of morn; but still &lsquo;tis
+      night, and the young moon shines like a sickle in the heavenly field, amid
+      the starry harvest.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Beruna, gentle girl, give me thy arm. I&rsquo;ll rise.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      The maidens advanced, and gently raising their mistress, supported her to
+      the window.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Since our calamities,&rsquo; said Miriam, &lsquo;I have never enjoyed such tranquil
+      slumber. My dreams were slight, but soothing. I saw him, but he smiled.
+      Have I slept long, sweet girls? Ye are very watchful.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Dear lady, let me bring thy shawl. The air is fresh&mdash;&mdash;&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;But sweet; I thank thee, no. My brow is not so cool as to need a
+      covering. &lsquo;Tis a fair night!&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Miriam gazed upon the wide prospect of the moonlit capital. The elevated
+      position of the citadel afforded an extensive view of the mighty groups of
+      buildings-each in itself a city, broken only by some vast and hooded
+      cupola, the tall, slender, white minarets of the mosques, or the black and
+      spiral form of some lonely cypress&mdash;through which the rushing Tigris,
+      flooded with light, sent forth its broad and brilliant torrent. All was
+      silent; not a single boat floated on the fleet river, not a solitary voice
+      broke the stillness of slumbering millions. She gazed and, as she gazed,
+      she could not refrain from contrasting the present scene, which seemed the
+      sepulchre of all the passions of our race, with the unrivalled excitement
+      of that stirring spectacle which Bagdad exhibited on the celebration of
+      the marriage of Alroy. How different then, too, was her position from her
+      present, and how happy! The only sister of a devoted brother, the lord and
+      conqueror of Asia, the bride of his most victorious captain, one worthy of
+      all her virtues, and whose youthful valour had encircled her brow with a
+      diadem. To Miriam, exalted station had brought neither cares nor crimes.
+      It had, as it were, only rendered her charity universal, and her
+      benevolence omnipotent. She could not accuse herself, this blessed woman&mdash;she
+      could not accuse herself, even in this searching hour of self-knowledge&mdash;she
+      could not accuse herself, with all her meekness, and modesty, and
+      humility, of having for a moment forgotten her dependence on her God, or
+      her duty to her neighbour.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      But when her thoughts recurred to that being from whom they were indeed
+      scarcely ever absent; and when she remembered him, and all his life, and
+      all the thousand incidents of his youth, mysteries to the world, and known
+      only to her, but which were indeed the prescience of his fame, and thought
+      of all his surpassing qualities and all his sweet affection, his
+      unrivalled glory and his impending fate, the tears, in silent agony,
+      forced their way down her pale and pensive cheek. She bowed her head upon
+      Bathsheba&rsquo;s shoulder, and sweet Beruna pressed her quivering hand.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      The moon set, the stars grew white and ghastly, and vanished one by one.
+      Over the distant plain of the Tigris, the scene of the marriage pomp, the
+      dark purple horizon shivered into a rich streak of white and orange. The
+      solemn strain of the Muezzin sounded from the minarets. Some one knocked
+      at the door. It was Caleb.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;I am ready,&rsquo; said Miriam; and for a moment she covered her face with her
+      right hand. &lsquo;Think of me, sweet maidens; pray for me!&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Leaning on Caleb, and lighted by a gaoler, bearing torches, Miriam
+      descended the damp and broken stairs that led to the dungeon. She faltered
+      as she arrived at the grate. She stopped, and leant against the cold and
+      gloomy wall. The gaoler and Caleb preceded her. She heard the voice of
+      Alroy. It was firm and sweet. Its accents reassured her. Caleb came forth
+      with a torch, and held it to her feet; and, as he bent down, he said, &lsquo;My
+      lord bade me beg you to be of good heart, for he is.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      The gaoler, having stuck his torch in the niche, withdrew. Miriam desired
+      Caleb to stay without. Then, summoning up all her energies, she entered
+      the dreadful abode. Alroy was standing to receive her. The light fell full
+      upon his countenance. It smiled. Miriam could no longer restrain herself.
+      She ran forward, and pressed him to her heart.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;O, my best, my long beloved,&rsquo; whispered Alroy; &lsquo;such a meeting indeed
+      leads captivity captive!&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      But the sister could not speak. She leant her head upon his shoulder, and
+      closed her eyes, that she might not weep.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Courage, dear heart; courage, courage!&rsquo; whispered the captive. &lsquo;Indeed I
+      am happy!&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;My brother, my brother!&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Had we met yesterday, you would have found me perhaps a little vexed. But
+      to-day I am myself again. Since I crossed the Tigris, I know not that I
+      have felt such self-content. I have had sweet dreams, dear Miriam, full of
+      solace. And, more than dreams, the Lord has pardoned me, I truly think.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;O, my brother! your words are full of comfort; for, indeed, I too have
+      dreamed, and dreamed of consolation. My spirit, since our fall, has never
+      been more tranquil.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Indeed I am happy.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Say so again, my David; let me hear again these words of solace!&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Indeed, &lsquo;tis very true, my faithful friend. It is not spoken in kind
+      mockery to make you joyous. For know, last eve, whether the Lord repented
+      of his wrath, or whether some dreadful trials, of which I will not speak,
+      and wish not to remember, had made atonement for my manifold sins, but so
+      it was, that, about the time my angel Miriam sent her soothing message, a
+      feeling of repose came over me, such as I long have coveted. Anon, I fell
+      into a slumber, deep and sweet, and, instead of those wild and whirling
+      images that of late have darted from my brain when it should rest,
+      glimpses of empire and conspiracy, snatches of fierce wars and mocking
+      loves, I stood beside our native fountain&rsquo;s brink, and gathered flowers
+      with my earliest friend. As I placed the fragrant captives in your flowing
+      locks, there came Jabaster, that great, injured man, no longer stern and
+      awful, but with benignant looks, and full of love. And he said, &ldquo;David,
+      the Lord hath marked thy faithfulness, in spite of the darkness of thy
+      dungeon.&rdquo; So he vanished. He spoke, my sister, of some strange temptations
+      by heavenly aid withstood. No more of that. I awoke. And lo! I heard my
+      name still called. Full of my morning dream, I thought it was you, and I
+      answered, &ldquo;Dear sister, art thou here?&rdquo; But no one answered; and then,
+      reflecting, my memory recognised those thrilling tones that summoned Alroy
+      in Jabaster&rsquo;s cave.&rsquo; &lsquo;The Daughter of the Voice?&rsquo; &lsquo;Even that sacred
+      messenger. I am full of faith. The Lord hath pardoned me. Be sure of
+      that.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;I cannot doubt it, David. You have done great things for Israel; no one
+      in these latter days has risen like you. If you have fallen, you were
+      young, and strangely tempted.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Yet Israel, Israel! Did I not feel a worthier leader will yet arise, my
+      heart would crack. I have betrayed my country!&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Oh no, no, no! You have shown what we can do and shall do. Your memory
+      alone is inspiration. A great career, although baulked of its end, is
+      still a landmark of human energy. Failure, when sublime, is not without
+      its purpose. Great deeds are great legacies, and work with wondrous usury.
+      By what Man has done, we learn what Man can do; and gauge the power and
+      prospects of our race.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Alas! there is no one to guard my name. &lsquo;Twill be reviled; or worse,
+      &lsquo;twill be forgotten.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Never! the memory of great actions never dies. The sun of glory, though
+      awhile obscured, will shine at last. And so, sweet brother, perchance some
+      poet, in some distant age, within whose veins our sacred blood may flow,
+      his fancy fired with the national theme, may strike his harp to Alroy&rsquo;s
+      wild career, and consecrate a name too long forgotten?&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;May love make thee a prophetess!&rsquo; exclaimed Alroy, as he bent down his
+      head and embraced her. &lsquo;Do not tarry,&rsquo; he whispered. &lsquo;&lsquo;Tis better that we
+      should part in this firm mood.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      She sprang from him, she clasped her hands. &lsquo;We will not part,&rsquo; she
+      exclaimed, with energy; &lsquo;I will die with thee.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Blessed girl, be calm! Do not unman me.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;I am calm. See! I do not weep. Not a tear, not a tear. They are all in my
+      heart.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Go, go, my Miriam, angel of light. Tarry no longer; I pray thee go. I
+      would not think of the past. Let all my mind be centred in the present.
+      Thy presence calls back our bygone days, and softens me too much. My duty
+      to my uncle. Go, dear one, go!&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;And leave thee, leave thee to&mdash;&mdash;Oh! my David, thou hast seen,
+      thou hast heard&mdash;&mdash;Honain?&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;No more; let not that accursed name profane those holy lips. Raise not
+      the demon in me.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;I am silent. Yet &lsquo;tis madness! Oh! my brother, thou hast a fearful
+      trial.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;The God of Israel is my refuge. He saved our fathers in the fiery
+      furnace. He will save me.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;I am full of faith. I pray thee let me stay.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;I would be silent; I would be alone. I cannot speak, Miriam. I ask one
+      favour, the last and dearest, from her who has never had a thought but for
+      my wishes; blessed being, leave me.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;I go. O Alroy, farewell! Let me kiss you. Again, once more! Let me kneel
+      and bless you. Brother, beloved brother, great and glorious brother, I am
+      worthy of you: I will not weep. I am prouder in this dread moment of your
+      love than all your foes can be of their hard triumph!&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Beruna and Bathsheba received their mistress when she returned to her
+      chamber. They marked her desolate air. She was silent, pale, and cold.
+      They bore her to her couch, whereon she sat with a most listless and
+      unmeaning look; her quivering lips parted, her eyes fixed upon the ground
+      in vacant abstraction, and her arms languidly folded before her. Beruna
+      stole behind her, and supported her back with pillows, and Bathsheba,
+      unnoticed, wiped the slight foam from her mouth. Thus Miriam remained for
+      several hours, her faithful maidens in vain watching for any indication of
+      her self-consciousness.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Suddenly a trumpet sounded.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;What is that?&rsquo; exclaimed Miriam, in a shrill voice, and looking up with a
+      distracted glance.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Neither of them answered, since they were aware that it betokened the
+      going forth of Alroy to his trial.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Miriam remained in the same posture, and with the same expression of wild
+      inquiry. Another trumpet sounded, and after that a shout of the people.
+      Then she raised up her arms to heaven, and bowed her head, and died.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Has the second trumpet sounded?&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;To be sure: run, run for a good place. Where is Abdallah?&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Selling sherbet in the square. We shall find him. Has Alroy come forth?&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Yes! he goes the other way. We shall be too late. Only think of Abdallah
+      selling sherbet!&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Father, let me go?&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;You will be in the way; you are too young; you will see nothing. Little
+      boys should stay at home.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;No, they should not. I will go. You can put me on your shoulders.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Where is Ibrahim? Where is Ali? We must all keep together. We shall have
+      to fight for it. I wish Abdallah were here. Only think of his selling
+      sherbet!&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Keep straight forward. That is right. It is no use going that way. The
+      bazaar is shut. There is Fakreddin, there is Osman Effendi. He has got a
+      new page.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;So he has, I declare; and a very pretty boy too.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Father, will they impale Alroy alive?&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;I am sure I do not know. Never ask questions, my dear. Little boys never
+      should.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Yes, they should. I hope they will impale him alive. I shall be so
+      disappointed if they do not.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Keep to the left. Dash through the Butchers&rsquo; bazaar: that is open. All
+      right, all right. Did you push me, sir?&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Suppose I did push you, sir, what then, sir?&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Come along, don&rsquo;t quarrel. That is a Karasmian. They think they are to do
+      what they like. We are five to one, to be sure, but still there is nothing
+      like peace and quiet. I wish Abdallah were here with his stout shoulders.
+      Only think of his selling sherbet!&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      The Square of the Grand Mosque, the same spot where Jabaster met Abidan by
+      appointment, was the destined scene of the pretended trial of Alroy.
+      Thither by break of day the sight-loving thousands of the capital had
+      repaired. In the centre of the square, a large circle was described by a
+      crimson cord, and guarded by Karasmian soldiers. Around this the swelling
+      multitude pressed like the gathering waves of ocean, but, whenever the
+      tide set in with too great an impulse, the savage Karasmians appeased the
+      ungovernable element by raising their battle-axes, and brutally breaking
+      the crowns and belabouring the shoulders of their nearest victims. As the
+      morning advanced, the terraces of the surrounding houses, covered with
+      awnings, were crowded with spectators. All Bagdad was astir. Since the
+      marriage of Alroy, there had never been such a merry morn as the day of
+      his impalement.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      At one end of the circle was erected a magnificent throne. Half way
+      between the throne and the other end of the circle, but further back,
+      stood a company of negro eunuchs, hideous to behold, who, clothed in
+      white, and armed with various instruments of torture, surrounded the
+      enormous stakes, tall, thin, and sharp, that were prepared for the final
+      ceremony.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      The flourish of trumpets, the clash of cymbals, and the wild beat of the
+      tambour, announced the arrival of Alp Arslan from the Serail. An avenue to
+      the circle had been preserved through the multitude. The royal procession
+      might be traced as it wound through the populace, by the sparkling and
+      undulating line of plumes of honour, and the dazzling forms of the waving
+      streamers, on which were inscribed the names of Allah and the Prophet.
+      Suddenly, amid the bursts of music, and the shouts of the spectators, many
+      of whom on the terraces humbled themselves on their knees, Alp Arslan
+      mounted the throne, around which ranged themselves his chief captains, and
+      a deputation of the Mullahs, and Imams, and Cadis, and other principal
+      personages of the city.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      The King of Karasmé was tall in stature, and somewhat meagre in form. He
+      was fair, or rather sandy-coloured, with a red beard, and blue eyes, and a
+      flat nose. The moment he was seated, a trumpet was heard in the distance
+      from an opposite quarter, and it was soon understood throughout the
+      assembly that the great captive was about to appear.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      A band of Karasmian guards first entered the circle, and ranged themselves
+      round the cord, with their backs to the spectators. After them came fifty
+      of the principal Hebrew prisoners, with their hands bound behind them, but
+      evidently more for form than security. To these succeeded a small covered
+      wagon drawn by mules, and surrounded by guards, from which was led forth,
+      his legs relieved from their manacles, but his hands still in heavy
+      chains, David Alroy!
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      A universal buzz of blended sympathy, and wonder, and fear, and triumph
+      arose, throughout the whole assembly. Each man involuntarily stirred. The
+      vast populace moved to and fro in agitation. His garments soiled and
+      tattered, his head bare, and his long locks drawn off his forehead, pale
+      and thin, but still unsubdued, the late conqueror and Caliph of Bagdad
+      threw around a calm and imperial glance upon those who were but recently
+      his slaves.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      The trumpets again sounded, order was called, and a crier announced that
+      his Highness Alp Arslan, the mighty Sovereign of Karasmé, their Lord,
+      Protector, and King, and avenger of Allah and the Prophet, against all
+      rebellious and evil-minded Jews and Giaours, was about to speak. There was
+      a deep and universal silence, and then sounded a voice high as the eagle&rsquo;s
+      in a storm.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;David Alroy!&rsquo; said his conqueror, &lsquo;you are brought hither this day
+      neither for trial nor for judgment. Captured in arms against your rightful
+      sovereign, you are of course prepared, like other rebels, for your doom.
+      Such a crime alone deserves the most avenging punishments. What then do
+      you merit, who are loaded with a thousand infamies, who have blasphemed
+      Allah and the Prophet, and, by the practice of magic arts and the aid of
+      the infernal powers, have broken the peace of kingdoms, occasioned
+      infinite bloodshed, outraged all law, religion, and decency, misled the
+      minds of your deluded votaries, and especially by a direct compact with
+      Eblis, by horrible spells and infamous incantations, captivated the senses
+      of an illustrious Princess, heretofore famous for the practice of every
+      virtue, and a descendant of the Prophet himself.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Behold these stakes of palm-wood, sharper than a lance! The most terrible
+      retribution that human ingenuity has devised for the guilty awaits you.
+      But your crimes baffle all human vengeance. Look forward for your
+      satisfactory reward to those infernal powers by whose dark co-operation
+      you have occasioned such disasters. Your punishment is public, that all
+      men may know that the guilty never escape, and that, if your heart be
+      visited by the slightest degree of compunction for your numerous victims,
+      you may this day, by the frank confession of the irresistible means by
+      which you seduced them, exonerate your victims from the painful and
+      ignominious end with which, through your influence they are now
+      threatened. Mark, O assembled people, the infinite mercy of the Vicegerent
+      of Allah! He allows the wretched man to confess his infamy, and to save by
+      his confession, his unfortunate victims. I have said it. Glory to Allah!&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      And the people shouted, &lsquo;He has said it, he has said it! Glory to Allah!
+      He is great, he is great! and Mahomed is his prophet!&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Am I to speak?&rsquo; enquired Alroy, when the tumult had subsided. The melody
+      of his voice commanded universal attention.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Alp Arslan nodded his head in approbation.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;King of Karasmé! I stand here accused of many crimes. Now hear my
+      answers. &lsquo;Tis said I am a rebel. My answer is, I am a Prince as thou art,
+      of a sacred race, and far more ancient. I owe fealty to no one but to my
+      God, and if I have broken that I am yet to learn that Alp Arslan is the
+      avenger of His power. As for thy God and Prophet, I know not them, though
+      they acknowledge mine. &lsquo;Tis well understood in every polity, my people
+      stand apart from other nations, and ever will, in spite of suffering. So
+      much for blasphemy; I am true to a deep faith of ancient days, which even
+      the sacred writings of thy race still reverence. For the arts magical I
+      practised, and the communion with infernal powers &lsquo;tis said I held, know,
+      King, I raised the standard of my faith by the direct commandment of my
+      God, the great Creator of the universe. What need of magic, then? What
+      need of paltering with petty fiends, when backed by His omnipotence? My
+      magic was His inspiration. Need I prove why, with such aid, my people
+      crowded round me? The time will come when from out our ancient seed, a
+      worthier chief will rise, not to be quelled even by thee, Sire.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;For that unhappy Princess of whom something was said (with no great
+      mercy, as it seemed to me), that lady is my wife, my willing wife; the
+      daughter of a Caliph, still my wife, although your stakes may make her
+      soon a widow. I stand not here to account for female fancies. Believe me,
+      Sire, she gave her beauty to my raptured arms with no persuasions but such
+      as became a soldier and a king. It may seem strange to thee upon thy
+      throne that the flower of Asia should be plucked by one so vile as I am.
+      Remember, the accidents of Fortune are most strange. I was not always what
+      I am. We have met before. There was a day, and that too not long since,
+      when, but for the treachery of some knaves I mark here, Fortune seemed
+      half inclined to reverse our fates. Had I conquered, I trust I should have
+      shown more mercy.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      The King of Karasmé was the most passionate of men. He had made a speech
+      according to the advice and instructions of his councillors, who had
+      assured him that the tone he adopted would induce Alroy to confess all
+      that he required, and especially to vindicate the reputation of the
+      Princess Schirene, who had already contrived to persuade Alp Arslan that
+      she was the most injured of her sex. The King of Karasmé stamped thrice on
+      the platform of his throne, and exclaimed with great fire, &lsquo;By my beard,
+      ye have deceived me! The dog has confessed nothing!&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      All the councillors and chief captains, and the Mullahs, and the Imams,
+      and the Cadis, and the principal personages of the city were in
+      consternation. They immediately consulted together, and, after much
+      disputation, agreed that, before they proceeded to extremities, it was
+      expedient to prove what the prisoner would not confess. A venerable
+      Sheikh, clothed in flowing robes of green, with a long white beard, and a
+      turban like the tower of Babel, then rose. His sacred reputation procured
+      silence while he himself delivered a long prayer, supplicating Allah and
+      the Prophet to confound all blaspheming Jews and Giaours, and to pour
+      forth words of truth from the mouths of religious men. And then the
+      venerable Sheikh summoned all witnesses against David Alroy. Immediately
+      advanced Kisloch the Kourd, to whom, being placed in an eminent position,
+      the Cadi of Bagdad drawing forth a scroll from his velvet bag, read a
+      deposition, wherein the worthy Kisloch stated that he first became
+      acquainted with the prisoner, David Alroy, in some ruins in the desert,
+      the haunt of banditti, of whom Alroy was the chief; that he, Kisloch, was
+      a reputable merchant, and that his caravan had been plundered by these
+      robbers, and he himself captured; that, on the second night of his
+      imprisonment, Alroy appeared to him in the likeness of a lion, and on the
+      third, of a bull with fiery eyes; that he was in the habit of constantly
+      transforming himself; that he frequently raised spirits; that, at length,
+      on one terrible night, Eblis himself came in great procession, and
+      presented Alroy with the sceptre of Solomon Ben Daoud; and that the next
+      day Alroy raised his standard, and soon after massacred Hassan Subah and
+      his Seljuks, by the visible aid of many terrible demons.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Calidas the Indian, the Guebre, and the Negro, and a few congenial
+      spirits, were not eclipsed in the satisfactory character of their evidence
+      by the luminous testimony of Kisloch the Kourd. The irresistible career of
+      the Hebrew conqueror was undeniably accounted for, and the honour of
+      Moslem arms and the purity of Moslem faith were established in their
+      pristine glory and all their unsullied reputation. David Alroy was proved
+      to be a child of Eblis, a sorcerer, and a dealer in charms and magical
+      poisons. The people listened with horror and with indignation. They would
+      have burst through the guards and torn him in pieces, had not they been
+      afraid of the Karasmian battle-axes. So they consoled themselves with the
+      prospect of his approaching tortures.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      The Cadi of Bagdad bowed himself before the King of Karasmé, and whispered
+      at a respectful distance in the royal ear. The trumpets sounded, the
+      criers enjoined silence, and the royal lips again moved.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Hear, O ye people, and be wise. The chief Cadi is about to read the
+      deposition of the royal Princess Schirene, chief victim of the sorcerer.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      And the deposition was read, which stated that David Alroy possessed, and
+      wore next to his heart, a talisman, given him by Eblis, the virtue of
+      which was so great that, if once it were pressed to the heart of any
+      woman, she was no longer mistress of her will. Such had been the unhappy
+      fate of the daughter of the Commander of the Faithful.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Is it so written?&rsquo; enquired the captive.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;It is so written,&rsquo; replied the Cadi, &lsquo;and bears the imperial signature of
+      the Princess.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;It is a forgery.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      The King of Karasmé started from his throne, and in his rage nearly
+      descended its steps. His face was like scarlet, his beard was like a
+      flame. A favourite minister ventured gently to restrain the royal robe.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Kill the dog on the spot,&rsquo; muttered the King of Karasmé.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;The Princess is herself here,&rsquo; said the Cadi, &lsquo;to bear witness to the
+      spells of which she was a victim, but from which, by the power of Allah
+      and the Prophet, she is now released.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Alroy started!
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Advance, royal Princess,&rsquo; said the Cadi, &lsquo;and, if the deposition thou
+      hast heard be indeed true, condescend to hold up the imperial hand that
+      adorned it with thy signature.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      A band of eunuchs near the throne gave way; a female figure veiled to her
+      feet appeared. She held up her hand amid the breathless agitation of the
+      whole assembly; the ranks of the eunuchs again closed; a shriek was heard,
+      and the veiled figure disappeared.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;I am ready for thy tortures, King,&rsquo; said Alroy, in a tone of deep
+      depression. His firmness appeared to have deserted him. His eyes were cast
+      upon the ground. Apparently he was buried in profound thought, or had
+      delivered himself up to despair.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Prepare the stakes,&rsquo; said Alp Arslan.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      An involuntary, but universal, shudder might be distinguished through the
+      whole assembly.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      A slave advanced and offered Alroy a scroll. He recognised the Nubian who
+      belonged to Honain. His former minister informed him that he was at hand,
+      that the terms he offered in the dungeon might even yet be granted; that
+      if Alroy would, as he doubted not, as he entreated him, accept them, he
+      was to place the scroll in his bosom, but that if he were still
+      inexorable, still madly determined on a horrible and ignominious end, he
+      was to tear the scroll and throw it in to the arena. Instantly Alroy took
+      the scroll, and with great energy tore it into a thousand pieces. A puff
+      of wind carried the fragments far and wide. The mob fought for these last
+      memorials of David Alroy, and this little incident occasioned a great
+      confusion.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      In the meantime the negroes prepared the instruments of torture and of
+      death.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;The obstinacy of this Jewish dog makes me mad,&rsquo; said the King of Karasmé
+      to his courtiers. &lsquo;I will hold some parley with him before he dies.&rsquo; The
+      favourite minister entreated his sovereign to be content; but the royal
+      beard grew so red, and the royal eyes flashed forth such terrible sparks
+      of fire, that even the favourite minister at length gave way.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      The trumpet sounded, the criers called silence, and the voice of Alp
+      Arslan was again heard.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Thou dog, dost see what is preparing for thee? Dost know what awaits thee
+      in the halls of thy master Eblis? Can a Jew be influenced even by false
+      pride? Is not life sweet? Is it not better to be my slipper-bearer than to
+      be impaled?&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Magnanimous Alp Arslan,&rsquo; replied Alroy in a tone of undisguised contempt;
+      &lsquo;thinkest thou that any torture can be equal to the recollection that I
+      have been conquered by thee?&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;By my beard, he mocks me!&rsquo; exclaimed the Karasmian monarch, &lsquo;he defies
+      me! Touch not my robe. I will parley with him. Ye see no farther than a
+      hooded hawk, ye sons of a blind mother. This is a sorcerer; he hath yet
+      some master spell; he will yet save himself. He will fly into the air, or
+      sink into the earth. He laughs at our tortures.&rsquo; The King of Karasmé
+      precipitately descended the steps of his throne, followed by his favourite
+      minister, and his councillors, and chief captains, and the Cadis, and the
+      Mullahs, and the Imams, and the principal personages of the city.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Sorcerer!&rsquo; exclaimed Alp Arslan, &lsquo;insolent sorcerer! base son of a base
+      mother! dog of dogs! dost thou defy us? Does thy master Eblis whisper
+      hope? Dost thou laugh at our punishments? Wilt thou fly into the air? wilt
+      thou sink into the earth? eh, eh? Is it so, is it so?&rsquo; The breathless
+      monarch ceased, from the exhaustion of passion. He tore his beard out by
+      the roots, he stamped with uncontrollable rage.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Thou art wiser than thy councillors, royal Arslan; I do defy thee. My
+      master, although not Eblis, has not deserted me. I laugh at thy
+      punishments. Thy tortures I despise. I shall both sink into the earth and
+      mount into the air. Art thou answered?&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;By my beard,&rsquo; exclaimed the enraged Arslan, &lsquo;I am answered. Let Eblis
+      save thee if he can;&rsquo; and the King of Karasmé, the most famous master of
+      the sabre in Asia, drew his blade like lightning from its sheath, and took
+      off the head of Alroy at a stroke. It fell, and, as it fell, a smile of
+      triumphant derision seemed to play upon the dying features of the hero,
+      and to ask of his enemies, &lsquo;Where now are all your tortures?&rsquo;<a
+      href="#linknote-82" name="linknoteref-82" id="linknoteref-82">82</a>
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      <a name="link2H_NOTE" id="link2H_NOTE">
+      <!--  H2 anchor --> </a>
+    </p>
+    <div style="height: 4em;">
+      <br /><br /><br /><br />
+    </div>
+    <h2>
+      NOTES TO ALROY.
+    </h2>
+    <p>
+      <a name="linknote-1" id="linknote-1">
+      <!-- Note --></a>
+    </p>
+    <p class="foot">
+      1 (<a href="#linknoteref-1">return</a>)<br /> [ page 4.&mdash;<i>We shall
+      yet see an ass mount a ladder</i>.&mdash;Hebrew proverb.]
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      <a name="linknote-2" id="linknote-2">
+      <!-- Note --></a>
+    </p>
+    <p class="foot">
+      2 (<a href="#linknoteref-2">return</a>)<br /> [ page 12.&mdash;Our walls
+      are hung with flowers you love. It is the custom of the Hebrews in many of
+      their festivals, especially in the feast of the Tabernacle, to hang the
+      walls of their chambers with garlands of flowers.]
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      <a name="linknote-3" id="linknote-3">
+      <!-- Note --></a>
+    </p>
+    <p class="foot">
+      3 (<a href="#linknoteref-3">return</a>)<br /> [ page 13.&mdash;<i>The
+      traditionary tomb of Esther and Mordecai</i>. &lsquo;I accompanied the priest
+      through the town over much ruin and rubbish to an enclosed piece of
+      ground, rather more elevated than any in its immediate vicinity. In the
+      centre was the Jewish tomb-a square building of brick, of a mosque-like
+      form, with a rather elongated dome at the top. The door is in the ancient
+      sepulchral fashion of the country, very small, consisting of a single
+      stone of great thickness, and turning on its own pivots from one side. Its
+      key is always in possession of the eldest of the Jews resident at Hamadan.
+      Within the tomb are two sarcophagi, made of a very dark wood, carved with
+      great intricacy of pattern and richness of twisted ornament, with a line
+      of inscription in Hebrew,&rsquo; &amp;c.&mdash;<i>Sir R. K. Porter&rsquo;s Travels in
+      Persia, vol. ii. p. 107</i>.]
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      <a name="linknote-4" id="linknote-4">
+      <!-- Note --></a>
+    </p>
+    <p class="foot">
+      4 (<a href="#linknoteref-4">return</a>)<br /> [ page 16.&mdash;<i>A marble
+      fountain, the richly-carved cupola supported by twisted columns</i>. The
+      vast magnificence and elaborate fancy of the tombs and fountains is a
+      remarkable feature of Oriental architecture. The Eastern nations devote to
+      these structures the richest and the most durable materials. While the
+      palaces of Asiatic monarchs are in general built only of wood, painted in
+      fresco, the rarest marbles are dedicated to the sepulchre and the spring,
+      which are often richly gilt, and adorned even with precious stones.]
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      <a name="linknote-5" id="linknote-5">
+      <!-- Note --></a>
+    </p>
+    <p class="foot">
+      5 (<a href="#linknoteref-5">return</a>)<br /> [ page 17.&mdash;<i>The
+      chorus of our maidens.</i> It is still the custom for the women in the
+      East to repair at sunset in company to the fountain for their supply of
+      water. In Egypt, you may observe at twilight the women descending the
+      banks of the Nile in procession from every town and village. Their
+      graceful drapery, their long veils not concealing their flashing eyes, and
+      the classical forms of their vases, render this a most picturesque and
+      agreeable spectacle.]
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      <a name="linknote-6" id="linknote-6">
+      <!-- Note --></a>
+    </p>
+    <p class="foot">
+      6 (<a href="#linknoteref-6">return</a>)<br /> [ page 24.&mdash;I describe
+      the salty deserts of Persia, a locality which my tale required; but I have
+      ventured to introduce here, and in the subsequent pages, the principal
+      characteristics of the great Arabian deserts: the mirage, the simoom, the
+      gazelle, the oasis.]
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      <a name="linknote-7" id="linknote-7">
+      <!-- Note --></a>
+    </p>
+    <p class="foot">
+      7 (<a href="#linknoteref-7">return</a>)<br /> [ page 28.&mdash;<i>Jackals
+      and marten-cat.</i> At nightfall, especially in Asia Minor, the lonely
+      horseman will often meet the jackals on their evening prowl. Their moaning
+      is often heard during the night. I remember, when becalmed off Troy, the
+      most singular screams were heard at intervals throughout the night, from a
+      forest on the opposite shore, which a Greek sailor assured me proceeded
+      from a marten-cat, which had probably found the carcass of some horse.]
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      <a name="linknote-8" id="linknote-8">
+      <!-- Note --></a>
+    </p>
+    <p class="foot">
+      8 (<a href="#linknoteref-8">return</a>)<br /> [ page 30. Elburz, or
+      Elborus, the highest range of the Caucasus.]
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      <a name="linknote-9" id="linknote-9">
+      <!-- Note --></a>
+    </p>
+    <p class="foot">
+      9 (<a href="#linknoteref-9">return</a>)<br /> [ page 31.&mdash;<i>A
+      circular and brazen table, sculptured with strange characters and
+      mysterious figures; near it was a couch on which lay several volumes.</i>
+      A cabalistic table, perhaps a zodiac. The books were doubtless <i>Sepher
+      Happeliah</i>, the Book of Wonders; <i>Sepher Hakkaneh</i>, the Book of
+      the Pen; and <i>Sepher Habbahir</i>, the Book of Light. This last unfolds
+      the most sublime mysteries.]
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      <a name="linknote-10" id="linknote-10">
+      <!-- Note --></a>
+    </p>
+    <p class="foot">
+      10 (<a href="#linknoteref-10">return</a>)<br /> [ page 32.&mdash;<i>Answered
+      the Cabalist.</i> &lsquo;Simeon ben Jochai, who flourished in the second
+      century, and was a disciple of Akibha, is called by the Jews the Prince of
+      the Cabalists. After the suppression of the sedition in which his master
+      had been so unsuccessful, he concealed himself in a cave, where, according
+      to the Jewish historians, he received revelations, which he after-wards
+      delivered to his disciples, and which they carefully preserved in the book
+      called Sohar. His master, Akibha, who lived soon after the destruction of
+      Jerusalem, was the author of the famous book Jezirah, quoted by the Jews
+      as of Divine authority. When Akibha was far advanced in life, appeared the
+      famous impostor Barchochebas, who, under the character of the Messiah,
+      promised to deliver his countrymen from the power of the Emperor Adrian.
+      Akibha espoused his cause, and afforded him the protection and support of
+      his name, and an army of two hundred thousand men repaired to his
+      standard. The Romans at first slighted the insurrection; but when they
+      found the insurgents spread slaughter and rapine wherever they came, they
+      sent out a military force against them. At. first, the issue of the
+      contest was doubtful. The Messiah himself was not taken until the end of
+      four years.&rsquo;&mdash;Enfield, <i>Philosophy of the Jews</i>, vol. ii.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Two methods of instruction were in use among the Jews; the one public, or
+      <i>exoteric</i>; the other secret, or esoteric. The exoteric doctrine was
+      that which was openly taught the people from the law of Moses and the
+      traditions of the fathers. The esoteric was that which treated of the
+      mysteries of the Divine nature, and other sublime subjects, and was known
+      by the name of the Cabala. The latter was, after the manner of the
+      Pythagorean and Egyptian mysteries, taught only to certain persons, who
+      were bound, under the most solemn anathema, not to divulge it. Concerning
+      the miraculous origin and preservation of the Cabala, the Jews relate many
+      marvellous tales. They derive these mysteries from Adam, and assert that,
+      while the first man was in Paradise, the angel Rasiel brought him a book
+      from heaven, which contained the doctrines of heavenly wisdom, and that,
+      when Adam received this book, angels came down to him to learn its
+      contents, but that he refused to admit them to the knowledge of sacred
+      things entrusted to him alone; that, after the Fall, this book was taken
+      back into heaven; that, after many prayers and tears, God restored it to
+      Adam, from whom it passed to Seth. In the degenerate age before the flood
+      this book was lost, and the mysteries it contained almost forgotten; but
+      they were restored by special revelation to Abraham, who committed them to
+      writing in the book <i>Jezirah.&rsquo;&mdash;Vide Enfield, vol. ii. p. 219</i>.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;The Hebrew word <i>Cabala,&rsquo;</i> says Dom Calmet, &lsquo;signifies tradition,
+      and the Rabbins, who are named Cabalists, apply themselves principally to
+      the combination of certain words, numbers, and letters, by the means of
+      which they boasted they could reveal the future, and penetrate the sense
+      of the most difficult passages of Scripture. This science does not appear
+      to have any fixed principles, but depends upon certain ancient traditions,
+      whence its name Cabala. The Cabalists have a great number of names which
+      they style sacred, by means of which they raise spirits, and affect to
+      obtain supernatural intelligence.&rsquo;&mdash;See Calmet, Art. <i>Cabala</i>.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;We spake before,&rsquo; says Lightfoot, &lsquo;of the commonness of Magick among
+      them, one singular means whereby they kept their own in delusion, and
+      whereby they affronted ours. The general expectation of the nation of
+      Messias coming when he did had this double and contrary effect, that it
+      forwarded those that belonged to God to believe and receive the Gospel;
+      and those that did not, it gave encouragement to some to take upon them
+      they were Christ or some great prophet, and to others it gave some
+      persuasion to be deluded by them. These deceivers dealt most of them with
+      Magick, and that cheat ended not when Jerusalem ended, though one would
+      have thought that had been a fair term of not further expecting Messias;
+      but since the people were willing to be deceived by such expectation,
+      there rose up deluders still that were willing to deceive them.&rsquo;&mdash;Lightfoot,
+      vol. ii. p. 371.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      For many curious details of the Cabalistic Magic, Vide Basnage, vol. v. p.
+      384, &amp;c.]
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      <a name="linknote-11" id="linknote-11">
+      <!-- Note --></a>
+    </p>
+    <p class="foot">
+      11 (<a href="#linknoteref-11">return</a>)<br /> [ page 34.&mdash;<i>Read
+      the stars no longer</i>. &lsquo;The modern Jews,&rsquo; says Basnage, &lsquo;have a great
+      idea of the influence of the stars.&rsquo; Vol. iv. p. 454. But astrology was
+      most prevalent among the Babylonian Rabbins, of whom Jabaster was one.
+      Living in the ancient land of the Chaldeans, these sacred sages imbibed a
+      taste for the mystic lore of their predecessors. The stars moved, and
+      formed letters and lines, when consulted by any of the highly-initiated of
+      the Cabalists. This they styled the Celestial Alphabet.]
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      <a name="linknote-12" id="linknote-12">
+      <!-- Note --></a>
+    </p>
+    <p class="foot">
+      12 (<a href="#linknoteref-12">return</a>)<br /> [ page 38.&mdash;__The
+      Daughter of the Voice. &lsquo;Both the Talmudick and the latter Rabbins,&rsquo; says
+      Lightfoot, &lsquo;make frequent mention of <i>Bath Kol, or Filia Vocis</i>, or
+      an echoing voice which served under the Second Temple for their utmost
+      refuge of revelation. For when Urim and Thummim, the oracle, was ceased,
+      and prophecy was decayed and gone, they had, as they say, certain strange
+      and extraordinary voices upon certain extraordinary occasions, which were
+      their warnings and advertisements in some special matters. Infinite
+      instances of this might be adduced, if they might be believed. Now here it
+      may be questioned why they called it <i>Bath Kol, the daughter of a voice,</i>
+      and not a voice itself? If the strictness of the Hebrew word Bath be to be
+      stood upon, which always it is not, it may be answered, that it is called
+      The Daughter of a Voice in relation to the oracles of Urim and Thummim.
+      For whereas that was a voice given from off the mercy-seat, within the
+      vail, and this, upon the decay of that oracle, came as it were in its
+      place, it might not unfitly or improperly be called a <i>daughter</i>, or
+      successor of that voice.&rsquo;&mdash;Lightfoot, vol. i. pp. 485, 486. Consult
+      also the learned Doctor, vol. ii. pp. 128, 129: &lsquo;It was used for a
+      testimony from heaven, but was indeed performed by magic art.&lsquo;]
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      <a name="linknote-13" id="linknote-13">
+      <!-- Note --></a>
+    </p>
+    <p class="foot">
+      13 (<a href="#linknoteref-13">return</a>)<br /> [ page 44.&mdash;<i>The
+      walls and turrets of an extensive city</i>. In Persia, and the countries
+      of the Tigris and Euphrates, the traveller sometimes arrives at deserted
+      cities of great magnificence and antiquity. Such, for instance, is the
+      city of Anneh. I suppose Alroy to have entered one of the deserted
+      capitals of the Seleucidae. They are in general the haunt of bandits.]
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      <a name="linknote-14" id="linknote-14">
+      <!-- Note --></a>
+    </p>
+    <p class="foot">
+      14 (<a href="#linknoteref-14">return</a>)<br /> [ page 49.&mdash;<i>Punctured
+      his arm.</i> From a story told by an Arab.]
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      <a name="linknote-15" id="linknote-15">
+      <!-- Note --></a>
+    </p>
+    <p class="foot">
+      15 (<a href="#linknoteref-15">return</a>)<br /> [ page 52.&mdash;<i>The
+      pilgrim could no longer sustain himself.</i> An endeavor to paint the
+      simoom.]
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      <a name="linknote-16" id="linknote-16">
+      <!-- Note --></a>
+    </p>
+    <p class="foot">
+      16 (<a href="#linknoteref-16">return</a>)<br /> [ page 54.&mdash;<i>By the
+      holy stone.</i> The Caaba.&mdash;The Caaba is the same to the Mahomedan as
+      the Holy Sepulchre to the Christian. It is the most unseemly, but the most
+      sacred, part of the mosque at Mecca, and is a small, square stone
+      building.]
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      <a name="linknote-17" id="linknote-17">
+      <!-- Note --></a>
+    </p>
+    <p class="foot">
+      17 (<a href="#linknoteref-17">return</a>)<br /> [ page 56.&mdash;<i>I am a
+      Hakim;</i> i.e. Physician, an almost sacred character in the East. As all
+      Englishmen travel with medicine-chests, the Turks are not be wondered at
+      for considering us physicians.]
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      <a name="linknote-18" id="linknote-18">
+      <!-- Note --></a>
+    </p>
+    <p class="foot">
+      18 (<a href="#linknoteref-18">return</a>)<br /> [ page 57.&mdash;<i>Threw
+      their wanton jerreeds in the air</i>. The Persians are more famous for
+      throwing the jerreed than any other nation. A Persian gentleman, while
+      riding quietly by your side, will suddenly dash off at full gallop, then
+      suddenly check his horse, and take a long aim with his lance with
+      admirable precision. I should doubt, however, whether he could hurl a
+      lance a greater distance or with greater force and effect than a Nubian,
+      who will fix a mark at sixty yards with his javelin.]
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      <a name="linknote-19" id="linknote-19">
+      <!-- Note --></a>
+    </p>
+    <p class="foot">
+      19 (<a href="#linknoteref-19">return</a>)<br /> [ page 58.&mdash;<i>Some
+      pounded coffee.</i> The origin of the use of coffee is obscure; but there
+      is great reason to believe that it had not been introduced in the time of
+      Alroy. When we consider that the life of an Oriental at the present day
+      mainly consists in drinking coffee and smoking tobacco, we cannot refrain
+      from asking ourselves, &lsquo;What did he do before either of these
+      comparatively modern inventions was discovered?&rsquo; For a long time, I was
+      inclined to suspect that tobacco might have been in use in Asia before it
+      was introduced into Europe; but a passage in old Sandys, in which he
+      mentions the wretched tobacco smoke in Turkey, and accounts for it by that
+      country being supplied with &lsquo;the dregs of our markets,&rsquo; demonstrates that,
+      in his time, there was no native growth in Asia. Yet the choicest tobaccos
+      are now grown on the coast of Syria, the real Levant. But did the Asiatics
+      smoke any other plant or substance before tobacco? In Syria, at the
+      present day, they smoke a plant called <i>timbac</i>; the Chinese smoke
+      opium; the artificial preparations for the hookah are known to all
+      Indians. I believe, however, that these are all refinements, and for this
+      reason, that in the classic writers, who were as well acquainted with the
+      Oriental nations as ourselves, we find no allusion to the practice of
+      smoking. The anachronism of the pipe I have not therefore ventured to
+      commit, and that of coffee will, I trust, be pardoned.]
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      <a name="linknote-20" id="linknote-20">
+      <!-- Note --></a>
+    </p>
+    <p class="foot">
+      20 (<a href="#linknoteref-20">return</a>)<br /> [ page 58.&mdash;<i>Wilder
+      gestures of the dancing girls.</i> These dancing girls abound throughout
+      Asia. The most famous are the Almeh of Egypt, and the Nautch of India.
+      These last are a caste, the first only a profession.]
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      <a name="linknote-21" id="linknote-21">
+      <!-- Note --></a>
+    </p>
+    <p class="foot">
+      21 (<a href="#linknoteref-21">return</a>)<br /> [ page 64.&mdash;<i>For
+      thee the bastinado</i>. The bastinado is the common punishment of the
+      East, and an effective and dreaded one. It is administered on the soles of
+      the feet, the instrument a long cane or palm-branch. Public executions are
+      very-rare.]
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      <a name="linknote-22" id="linknote-22">
+      <!-- Note --></a>
+    </p>
+    <p class="foot">
+      22 (<a href="#linknoteref-22">return</a>)<br /> [ page 73.&mdash;<i>A door
+      of tortoise-shell and mother-of-pearl</i>. This elegant mode of inlay is
+      common in Oriental palaces, and may be observed also in Alhambra, at
+      Granada.]
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      <a name="linknote-23" id="linknote-23">
+      <!-- Note --></a>
+    </p>
+    <p class="foot">
+      23 (<a href="#linknoteref-23">return</a>)<br /> [ page 74.&mdash;<i>A
+      vaulted, circular, and highly embossed roof, of purple, scarlet, and gold.</i>
+      In the very first style of Saracenic architecture. See the Hall of the
+      Ambassadors in Alhambra, and many other chambers in that exquisite
+      creation.]
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      <a name="linknote-24" id="linknote-24">
+      <!-- Note --></a>
+    </p>
+    <p class="foot">
+      24 (<a href="#linknoteref-24">return</a>)<br /> [ page 74.&mdash;<i>Nubian
+      eunuchs dressed in rich habits of scarlet and gold.</i> Thus the guard of
+      Nubian eunuchs of the present Pacha of Egypt, Mehemet Ali, or rather
+      Caliph, a title which he wishes to assume. They ride upon white horses.]
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      <a name="linknote-25" id="linknote-25">
+      <!-- Note --></a>
+    </p>
+    <p class="foot">
+      25 (<a href="#linknoteref-25">return</a>)<br /> [ page 74.&mdash;<i>A
+      quadrangular court of roses.</i> So in Alhambra, &lsquo;The Court of Myrtles,&rsquo;
+      leading to the Court of Columns, wherein is the famous Fountain of Lions.]
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      <a name="linknote-26" id="linknote-26">
+      <!-- Note --></a>
+    </p>
+    <p class="foot">
+      26 (<a href="#linknoteref-26">return</a>)<br /> [ page 75.&mdash;<i>An
+      Abyssinian giant.</i> A giant is still a common appendage to an Oriental
+      court even at the present day. See a very amusing story in the picturesque
+      &lsquo;Persian Sketches&rsquo; of that famous elchee, Sir John Malcolm.]
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      <a name="linknote-27" id="linknote-27">
+      <!-- Note --></a>
+    </p>
+    <p class="foot">
+      27 (<a href="#linknoteref-27">return</a>)<br /> [ page 75.&mdash;<i>Surrounded
+      by figures of every rare quadruped.</i> &lsquo;The hall of audience,&rsquo; says
+      Gibbon, from Cardonne, speaking of the magnificence of the Saracens of
+      Cordova, &lsquo;was encrusted with gold and pearls, and a great basin in the
+      centre was surrounded with the curious and costly figures of birds and
+      quadrupeds.&rsquo;-<i>Decline and Fall</i>, vol. x. p. 39.]
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      <a name="linknote-28" id="linknote-28">
+      <!-- Note --></a>
+    </p>
+    <p class="foot">
+      28 (<a href="#linknoteref-28">return</a>)<br /> [ page 76.&mdash;<i>A tree
+      of gold and silver.</i> &lsquo;Among the other spectacles of rare and stupendous
+      luxury was a tree of gold and silver, spreading into eighteen large
+      branches, on which, and on the lesser boughs, sat a variety of birds made
+      of the same precious metals, as well as the leaves of the tree. While the
+      machinery effected spontaneous motions, the several birds warbled their
+      natural harmony.&rsquo;-<i>Gibbon,</i> vol. x. p. 38, from Abulfeda, describing
+      the court of the Caliphs of Bagdad in the decline of their power.]
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      <a name="linknote-29" id="linknote-29">
+      <!-- Note --></a>
+    </p>
+    <p class="foot">
+      29 (<a href="#linknoteref-29">return</a>)<br /> [ page 76.&mdash;<i>Four
+      hundred men led as many white bloodhounds, with collars of gold and rubies</i>.
+      I have somewhere read of an Indian or Persian monarch whose coursing was
+      conducted in this gorgeous style: if I remember right, it was Mahmoud the
+      Gaznevide.]
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      <a name="linknote-30" id="linknote-30">
+      <!-- Note --></a>
+    </p>
+    <p class="foot">
+      30 (<a href="#linknoteref-30">return</a>)<br /> [ page 76.&mdash;<i>A steed
+      marked on its forehead with a star.</i> The sacred steed of Solorhon.]
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      <a name="linknote-31" id="linknote-31">
+      <!-- Note --></a>
+    </p>
+    <p class="foot">
+      31 (<a href="#linknoteref-31">return</a>)<br /> [ page 78.&mdash;<i>Instead
+      of water, each basin was replenished with the purest quicksilver.</i> &lsquo;In
+      a lofty pavilion of the gardens, one of those basins and fountains so
+      delightful in a sultry climate, was replenished, not with water, but with
+      the purest quicksilver.&rsquo; &mdash;<i>Gibbon</i>, vol. x, from Cardonne.]
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      <a name="linknote-32" id="linknote-32">
+      <!-- Note --></a>
+    </p>
+    <p class="foot">
+      32 (<a href="#linknoteref-32">return</a>)<br /> [ page 78.-<i>Playing with
+      a rosary of pearls and emeralds</i>. Moslems of rank are never without the
+      rosary, sometimes of amber and rare woods, sometimes of jewels. The most
+      esteemed is of that peculiar substance called Mecca wood.]
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      <a name="linknote-33" id="linknote-33">
+      <!-- Note --></a>
+    </p>
+    <p class="foot">
+      33 (<a href="#linknoteref-33">return</a>)<br /> [ page 78.&mdash;<i>The
+      diamond hilt of a small poniard.</i> The insignia of a royal female.]
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      <a name="linknote-34" id="linknote-34">
+      <!-- Note --></a>
+    </p>
+    <p class="foot">
+      34 (<a href="#linknoteref-34">return</a>)<br /> [ page 83.&mdash;<i>You
+      have been at Paris</i>. Paris was known to the Orientals at this time as a
+      city of considerable luxury and importance. The Embassy from Haroun
+      Alraschid to Charlemagne, at an earlier date, is of course recollected.]
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      <a name="linknote-35" id="linknote-35">
+      <!-- Note --></a>
+    </p>
+    <p class="foot">
+      35 (<a href="#linknoteref-35">return</a>)<br /> [ page 90.&mdash;<i>At
+      length beheld the lost capital of his fathers.</i> The finest view of
+      Jerusalem is from the Mount of Olives. It is little altered since the
+      period when David Alroy is supposed to have gazed upon it, but it is
+      enriched by the splendid Mosque of Omar, built by the Moslem conquerors on
+      the supposed site of the temple, and which, with its gardens, and arcades,
+      and courts, and fountains, may fairly be described as the most imposing of
+      Moslem fanes. I endeavoured to enter it at the hazard of my life. I was
+      detected, and surrounded by a crowd of turbaned fanatics, and escaped with
+      difficulty; but I saw enough to feel that minute inspection would not
+      belie the general character I formed of it from the Mount of Olives. I
+      caught a glorious glimpse of splendid courts, and light aify gates of
+      Saracenic triumph, flights of noble steps, long arcades, and interior
+      gardens, where silver fountains spouted their tall streams amid the taller
+      cypresses.]
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      <a name="linknote-36" id="linknote-36">
+      <!-- Note --></a>
+    </p>
+    <p class="foot">
+      36 (<a href="#linknoteref-36">return</a>)<br /> [ page 91.&mdash;<i>Entered
+      Jerusalem by the gate of Zion</i>. The gate of Zion still remains, and
+      from it you descend into the valley of Siloah.]
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      <a name="linknote-37" id="linknote-37">
+      <!-- Note --></a>
+    </p>
+    <p class="foot">
+      37 (<a href="#linknoteref-37">return</a>)<br /> [ page 94.-<i> King
+      Pirgandicus.</i> According to a Talmudical story, however, of which I find
+      a note, this monarch was not a Hebrew but a Gentile, and a very wicked
+      one. He once invited eleven famous doctors of the holy nation to supper.
+      They were received in the most magnificent style, and were then invited,
+      under pain of death, either to eat pork, to accept a pagan mistress, or to
+      drink wine consecrated to idols. After long consultation, the doctors, in
+      great tribulation, agreed to save their heads by accepting the last
+      alternative, since the first and second were forbidden by Moses, and the
+      last only by the Rabbins. The King assented, the doctors drank the impure
+      wine, and, as it was exceedingly good, drank freely. The wine, as will
+      sometimes happen, created a terrible appetite; the table was covered with
+      dishes, and the doctors, heated by the grape, were not sufficiently
+      careful of what they partook. In short, the wicked King Pirgandicus
+      contrived that they should sup off pork, and being carried from the table
+      quite tipsy, each of the eleven had the mortification of finding himself
+      next morning in the arms of a pagan mistress. In the course of the year
+      all the eleven died sudden deaths, and this visitation occurred to them,
+      not because they had violated the law of Moses, but because they believed
+      that the precepts of the Rabbins could be outraged with more impunity than
+      the Word of God.]
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      <a name="linknote-38" id="linknote-38">
+      <!-- Note --></a>
+    </p>
+    <p class="foot">
+      38 (<a href="#linknoteref-38">return</a>)<br /> [ page 94.&mdash;<i>And
+      conquered Julius Cæsar.</i> This classic hero often figures in the erratic
+      pages of the Talmud.]
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      <a name="linknote-39" id="linknote-39">
+      <!-- Note --></a>
+    </p>
+    <p class="foot">
+      39 (<a href="#linknoteref-39">return</a>)<br /> [ page 94.&mdash;<i>The
+      Tombs of the Kings.</i> The present pilgrim to Jerusalem will have less
+      trouble than Alroy in discovering the Tombs of the Kings, though he
+      probably would not as easily obtain the sceptre of Solomon. The tombs that
+      bear this title are of the time of the Asmonean princes, and of a more
+      ambitious character than any other of the remains. An open court, about
+      fifty feet in breadth, and extremely deep, is excavated out of the rock.
+      One side is formed by a portico, the frieze of which is sculptured in a
+      good Syro-Greek style. There is no grand portal; you crawl into the tombs
+      by a small opening on one of the sides. There are a few small chambers
+      with niches, recesses, and sarcophagi, some sculptured in the same flowing
+      style as the frieze. This is the most important monument at Jerusalem; and
+      Dr. Clarke, who has lavished wonder and admiration on the tombs of
+      Zachariah and Absalom, has declared the Tombs of the Kings to be one of
+      the marvellous productions of antiquity.]
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      <a name="linknote-40" id="linknote-40">
+      <!-- Note --></a>
+    </p>
+    <p class="foot">
+      40 (<a href="#linknoteref-40">return</a>)<br /> [ Page 95.&mdash;&lsquo;<i>Rabbi
+      Hillel</i> was one of the most celebrated among the Jewish Doctors, both
+      for birth, learning, rule, and children. He was of the seed of David by
+      his mother&rsquo;s side, being of the posterity of Shephatiah, the son of
+      Abital, David&rsquo;s wife. He was brought up in Babel, from whence he came up
+      to Jerusalem at forty years old, and there studied the law forty years
+      more under Shemaiah and Abtalion, and after them he was President of the
+      Sanhedrim forty years more. The beginning of his Presidency is generally
+      conceded upon to have been just one hundred &lsquo;years before the Temple was
+      destroyed; by which account he began eight-and-twenty years before our
+      Saviour was born, and died when he was about twelve years old. He is
+      renowned for his fourscore scholars.&rsquo;&mdash;<i>Lightfoot,</i> vol. ii. p.
+      2008.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      The great rival of Hillel was Shammai. Their controversies, and the
+      fierceness of their partisans, are a principal feature of Rabbinical
+      history. They were the same as the Scotists and Thomists. At last the Bath
+      Kol interfered, and decided for Hillel, but in a spirit of conciliatory
+      dexterity. The Bath Kol came forth and spake thus: &lsquo;The words both of the
+      one party and the other are the words of the living God, but the certain
+      decision of the matter is according to the decrees of the school of
+      Hillel. And henceforth, whoever shall transgress the decrees of the school
+      of Hillel is punishable with death.&lsquo;]
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      <a name="linknote-41" id="linknote-41">
+      <!-- Note --></a>
+    </p>
+    <p class="foot">
+      41 (<a href="#linknoteref-41">return</a>)<br /> [ page 97.&mdash;<i>A
+      number of small, square, low chambers.</i> These excavated cemeteries,
+      which abound in Palestine and Egypt, were often converted into places of
+      worship by the Jews and early Christians. Sandys thus describes the
+      Synagogue at Jerusalem in his time.]
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      <a name="linknote-42" id="linknote-42">
+      <!-- Note --></a>
+    </p>
+    <p class="foot">
+      42 (<a href="#linknoteref-42">return</a>)<br /> [ page 08.&mdash;<i>Their
+      heads mystically covered.</i> The Hebrews cover their heads during their
+      prayers with a sacred shawl.]
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      <a name="linknote-43" id="linknote-43">
+      <!-- Note --></a>
+    </p>
+    <p class="foot">
+      43 (<a href="#linknoteref-43">return</a>)<br /> [ page 98.&mdash;<i>Expounded
+      the law to the congregation of the people.</i> The custom, I believe, even
+      to the present day, among the Hebrews, a remnant of their old academies,
+      once so famous.]
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      <a name="linknote-44" id="linknote-44">
+      <!-- Note --></a>
+    </p>
+    <p class="foot">
+      44 (<a href="#linknoteref-44">return</a>)<br /> [ page 99.&mdash;<i>The
+      Valley of Jehoshaphat and the Tomb of Absalom.</i> In the Vale of
+      Jehoshaphat, among many other tombs, are two of considerable size, and
+      which, although of a corrupt Grecian architecture, are dignified by the
+      titles of the tombs of Zachariah and Absalom.]
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      <a name="linknote-45" id="linknote-45">
+      <!-- Note --></a>
+    </p>
+    <p class="foot">
+      45 (<a href="#linknoteref-45">return</a>)<br /> [ page 101.&mdash;<i>The
+      scanty rill of Siloah.</i> The sublime Siloah is now a muddy rill; you
+      descend by steps to the fountain which is its source, and which is covered
+      with an arch. Here the blind man received his sight; and, singular enough,
+      to this very day the healing reputation of its waters prevails, and
+      summons to its brink all those neighbouring Arabs who suffer from the
+      ophthalmic affections not uncommon in this part of the world.]
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      <a name="linknote-46" id="linknote-46">
+      <!-- Note --></a>
+    </p>
+    <p class="foot">
+      46 (<a href="#linknoteref-46">return</a>)<br /> [ page 102.&mdash;<i>Several
+      isolated tombs of considerable size</i>. There are no remains of ancient
+      Jerusalem, or the ancient Jews. Some tombs there are which may be ascribed
+      to the Asmonean princes; but all the monuments of David, Solomon, and
+      their long posterity, have utterly disappeared.]
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      <a name="linknote-47" id="linknote-47">
+      <!-- Note --></a>
+    </p>
+    <p class="foot">
+      47 (<a href="#linknoteref-47">return</a>)<br /> [ page 103.&mdash;<i>Are
+      cut strange characters and unearthly forms</i>. As at Benihassan, and many
+      other of the sculptured catacombs of Egypt.]
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      <a name="linknote-48" id="linknote-48">
+      <!-- Note --></a>
+    </p>
+    <p class="foot">
+      48 (<a href="#linknoteref-48">return</a>)<br /> [ page 104.&mdash;<i>A
+      crowd of bats rushed forward and extinguished his torch.</i> In entering
+      the Temple of Dendara, our torches were extinguished by a crowd of bats.]
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      <a name="linknote-49" id="linknote-49">
+      <!-- Note --></a>
+    </p>
+    <p class="foot">
+      49 (<a href="#linknoteref-49">return</a>)<br /> [ page 104.&mdash;<i>The
+      gallery was of great extent, with a gradual declination.</i> So in the
+      great Egyptian tombs.]
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      <a name="linknote-50" id="linknote-50">
+      <!-- Note --></a>
+    </p>
+    <p class="foot">
+      50 (<a href="#linknoteref-50">return</a>)<br /> [ page 105.&mdash;<i>The
+      Afrite, for it was one of those dread beings.</i> Beings of a monstrous
+      form, the most terrible of all the orders of the Dives.]
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      <a name="linknote-51" id="linknote-51">
+      <!-- Note --></a>
+    </p>
+    <p class="foot">
+      51 (<a href="#linknoteref-51">return</a>)<br /> [ page 106.&mdash;<i>An
+      avenue of colossal lions of red granite.</i> An avenue of Sphinxes more
+      than a mile in length connected the quarters of Luxoor and Carnak in
+      Egyptian Thebes. Its fragments remain. Many other avenues of Sphinxes and
+      lion-headed Kings may be observed in various parts of Upper Egypt.]
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      <a name="linknote-52" id="linknote-52">
+      <!-- Note --></a>
+    </p>
+    <p class="foot">
+      52 (<a href="#linknoteref-52">return</a>)<br /> [ page 107.&mdash;<i>A
+      stupendous portal, cut out of the solid rock, four hundred feet in height,
+      and supported by clusters of colossal Caryatides.</i> See the great rock
+      temple of Ipsambul in Lower Nubia. The sitting colossi are nearly seventy
+      feet in height. But there is a Torso of a statue of Rameses the Second at
+      Thebes, vulgarly called the great Memnon, which measures upwards of sixty
+      feet round the shoulders.]
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      <a name="linknote-53" id="linknote-53">
+      <!-- Note --></a>
+    </p>
+    <p class="foot">
+      53 (<a href="#linknoteref-53">return</a>)<br /> [ page 109.&mdash;<i>Fifty
+      steps of ivory, and each step guarded by golden lions.</i> See 1st Kings,
+      chap. x. 18-20.]
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      <a name="linknote-54" id="linknote-54">
+      <!-- Note --></a>
+    </p>
+    <p class="foot">
+      54 (<a href="#linknoteref-54">return</a>)<br /> [ page 120.&mdash;<i>Crossed
+      the desert on a swift dromedary</i>. The difference between a camel and a
+      dromedary is the difference between a hack and a thorough-bred horse.
+      There is no other.]
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      <a name="linknote-55" id="linknote-55">
+      <!-- Note --></a>
+    </p>
+    <p class="foot">
+      55 (<a href="#linknoteref-55">return</a>)<br /> [ page 121.&mdash;<i>That
+      celestial alphabet known to the true Cabalist</i>. See Note 11.]
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      <a name="linknote-56" id="linknote-56">
+      <!-- Note --></a>
+    </p>
+    <p class="foot">
+      56 (<a href="#linknoteref-56">return</a>)<br /> [ page 133.&mdash;<i>The
+      last of the Seljuks had expired.</i> The Orientals are famous for their
+      massacres: that of the Mamlouks by the present Pacha of Egypt, and of the
+      Janissaries of the Sultan, are notorious. But one of the most terrible,
+      and effected under the most difficult and dangerous circumstances, was the
+      massacre of the Albanian Beys by the Grand Vizir, in the autumn of 1830. I
+      was in Albania at the time.]
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      <a name="linknote-57" id="linknote-57">
+      <!-- Note --></a>
+    </p>
+    <p class="foot">
+      57 (<a href="#linknoteref-57">return</a>)<br /> [ page 136.&mdash;<i> The
+      minarets were illumined.</i> So, I remember, at Constantinople, at the
+      commencement of 1831 at the departure of the Mecca caravan, and also at
+      the annual fast of Ramadan.]
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      <a name="linknote-58" id="linknote-58">
+      <!-- Note --></a>
+    </p>
+    <p class="foot">
+      58 (<a href="#linknoteref-58">return</a>)<br /> [ page 138.&mdash;<i>One
+      asking alms with a wire run through his cheek.</i> Not uncommon. These
+      Dervishes frequent the bazaars.]
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      <a name="linknote-59" id="linknote-59">
+      <!-- Note --></a>
+    </p>
+    <p class="foot">
+      59 (<a href="#linknoteref-59">return</a>)<br /> [ page 142.&mdash;<i>One
+      hundred thousand warriors were now assembled.</i> In countries where the
+      whole population is armed, a vast military force is soon assembled.
+      Barchochebas was speedily at the head of two hundred thousand fighting
+      men, and held the Romans long in check under one of their most powerful
+      emperors.]
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      <a name="linknote-60" id="linknote-60">
+      <!-- Note --></a>
+    </p>
+    <p class="foot">
+      60 (<a href="#linknoteref-60">return</a>)<br /> [ page 143.&mdash;<i>Some
+      high-capped Tatar with despatches.</i> I have availed myself of a familiar
+      character in Oriental life, but the use of a Tatar as a courier in the
+      time of Alroy is, I fear, an anachronism.]
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      <a name="linknote-61" id="linknote-61">
+      <!-- Note --></a>
+    </p>
+    <p class="foot">
+      61 (<a href="#linknoteref-61">return</a>)<br /> [ page 144.&mdash;<i>Each
+      day some warlike Atabek, at the head of his armed train, poured into the
+      capital of the caliphs.</i> I was at Yanina, the capital of Albania, when
+      the Grand Vizir summoned the chieftains of the country, and I was struck
+      by their magnificent arrays each day pouring into the city.]
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      <a name="linknote-62" id="linknote-62">
+      <!-- Note --></a>
+    </p>
+    <p class="foot">
+      62 (<a href="#linknoteref-62">return</a>)<br /> [ page 153.&mdash;<i>It is
+      the Sabbath etc</i>. &lsquo;They began their Sabbath from sunset, and the same
+      time of day they ended it.&rsquo;&mdash;Talm. Hierosolym. in <i>Sheveith</i>,
+      fol. 33, col. I. The eve of the Sabbath, or the day before, was called the
+      day of the preparation for the Sabbath.&mdash;Luke xxiii. 54.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;And from the time of the evening sacrifice and forward, they began to fit
+      themselves for the Sabbath, and to cease from their works, so as not to go
+      to the barber, not to sit in judgment, &amp;c.; nay, thenceforward they
+      would not set things on working, which, being set a-work, would complete
+      their business of themselves, unless it would be completed before the
+      Sabbath came&mdash;<i>as wool was not put to dye, unless it could take
+      colour while it was yet day! &amp;c.</i>&mdash;Talm. in Sab., par. I;
+      Lightfoot, vol. i. p. 218.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Towards sunsetting, when the Sabbath was now approaching, they lighted up
+      the Sabbath lamp. Men and women were bound to have a lamp lighted up in
+      their houses on the Sabbath, though they were never so poor&mdash;nay,
+      though they were forced to go a-begging for oil for this purpose; and the
+      lighting up of this lamp was a part of making the Sabbath a delight; and
+      women were especially commanded to look to this business.&rsquo;&mdash;Maimonides
+      in Sab. par. 36.]
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      <a name="linknote-63" id="linknote-63">
+      <!-- Note --></a>
+    </p>
+    <p class="foot">
+      63 (<a href="#linknoteref-63">return</a>)<br /> [ page 156.&mdash;<i>The
+      presence of the robes of honour</i>. These are ever carried in procession,
+      and their number denotes the rank and quality of the chief, or of the
+      individual to whom they are offered.]
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      <a name="linknote-64" id="linknote-64">
+      <!-- Note --></a>
+    </p>
+    <p class="foot">
+      64 (<a href="#linknoteref-64">return</a>)<br /> [ page 158.&mdash;<i>Pressed
+      it to his lips, and placed it in his vest.</i> The elegant mode in which
+      the Orientals receive presents.]
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      <a name="linknote-65" id="linknote-65">
+      <!-- Note --></a>
+    </p>
+    <p class="foot">
+      65 (<a href="#linknoteref-65">return</a>)<br /> [ page 164.&mdash;A cap of
+      transparent pink porcelain, studded with pearls. Thus a great Turk, who
+      afforded me hospitality, was accustomed to drink his coffee.]
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      <a name="linknote-66" id="linknote-66">
+      <!-- Note --></a>
+    </p>
+    <p class="foot">
+      66 (<a href="#linknoteref-66">return</a>)<br /> [ page 168.&mdash;<i>Slippers
+      powdered with pearls</i>. The slippers in the East form a very fanciful
+      portion of the costume. It is not uncommon to see them thus adorned and
+      beautifully embroidered. In precious embroidery and enamelling the Turkish
+      artists are unrivalled.]
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      <a name="linknote-67" id="linknote-67">
+      <!-- Note --></a>
+    </p>
+    <p class="foot">
+      67 (<a href="#linknoteref-67">return</a>)<br /> [ page 185.&mdash;<i>The
+      policy of the son of Kareah. Vide</i> Jeremiah, chap. xlii.]
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      <a name="linknote-68" id="linknote-68">
+      <!-- Note --></a>
+    </p>
+    <p class="foot">
+      68 (<a href="#linknoteref-68">return</a>)<br /> [ page 191.&mdash;<i>The
+      inviting gestures and the voluptuous grace of the dancing girls of Egypt.</i>
+      A sculptor might find fine studies in the Egyptian Almeh.]
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      <a name="linknote-69" id="linknote-69">
+      <!-- Note --></a>
+    </p>
+    <p class="foot">
+      69 (<a href="#linknoteref-69">return</a>)<br /> [ page 194.&mdash;<i>Six
+      choice steeds sumptuously caparisoned.</i> Led horses always precede a
+      great man. I think there were usually twelve before the Sultan when he
+      went to Mosque, which he did in public every Friday.]
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      <a name="linknote-70" id="linknote-70">
+      <!-- Note --></a>
+    </p>
+    <p class="foot">
+      70 (<a href="#linknoteref-70">return</a>)<br /> [ page 194.&mdash;<i>Six
+      Damascus sabres of unrivalled temper.</i> But sabres are not to be found
+      at Damascus, any more than cheeses at Stilton, or oranges at Malta. The
+      art of watering the blade is, however, practised, I believe, in Persia. A
+      fine Damascus blade will fetch fifty or even one hundred guineas English.]
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      <a name="linknote-71" id="linknote-71">
+      <!-- Note --></a>
+    </p>
+    <p class="foot">
+      71 (<a href="#linknoteref-71">return</a>)<br /> [ page 195.&mdash;<i>Roses
+      from Rocnabad</i>. A river in Persia famous for its bowery banks of
+      roses.]
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      <a name="linknote-72" id="linknote-72">
+      <!-- Note --></a>
+    </p>
+    <p class="foot">
+      72 (<a href="#linknoteref-72">return</a>)<br /> [ page 195.&mdash;<i>Screens
+      made of the feather of a roc.</i> The screens and fans in the East, made
+      of the plumage of rare birds with jewelled handles, are very gorgeous.]
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      <a name="linknote-73" id="linknote-73">
+      <!-- Note --></a>
+    </p>
+    <p class="foot">
+      73 (<a href="#linknoteref-73">return</a>)<br /> [ page 196.&mdash;<i>A
+      tremulous aigrette of brilliants.</i> Worn only by persons of the highest
+      rank. The Sultan presented Lord Nelson after the battle of the Nile with
+      an aigrette of diamonds.]
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      <a name="linknote-74" id="linknote-74">
+      <!-- Note --></a>
+    </p>
+    <p class="foot">
+      74 (<a href="#linknoteref-74">return</a>)<br /> [ page 211.&mdash;<i> To
+      send him the whole of the next course.</i> These compliments from the
+      tables of the great are not uncommon in the East. When at the
+      head-quarters of the Grand Vizir at Yanina, his Highness sent to myself
+      and my travelling companions a course from his table, singers and dancing
+      girls.]
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      <a name="linknote-75" id="linknote-75">
+      <!-- Note --></a>
+    </p>
+    <p class="foot">
+      75 (<a href="#linknoteref-75">return</a>)<br /> [ page 212.&mdash;<i>The
+      golden wine of Mount Lebanon</i>. A most delicious wine, from its colour,
+      brilliancy, and rare flavour, justly meriting this title, is made on
+      Lebanon; but it will not, unfortunately, bear exportation, and even
+      materially suffers in the voyage from the coast to Alexandria.]
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      <a name="linknote-76" id="linknote-76">
+      <!-- Note --></a>
+    </p>
+    <p class="foot">
+      76 (<a href="#linknoteref-76">return</a>)<br /> [ page 221.&mdash;<i>And
+      the company of gardeners</i>. These gardeners of the Serail form a very
+      efficient body of police.]
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      <a name="linknote-77" id="linknote-77">
+      <!-- Note --></a>
+    </p>
+    <p class="foot">
+      77 (<a href="#linknoteref-77">return</a>)<br /> [ page 226.&mdash;Alroy
+      retired to the bath. The bath is a principal scene of Oriental life. Here
+      the Asiatics pass a great portion of their day. The bath consists of a
+      long suite of chambers of various temperatures, in which the different
+      processes of the elaborate ceremony are performed.]
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      <a name="linknote-78" id="linknote-78">
+      <!-- Note --></a>
+    </p>
+    <p class="foot">
+      78 (<a href="#linknoteref-78">return</a>)<br /> [ page 232.&mdash;<i>We are
+      the watchers of the moon.</i> The feast of the New Moon is one of the most
+      important festivals of the Hebrews. &lsquo;Our year,&rsquo; says the learned author of
+      the &lsquo;Rites and Ceremonies,&rsquo; &lsquo;is divided into twelve lunar months, some of
+      which consist of twenty-nine, others of thirty days, which difference is
+      occasioned by the various appearance of the new moon, in point of time:
+      for if it appeared on the 30th day, the 29th was the last day of the
+      precedent month; but if it did not appear till the 31st day, the 30th was
+      the last day, and the 31st the first of the subsequent month; and that was
+      an intercalary moon, of all which take the following account.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Our nation heretofore, not only observing the rules of some fixed
+      calculation, also celebrated the feast of the New Moon, according to the
+      phasis or first appearance of the moon, which was done in compliance with
+      God&rsquo;s command, as our received traditions inform us.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Hence it came to pass that the first appearance was not to be determined
+      only by rules of art, but also by the testimony of such persons as deposed
+      before the Sanhedrim, or Great Senate, that they had seen the New Moon. So
+      a committee of three were appointed from among the said Sanhedrim to
+      receive the deposition of the parties aforesaid, who, after having
+      calculated what time the moon might possibly appear, despatched some
+      persons <i>into high and mountainous places, to observe and give their
+      evidence accordingly, concerning the first appearance of the moon.</i>
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;As soon as the new moon was either consecrated or appointed to be
+      observed, notice was given by the Sanhedrim to the rest of the nation what
+      day had been fixed for the New Moon, or first day of the month, because
+      that was to be the rule and measure according to which they were obliged
+      to keep their feasts and fasts in every month respectively.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;This notice was given to them in time of peace, <i>by firing of beacons,
+      set up for that purpose,</i> which was looked upon as the readiest way of
+      communication, but, in time of war, when all places were full of enemies,
+      who made use of beacons to amuse our nation with, it was thought fit to
+      discontinue it.&lsquo;]
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      <a name="linknote-79" id="linknote-79">
+      <!-- Note --></a>
+    </p>
+    <p class="foot">
+      79 (<a href="#linknoteref-79">return</a>)<br /> [ page 263.&mdash;<i>The
+      women chatted at the fountain</i>. The bath and the fountain are the
+      favourite scenes of feminine conversation.]
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      <a name="linknote-80" id="linknote-80">
+      <!-- Note --></a>
+    </p>
+    <p class="foot">
+      80 (<a href="#linknoteref-80">return</a>)<br /> [ page 264.&mdash;<i>Playing
+      chess.</i> On the walls of the palace of Amenoph the Second, called
+      Medeenet Abuh, at Egyptian Thebes, the King is represented playing chess
+      with the Queen. This monarch reigned long before the Trojan war.]
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      <a name="linknote-81" id="linknote-81">
+      <!-- Note --></a>
+    </p>
+    <p class="foot">
+      81 (<a href="#linknoteref-81">return</a>)<br /> [ page 272.&mdash;<i>Impaled.</i>
+      A friend of mine witnessed this horrible punishment in Upper Egypt. The
+      victim was a man who had secretly murdered nine persons. He held an
+      official post, and invited travellers and pilgrims to his house, whom he
+      regularly disposed of and plundered. I regret that I have mislaid his MS.
+      account of the ceremony.]
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      <a name="linknote-82" id="linknote-82">
+      <!-- Note --></a>
+    </p>
+    <p class="foot">
+      82 (<a href="#linknoteref-82">return</a>)<br /> [ page 299.&mdash;In the <i>Germen
+      Davidis of Gants</i>, translated into Latin by Vorstius, Lug. 1654, is an
+      extract from a Hebrew MS. containing an account of Alroy. I subjoin a
+      translation of a passage respecting his death.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      R. Maimonides deposes: That the Sultan asked him whether he were the
+      Messiah, and that he answered him, &ldquo;I am&rdquo;; and that then the monarch
+      inquired of him what sign he had. To this he replied that they might cut
+      off his head and that he would return to life. Then the King commanded
+      that his head should be cut off, and he died, having said previously to
+      the monarch that the latter should not lack in his life the most grievous
+      torments.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Seven years before the incident quoted above, the Israelites had serious
+      troubles on account of a son of Belial who called himself the Messiah, so
+      that the tetrarch and the princes were justly incensed against the Jews,
+      to such an extent, indeed, that they sent to the latter to inquire whether
+      they desired the reign of the Messiah. The name of this accursed troubler
+      was David El-David, <i>alias</i> Alroy, who hailed from the city of
+      Omadia, where were gathered about a thousand rich, honest, happy and
+      decently-living families, whose tabernacle was the principal resort of
+      those that dwelt in the neighbourhood of the river Sabbathion; and around
+      them were gathered more than a hundred minor tabernacles.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      This city was on the border of the region of Media, and the dialect used
+      there was the Targum. Thence to the region of Golan is a journey of fifty
+      days. It is under the rule of Persia, to which it pays a heavy tribute
+      every fifteen years, and one golden talent in addition. Moreover, this man
+      David El-David was educated under the Prince of the Chaldean captivity, in
+      the care of the eminent Scholiarch, in the city of Bagdad, who was
+      preeminently wise in the Talmud and in all foreign sciences, as well as in
+      all books of divination, magic, and Chaldean lore; This David El-David,
+      out of the boldness and arrogance of his heart, lifted his hand against
+      the ruling powers, and collected those Jews who dwelt in the neighbourhood
+      of Mount Chophtan, seducing them to follow him into battle against all the
+      neighbouring peoples. He showed them signs-of what value they knew not:
+      there were men, indeed, who supported him on account of his magic art and
+      of certain things to be done; others said that his great power came from
+      the hand of God. Those who flocked to him called him the Messiah, lauding
+      and extolling him.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      In another epoch of Persian history a certain Jew arose, calling himself
+      the Messiah, and prospered greatly. A large part of the Israelitish
+      population believed in him. But when the King indeed heard of all this
+      pretender&rsquo;s power, and that he proposed to join battle with him, he sent
+      to the Jews who lived thereabouts and notified them that unless they
+      deserted this man, and came oui; from all association with him, they
+      certainly should be slain, every one of them, with the sword, and
+      afterward the children and the women should perish. Then the whole
+      population of Israel assembled, and argued with this man, and threw
+      themselves down before him on the ground, strongly supplicating him, with
+      clamour and tears, to depart from them. Why, indeed, should he put them
+      and others in danger? Had not the King already sworn that they should
+      perish by the sword, and wherefore should he bring affliction upon all the
+      Jewish inhabitants of Persia? Responding, he said: &ldquo;I have come to serve
+      you, and ye will not have me. Whom do ye fear? Who dares stand in front of
+      me, and what doth this Persian King that he dare not oppose me and my
+      sword?&rdquo; The Jews asked him what sign he had that he was the Messiah. He
+      answered: &ldquo;My mission prospers: the Messiah needs no other sign.&rdquo; They
+      answered that many had acted likewise, and that none had reached success.
+      Then he drove them forth from his face with superb indignation.]
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      <br /> <br />
+    </p>
+<pre xml:space="preserve">
+
+
+
+
+
+End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of Alroy, by Benjamin Disraeli
+
+*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK ALROY ***
+
+***** This file should be named 20002-h.htm or 20002-h.zip *****
+This and all associated files of various formats will be found in:
+        http://www.gutenberg.org/2/0/0/0/20002/
+
+Produced by David Widger
+
+Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions
+will be renamed.
+
+Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no
+one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation
+(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without
+permission and without paying copyright royalties.  Special rules,
+set forth in the General Terms of Use part of this license, apply to
+copying and distributing Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works to
+protect the PROJECT GUTENBERG-tm concept and trademark.  Project
+Gutenberg is a registered trademark, and may not be used if you
+charge for the eBooks, unless you receive specific permission.  If you
+do not charge anything for copies of this eBook, complying with the
+rules is very easy.  You may use this eBook for nearly any purpose
+such as creation of derivative works, reports, performances and
+research.  They may be modified and printed and given away--you may do
+practically ANYTHING with public domain eBooks.  Redistribution is
+subject to the trademark license, especially commercial
+redistribution.
+
+
+
+*** START: FULL LICENSE ***
+
+THE FULL PROJECT GUTENBERG LICENSE
+PLEASE READ THIS BEFORE YOU DISTRIBUTE OR USE THIS WORK
+
+To protect the Project Gutenberg-tm mission of promoting the free
+distribution of electronic works, by using or distributing this work
+(or any other work associated in any way with the phrase &ldquo;Project
+Gutenberg&rdquo;), you agree to comply with all the terms of the Full Project
+Gutenberg-tm License (available with this file or online at
+http://gutenberg.org/license).
+
+
+Section 1.  General Terms of Use and Redistributing Project Gutenberg-tm
+electronic works
+
+1.A.  By reading or using any part of this Project Gutenberg-tm
+electronic work, you indicate that you have read, understand, agree to
+and accept all the terms of this license and intellectual property
+(trademark/copyright) agreement.  If you do not agree to abide by all
+the terms of this agreement, you must cease using and return or destroy
+all copies of Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works in your possession.
+If you paid a fee for obtaining a copy of or access to a Project
+Gutenberg-tm electronic work and you do not agree to be bound by the
+terms of this agreement, you may obtain a refund from the person or
+entity to whom you paid the fee as set forth in paragraph 1.E.8.
+
+1.B.  &ldquo;Project Gutenberg&rdquo; is a registered trademark.  It may only be
+used on or associated in any way with an electronic work by people who
+agree to be bound by the terms of this agreement.  There are a few
+things that you can do with most Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works
+even without complying with the full terms of this agreement.  See
+paragraph 1.C below.  There are a lot of things you can do with Project
+Gutenberg-tm electronic works if you follow the terms of this agreement
+and help preserve free future access to Project Gutenberg-tm electronic
+works.  See paragraph 1.E below.
+
+1.C.  The Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation (&ldquo;the Foundation&rdquo;
+ or PGLAF), owns a compilation copyright in the collection of Project
+Gutenberg-tm electronic works.  Nearly all the individual works in the
+collection are in the public domain in the United States.  If an
+individual work is in the public domain in the United States and you are
+located in the United States, we do not claim a right to prevent you from
+copying, distributing, performing, displaying or creating derivative
+works based on the work as long as all references to Project Gutenberg
+are removed.  Of course, we hope that you will support the Project
+Gutenberg-tm mission of promoting free access to electronic works by
+freely sharing Project Gutenberg-tm works in compliance with the terms of
+this agreement for keeping the Project Gutenberg-tm name associated with
+the work.  You can easily comply with the terms of this agreement by
+keeping this work in the same format with its attached full Project
+Gutenberg-tm License when you share it without charge with others.
+
+1.D.  The copyright laws of the place where you are located also govern
+what you can do with this work.  Copyright laws in most countries are in
+a constant state of change.  If you are outside the United States, check
+the laws of your country in addition to the terms of this agreement
+before downloading, copying, displaying, performing, distributing or
+creating derivative works based on this work or any other Project
+Gutenberg-tm work.  The Foundation makes no representations concerning
+the copyright status of any work in any country outside the United
+States.
+
+1.E.  Unless you have removed all references to Project Gutenberg:
+
+1.E.1.  The following sentence, with active links to, or other immediate
+access to, the full Project Gutenberg-tm License must appear prominently
+whenever any copy of a Project Gutenberg-tm work (any work on which the
+phrase &ldquo;Project Gutenberg&rdquo; appears, or with which the phrase &ldquo;Project
+Gutenberg&rdquo; is associated) is accessed, displayed, performed, viewed,
+copied or distributed:
+
+This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with
+almost no restrictions whatsoever.  You may copy it, give it away or
+re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included
+with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org
+
+1.E.2.  If an individual Project Gutenberg-tm electronic work is derived
+from the public domain (does not contain a notice indicating that it is
+posted with permission of the copyright holder), the work can be copied
+and distributed to anyone in the United States without paying any fees
+or charges.  If you are redistributing or providing access to a work
+with the phrase &ldquo;Project Gutenberg&rdquo; associated with or appearing on the
+work, you must comply either with the requirements of paragraphs 1.E.1
+through 1.E.7 or obtain permission for the use of the work and the
+Project Gutenberg-tm trademark as set forth in paragraphs 1.E.8 or
+1.E.9.
+
+1.E.3.  If an individual Project Gutenberg-tm electronic work is posted
+with the permission of the copyright holder, your use and distribution
+must comply with both paragraphs 1.E.1 through 1.E.7 and any additional
+terms imposed by the copyright holder.  Additional terms will be linked
+to the Project Gutenberg-tm License for all works posted with the
+permission of the copyright holder found at the beginning of this work.
+
+1.E.4.  Do not unlink or detach or remove the full Project Gutenberg-tm
+License terms from this work, or any files containing a part of this
+work or any other work associated with Project Gutenberg-tm.
+
+1.E.5.  Do not copy, display, perform, distribute or redistribute this
+electronic work, or any part of this electronic work, without
+prominently displaying the sentence set forth in paragraph 1.E.1 with
+active links or immediate access to the full terms of the Project
+Gutenberg-tm License.
+
+1.E.6.  You may convert to and distribute this work in any binary,
+compressed, marked up, nonproprietary or proprietary form, including any
+word processing or hypertext form.  However, if you provide access to or
+distribute copies of a Project Gutenberg-tm work in a format other than
+&ldquo;Plain Vanilla ASCII&rdquo; or other format used in the official version
+posted on the official Project Gutenberg-tm web site (www.gutenberg.org),
+you must, at no additional cost, fee or expense to the user, provide a
+copy, a means of exporting a copy, or a means of obtaining a copy upon
+request, of the work in its original &ldquo;Plain Vanilla ASCII&rdquo; or other
+form.  Any alternate format must include the full Project Gutenberg-tm
+License as specified in paragraph 1.E.1.
+
+1.E.7.  Do not charge a fee for access to, viewing, displaying,
+performing, copying or distributing any Project Gutenberg-tm works
+unless you comply with paragraph 1.E.8 or 1.E.9.
+
+1.E.8.  You may charge a reasonable fee for copies of or providing
+access to or distributing Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works provided
+that
+
+- You pay a royalty fee of 20% of the gross profits you derive from
+     the use of Project Gutenberg-tm works calculated using the method
+     you already use to calculate your applicable taxes.  The fee is
+     owed to the owner of the Project Gutenberg-tm trademark, but he
+     has agreed to donate royalties under this paragraph to the
+     Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation.  Royalty payments
+     must be paid within 60 days following each date on which you
+     prepare (or are legally required to prepare) your periodic tax
+     returns.  Royalty payments should be clearly marked as such and
+     sent to the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation at the
+     address specified in Section 4, &ldquo;Information about donations to
+     the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation.&rdquo;
+
+- You provide a full refund of any money paid by a user who notifies
+     you in writing (or by e-mail) within 30 days of receipt that s/he
+     does not agree to the terms of the full Project Gutenberg-tm
+     License.  You must require such a user to return or
+     destroy all copies of the works possessed in a physical medium
+     and discontinue all use of and all access to other copies of
+     Project Gutenberg-tm works.
+
+- You provide, in accordance with paragraph 1.F.3, a full refund of any
+     money paid for a work or a replacement copy, if a defect in the
+     electronic work is discovered and reported to you within 90 days
+     of receipt of the work.
+
+- You comply with all other terms of this agreement for free
+     distribution of Project Gutenberg-tm works.
+
+1.E.9.  If you wish to charge a fee or distribute a Project Gutenberg-tm
+electronic work or group of works on different terms than are set
+forth in this agreement, you must obtain permission in writing from
+both the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation and Michael
+Hart, the owner of the Project Gutenberg-tm trademark.  Contact the
+Foundation as set forth in Section 3 below.
+
+1.F.
+
+1.F.1.  Project Gutenberg volunteers and employees expend considerable
+effort to identify, do copyright research on, transcribe and proofread
+public domain works in creating the Project Gutenberg-tm
+collection.  Despite these efforts, Project Gutenberg-tm electronic
+works, and the medium on which they may be stored, may contain
+&ldquo;Defects,&rdquo; such as, but not limited to, incomplete, inaccurate or
+corrupt data, transcription errors, a copyright or other intellectual
+property infringement, a defective or damaged disk or other medium, a
+computer virus, or computer codes that damage or cannot be read by
+your equipment.
+
+1.F.2.  LIMITED WARRANTY, DISCLAIMER OF DAMAGES - Except for the &ldquo;Right
+of Replacement or Refund&rdquo; described in paragraph 1.F.3, the Project
+Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation, the owner of the Project
+Gutenberg-tm trademark, and any other party distributing a Project
+Gutenberg-tm electronic work under this agreement, disclaim all
+liability to you for damages, costs and expenses, including legal
+fees.  YOU AGREE THAT YOU HAVE NO REMEDIES FOR NEGLIGENCE, STRICT
+LIABILITY, BREACH OF WARRANTY OR BREACH OF CONTRACT EXCEPT THOSE
+PROVIDED IN PARAGRAPH F3.  YOU AGREE THAT THE FOUNDATION, THE
+TRADEMARK OWNER, AND ANY DISTRIBUTOR UNDER THIS AGREEMENT WILL NOT BE
+LIABLE TO YOU FOR ACTUAL, DIRECT, INDIRECT, CONSEQUENTIAL, PUNITIVE OR
+INCIDENTAL DAMAGES EVEN IF YOU GIVE NOTICE OF THE POSSIBILITY OF SUCH
+DAMAGE.
+
+1.F.3.  LIMITED RIGHT OF REPLACEMENT OR REFUND - If you discover a
+defect in this electronic work within 90 days of receiving it, you can
+receive a refund of the money (if any) you paid for it by sending a
+written explanation to the person you received the work from.  If you
+received the work on a physical medium, you must return the medium with
+your written explanation.  The person or entity that provided you with
+the defective work may elect to provide a replacement copy in lieu of a
+refund.  If you received the work electronically, the person or entity
+providing it to you may choose to give you a second opportunity to
+receive the work electronically in lieu of a refund.  If the second copy
+is also defective, you may demand a refund in writing without further
+opportunities to fix the problem.
+
+1.F.4.  Except for the limited right of replacement or refund set forth
+in paragraph 1.F.3, this work is provided to you &lsquo;AS-IS&rsquo; WITH NO OTHER
+WARRANTIES OF ANY KIND, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO
+WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTIBILITY OR FITNESS FOR ANY PURPOSE.
+
+1.F.5.  Some states do not allow disclaimers of certain implied
+warranties or the exclusion or limitation of certain types of damages.
+If any disclaimer or limitation set forth in this agreement violates the
+law of the state applicable to this agreement, the agreement shall be
+interpreted to make the maximum disclaimer or limitation permitted by
+the applicable state law.  The invalidity or unenforceability of any
+provision of this agreement shall not void the remaining provisions.
+
+1.F.6.  INDEMNITY - You agree to indemnify and hold the Foundation, the
+trademark owner, any agent or employee of the Foundation, anyone
+providing copies of Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works in accordance
+with this agreement, and any volunteers associated with the production,
+promotion and distribution of Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works,
+harmless from all liability, costs and expenses, including legal fees,
+that arise directly or indirectly from any of the following which you do
+or cause to occur: (a) distribution of this or any Project Gutenberg-tm
+work, (b) alteration, modification, or additions or deletions to any
+Project Gutenberg-tm work, and (c) any Defect you cause.
+
+
+Section  2.  Information about the Mission of Project Gutenberg-tm
+
+Project Gutenberg-tm is synonymous with the free distribution of
+electronic works in formats readable by the widest variety of computers
+including obsolete, old, middle-aged and new computers.  It exists
+because of the efforts of hundreds of volunteers and donations from
+people in all walks of life.
+
+Volunteers and financial support to provide volunteers with the
+assistance they need, is critical to reaching Project Gutenberg-tm&rsquo;s
+goals and ensuring that the Project Gutenberg-tm collection will
+remain freely available for generations to come.  In 2001, the Project
+Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation was created to provide a secure
+and permanent future for Project Gutenberg-tm and future generations.
+To learn more about the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation
+and how your efforts and donations can help, see Sections 3 and 4
+and the Foundation web page at http://www.pglaf.org.
+
+
+Section 3.  Information about the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive
+Foundation
+
+The Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation is a non profit
+501(c)(3) educational corporation organized under the laws of the
+state of Mississippi and granted tax exempt status by the Internal
+Revenue Service.  The Foundation&rsquo;s EIN or federal tax identification
+number is 64-6221541.  Its 501(c)(3) letter is posted at
+http://pglaf.org/fundraising.  Contributions to the Project Gutenberg
+Literary Archive Foundation are tax deductible to the full extent
+permitted by U.S. federal laws and your state&rsquo;s laws.
+
+The Foundation&rsquo;s principal office is located at 4557 Melan Dr. S.
+Fairbanks, AK, 99712., but its volunteers and employees are scattered
+throughout numerous locations.  Its business office is located at
+809 North 1500 West, Salt Lake City, UT 84116, (801) 596-1887, email
+business@pglaf.org.  Email contact links and up to date contact
+information can be found at the Foundation&rsquo;s web site and official
+page at http://pglaf.org
+
+For additional contact information:
+     Dr. Gregory B. Newby
+     Chief Executive and Director
+     gbnewby@pglaf.org
+
+
+Section 4.  Information about Donations to the Project Gutenberg
+Literary Archive Foundation
+
+Project Gutenberg-tm depends upon and cannot survive without wide
+spread public support and donations to carry out its mission of
+increasing the number of public domain and licensed works that can be
+freely distributed in machine readable form accessible by the widest
+array of equipment including outdated equipment.  Many small donations
+($1 to $5,000) are particularly important to maintaining tax exempt
+status with the IRS.
+
+The Foundation is committed to complying with the laws regulating
+charities and charitable donations in all 50 states of the United
+States.  Compliance requirements are not uniform and it takes a
+considerable effort, much paperwork and many fees to meet and keep up
+with these requirements.  We do not solicit donations in locations
+where we have not received written confirmation of compliance.  To
+SEND DONATIONS or determine the status of compliance for any
+particular state visit http://pglaf.org
+
+While we cannot and do not solicit contributions from states where we
+have not met the solicitation requirements, we know of no prohibition
+against accepting unsolicited donations from donors in such states who
+approach us with offers to donate.
+
+International donations are gratefully accepted, but we cannot make
+any statements concerning tax treatment of donations received from
+outside the United States.  U.S. laws alone swamp our small staff.
+
+Please check the Project Gutenberg Web pages for current donation
+methods and addresses.  Donations are accepted in a number of other
+ways including checks, online payments and credit card donations.
+To donate, please visit: http://pglaf.org/donate
+
+
+Section 5.  General Information About Project Gutenberg-tm electronic
+works.
+
+Professor Michael S. Hart is the originator of the Project Gutenberg-tm
+concept of a library of electronic works that could be freely shared
+with anyone.  For thirty years, he produced and distributed Project
+Gutenberg-tm eBooks with only a loose network of volunteer support.
+
+
+Project Gutenberg-tm eBooks are often created from several printed
+editions, all of which are confirmed as Public Domain in the U.S.
+unless a copyright notice is included.  Thus, we do not necessarily
+keep eBooks in compliance with any particular paper edition.
+
+
+Most people start at our Web site which has the main PG search facility:
+
+     http://www.gutenberg.org
+
+This Web site includes information about Project Gutenberg-tm,
+including how to make donations to the Project Gutenberg Literary
+Archive Foundation, how to help produce our new eBooks, and how to
+subscribe to our email newsletter to hear about new eBooks.
+
+
+</pre>
+  </body>
+</html>
diff --git a/20002-h/images/alroy_cover.jpg b/20002-h/images/alroy_cover.jpg
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..3eea3c2
--- /dev/null
+++ b/20002-h/images/alroy_cover.jpg
diff --git a/20002-h/images/alroy_frontis_174.jpg b/20002-h/images/alroy_frontis_174.jpg
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..f766885
--- /dev/null
+++ b/20002-h/images/alroy_frontis_174.jpg
diff --git a/20002-h/images/frontis_label.jpg b/20002-h/images/frontis_label.jpg
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..032b673
--- /dev/null
+++ b/20002-h/images/frontis_label.jpg
diff --git a/20002-h/images/page001.jpg b/20002-h/images/page001.jpg
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..06cc4c2
--- /dev/null
+++ b/20002-h/images/page001.jpg
diff --git a/20002-h/images/page020.jpg b/20002-h/images/page020.jpg
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..230b2d1
--- /dev/null
+++ b/20002-h/images/page020.jpg
diff --git a/20002-page-images/p001.png b/20002-page-images/p001.png
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..9ab59f0
--- /dev/null
+++ b/20002-page-images/p001.png
diff --git a/20002-page-images/p002.png b/20002-page-images/p002.png
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..6c407e6
--- /dev/null
+++ b/20002-page-images/p002.png
diff --git a/20002-page-images/p003.png b/20002-page-images/p003.png
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..3917523
--- /dev/null
+++ b/20002-page-images/p003.png
diff --git a/20002-page-images/p004.png b/20002-page-images/p004.png
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..5205ea5
--- /dev/null
+++ b/20002-page-images/p004.png
diff --git a/20002-page-images/p005.png b/20002-page-images/p005.png
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..9ab28d9
--- /dev/null
+++ b/20002-page-images/p005.png
diff --git a/20002-page-images/p006.png b/20002-page-images/p006.png
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..26f4bf4
--- /dev/null
+++ b/20002-page-images/p006.png
diff --git a/20002-page-images/p007.png b/20002-page-images/p007.png
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..4ddf919
--- /dev/null
+++ b/20002-page-images/p007.png
diff --git a/20002-page-images/p008.png b/20002-page-images/p008.png
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..aab997b
--- /dev/null
+++ b/20002-page-images/p008.png
diff --git a/20002-page-images/p009.png b/20002-page-images/p009.png
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..f9d44f3
--- /dev/null
+++ b/20002-page-images/p009.png
diff --git a/20002-page-images/p010.png b/20002-page-images/p010.png
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..c4a9c78
--- /dev/null
+++ b/20002-page-images/p010.png
diff --git a/20002-page-images/p011.png b/20002-page-images/p011.png
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..00fc635
--- /dev/null
+++ b/20002-page-images/p011.png
diff --git a/20002-page-images/p012.png b/20002-page-images/p012.png
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..8099566
--- /dev/null
+++ b/20002-page-images/p012.png
diff --git a/20002-page-images/p013.png b/20002-page-images/p013.png
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..fc823ec
--- /dev/null
+++ b/20002-page-images/p013.png
diff --git a/20002-page-images/p014.png b/20002-page-images/p014.png
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..7b6bdf9
--- /dev/null
+++ b/20002-page-images/p014.png
diff --git a/20002-page-images/p015.png b/20002-page-images/p015.png
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..4828998
--- /dev/null
+++ b/20002-page-images/p015.png
diff --git a/20002-page-images/p016.png b/20002-page-images/p016.png
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..8874603
--- /dev/null
+++ b/20002-page-images/p016.png
diff --git a/20002-page-images/p017.png b/20002-page-images/p017.png
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..c317ce0
--- /dev/null
+++ b/20002-page-images/p017.png
diff --git a/20002-page-images/p018.png b/20002-page-images/p018.png
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..15355cb
--- /dev/null
+++ b/20002-page-images/p018.png
diff --git a/20002-page-images/p019.png b/20002-page-images/p019.png
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..54de5c3
--- /dev/null
+++ b/20002-page-images/p019.png
diff --git a/20002-page-images/p020.png b/20002-page-images/p020.png
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..590a616
--- /dev/null
+++ b/20002-page-images/p020.png
diff --git a/20002-page-images/p021.png b/20002-page-images/p021.png
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..a74e8f5
--- /dev/null
+++ b/20002-page-images/p021.png
diff --git a/20002-page-images/p022.png b/20002-page-images/p022.png
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..fb748ea
--- /dev/null
+++ b/20002-page-images/p022.png
diff --git a/20002-page-images/p023.png b/20002-page-images/p023.png
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..974199d
--- /dev/null
+++ b/20002-page-images/p023.png
diff --git a/20002-page-images/p024.png b/20002-page-images/p024.png
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..4d44f5b
--- /dev/null
+++ b/20002-page-images/p024.png
diff --git a/20002-page-images/p025.png b/20002-page-images/p025.png
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..a37c6a1
--- /dev/null
+++ b/20002-page-images/p025.png
diff --git a/20002-page-images/p026.png b/20002-page-images/p026.png
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..9a33731
--- /dev/null
+++ b/20002-page-images/p026.png
diff --git a/20002-page-images/p027.png b/20002-page-images/p027.png
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..d3a7e08
--- /dev/null
+++ b/20002-page-images/p027.png
diff --git a/20002-page-images/p028.png b/20002-page-images/p028.png
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..2960930
--- /dev/null
+++ b/20002-page-images/p028.png
diff --git a/20002-page-images/p029.png b/20002-page-images/p029.png
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..1d463fa
--- /dev/null
+++ b/20002-page-images/p029.png
diff --git a/20002-page-images/p030.png b/20002-page-images/p030.png
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..97fff21
--- /dev/null
+++ b/20002-page-images/p030.png
diff --git a/20002-page-images/p031.png b/20002-page-images/p031.png
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..a0efad8
--- /dev/null
+++ b/20002-page-images/p031.png
diff --git a/20002-page-images/p032.png b/20002-page-images/p032.png
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..69e6a48
--- /dev/null
+++ b/20002-page-images/p032.png
diff --git a/20002-page-images/p033.png b/20002-page-images/p033.png
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..7c7c7d0
--- /dev/null
+++ b/20002-page-images/p033.png
diff --git a/20002-page-images/p034.png b/20002-page-images/p034.png
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..c860e17
--- /dev/null
+++ b/20002-page-images/p034.png
diff --git a/20002-page-images/p035.png b/20002-page-images/p035.png
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..a33bb30
--- /dev/null
+++ b/20002-page-images/p035.png
diff --git a/20002-page-images/p036.png b/20002-page-images/p036.png
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..c583dde
--- /dev/null
+++ b/20002-page-images/p036.png
diff --git a/20002-page-images/p037.png b/20002-page-images/p037.png
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..4ac0204
--- /dev/null
+++ b/20002-page-images/p037.png
diff --git a/20002-page-images/p038.png b/20002-page-images/p038.png
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..0fcd97f
--- /dev/null
+++ b/20002-page-images/p038.png
diff --git a/20002-page-images/p039.png b/20002-page-images/p039.png
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..04fb3b4
--- /dev/null
+++ b/20002-page-images/p039.png
diff --git a/20002-page-images/p040.png b/20002-page-images/p040.png
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..5416a76
--- /dev/null
+++ b/20002-page-images/p040.png
diff --git a/20002-page-images/p041.png b/20002-page-images/p041.png
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..8790fc2
--- /dev/null
+++ b/20002-page-images/p041.png
diff --git a/20002-page-images/p042.png b/20002-page-images/p042.png
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..6e23eb9
--- /dev/null
+++ b/20002-page-images/p042.png
diff --git a/20002-page-images/p043.png b/20002-page-images/p043.png
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..a12fb20
--- /dev/null
+++ b/20002-page-images/p043.png
diff --git a/20002-page-images/p044.png b/20002-page-images/p044.png
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..ea790e1
--- /dev/null
+++ b/20002-page-images/p044.png
diff --git a/20002-page-images/p045.png b/20002-page-images/p045.png
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..9f0faf9
--- /dev/null
+++ b/20002-page-images/p045.png
diff --git a/20002-page-images/p046.png b/20002-page-images/p046.png
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..53aa51d
--- /dev/null
+++ b/20002-page-images/p046.png
diff --git a/20002-page-images/p047.png b/20002-page-images/p047.png
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..f6139f4
--- /dev/null
+++ b/20002-page-images/p047.png
diff --git a/20002-page-images/p048.png b/20002-page-images/p048.png
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..2c22b97
--- /dev/null
+++ b/20002-page-images/p048.png
diff --git a/20002-page-images/p049.png b/20002-page-images/p049.png
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..bfa4cad
--- /dev/null
+++ b/20002-page-images/p049.png
diff --git a/20002-page-images/p050.png b/20002-page-images/p050.png
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..00dd144
--- /dev/null
+++ b/20002-page-images/p050.png
diff --git a/20002-page-images/p051.png b/20002-page-images/p051.png
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..0918f33
--- /dev/null
+++ b/20002-page-images/p051.png
diff --git a/20002-page-images/p052.png b/20002-page-images/p052.png
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..a1d726a
--- /dev/null
+++ b/20002-page-images/p052.png
diff --git a/20002-page-images/p053.png b/20002-page-images/p053.png
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..44f7270
--- /dev/null
+++ b/20002-page-images/p053.png
diff --git a/20002-page-images/p054.png b/20002-page-images/p054.png
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..76d2d89
--- /dev/null
+++ b/20002-page-images/p054.png
diff --git a/20002-page-images/p055.png b/20002-page-images/p055.png
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..7ce46bf
--- /dev/null
+++ b/20002-page-images/p055.png
diff --git a/20002-page-images/p056.png b/20002-page-images/p056.png
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..3871b5c
--- /dev/null
+++ b/20002-page-images/p056.png
diff --git a/20002-page-images/p057.png b/20002-page-images/p057.png
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..0515c97
--- /dev/null
+++ b/20002-page-images/p057.png
diff --git a/20002-page-images/p058.png b/20002-page-images/p058.png
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..6973421
--- /dev/null
+++ b/20002-page-images/p058.png
diff --git a/20002-page-images/p059.png b/20002-page-images/p059.png
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..dbbea6d
--- /dev/null
+++ b/20002-page-images/p059.png
diff --git a/20002-page-images/p060.png b/20002-page-images/p060.png
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..2f45123
--- /dev/null
+++ b/20002-page-images/p060.png
diff --git a/20002-page-images/p061.png b/20002-page-images/p061.png
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..e7b1eed
--- /dev/null
+++ b/20002-page-images/p061.png
diff --git a/20002-page-images/p062.png b/20002-page-images/p062.png
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..f70d06d
--- /dev/null
+++ b/20002-page-images/p062.png
diff --git a/20002-page-images/p063.png b/20002-page-images/p063.png
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..c95fe5d
--- /dev/null
+++ b/20002-page-images/p063.png
diff --git a/20002-page-images/p064.png b/20002-page-images/p064.png
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..fe9801c
--- /dev/null
+++ b/20002-page-images/p064.png
diff --git a/20002-page-images/p065.png b/20002-page-images/p065.png
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..239d5f1
--- /dev/null
+++ b/20002-page-images/p065.png
diff --git a/20002-page-images/p066.png b/20002-page-images/p066.png
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..2e2c825
--- /dev/null
+++ b/20002-page-images/p066.png
diff --git a/20002-page-images/p067.png b/20002-page-images/p067.png
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..29509e5
--- /dev/null
+++ b/20002-page-images/p067.png
diff --git a/20002-page-images/p068.png b/20002-page-images/p068.png
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..220810a
--- /dev/null
+++ b/20002-page-images/p068.png
diff --git a/20002-page-images/p069.png b/20002-page-images/p069.png
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..caebb23
--- /dev/null
+++ b/20002-page-images/p069.png
diff --git a/20002-page-images/p070.png b/20002-page-images/p070.png
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..96cd6a8
--- /dev/null
+++ b/20002-page-images/p070.png
diff --git a/20002-page-images/p071.png b/20002-page-images/p071.png
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..8b323a5
--- /dev/null
+++ b/20002-page-images/p071.png
diff --git a/20002-page-images/p072.png b/20002-page-images/p072.png
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..bac507d
--- /dev/null
+++ b/20002-page-images/p072.png
diff --git a/20002-page-images/p073.png b/20002-page-images/p073.png
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..5e010c6
--- /dev/null
+++ b/20002-page-images/p073.png
diff --git a/20002-page-images/p074.png b/20002-page-images/p074.png
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..2519b5a
--- /dev/null
+++ b/20002-page-images/p074.png
diff --git a/20002-page-images/p075.png b/20002-page-images/p075.png
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..64d67c0
--- /dev/null
+++ b/20002-page-images/p075.png
diff --git a/20002-page-images/p076.png b/20002-page-images/p076.png
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..35b5fff
--- /dev/null
+++ b/20002-page-images/p076.png
diff --git a/20002-page-images/p077.png b/20002-page-images/p077.png
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..3618ad5
--- /dev/null
+++ b/20002-page-images/p077.png
diff --git a/20002-page-images/p078.png b/20002-page-images/p078.png
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..53ef7d4
--- /dev/null
+++ b/20002-page-images/p078.png
diff --git a/20002-page-images/p079.png b/20002-page-images/p079.png
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..f395690
--- /dev/null
+++ b/20002-page-images/p079.png
diff --git a/20002-page-images/p080.png b/20002-page-images/p080.png
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..408715a
--- /dev/null
+++ b/20002-page-images/p080.png
diff --git a/20002-page-images/p081.png b/20002-page-images/p081.png
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..4a20228
--- /dev/null
+++ b/20002-page-images/p081.png
diff --git a/20002-page-images/p082.png b/20002-page-images/p082.png
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..40f0a0d
--- /dev/null
+++ b/20002-page-images/p082.png
diff --git a/20002-page-images/p083.png b/20002-page-images/p083.png
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..67b8811
--- /dev/null
+++ b/20002-page-images/p083.png
diff --git a/20002-page-images/p084.png b/20002-page-images/p084.png
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..91cf11c
--- /dev/null
+++ b/20002-page-images/p084.png
diff --git a/20002-page-images/p085.png b/20002-page-images/p085.png
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..50ce571
--- /dev/null
+++ b/20002-page-images/p085.png
diff --git a/20002-page-images/p086.png b/20002-page-images/p086.png
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..0f26f99
--- /dev/null
+++ b/20002-page-images/p086.png
diff --git a/20002-page-images/p087.png b/20002-page-images/p087.png
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..d46966c
--- /dev/null
+++ b/20002-page-images/p087.png
diff --git a/20002-page-images/p088.png b/20002-page-images/p088.png
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..80585c1
--- /dev/null
+++ b/20002-page-images/p088.png
diff --git a/20002-page-images/p089.png b/20002-page-images/p089.png
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..3c4fa2b
--- /dev/null
+++ b/20002-page-images/p089.png
diff --git a/20002-page-images/p090.png b/20002-page-images/p090.png
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..69e8f07
--- /dev/null
+++ b/20002-page-images/p090.png
diff --git a/20002-page-images/p091.png b/20002-page-images/p091.png
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..230c62d
--- /dev/null
+++ b/20002-page-images/p091.png
diff --git a/20002-page-images/p092.png b/20002-page-images/p092.png
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..03cd7de
--- /dev/null
+++ b/20002-page-images/p092.png
diff --git a/20002-page-images/p093.png b/20002-page-images/p093.png
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..f7f15ad
--- /dev/null
+++ b/20002-page-images/p093.png
diff --git a/20002-page-images/p094.png b/20002-page-images/p094.png
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..9c594a4
--- /dev/null
+++ b/20002-page-images/p094.png
diff --git a/20002-page-images/p095.png b/20002-page-images/p095.png
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..2721f7f
--- /dev/null
+++ b/20002-page-images/p095.png
diff --git a/20002-page-images/p096.png b/20002-page-images/p096.png
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..535115f
--- /dev/null
+++ b/20002-page-images/p096.png
diff --git a/20002-page-images/p097.png b/20002-page-images/p097.png
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..494a447
--- /dev/null
+++ b/20002-page-images/p097.png
diff --git a/20002-page-images/p098.png b/20002-page-images/p098.png
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..c0b2827
--- /dev/null
+++ b/20002-page-images/p098.png
diff --git a/20002-page-images/p099.png b/20002-page-images/p099.png
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..e659fff
--- /dev/null
+++ b/20002-page-images/p099.png
diff --git a/20002-page-images/p100.png b/20002-page-images/p100.png
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..39c6701
--- /dev/null
+++ b/20002-page-images/p100.png
diff --git a/20002-page-images/p101.png b/20002-page-images/p101.png
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..ee0c2fb
--- /dev/null
+++ b/20002-page-images/p101.png
diff --git a/20002-page-images/p102.png b/20002-page-images/p102.png
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..886647d
--- /dev/null
+++ b/20002-page-images/p102.png
diff --git a/20002-page-images/p103.png b/20002-page-images/p103.png
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..21d282b
--- /dev/null
+++ b/20002-page-images/p103.png
diff --git a/20002-page-images/p106.png b/20002-page-images/p106.png
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..ecd7f66
--- /dev/null
+++ b/20002-page-images/p106.png
diff --git a/20002-page-images/p107.png b/20002-page-images/p107.png
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..c2f6d7d
--- /dev/null
+++ b/20002-page-images/p107.png
diff --git a/20002-page-images/p108.png b/20002-page-images/p108.png
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..4a80acc
--- /dev/null
+++ b/20002-page-images/p108.png
diff --git a/20002-page-images/p109.png b/20002-page-images/p109.png
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..36fc380
--- /dev/null
+++ b/20002-page-images/p109.png
diff --git a/20002-page-images/p110.png b/20002-page-images/p110.png
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..c4e464b
--- /dev/null
+++ b/20002-page-images/p110.png
diff --git a/20002-page-images/p111.png b/20002-page-images/p111.png
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..4f71a94
--- /dev/null
+++ b/20002-page-images/p111.png
diff --git a/20002-page-images/p112.png b/20002-page-images/p112.png
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..7379c92
--- /dev/null
+++ b/20002-page-images/p112.png
diff --git a/20002-page-images/p113.png b/20002-page-images/p113.png
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..c5f0a14
--- /dev/null
+++ b/20002-page-images/p113.png
diff --git a/20002-page-images/p114.png b/20002-page-images/p114.png
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..566e6b6
--- /dev/null
+++ b/20002-page-images/p114.png
diff --git a/20002-page-images/p115.png b/20002-page-images/p115.png
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..1076208
--- /dev/null
+++ b/20002-page-images/p115.png
diff --git a/20002-page-images/p116.png b/20002-page-images/p116.png
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..f7fe5c3
--- /dev/null
+++ b/20002-page-images/p116.png
diff --git a/20002-page-images/p117.png b/20002-page-images/p117.png
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..fde4496
--- /dev/null
+++ b/20002-page-images/p117.png
diff --git a/20002-page-images/p118.png b/20002-page-images/p118.png
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..156f180
--- /dev/null
+++ b/20002-page-images/p118.png
diff --git a/20002-page-images/p119.png b/20002-page-images/p119.png
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..499cfa8
--- /dev/null
+++ b/20002-page-images/p119.png
diff --git a/20002-page-images/p120.png b/20002-page-images/p120.png
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..822940c
--- /dev/null
+++ b/20002-page-images/p120.png
diff --git a/20002-page-images/p121.png b/20002-page-images/p121.png
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..87f23ff
--- /dev/null
+++ b/20002-page-images/p121.png
diff --git a/20002-page-images/p122.png b/20002-page-images/p122.png
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..deaf5be
--- /dev/null
+++ b/20002-page-images/p122.png
diff --git a/20002-page-images/p123.png b/20002-page-images/p123.png
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..f8e5608
--- /dev/null
+++ b/20002-page-images/p123.png
diff --git a/20002-page-images/p124.png b/20002-page-images/p124.png
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..7fe2f37
--- /dev/null
+++ b/20002-page-images/p124.png
diff --git a/20002-page-images/p125.png b/20002-page-images/p125.png
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..5a32295
--- /dev/null
+++ b/20002-page-images/p125.png
diff --git a/20002-page-images/p126.png b/20002-page-images/p126.png
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..ff79cfb
--- /dev/null
+++ b/20002-page-images/p126.png
diff --git a/20002-page-images/p127.png b/20002-page-images/p127.png
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..7ac6394
--- /dev/null
+++ b/20002-page-images/p127.png
diff --git a/20002-page-images/p128.png b/20002-page-images/p128.png
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..6c81c70
--- /dev/null
+++ b/20002-page-images/p128.png
diff --git a/20002-page-images/p129.png b/20002-page-images/p129.png
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..dfd352d
--- /dev/null
+++ b/20002-page-images/p129.png
diff --git a/20002-page-images/p130.png b/20002-page-images/p130.png
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..9e8b501
--- /dev/null
+++ b/20002-page-images/p130.png
diff --git a/20002-page-images/p131.png b/20002-page-images/p131.png
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..ca85c1e
--- /dev/null
+++ b/20002-page-images/p131.png
diff --git a/20002-page-images/p132.png b/20002-page-images/p132.png
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..62e9c19
--- /dev/null
+++ b/20002-page-images/p132.png
diff --git a/20002-page-images/p133.png b/20002-page-images/p133.png
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..daadb33
--- /dev/null
+++ b/20002-page-images/p133.png
diff --git a/20002-page-images/p134.png b/20002-page-images/p134.png
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..3c4c363
--- /dev/null
+++ b/20002-page-images/p134.png
diff --git a/20002-page-images/p135.png b/20002-page-images/p135.png
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..661035e
--- /dev/null
+++ b/20002-page-images/p135.png
diff --git a/20002-page-images/p136.png b/20002-page-images/p136.png
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..8555ec1
--- /dev/null
+++ b/20002-page-images/p136.png
diff --git a/20002-page-images/p137.png b/20002-page-images/p137.png
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..031076e
--- /dev/null
+++ b/20002-page-images/p137.png
diff --git a/20002-page-images/p138.png b/20002-page-images/p138.png
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..2c7b910
--- /dev/null
+++ b/20002-page-images/p138.png
diff --git a/20002-page-images/p139.png b/20002-page-images/p139.png
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..076fb4a
--- /dev/null
+++ b/20002-page-images/p139.png
diff --git a/20002-page-images/p140.png b/20002-page-images/p140.png
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..c08ca1f
--- /dev/null
+++ b/20002-page-images/p140.png
diff --git a/20002-page-images/p141.png b/20002-page-images/p141.png
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..a8d586c
--- /dev/null
+++ b/20002-page-images/p141.png
diff --git a/20002-page-images/p142.png b/20002-page-images/p142.png
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..27a5c67
--- /dev/null
+++ b/20002-page-images/p142.png
diff --git a/20002-page-images/p143.png b/20002-page-images/p143.png
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..8e12036
--- /dev/null
+++ b/20002-page-images/p143.png
diff --git a/20002-page-images/p144.png b/20002-page-images/p144.png
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..def7bf5
--- /dev/null
+++ b/20002-page-images/p144.png
diff --git a/20002-page-images/p145.png b/20002-page-images/p145.png
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..e608975
--- /dev/null
+++ b/20002-page-images/p145.png
diff --git a/20002-page-images/p146.png b/20002-page-images/p146.png
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..05cc010
--- /dev/null
+++ b/20002-page-images/p146.png
diff --git a/20002-page-images/p147.png b/20002-page-images/p147.png
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..19f32ed
--- /dev/null
+++ b/20002-page-images/p147.png
diff --git a/20002-page-images/p148.png b/20002-page-images/p148.png
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..b4850fd
--- /dev/null
+++ b/20002-page-images/p148.png
diff --git a/20002-page-images/p149.png b/20002-page-images/p149.png
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..fd51bdb
--- /dev/null
+++ b/20002-page-images/p149.png
diff --git a/20002-page-images/p150.png b/20002-page-images/p150.png
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..9cd71b6
--- /dev/null
+++ b/20002-page-images/p150.png
diff --git a/20002-page-images/p151.png b/20002-page-images/p151.png
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..1ce79da
--- /dev/null
+++ b/20002-page-images/p151.png
diff --git a/20002-page-images/p152.png b/20002-page-images/p152.png
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..88e1303
--- /dev/null
+++ b/20002-page-images/p152.png
diff --git a/20002-page-images/p153.png b/20002-page-images/p153.png
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..6322c6c
--- /dev/null
+++ b/20002-page-images/p153.png
diff --git a/20002-page-images/p154.png b/20002-page-images/p154.png
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..beebcd4
--- /dev/null
+++ b/20002-page-images/p154.png
diff --git a/20002-page-images/p155.png b/20002-page-images/p155.png
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..fdf9ab7
--- /dev/null
+++ b/20002-page-images/p155.png
diff --git a/20002-page-images/p156.png b/20002-page-images/p156.png
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..80e5e6c
--- /dev/null
+++ b/20002-page-images/p156.png
diff --git a/20002-page-images/p157.png b/20002-page-images/p157.png
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..0e35996
--- /dev/null
+++ b/20002-page-images/p157.png
diff --git a/20002-page-images/p158.png b/20002-page-images/p158.png
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..3ee9b29
--- /dev/null
+++ b/20002-page-images/p158.png
diff --git a/20002-page-images/p159.png b/20002-page-images/p159.png
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..d351cbd
--- /dev/null
+++ b/20002-page-images/p159.png
diff --git a/20002-page-images/p160.png b/20002-page-images/p160.png
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..c7a1749
--- /dev/null
+++ b/20002-page-images/p160.png
diff --git a/20002-page-images/p161.png b/20002-page-images/p161.png
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..8ced17b
--- /dev/null
+++ b/20002-page-images/p161.png
diff --git a/20002-page-images/p162.png b/20002-page-images/p162.png
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..08758bb
--- /dev/null
+++ b/20002-page-images/p162.png
diff --git a/20002-page-images/p163.png b/20002-page-images/p163.png
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..d475987
--- /dev/null
+++ b/20002-page-images/p163.png
diff --git a/20002-page-images/p164.png b/20002-page-images/p164.png
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..6e62fcd
--- /dev/null
+++ b/20002-page-images/p164.png
diff --git a/20002-page-images/p165.png b/20002-page-images/p165.png
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..1479158
--- /dev/null
+++ b/20002-page-images/p165.png
diff --git a/20002-page-images/p166.png b/20002-page-images/p166.png
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..9a6c3ca
--- /dev/null
+++ b/20002-page-images/p166.png
diff --git a/20002-page-images/p167.png b/20002-page-images/p167.png
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..9b94695
--- /dev/null
+++ b/20002-page-images/p167.png
diff --git a/20002-page-images/p168.png b/20002-page-images/p168.png
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..759a830
--- /dev/null
+++ b/20002-page-images/p168.png
diff --git a/20002-page-images/p169.png b/20002-page-images/p169.png
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..45a0076
--- /dev/null
+++ b/20002-page-images/p169.png
diff --git a/20002-page-images/p170.png b/20002-page-images/p170.png
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..72d10cd
--- /dev/null
+++ b/20002-page-images/p170.png
diff --git a/20002-page-images/p171.png b/20002-page-images/p171.png
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..a75e8db
--- /dev/null
+++ b/20002-page-images/p171.png
diff --git a/20002-page-images/p172.png b/20002-page-images/p172.png
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..34ad74c
--- /dev/null
+++ b/20002-page-images/p172.png
diff --git a/20002-page-images/p173.png b/20002-page-images/p173.png
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..48128e3
--- /dev/null
+++ b/20002-page-images/p173.png
diff --git a/20002-page-images/p174.png b/20002-page-images/p174.png
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..b6bd012
--- /dev/null
+++ b/20002-page-images/p174.png
diff --git a/20002-page-images/p175.png b/20002-page-images/p175.png
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..93dc640
--- /dev/null
+++ b/20002-page-images/p175.png
diff --git a/20002-page-images/p176.png b/20002-page-images/p176.png
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..1fa69d3
--- /dev/null
+++ b/20002-page-images/p176.png
diff --git a/20002-page-images/p177.png b/20002-page-images/p177.png
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..30f269a
--- /dev/null
+++ b/20002-page-images/p177.png
diff --git a/20002-page-images/p178.png b/20002-page-images/p178.png
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..92fe827
--- /dev/null
+++ b/20002-page-images/p178.png
diff --git a/20002-page-images/p179.png b/20002-page-images/p179.png
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..72fc51c
--- /dev/null
+++ b/20002-page-images/p179.png
diff --git a/20002-page-images/p180.png b/20002-page-images/p180.png
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..90d8c51
--- /dev/null
+++ b/20002-page-images/p180.png
diff --git a/20002-page-images/p181.png b/20002-page-images/p181.png
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..67c8f94
--- /dev/null
+++ b/20002-page-images/p181.png
diff --git a/20002-page-images/p182.png b/20002-page-images/p182.png
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..5a9b25f
--- /dev/null
+++ b/20002-page-images/p182.png
diff --git a/20002-page-images/p183.png b/20002-page-images/p183.png
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..18df957
--- /dev/null
+++ b/20002-page-images/p183.png
diff --git a/20002-page-images/p184.png b/20002-page-images/p184.png
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..c1650ec
--- /dev/null
+++ b/20002-page-images/p184.png
diff --git a/20002-page-images/p185.png b/20002-page-images/p185.png
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..a2aa424
--- /dev/null
+++ b/20002-page-images/p185.png
diff --git a/20002-page-images/p186.png b/20002-page-images/p186.png
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..1181b0a
--- /dev/null
+++ b/20002-page-images/p186.png
diff --git a/20002-page-images/p187.png b/20002-page-images/p187.png
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..cba2a4e
--- /dev/null
+++ b/20002-page-images/p187.png
diff --git a/20002-page-images/p188.png b/20002-page-images/p188.png
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..a3e410a
--- /dev/null
+++ b/20002-page-images/p188.png
diff --git a/20002-page-images/p189.png b/20002-page-images/p189.png
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..17c7dc4
--- /dev/null
+++ b/20002-page-images/p189.png
diff --git a/20002-page-images/p190.png b/20002-page-images/p190.png
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..5d080e3
--- /dev/null
+++ b/20002-page-images/p190.png
diff --git a/20002-page-images/p191.png b/20002-page-images/p191.png
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..f98fb01
--- /dev/null
+++ b/20002-page-images/p191.png
diff --git a/20002-page-images/p192.png b/20002-page-images/p192.png
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..b42c197
--- /dev/null
+++ b/20002-page-images/p192.png
diff --git a/20002-page-images/p193.png b/20002-page-images/p193.png
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..75590e2
--- /dev/null
+++ b/20002-page-images/p193.png
diff --git a/20002-page-images/p194.png b/20002-page-images/p194.png
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..cdc670a
--- /dev/null
+++ b/20002-page-images/p194.png
diff --git a/20002-page-images/p195.png b/20002-page-images/p195.png
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..acbb955
--- /dev/null
+++ b/20002-page-images/p195.png
diff --git a/20002-page-images/p196.png b/20002-page-images/p196.png
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..d2b80f3
--- /dev/null
+++ b/20002-page-images/p196.png
diff --git a/20002-page-images/p197.png b/20002-page-images/p197.png
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..c76ef59
--- /dev/null
+++ b/20002-page-images/p197.png
diff --git a/20002-page-images/p198.png b/20002-page-images/p198.png
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..55ea821
--- /dev/null
+++ b/20002-page-images/p198.png
diff --git a/20002-page-images/p199.png b/20002-page-images/p199.png
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..5e19b74
--- /dev/null
+++ b/20002-page-images/p199.png
diff --git a/20002-page-images/p200.png b/20002-page-images/p200.png
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..0623098
--- /dev/null
+++ b/20002-page-images/p200.png
diff --git a/20002-page-images/p201.png b/20002-page-images/p201.png
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..a9f7b73
--- /dev/null
+++ b/20002-page-images/p201.png
diff --git a/20002-page-images/p202.png b/20002-page-images/p202.png
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..2da2734
--- /dev/null
+++ b/20002-page-images/p202.png
diff --git a/20002-page-images/p203.png b/20002-page-images/p203.png
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..7d4d949
--- /dev/null
+++ b/20002-page-images/p203.png
diff --git a/20002-page-images/p204.png b/20002-page-images/p204.png
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..51058b6
--- /dev/null
+++ b/20002-page-images/p204.png
diff --git a/20002-page-images/p205.png b/20002-page-images/p205.png
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..3de7ee0
--- /dev/null
+++ b/20002-page-images/p205.png
diff --git a/20002-page-images/p206.png b/20002-page-images/p206.png
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..c1072f1
--- /dev/null
+++ b/20002-page-images/p206.png
diff --git a/20002-page-images/p207.png b/20002-page-images/p207.png
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..183b01a
--- /dev/null
+++ b/20002-page-images/p207.png
diff --git a/20002-page-images/p208.png b/20002-page-images/p208.png
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..6577f54
--- /dev/null
+++ b/20002-page-images/p208.png
diff --git a/20002-page-images/p209.png b/20002-page-images/p209.png
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..b1c9a31
--- /dev/null
+++ b/20002-page-images/p209.png
diff --git a/20002-page-images/p210.png b/20002-page-images/p210.png
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..9e09736
--- /dev/null
+++ b/20002-page-images/p210.png
diff --git a/20002-page-images/p211.png b/20002-page-images/p211.png
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..5867713
--- /dev/null
+++ b/20002-page-images/p211.png
diff --git a/20002-page-images/p212.png b/20002-page-images/p212.png
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..421e778
--- /dev/null
+++ b/20002-page-images/p212.png
diff --git a/20002-page-images/p213.png b/20002-page-images/p213.png
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..78daae0
--- /dev/null
+++ b/20002-page-images/p213.png
diff --git a/20002-page-images/p214.png b/20002-page-images/p214.png
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..101be26
--- /dev/null
+++ b/20002-page-images/p214.png
diff --git a/20002-page-images/p215.png b/20002-page-images/p215.png
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..8913b47
--- /dev/null
+++ b/20002-page-images/p215.png
diff --git a/20002-page-images/p216.png b/20002-page-images/p216.png
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..27a2f5c
--- /dev/null
+++ b/20002-page-images/p216.png
diff --git a/20002-page-images/p217.png b/20002-page-images/p217.png
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..f1fa99e
--- /dev/null
+++ b/20002-page-images/p217.png
diff --git a/20002-page-images/p218.png b/20002-page-images/p218.png
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..66cd83b
--- /dev/null
+++ b/20002-page-images/p218.png
diff --git a/20002-page-images/p219.png b/20002-page-images/p219.png
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..4d792e4
--- /dev/null
+++ b/20002-page-images/p219.png
diff --git a/20002-page-images/p220.png b/20002-page-images/p220.png
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..ce2e390
--- /dev/null
+++ b/20002-page-images/p220.png
diff --git a/20002-page-images/p221.png b/20002-page-images/p221.png
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..03bb40e
--- /dev/null
+++ b/20002-page-images/p221.png
diff --git a/20002-page-images/p222.png b/20002-page-images/p222.png
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..dc873a4
--- /dev/null
+++ b/20002-page-images/p222.png
diff --git a/20002-page-images/p223.png b/20002-page-images/p223.png
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..8f3027b
--- /dev/null
+++ b/20002-page-images/p223.png
diff --git a/20002-page-images/p224.png b/20002-page-images/p224.png
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..f419e32
--- /dev/null
+++ b/20002-page-images/p224.png
diff --git a/20002-page-images/p225.png b/20002-page-images/p225.png
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..12eb9bf
--- /dev/null
+++ b/20002-page-images/p225.png
diff --git a/20002-page-images/p226.png b/20002-page-images/p226.png
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..0d7f5e2
--- /dev/null
+++ b/20002-page-images/p226.png
diff --git a/20002-page-images/p227.png b/20002-page-images/p227.png
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..4cf1b62
--- /dev/null
+++ b/20002-page-images/p227.png
diff --git a/20002-page-images/p228.png b/20002-page-images/p228.png
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..e682a4e
--- /dev/null
+++ b/20002-page-images/p228.png
diff --git a/20002-page-images/p229.png b/20002-page-images/p229.png
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..c1745e6
--- /dev/null
+++ b/20002-page-images/p229.png
diff --git a/20002-page-images/p230.png b/20002-page-images/p230.png
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..84a35f2
--- /dev/null
+++ b/20002-page-images/p230.png
diff --git a/20002-page-images/p231.png b/20002-page-images/p231.png
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..a77a259
--- /dev/null
+++ b/20002-page-images/p231.png
diff --git a/20002-page-images/p232.png b/20002-page-images/p232.png
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..4416b2f
--- /dev/null
+++ b/20002-page-images/p232.png
diff --git a/20002-page-images/p233.png b/20002-page-images/p233.png
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..4e4ea9c
--- /dev/null
+++ b/20002-page-images/p233.png
diff --git a/20002-page-images/p234.png b/20002-page-images/p234.png
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..c308685
--- /dev/null
+++ b/20002-page-images/p234.png
diff --git a/20002-page-images/p235.png b/20002-page-images/p235.png
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..c7fae4d
--- /dev/null
+++ b/20002-page-images/p235.png
diff --git a/20002-page-images/p236.png b/20002-page-images/p236.png
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..608ed17
--- /dev/null
+++ b/20002-page-images/p236.png
diff --git a/20002-page-images/p237.png b/20002-page-images/p237.png
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..41aef62
--- /dev/null
+++ b/20002-page-images/p237.png
diff --git a/20002-page-images/p238.png b/20002-page-images/p238.png
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..44e3496
--- /dev/null
+++ b/20002-page-images/p238.png
diff --git a/20002-page-images/p239.png b/20002-page-images/p239.png
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..462fa62
--- /dev/null
+++ b/20002-page-images/p239.png
diff --git a/20002-page-images/p240.png b/20002-page-images/p240.png
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..0f56ca3
--- /dev/null
+++ b/20002-page-images/p240.png
diff --git a/20002-page-images/p241.png b/20002-page-images/p241.png
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..9137bd1
--- /dev/null
+++ b/20002-page-images/p241.png
diff --git a/20002-page-images/p242.png b/20002-page-images/p242.png
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..8b3f28c
--- /dev/null
+++ b/20002-page-images/p242.png
diff --git a/20002-page-images/p243.png b/20002-page-images/p243.png
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..fc25e0b
--- /dev/null
+++ b/20002-page-images/p243.png
diff --git a/20002-page-images/p244.png b/20002-page-images/p244.png
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..7e977af
--- /dev/null
+++ b/20002-page-images/p244.png
diff --git a/20002-page-images/p245.png b/20002-page-images/p245.png
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..e178931
--- /dev/null
+++ b/20002-page-images/p245.png
diff --git a/20002-page-images/p246.png b/20002-page-images/p246.png
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..fc0f948
--- /dev/null
+++ b/20002-page-images/p246.png
diff --git a/20002-page-images/p247.png b/20002-page-images/p247.png
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..1c6f1dd
--- /dev/null
+++ b/20002-page-images/p247.png
diff --git a/20002-page-images/p248.png b/20002-page-images/p248.png
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..b57bbb7
--- /dev/null
+++ b/20002-page-images/p248.png
diff --git a/20002-page-images/p249.png b/20002-page-images/p249.png
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..04b9d59
--- /dev/null
+++ b/20002-page-images/p249.png
diff --git a/20002-page-images/p250.png b/20002-page-images/p250.png
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..4efe268
--- /dev/null
+++ b/20002-page-images/p250.png
diff --git a/20002-page-images/p251.png b/20002-page-images/p251.png
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..64711a7
--- /dev/null
+++ b/20002-page-images/p251.png
diff --git a/20002-page-images/p252.png b/20002-page-images/p252.png
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..5ae5ad2
--- /dev/null
+++ b/20002-page-images/p252.png
diff --git a/20002-page-images/p253.png b/20002-page-images/p253.png
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..2e45d3d
--- /dev/null
+++ b/20002-page-images/p253.png
diff --git a/20002-page-images/p254.png b/20002-page-images/p254.png
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..354052c
--- /dev/null
+++ b/20002-page-images/p254.png
diff --git a/20002-page-images/p255.png b/20002-page-images/p255.png
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..148dac7
--- /dev/null
+++ b/20002-page-images/p255.png
diff --git a/20002-page-images/p256.png b/20002-page-images/p256.png
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..92331ae
--- /dev/null
+++ b/20002-page-images/p256.png
diff --git a/20002-page-images/p257.png b/20002-page-images/p257.png
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..d151129
--- /dev/null
+++ b/20002-page-images/p257.png
diff --git a/20002-page-images/p258.png b/20002-page-images/p258.png
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..48123b9
--- /dev/null
+++ b/20002-page-images/p258.png
diff --git a/20002-page-images/p259.png b/20002-page-images/p259.png
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..0af9f5c
--- /dev/null
+++ b/20002-page-images/p259.png
diff --git a/20002-page-images/p260.png b/20002-page-images/p260.png
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..1b4bdaa
--- /dev/null
+++ b/20002-page-images/p260.png
diff --git a/20002-page-images/p261.png b/20002-page-images/p261.png
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..211940b
--- /dev/null
+++ b/20002-page-images/p261.png
diff --git a/20002-page-images/p262.png b/20002-page-images/p262.png
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..8aa0aa0
--- /dev/null
+++ b/20002-page-images/p262.png
diff --git a/20002-page-images/p263.png b/20002-page-images/p263.png
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..64fde1b
--- /dev/null
+++ b/20002-page-images/p263.png
diff --git a/20002-page-images/p264.png b/20002-page-images/p264.png
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..a65873c
--- /dev/null
+++ b/20002-page-images/p264.png
diff --git a/20002-page-images/p265.png b/20002-page-images/p265.png
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..d0bdbb1
--- /dev/null
+++ b/20002-page-images/p265.png
diff --git a/20002-page-images/p266.png b/20002-page-images/p266.png
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..2e819e2
--- /dev/null
+++ b/20002-page-images/p266.png
diff --git a/20002-page-images/p267.png b/20002-page-images/p267.png
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..5d82aca
--- /dev/null
+++ b/20002-page-images/p267.png
diff --git a/20002-page-images/p268.png b/20002-page-images/p268.png
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..07842ed
--- /dev/null
+++ b/20002-page-images/p268.png
diff --git a/20002-page-images/p269.png b/20002-page-images/p269.png
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..7cd43a9
--- /dev/null
+++ b/20002-page-images/p269.png
diff --git a/20002-page-images/p270.png b/20002-page-images/p270.png
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..1d1bce2
--- /dev/null
+++ b/20002-page-images/p270.png
diff --git a/20002-page-images/p271.png b/20002-page-images/p271.png
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..9bf3287
--- /dev/null
+++ b/20002-page-images/p271.png
diff --git a/20002-page-images/p272.png b/20002-page-images/p272.png
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..dedbe99
--- /dev/null
+++ b/20002-page-images/p272.png
diff --git a/20002-page-images/p273.png b/20002-page-images/p273.png
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..cb877f4
--- /dev/null
+++ b/20002-page-images/p273.png
diff --git a/20002-page-images/p274.png b/20002-page-images/p274.png
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..4c47575
--- /dev/null
+++ b/20002-page-images/p274.png
diff --git a/20002-page-images/p275.png b/20002-page-images/p275.png
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..32fc111
--- /dev/null
+++ b/20002-page-images/p275.png
diff --git a/20002-page-images/p276.png b/20002-page-images/p276.png
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..3105c8f
--- /dev/null
+++ b/20002-page-images/p276.png
diff --git a/20002-page-images/p277.png b/20002-page-images/p277.png
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..5b4f97c
--- /dev/null
+++ b/20002-page-images/p277.png
diff --git a/20002-page-images/p278.png b/20002-page-images/p278.png
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..1a2a889
--- /dev/null
+++ b/20002-page-images/p278.png
diff --git a/20002-page-images/p279.png b/20002-page-images/p279.png
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..14ce5d7
--- /dev/null
+++ b/20002-page-images/p279.png
diff --git a/20002-page-images/p280.png b/20002-page-images/p280.png
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..bd9385c
--- /dev/null
+++ b/20002-page-images/p280.png
diff --git a/20002-page-images/p281.png b/20002-page-images/p281.png
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..0c1b587
--- /dev/null
+++ b/20002-page-images/p281.png
diff --git a/20002-page-images/p282.png b/20002-page-images/p282.png
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..a9102bb
--- /dev/null
+++ b/20002-page-images/p282.png
diff --git a/20002-page-images/p283.png b/20002-page-images/p283.png
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..76e9c24
--- /dev/null
+++ b/20002-page-images/p283.png
diff --git a/20002-page-images/p284.png b/20002-page-images/p284.png
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..3f0044f
--- /dev/null
+++ b/20002-page-images/p284.png
diff --git a/20002-page-images/p285.png b/20002-page-images/p285.png
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..5fbdc7d
--- /dev/null
+++ b/20002-page-images/p285.png
diff --git a/20002-page-images/p286.png b/20002-page-images/p286.png
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..35aa15f
--- /dev/null
+++ b/20002-page-images/p286.png
diff --git a/20002-page-images/p287.png b/20002-page-images/p287.png
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..99f7714
--- /dev/null
+++ b/20002-page-images/p287.png
diff --git a/20002-page-images/p288.png b/20002-page-images/p288.png
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..846ee6f
--- /dev/null
+++ b/20002-page-images/p288.png
diff --git a/20002-page-images/p289.png b/20002-page-images/p289.png
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..46fb499
--- /dev/null
+++ b/20002-page-images/p289.png
diff --git a/20002-page-images/p290.png b/20002-page-images/p290.png
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..f79d192
--- /dev/null
+++ b/20002-page-images/p290.png
diff --git a/20002-page-images/p291.png b/20002-page-images/p291.png
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..dfcbc60
--- /dev/null
+++ b/20002-page-images/p291.png
diff --git a/20002-page-images/p292.png b/20002-page-images/p292.png
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..c024bf0
--- /dev/null
+++ b/20002-page-images/p292.png
diff --git a/20002-page-images/p293.png b/20002-page-images/p293.png
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..17f86b6
--- /dev/null
+++ b/20002-page-images/p293.png
diff --git a/20002-page-images/p294.png b/20002-page-images/p294.png
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..5d5ab01
--- /dev/null
+++ b/20002-page-images/p294.png
diff --git a/20002-page-images/p295.png b/20002-page-images/p295.png
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..c2269df
--- /dev/null
+++ b/20002-page-images/p295.png
diff --git a/20002-page-images/p296.png b/20002-page-images/p296.png
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..b5e14f3
--- /dev/null
+++ b/20002-page-images/p296.png
diff --git a/20002-page-images/p297.png b/20002-page-images/p297.png
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..0418288
--- /dev/null
+++ b/20002-page-images/p297.png
diff --git a/20002-page-images/p298.png b/20002-page-images/p298.png
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..77ddb5c
--- /dev/null
+++ b/20002-page-images/p298.png
diff --git a/20002-page-images/p299.png b/20002-page-images/p299.png
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..9c487a3
--- /dev/null
+++ b/20002-page-images/p299.png
diff --git a/20002-page-images/p300.png b/20002-page-images/p300.png
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..f4ebe71
--- /dev/null
+++ b/20002-page-images/p300.png
diff --git a/20002-page-images/p301.png b/20002-page-images/p301.png
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..4ce83c0
--- /dev/null
+++ b/20002-page-images/p301.png
diff --git a/20002-page-images/p302.png b/20002-page-images/p302.png
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..8f665cb
--- /dev/null
+++ b/20002-page-images/p302.png
diff --git a/20002-page-images/p303.png b/20002-page-images/p303.png
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..baba92f
--- /dev/null
+++ b/20002-page-images/p303.png
diff --git a/20002-page-images/p304.png b/20002-page-images/p304.png
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..318574c
--- /dev/null
+++ b/20002-page-images/p304.png
diff --git a/20002-page-images/p305.png b/20002-page-images/p305.png
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..715465a
--- /dev/null
+++ b/20002-page-images/p305.png
diff --git a/20002-page-images/p306.png b/20002-page-images/p306.png
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..d00888f
--- /dev/null
+++ b/20002-page-images/p306.png
diff --git a/20002-page-images/p307.png b/20002-page-images/p307.png
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..e3de698
--- /dev/null
+++ b/20002-page-images/p307.png
diff --git a/20002-page-images/p308.png b/20002-page-images/p308.png
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..e607299
--- /dev/null
+++ b/20002-page-images/p308.png
diff --git a/20002-page-images/p309.png b/20002-page-images/p309.png
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..178c9f1
--- /dev/null
+++ b/20002-page-images/p309.png
diff --git a/20002-page-images/p310.png b/20002-page-images/p310.png
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..dde4ecf
--- /dev/null
+++ b/20002-page-images/p310.png
diff --git a/20002-page-images/p311.png b/20002-page-images/p311.png
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..7ad3890
--- /dev/null
+++ b/20002-page-images/p311.png
diff --git a/20002-page-images/p312.png b/20002-page-images/p312.png
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..a389879
--- /dev/null
+++ b/20002-page-images/p312.png
diff --git a/20002-page-images/p313.png b/20002-page-images/p313.png
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..fe9fd85
--- /dev/null
+++ b/20002-page-images/p313.png
diff --git a/20002-page-images/p314.png b/20002-page-images/p314.png
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..d762edb
--- /dev/null
+++ b/20002-page-images/p314.png
diff --git a/20002-page-images/p315.png b/20002-page-images/p315.png
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..8ce5a7a
--- /dev/null
+++ b/20002-page-images/p315.png
diff --git a/20002.txt b/20002.txt
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..144d0ba
--- /dev/null
+++ b/20002.txt
@@ -0,0 +1,10936 @@
+The Project Gutenberg EBook of Alroy, by Benjamin Disraeli
+
+This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with
+almost no restrictions whatsoever.  You may copy it, give it away or
+re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included
+with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org
+
+
+Title: Alroy
+       The Prince Of The Captivity
+
+Author: Benjamin Disraeli
+
+Release Date: December 3, 2006 [EBook #20002]
+
+Language: English
+
+Character set encoding: ASCII
+
+*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK ALROY ***
+
+
+
+
+Produced by David Widger
+
+
+
+
+
+ALROY
+
+OR
+
+THE PRINCE OF THE CAPTIVITY
+
+
+By Benjamin Disraeli
+
+
+[Illustration: cover]
+
+[Illustration: alroy-frontis-174]
+
+[Illustration: frontis-label]
+
+
+AUTHOR'S PREFACE
+
+Being at Jerusalem in the year 1831, and visiting the traditionary
+tombs of the Kings of Israel, my thoughts recurred to a personage whose
+marvellous career had, even in boyhood, attracted my attention, as
+one fraught with the richest materials of poetic fiction. And I then
+commenced these pages that should commemorate the name of Alroy. In the
+twelfth century, when he arose, this was the political condition of the
+East:
+
+The Caliphate was in a state of rapid decay. The Seljukian Sultans, who
+had been called to the assistance of the Commanders of the Faithful, had
+become, like the Mayors of the palace in France, the real sovereigns of
+the Empire. Out of the dominions of the successors of the Prophet,
+they had carved four kingdoms, which conferred titles on four Seljukian
+Princes, to wit, the Sultan of Bagdad, the Sultan of Persia, the Sultan
+of Syria, and the Sultan of Roum, or Asia Minor.
+
+But these warlike princes, in the relaxed discipline and doubtful
+conduct of their armies, began themselves to evince the natural effects
+of luxury and indulgence. They were no longer the same invincible
+and irresistible warriors who had poured forth from the shores of the
+Caspian over the fairest regions of the East; and although they still
+contrived to preserve order in their dominions, they witnessed with
+ill-concealed apprehension the rising power of the Kings of Karasme,
+whose conquests daily made their territories more contiguous.
+
+With regard to the Hebrew people, it should be known that, after the
+destruction of Jerusalem, the Eastern Jews, while they acknowledged
+the supremacy of their conquerors, gathered themselves together for all
+purposes of jurisdiction, under the control of a native ruler, a reputed
+descendant of David, whom they dignified with the title of 'The Prince
+of the Captivity.' If we are to credit the enthusiastic annalists of
+this imaginative people, there were periods of prosperity when the
+Princes of the Captivity assumed scarcely less state and enjoyed
+scarcely less power than the ancient Kings of Judah themselves. Certain
+it is that their power increased always in an exact proportion to the
+weakness of the Caliphate, and, without doubt, in some of the most
+distracted periods of the Arabian rule, the Hebrew Princes rose into
+some degree of local and temporary importance. Their chief residence was
+Bagdad, where they remained until the eleventh century, an age fatal
+in Oriental history, from the disasters of which the Princes of the
+Captivity were not exempt. They are heard of even in the twelfth
+century. I have ventured to place one at Hamadan, which was a favourite
+residence of the Hebrews, from being the burial-place of Esther and
+Mordecai.
+
+With regard to the supernatural machinery of this romance, it is
+Cabalistical and correct. From the Spirits of the Tombs to the sceptre
+of Solomon, authority may be found in the traditions of the Hebrews for
+the introduction of all these spiritual agencies.
+
+Grosvenor Gate: July, 1845.
+
+
+
+
+
+A L R O Y
+
+[Illustration: page001]
+
+
+CHAPTER I.
+
+    _A Great Day for Israel._
+
+THE cornets sounded a final flourish as the Prince of the Captivity
+dismounted from his white mule; his train shouted as if they were once
+more a people; and, had it not been for the contemptuous leer which
+played upon the countenances of the Moslem bystanders, it might have
+been taken for a day of triumph rather than of tribute.
+
+'The glory has not departed!' exclaimed the venerable Bostenay, as he
+entered the hall of his mansion. 'It is not as the visit of Sheba unto
+Solomon; nevertheless the glory has not yet departed. You have done
+well, faithful Caleb.' The old man's courage waxed more vigorous, as
+each step within his own walls the more assured him against the recent
+causes of his fear, the audible curses and the threatened missiles of
+the unbelieving mob.
+
+'It shall be a day of rejoicing and thanksgiving!' continued the Prince;
+'and look, my faithful Caleb, that the trumpeters be well served. That
+last flourish was bravely done. It was not as the blast before Jericho;
+nevertheless, it told that the Lord of Hosts was for us. How the
+accursed Ishmaelites started! Did you mark, Caleb, that tall Turk in
+green upon my left? By the sceptre of Jacob, he turned pale! Oh! it
+shall be a day of rejoicing and thanksgiving! And spare not the wine,
+nor the flesh-pots for the people. Look you to this, my child, for the
+people shouted bravely and with a stout voice. It was not as the great
+shout in the camp when the ark returned; nevertheless, it was boldly
+done, and showed that the glory had not yet departed. So spare not the
+wine, my son, and drink to the desolation of Ishmael in the juice which
+he dare not quaff.'
+
+'It has indeed been a great day for Israel!' exclaimed Caleb, echoing
+his master's exultation.
+
+'Had the procession been forbidden,' continued Bostenay, 'had it been
+reserved for me of all the princes to have dragged the accursed tribute
+upon foot, without trumpets and without guards, by this sceptre, my good
+Caleb, I really think that, sluggishly as this old blood now runs, I
+would---- But it is needless now to talk; the God of our fathers hath
+been our refuge.'
+
+'Verily, my lord, we were as David in the wilderness of Ziph; but now we
+are as the Lord's anointed in the stronghold of Engedi!'
+
+'The glory truly has not yet utterly departed,' resumed the Prince in a
+more subdued tone; 'yet if---- I tell you what, Caleb; praise the Lord
+that you are young.'
+
+'My Prince too may yet live to see the good day.'
+
+'Nay, my child, you misinterpret me. Your Prince has lived to see the
+evil day. 'Twas not of the coming that I thought when I bid you praise
+the Lord because you were young, the more my sin. I was thinking, Caleb,
+that if your hair was as mine, if you could recollect, like me, the
+days that are gone by, the days when it needed no bride to prove we
+were princes,"the glorious days when we led captivity captive; I was
+thinking, I say, my son, what a gainful heritage it is to be born after
+the joys that have passed away.'
+
+'My father lived at Babylon,' said Caleb. 'Oh! name it not! name it
+not!' exclaimed the old chieftain. 'Dark was the day that we lost that
+second Zion! We were then also slaves to the Egyptian; but verily we
+ruled over the realm of Pharaoh. Why, Caleb, Caleb, you who know all,
+the days of toil, the nights restless as a love-sick boy's, which it has
+cost your Prince to gain permission to grace our tribute-day with
+the paltry presence of half-a-dozen guards; you who know all my
+difficulties, who have witnessed all my mortifications, what would you
+say to the purse of dirhems, surrounded by seven thousand scimitars?'
+
+'Seven thousand scimitars!' 'Not one less; my father flourished one.'
+'It was indeed a great day for Israel!' 'Nay, that is nothing. When old
+Alroy was prince, old David Alroy, for thirty years, good Caleb, thirty
+long years we paid _no_ tribute to the Caliph.'
+
+'No tribute! no tribute for thirty years! What marvel then, my Prince,
+that the Philistines have of late exacted interest?'
+
+'Nay, that is nothing,' continued old Bostenay, unmindful of his
+servant's ejaculations. 'When Moctador was Caliph, he sent to the same
+Prince David, to know why the dirhems were not brought up, and David
+immediately called to horse, and, attended by all the chief people, rode
+to the palace, and told the Caliph that tribute was an acknowledgment
+made from the weak to the strong to insure protection and support; and,
+inasmuch as he and his people had garrisoned the city for ten years
+against the Seljuks, he held the Caliph in arrear.'
+
+'We shall yet see an ass mount a ladder,'[1] exclaimed Caleb, with
+uplifted eyes of wonder.
+
+'It is true, though,' continued the Prince; 'often have I heard my
+father tell the tale. He was then a child, and his mother held him up to
+see the procession return, and all the people shouted "The sceptre has
+not gone out of Jacob."'
+
+'It was indeed a great day for Israel.'
+
+'Nay, that is nothing. I could tell you such things! But we prattle; our
+business is not yet done. You to the people; the widow and the orphan
+are waiting. Give freely, good Caleb, give freely; the spoils of the
+Canaanite are no longer ours, nevertheless the Lord is still our God,
+and, after all, even this is a great day for Israel. And, Caleb, Caleb,
+bid my nephew, David Alroy, know that I would speak with him.'
+
+'I will do all promptly, good master! We wondered that our honoured
+lord, your nephew, went not up with the donation this day.'
+
+'Who bade you wonder? Begone, sir! How long are you to idle here? Away!
+
+'They wonder he went not up with the tribute to-day. Ay! surely, a
+common talk. This boy will be our ruin, a prudent hand to wield our
+shattered sceptre. I have observed him from his infancy; he should have
+lived in Babylon. The old Alroy blood flows in his veins, a stiff-necked
+race. When I was a youth, his grandsire was my friend; I had some
+fancies then myself. Dreams, dreams! we have fallen on evil days, and
+yet we prosper. I have lived long enough to feel that a rich caravan,
+laden with the shawls of India and the stuffs of Samarcand, if not
+exactly like dancing before the ark, is still a goodly sight. And our
+hard-hearted rulers, with all their pride, can they subsist without us?
+Still we wax rich. I have lived to see the haughty Caliph sink into a
+slave viler far than Israel. And the victorious and voluptuous Seljuks,
+even now they tremble at the dim mention of the distant name of Arslan.
+Yet I, Bostenay, and the frail remnant of our scattered tribes, still
+we exist, and still, thanks to our God! we prosper. But the age of power
+has passed; it is by prudence now that we must flourish. The gibe and
+jest, the curse, perchance the blow, Israel now must bear, and with a
+calm or even smiling visage. What then? For every gibe and jest, for
+every curse, I'll have a dirhem; and for every blow, let him look to it
+who is my debtor, or wills to be so. But see, he comes, my nephew! His
+grandsire was my friend. Methinks I look upon him now: the same Alroy
+that was the partner of my boyish hours. And yet that fragile form and
+girlish face but ill consort with the dark passions and the dangerous
+fancies, which, I fear, lie hidden in that tender breast. Well, sir?'
+
+'You want me, uncle?'
+
+'What then? Uncles often want what nephews seldom offer.'
+
+'I at least can refuse nothing; for I have naught to give.'
+
+'You have a jewel which I greatly covet.' 'A jewel! See my chaplet! You
+gave it me, my uncle; it is yours.'
+
+'I thank you. Many a blazing ruby, many a soft and shadowy pearl, and
+many an emerald glowing like a star in the far desert, I behold, my
+child. They are choice stones, and yet I miss a jewel far more precious,
+which, when I gave you this rich chaplet, David, I deemed you did
+possess.' 'How do you call it, sir?' 'Obedience.'
+
+'A word of doubtful import; for to obey, when duty is disgrace, is not a
+virtue.'
+
+'I see you read my thought. In a word, I sent for you to know, wherefore
+you joined me not to-day in offering our--our----'
+
+'Tribute.'
+
+'Be it so: tribute. Why were you absent?' 'Because it was a tribute; I
+pay none.' 'But that the dreary course of seventy winters has not erased
+the memory of my boyish follies, David, I should esteem you mad. Think
+you, because I am old, I am enamoured of disgrace, and love a house of
+bondage? If life were a mere question between freedom and slavery, glory
+and dishonour, all could decide. Trust me, there needs but little spirit
+to be a moody patriot in a sullen home, and vent your heroic spleen upon
+your fellow-sufferers, whose sufferings you cannot remedy. But of such
+stuff your race were ever made. Such deliverers ever abounded in the
+house of Alroy. And what has been the result? I found you and your
+sister orphan infants, your sceptre broken, and your tribes dispersed.
+The tribute, which now at least we pay like princes, was then exacted
+with the scourge and offered in chains. I collected our scattered
+people, I re-established our ancient throne, and this day, which you
+look upon as a day of humiliation and of mourning, is rightly considered
+by all a day of triumph and of feasting; for, has it not proved in the
+very teeth of the Ishmaelites, that the sceptre has not yet departed
+from Jacob?'
+
+'I pray you, uncle, speak not of these things. I would not willingly
+forget you are my kinsman, and a kind one. Let there not be strife
+between us. What my feelings are is nothing. They are my own: I cannot
+change them. And for my ancestors, if they pondered much, and achieved
+little, why then 'twould seem our pedigree is pure, and I am their true
+son. At least one was a hero.'
+
+'Ah! the great Alroy; you may well be proud of such an ancestor.'
+
+'I am ashamed, uncle, ashamed, ashamed.'
+
+'His sceptre still exists. At least, I have not betrayed him. And this
+brings me to the real purport of our interview. That sceptre I would
+return.'
+
+'To whom?'
+
+'To its right owner, to yourself.'
+
+'Oh! no, no, no; I pray you, I pray you not. I do entreat you, sir,
+forget that I have a right as utterly as I disclaim it. That sceptre
+you have wielded it wisely and well; I beseech you keep it. Indeed, good
+uncle, I have no sort of talent for all the busy duties of this post.'
+
+'You sigh for glory, yet you fly from toil.'
+
+'Toil without glory is a menial's lot.'
+
+'You are a boy; you may yet live to learn that the sweetest lot of life
+consists in tranquil duties and well-earned repose.'
+
+'If my lot be repose, I'll find it in a lair.'
+
+'Ah! David, David, there is a wildness in your temper, boy, that makes
+me often tremble. You are already too much alone, child. And for this,
+as well as weightier reasons, I am desirous that you should at length
+assume the office you inherit. What my poor experience can afford to aid
+you, as your counsellor, I shall ever proffer; and, for the rest, our
+God will not desert you, an orphan child, and born of royal blood.'
+
+'Pr'ythee, no more, kind uncle. I have but little heart to mount a
+throne, which only ranks me as the first of slaves.'
+
+'Pooh, pooh, you are young. Live we like slaves? Is this hall a servile
+chamber? These costly carpets, and these rich divans, in what proud
+harem shall we find their match? I feel not like a slave. My coffers are
+full of dirhems. Is that slavish? The wealthiest company of the caravan
+is ever Bostenay's. Is that to be a slave? Walk the bazaar of Bagdad,
+and you will find my name more potent than the Caliph's. Is that a badge
+of slavery?'
+
+'Uncle, you toil for others.'
+
+'So do we all, so does the bee, yet he is free and happy.'
+
+'At least he has a sting.'
+
+'Which he can use but once, and when he stings----'
+
+'He dies, and like a hero. Such a death is sweeter than his honey.'
+
+'Well, well, you are young, you are young. I once, too, had fancies.
+Dreams all, dreams all. I willingly would see you happy, child. Come,
+let that face brighten; after all, to-day is a great day. If you had
+seen what I have seen, David, you too would feel grateful. Come, let
+us feast. The Ishmaelite, the accursed child of Hagar, he does confess
+to-day that you are a prince; this day also you complete your eighteenth
+year. The custom of our people now requires that you should assume the
+attributes of manhood. To-day, then, your reign commences; and at
+our festival I will present the elders to their prince. For a while,
+farewell, my child. Array that face in smiles. I shall most anxiously
+await your presence.'
+
+'Farewell, sir.'
+
+He turned his head and watched his uncle as he departed: the bitter
+expression of his countenance gradually melted away as Bostenay
+disappeared: dejection succeeded to sarcasm; he sighed, he threw himself
+upon a couch and buried his face in his hands.
+
+Suddenly he arose and paced the chamber with an irregular and moody
+step. He stopped, and leant against a column. He spoke in a tremulous
+and smothered voice:
+
+'Oh! my heart is full of care, and my soul is dark with sorrow! What
+am I? What is all this? A cloud hangs heavy o'er my life. God of my
+fathers, let it burst!
+
+'I know not what I feel, yet what I feel is madness. Thus to be is not
+to live, if life be what I sometimes dream, and dare to think it might
+be. To breathe, to feed, to sleep, to wake and breathe again, again to
+feel existence without hope; if this be life, why then these brooding
+thoughts that whisper death were better?
+
+'Away! The demon tempts me. But to what? What nameless deed shall
+desecrate this hand? It must not be: the royal blood of twice two
+thousand years, it must not die, die like a dream. Oh! my heart is full
+of care, and my soul is dark with sorrow!
+
+'Hark! the trumpets that sound our dishonour. Oh, that they but sounded
+to battle! Lord of Hosts, let me conquer or die! Let me conquer like
+David; or die, Lord, like Saul!
+
+'Why do I live? Ah! could the thought that lurks within my secret heart
+but answer, not that trumpet's blast could speak as loud or clear.
+The votary of a false idea, I linger in this shadowy life, and feed on
+silent images which no eye but mine can gaze upon, till at length they
+are invested with all the terrible circumstance of life, and breathe,
+and act, and form a stirring world of fate and beauty, time, and death,
+and glory. And then, from out this dazzling wilderness of deeds, I
+wander forth and wake, and find myself in this dull house of bondage,
+even as I do now. Horrible! horrible!
+
+'God, of my fathers! for indeed I dare not style thee God of their
+wretched sons; yet, by the memory of Sinai, let me tell thee that some
+of the antique blood yet beats within these pulses, and there yet is one
+who fain would commune with thee face to face, commune and conquer.
+
+'And if the promise unto which we cling be not a cheat, why, let him
+come, come, and come quickly, for thy servant Israel, Lord, is now a
+slave so infamous, so woe-begone, and so contemned, that even when our
+fathers hung their harps by the sad waters of the Babylonian stream,
+why, it was paradise compared with what we suffer.
+
+'Alas! they do not suffer; they endure and do not feel. Or by this time
+our shadowy cherubim would guard again the ark. It is the will that is
+the father to the deed, and he who broods over some long idea, however
+wild, will find his dream was but the prophecy of coming fate.
+
+'And even now a vivid flash darts through the darkness of my mind.
+Methinks, methinks--ah! worst of woes to dream of glory in despair. No,
+no; I live and die a most ignoble thing; beauty and love, and fame and
+mighty deeds, the smile of women and the gaze of men, and the ennobling
+consciousness of worth, and all the fiery course of the creative
+passions, these are not for me, and I, Alroy, the descendant of sacred
+kings, and with a soul that pants for empire, I stand here extending my
+vain arm for my lost sceptre, a most dishonoured slave! And do I still
+exist? Exist! ay, merrily. Hark! Festivity holds her fair revel in these
+light-hearted walls. We are gay to-day; and yet, ere yon proud sun,
+whose mighty course was stayed before our swords that now he even does
+not deign to shine upon; ere yon proud sun shall, like a hero from a
+glorious field, enter the bright pavilion of his rest, there shall a
+deed be done.
+
+'My fathers, my heroic fathers, if this feeble arm cannot redeem your
+heritage; if the foul boar must still wallow in thy sweet vineyard,
+Israel, at least I will not disgrace you. No! let me perish. The house
+of David is no more; no more our sacred seed shall lurk and linger, like
+a blighted thing, in this degenerate earth. If we cannot flourish, 'why,
+then, we will die!'
+
+'Oh! say not so, my brother!'
+
+He turns, he gazes on a face beauteous as a starry night; his heart is
+full, his voice is low.
+
+'Ah, Miriam! thou queller of dark spirits! is it thou? Why art thou
+here?'
+
+'Why am I here? Are you not here? and need I urge a stronger plea? Oh!
+brother dear, I pray you come, and mingle in our festival. Our walls are
+hung with flowers you love;[2] I culled them by the fountain's side; the
+holy lamps are trimmed and set, and you must raise their earliest flame.
+Without the gate, my maidens wait, to offer you a robe of state. Then,
+brother dear, I pray you come and mingle in our festival.'
+
+'Why should we feast?'
+
+'Ah! is it not in thy dear name these lamps are lit, these garlands
+hung? To-day to us a prince is given, to-day----'
+
+'A prince without a kingdom.'
+
+'But not without that which makes kingdoms precious, and which full many
+a royal heart has sighed for, willing subjects, David.'
+
+'Slaves, Miriam, fellow-slaves.'
+
+'What we are, my brother, our God has willed; and let us bow and
+tremble.'
+
+'I will not bow, I cannot tremble.'
+
+'Hush, David, hush! It was this haughty spirit that called the vengeance
+of the Lord upon us.'
+
+'It was this haughty spirit that conquered Canaan.'
+
+'Oh, my brother, my dear brother! they told me the dark spirit had
+fallen on thee, and I came, and hoped that Miriam might have charmed it.
+What we may have been, Alroy, is a bright dream; and what we may be, at
+least as bright a hope; and for what we are, thou art my brother. In thy
+love I find present felicity, and value more thy chance embraces and thy
+scanty smiles than all the vanished splendour of our race, our gorgeous
+gardens, and our glittering halls.'
+
+'Who waits without there?'
+
+'Caleb.'
+
+'Caleb!'
+
+'My lord.'
+
+'Go tell my uncle that I will presently join the banquet. Leave me a
+moment, Miriam. Nay, dry those tears.'
+
+'Oh, Alroy! they are not tears of sorrow.'
+
+'God be with thee! Thou art the charm and consolation of my life.
+Farewell! farewell!
+
+'I do observe the influence of women very potent over me. 'Tis not
+of such stuff that they make heroes. I know not love, save that pure
+affection which doth subsist between me and this girl, an orphan and my
+sister. We are so alike, that when, last Passover, in mimicry she twined
+my turban round her head, our uncle called her David.
+
+'The daughters of my tribe, they please me not, though they are passing
+fair. Were our sons as brave as they are beautiful, we still might dance
+on Sion. Yet have I often thought that, could I pillow this moody brow
+upon some snowy bosom that were my own, and dwell in the wilderness,
+far from the sight and ken of man, and all the care and toil and
+wretchedness that groan and sweat and sigh about me, I might haply lose
+this deep sensation of overwhelming woe that broods upon by being. No
+matter! Life is but a dream, and mine must be a dull one.'
+
+Without the gates of Hamadan, a short distance from the city, was
+an enclosed piece of elevated ground, in the centre of which rose an
+ancient sepulchre, the traditionary tomb of Esther and Mordecai.[3] This
+solemn and solitary spot was an accustomed haunt of Alroy, and thither,
+escaping from the banquet, about an hour before sunset, he this day
+repaired.
+
+As he unlocked the massy gate of the burial-place, he heard behind him
+the trampling of a horse; and before he had again secured the entrance,
+some one shouted to him.
+
+He looked up, and recognised the youthful and voluptuous Alschiroch, the
+governor of the city, and brother of the sultan of the Seljuks. He
+was attended only by a single running footman, an Arab, a detested
+favourite, and notorious minister of his pleasures.
+
+'Dog!' exclaimed the irritated Alschiroch, 'art thou deaf, or obstinate,
+or both? Are we to call twice to our slaves? Unlock that gate!'
+'Wherefore?' inquired Alroy.
+
+'Wherefore! By the holy Prophet, he bandies questions with us! Unlock
+that gate, or thy head shall answer for it!'
+
+'Who art thou,' inquired Alroy, 'whose voice is so loud? Art thou some
+holiday Turk, who hath transgressed the orders of thy Prophet, and
+drunken aught but water? Go to, or I will summon thee before thy Cadi;'
+and, so saying, he turned towards the tomb.
+
+'By the eyes of my mother, the dog jeers us! But that we are already
+late, and this horse is like an untamed tiger, I would impale him on the
+spot. Speak to the dog, Mustapha! manage him!'
+
+'Worthy Hebrew,' said the silky Mustapha, advancing, 'apparently you are
+not aware that this is our Lord Alschiroch. His highness would fain walk
+his horse through the burial-ground of thy excellent people, as he is
+obliged to repair, on urgent matters, to a holy Santon, who sojourns on
+the other side of the hill, and time presses.'
+
+'If this be our Lord Alschiroch, thou doubtless art his faithful slave,
+Mustapha.'
+
+'I am, indeed, his poor slave. What then, young master?'
+
+'Deem thyself lucky that the gate is closed. It was but yesterday thou
+didst insult the sister of a servant of my house. I would not willingly
+sully my hands with such miserable blood as thine, out away, wretch,
+away!'
+
+'Holy Prophet! who is this dog?' exclaimed the astonished governor.
+
+''Tis the young Alroy,' whispered Mustapha, who had not at first
+recognised him; 'he they call their Prince; a most headstrong youth. My
+lord, we had better proceed.'
+
+'The young Alroy! I mark him. They must have a prince too! The young
+Alroy! Well, let us away, and, dog!' shouted Alschiroch, rising in his
+stirrups, and shaking his hand with a threatening air, 'dog! remember
+thy tribute!'
+
+Alroy rushed to the gate, but the massy lock was slow to open; and ere
+he could succeed, the fiery steed had borne Alschiroch beyond pursuit.
+
+An expression of baffled rage remained for a moment on his countenance;
+for a moment he remained with his eager eye fixed on the route of his
+vanished enemy, and then he walked slowly towards the tomb; but his
+excited temper was now little in unison with the still reverie in
+which he had repaired to the sepulchre to indulge. He was restless and
+disquieted, and at length he wandered into the woods, which rose on the
+summit of the burial-place.
+
+He found himself upon a brow crested with young pine-trees, in the midst
+of which rose a mighty cedar. He threw himself beneath its thick and
+shadowy branches, and looked upon a valley small and green; in the midst
+of which was a marble fountain, the richly-carved cupola,[4] supported
+by twisted columns, and banded by a broad inscription in Hebrew
+characters. The bases of the white pillars were covered with wild
+flowers, or hidden by beds of variegated gourds. The transparent sunset
+flung over the whole scene a soft but brilliant light.
+
+The tranquil hour, the beauteous scene, the sweetness and the stillness
+blending their odour and serenity, the gentle breeze that softly rose,
+and summoned forth the languid birds to cool their plumage in the
+twilight air, and wave their radiant wings in skies as bright---- Ah!
+what stern spirit will not yield to the soft genius of subduing eve?
+
+And Alroy gazed upon the silent loneliness of earth, and a tear stole
+down his haughty cheek.
+
+''Tis singular! but when I am thus alone at this still hour, I ever
+fancy I gaze upon the Land of Promise. And often, in my dreams, some
+sunny spot, the bright memorial of a roving hour, will rise upon my
+sight, and, when I wake, I feel as if I had been in Canaan. Why am I
+not? The caravan that bears my uncle's goods across the Desert would
+bear me too. But I rest here, my miserable life running to seed in
+the dull misery of this wretched city, and do nothing. Why, the old
+captivity was empire to our inglorious bondage. We have no Esther now
+to share their thrones, no politic Mordecai, no purple-vested Daniel. O
+Jerusalem, Jerusalem! I do believe one sight of thee would nerve me
+to the sticking-point. And yet to gaze upon thy fallen state, my uncle
+tells me that of the Temple not a stone remains. 'Tis horrible. Is there
+no hope?'
+
+'_The bricks are fallen, but we will rebuild with marble; the sycamores
+are cut down, but we will replace them with cedars._'
+
+'The chorus of our maidens, as they pay their evening visit to the
+fountain's side.[5] The burden is prophetic.
+
+'Hark again! How beautifully, upon the soft and flowing air, their sweet
+and mingled voices blend and float!'
+
+'_YET AGAIN I WILL BUILD THEE, AND THOU SHALT BE BUILT, O VIRGIN OF
+ISRAEL! YET AGAIN SHALT THOU DECK THYSELF WITH THY TABRETS, AND GO
+FORTH IN THE DANCE OF THOSE THAT MAKE MERRY. YET AGAIN SHALT THOU PLANT
+VINEYARDS ON THE MOUNTAINS OF SAMARIA._'
+
+'See! their white forms break through the sparkling foliage of the sunny
+shrubs as they descend, with measured step, that mild declivity. A
+fair society in bright procession: each one clothed in solemn drapery,
+veiling her shadowy face with modest hand, and bearing on her graceful
+head a graceful vase. Their leader is my sister.
+
+'And now they reach the fountain's side, and dip their vases in the
+water, pure and beauteous as themselves. Some repose beneath the marble
+pillars; some, seated 'mid the flowers, gather sweets, and twine them
+into garlands; and that wild girl, now that the order is broken, touches
+with light fingers her moist vase, and showers startling drops of
+glittering light on her serener sisters. Hark! again they sing.'
+
+'_O VINE OF SIBMAH! UPON THY SUMMER FRUITS, AND UPON THY VINTAGE, A
+SPOILER HATH FALLEN!_'
+
+A scream, a shriek, a long wild shriek, confusion, flight, despair!
+Behold! from out the woods a tur-baned man rushes, and seizes the leader
+of the chorus. Her companions fly on all sides, Miriam alone is left in
+the arms of Alschiroch.
+
+The water column wildly rising from the breast of summer ocean, in some
+warm tropic clime, when the sudden clouds too well discover that the
+holiday of heaven is over, and the shrieking sea-birds tell a time of
+fierce commotion, the column rising from the sea, it was not so wild as
+he, the young Alroy.
+
+Pallid and mad, he swift upsprang, and he tore up a tree by its lusty
+roots, and down the declivity, dashing with rapid leaps, panting
+and wild, he struck the ravisher on the temple with the mighty pine.
+Alschiroch fell lifeless on the sod, and Miriam fainting into her
+brother's arms.
+
+And there he stood, fixed and immovable, gazing upon his sister's
+deathly face, and himself exhausted by passion and his exploit,
+supporting her cherished but senseless body.
+
+One of the fugitive maidens appeared reconnoitring in the distance.
+When she observed her mistress in the arms of one of her own people, her
+courage revived, and, desirous of rallying her scattered companions, she
+raised her voice, and sang:
+
+_'HASTE, DAUGHTERS OF JERUSALEM; O! HASTE, FOR THE LORD HAS AVENGED US,
+AND THE SPOILER IS SPOILED._'
+
+And soon the verse was responded to from various quarters of the woods,
+and soon the virgins reassembled, singing,
+
+'_WE COME, O DAUGHTER OF JERUSALEM! WE COME; FOR THE LORD HAS AVENGED
+US, AND THE SPOILER IS SPOILED_.'
+
+They gathered round their mistress, and one loosened her veil, and
+another brought water from the fountain, and sprinkled her reviving
+countenance. And Miriam opened her eyes, and said, 'My brother!' And he
+answered, 'I am here.' And she replied in a low voice, 'Fly, David, fly;
+for the man you have stricken is a prince among the people.'
+
+'He will be merciful, my sister; and, doubtless, since he first erred,
+by this time he has forgotten my offence.'
+
+'Justice and mercy! Oh, my brother, what can these foul tyrants know
+of either! Already he has perhaps doomed you to some refined and
+procrastinated torture, already---- Ah! what unutterable woe is mine!
+fly, my brother, fly!'
+
+'Fly, fly, fly!'
+
+'There is no fear, my Miriam; would all his accursed race could trouble
+us as little as their sometime ruler. See, he sleeps soundly. But his
+carcass shall not defile our fresh fountain and our fragrant flowers.
+I'll stow it in the woods, and stroll here at night to listen to the
+jackals at their banquet.'
+
+'You speak wildly, David. What! No! It is impossible! He is not dead!
+You have not slain him!
+
+He sleeps, he is afraid. He mimics death that we may leave his side,
+and he may rise again in safety. Girls, look to him. David, you do not
+answer. Brother, dear brother, surely he has swooned! I thought he had
+fled. Bear water, maidens, to that terrible man. I dare not look upon
+him.'
+
+'Away! I'll look on him, and I'll triumph. Dead! Alschiroch dead! Why,
+but a moment since, this clotted carcass was a prince, my tyrant! So we
+can rid ourselves of them, eh? If the prince fall, why not the people?
+Dead, absolutely dead, and I his slayer! Hah! at length I am a man.
+This, this indeed is life. Let me live slaying!'
+
+'Woe! woe, our house is fallen! The wildness of his gestures frightens
+me. David, David, I pray thee cease. He hears me not; my voice,
+perchance, is thin. I am very faint. Maidens, kneel to your Prince, and
+soothe the madness of his passion.'
+
+'_SWEET IS THE VOICE OF A SISTER IN THE SEASON OF SORROW, AND WISE IS
+THE COUNSEL OF THOSE WHO LOVE US_.'
+
+'Why, this is my Goliath! a pebble or a stick, it is the same. The Lord
+of Hosts is with us. Rightly am I called David.'
+
+'_DELIVER US FROM OUR ENEMIES, O LORD! FROM THOSE WHO RISE UP AGAINST
+US, AND THOSE WHO LIE IN WAIT FOR US_.'
+
+[Illustration: page020]
+
+'Were but this blow multiplied, were but the servants of my uncle's
+house to do the same, why, we should see again the days of Elah! The
+Philistine, the foul, lascivious, damnable Philistine! and he must touch
+my sister! Oh! that all his tribe were here, all, all! I'd tie such
+firebrands to their foxes' tails, the blaze should light to freedom!'
+
+While he spoke, a maiden, who had not yet rejoined the company, came
+running towards them swiftly with an agitated countenance.
+
+'Fly,' she exclaimed, 'they come, they come!'
+
+Miriam was reclining in an attendant's arms, feeble and faint, but the
+moment her quick ear caught these words she sprang up, and seized her
+brother's arm.
+
+'Alroy! David! brother, dear brother! I beseech thee, listen, I am thy
+sister, thy Miriam; they come, they come, the hard-hearted, wicked men,
+they come, to kill, perhaps to torture thee, my tender brother. Rouse
+thyself, David; rouse thyself from this wild, fierce dream: save
+thyself, fly!'
+
+'Ah! is it thou, Miriam? Thou seest he sleepeth soundly. I was dreaming
+of noble purposes and mighty hopes. Tis over now. I am myself again.
+What wouldst thou?'
+
+'They come, the fierce retainers of this fallen man; they come to seize
+thee. Fly, David!'
+
+'And leave thee?'
+
+'I and my maidens, we have yet time to escape by the private way we
+entered, our uncle's garden. When in his house, we are for a moment
+safe, as safe as our poor race can ever be. Bostenay is so rich, so
+wise, so prudent, so learned in man's ways, and knows so well the
+character and spirit of these men, all will go right; I fear nothing.
+But thou, if thou art here, or to be found, thy blood alone will satiate
+them. If they be persuaded that thou hast escaped, as I yet pray thou
+mayest, their late master here, whom they could scarcely love, why, give
+me thy arm an instant, sweet Beruna. So, that's well. I was saying, if
+well bribed,--and they may have all my jewels,--why, very soon, he will
+be as little in their memories as he is now in life. I can scarcely
+speak; I feel my words wander, or seem to wander; I could swoon, but
+will not; nay! do not fear. I will reach home. These maidens are my
+charge. 'Tis in these crises we should show the worth of royal blood.
+I'll see them safe, or die with them.'
+
+'O! my sister, methinks I never knew I was a brother until this hour. My
+precious Miriam, what is life? what is revenge, or even fame and freedom
+without thee? I'll stay.'
+
+'_SWEET IS THE VOICE OF A SISTER IN THE SEASON OF SORROW, AND WISE IS
+THE COUNSEL OF THOSE WHO LOVE US_.'
+
+'Fly, David, fly!'
+
+'Fly! whither and how?'
+
+The neigh of a horse sounded from the thicket.
+
+'Ah! they come!' exclaimed the distracted Miriam.
+
+'_ALL THIS HAS COME UPON US, O LORD! YET HAVE WE NOT FORGOTTEN THEE,
+NEITHER HAVE WE DEALT FALSELY IN THY COVENANT_.'
+
+'Hark! again it neighs! It is a horse that calleth to its rider. I see
+it. Courage, Miriam! it is no enemy, but a very present friend in time
+of trouble. It is Alschiroch's courser. He passed me on it by the tomb
+ere sunset. I marked it well, a very princely steed.'
+
+_'BEHOLD, BEHOLD, A RAM IS CAUGHT IN THE THICKET BY HIS HORNS._'
+
+'Our God hath not forgotten us! Quick, maidens, bring forth the goodly
+steed. What! do you tremble? I'll be his groom.'
+
+'Nay! Miriam, beware, beware. It is an untamed beast, wild as the
+whirlwind. Let me deal with him.'
+
+He ran after her, dashed into the thicket, and brought forth the horse.
+
+Short time I ween that stately steed had parted from his desert home;
+his haughty crest, his eye of fire, the glory of his snorting nostril,
+betoken well his conscious pride, and pure nobility of race. His colour
+was like the sable night shining with a thousand stars, and he pawed the
+ground with his delicate hoof, like an eagle flapping its wing.
+
+Alroy vaulted on his back, and reined him with a master's hand.
+
+'Hah!' he exclaimed, 'I feel more like a hero than a fugitive. Farewell,
+my sister; farewell, ye gentle maidens; fare ye well, and cherish
+my precious Miriam. One embrace, sweet sister,' and he bent down and
+whispered, 'Tell the good Bostenay not to spare his gold, for I have a
+deep persuasion that, ere a year shall roll its heavy course, I shall
+return and make our masters here pay for this hurried ride and bitter
+parting. Now for the desert!'
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER II.
+
+     _The Slaying of an Ishmaelite_
+
+SPEED, fleetly speed, thou courser bold, and track the desert's
+trackless way. Beneath thee is the boundless earth, above thee is the
+boundless heaven, an iron soil and brazen sky. Speed, swiftly speed,
+thou courser bold, and track the desert's trackless way. Ah! dost thou
+deem these salty plains[6] lead to thy Yemen's happy groves, and
+dost thou scent on the hot breeze the spicy breath of Araby? A sweet
+delusion, noble steed, for this briny wilderness leads not to the happy
+groves of Yemen, and the breath thou scentest on the coming breeze is
+not the spicy breath of Araby.
+
+The day has died, the stars have risen, with all the splendour of a
+desert sky, and now the Night descending brings solace on her dewy wings
+to the fainting form and pallid cheek of the youthful Hebrew Prince.
+
+Still the courser onward rushes, still his mighty heart supports him.
+Season and space, the glowing soil, the burning ray, yield to the
+tempest of his frame, the thunder of his nerves, and lightning of his
+veins.
+
+Food or water they have none. No genial fount, no graceful tree, rise
+with their pleasant company. Never a beast or bird is there, in that
+hoary desert bare. Nothing breaks the almighty stillness. Even the
+jackal's felon cry might seem a soothing melody. A grey wild rat, with
+snowy whiskers, out of a withered bramble stealing, with a youthful
+snake in its ivory teeth, in the moonlight grins with glee. This is
+their sole society.
+
+Morn comes, the fresh and fragrant morn, for which even the guilty sigh.
+Morn comes, and all is visible. And light falls like a signet on the
+earth, and its face is turned like wax beneath a seal. Before them and
+also on their right was the sandy desert; but in the night they had
+approached much nearer to the mountainous chain, which bounded the
+desert on the left, and whither Alroy had at first guided the steed.
+
+The mountains were a chain of the mighty Elburz; and, as the sun rose
+from behind a lofty peak, the horse suddenly stopped and neighed, as if
+asking for water. But Alroy, himself exhausted, could only soothe him
+with caresses. And the horse, full of courage, understood his master,
+and neighed again more cheerfully.
+
+For an hour or two the Prince and his faithful companion proceeded
+slowly, but, as the day advanced, the heat became so oppressive, and
+the desire to drink so overwhelming, that Alroy again urged on the steed
+towards the mountains, where he knew that he should find a well. The
+courser dashed willingly forward, and seemed to share his master's
+desire to quit the arid and exhausting wilderness.
+
+More than once the unhappy fugitive debated whether he should not allow
+himself to drop from his seat and die; no torture that could await him
+at Hamadan but seemed preferable to the prolonged and inexpressible
+anguish which he now endured. As he rushed along, leaning on his
+bearer's neck, he perceived a patch of the desert that seemed of a
+darker colour than the surrounding sand. Here, he believed, might
+perhaps be found water. He tried to check the steed, but with difficulty
+he succeeded, and with still greater difficulty dismounted. He knelt
+down, and feebly raked up the sand with his hands. It was moist. He
+nearly fainted over his fruitless labour. At length, when he had dug
+about a foot deep, there bubbled up some water. He dashed in his hand,
+but it was salt as the ocean. When the horse saw the water his ears
+rose, but, when he smelt it, he turned away his head, and neighed most
+piteously.
+
+'Alas, poor beast!' exclaimed Alroy, 'I am the occasion of thy
+suffering, I, who would be a kind master to thee, if the world would let
+me. Oh, that we were once more by my own fair fountain! The thought is
+madness. And Miriam too! I fear I am sadly tender-hearted.' He leant
+against his horse's back, with a feeling of utter exhaustion, and burst
+into hysteric sobs.
+
+And the steed softly moaned, and turned its head, and gently rubbed its
+face against his arm, as if to solace him in his suffering. And strange,
+but Alroy was relieved by having given way to his emotion, and, charmed
+with the fondness of the faithful horse, he leant down and took water,
+and threw it over its feet to cool them, and wiped the foam from its
+face, and washed it, and the horse again neighed.
+
+And now Alroy tried to remount, but his strength failed him, and the
+horse immediately knelt down and received him. And the moment that the
+Prince was in his seat, the horse rose, and again proceeded at a rapid
+pace in their old direction. Towards sunset they were within a few miles
+of the broken and rocky ground into which the mountains descended; and
+afar off Alroy recognised the cupola of the long-expected well. With
+re-animated courage and rallied energies he patted his courser's neck,
+and pointed in the direction of the cupola, and the horse pricked up its
+ears, and increased its pace.
+
+Just us the sun set, they reached the well. Alroy jumped off the horse,
+and would have led it to the fountain, but the animal would not advance.
+It stood shivering with a glassy eye, and then with a groan fell down
+and died.
+
+Night brings rest; night brings solace; rest to the weary, solace to the
+sad. And to the desperate night brings despair.
+
+The moon has sunk to early rest; but a thousand stars are in the sky.
+The mighty mountains rise severe in the clear and silent air. In the
+forest all is still. The tired wind no longer roams, but has lightly
+dropped on its leafy couch, and sleeps like man. Silent all but the
+fountain's drip. And by the fountain's side a youth is lying.
+
+Suddenly a creature steals through the black and broken rocks. Ha, ha!
+the jackal smells from afar the rich corruption of the courser's clay.
+Suddenly and silently it steals, and stops, and smells. Brave banqueting
+I ween to-night for all that goodly company. Jackal, and fox, and
+marten-cat, haste ye now, ere morning's break shall call the vulture to
+his feast and rob you of your prey.
+
+The jackal lapped the courser's blood, and moaned with exquisite
+delight. And in a moment, a faint bark was heard in the distance. And
+the jackal peeled the flesh from one of the ribs, and again burst into a
+shriek of mournful ecstasy.
+
+Hark, their quick tramp! First six, and then three, galloping with
+ungodly glee. And a marten-cat came rushing down from the woods; but
+the jackals, fierce in their number, drove her away, and there she stood
+without the circle, panting, beautiful, and baffled, with her white
+teeth and glossy skin, and sparkling eyes of rabid rage.[7]
+
+Suddenly as one of the half-gorged jackals retired from the main corpse,
+dragging along a stray member by some still palpitating nerves, the
+marten-cat made a spring at her enemy, carried off his prey, and rushed
+into the woods.
+
+Her wild scream of triumph woke a lion from his lair. His mighty form,
+black as ebony, moved on a distant eminence, his tail flowed like a
+serpent. He roared, and the jackals trembled, and immediately ceased
+from their banquet, turning their heads in the direction of their
+sovereign's voice. He advanced; he stalked towards them. They retired;
+he bent his head, examined the carcass with condescending curiosity,
+and instantly quitted it with royal disdain. The jackals again collected
+around their garbage. The lion advanced to the fountain to drink. He
+beheld a man. His mane rose, his tail was wildly agitated, he bent over
+the sleeping Prince, he uttered an awful roar, which awoke Alroy.
+
+He awoke; his gaze met the flaming eyes of the enormous beast fixed upon
+him with a blended feeling of desire and surprise. He awoke, and from a
+swoon; but the dreamless trance had refreshed the exhausted energies of
+the desolate wanderer; in an instant he collected his senses, remembered
+all that had passed, and comprehended his present situation. He returned
+the lion a glance as imperious, and fierce, and scrutinsing, as his own.
+For a moment, their flashing orbs vied in regal rivalry; but at length
+the spirit of the mere animal yielded to the genius of the man. The
+lion, cowed, slunk away, stalked with haughty timidity through the
+rocks, and then sprang into the forest.
+
+Morn breaks; a silver light is shed over the blue and starry sky.
+Pleasant to feel is the breath of dawn. Night brings repose, but day
+brings joy.
+
+The carol of a lonely bird singing in the wilderness! A lonely bird that
+sings with glee! Sunny and sweet, and light and clear, its airy notes
+float through the sky, and trill with innocent revelry.
+
+The lonely youth on the lonely bird upgazes from the fountain's side.
+High in the air it proudly floats, balancing its crimson wings, and its
+snowy tail, long, delicate, and thin, shines like a sparkling meteor in
+the sun.
+
+The carol of a lonely bird singing in the wilderness! Suddenly it
+downward dashes, and thrice with circling grace it flies around the head
+of the Hebrew Prince. Then by his side it gently drops a bunch of fresh
+and fragrant dates.
+
+'Tis gone, 'tis gone! that cheerful stranger, gone to the palmy land it
+loves; gone like a bright and pleasant dream. A moment since and it was
+there, glancing in the sunny air, and now the sky is without a guest.
+Alas, alas! no more is heard the carol of that lonely bird singing in
+the wilderness.
+
+'As thou didst feed Elijah, so also hast thou fed me, God of my
+fathers!' And Alroy arose, and he took his turban and unfolded it,
+and knelt and prayed. And then he ate of the dates, and drank of the
+fountain, and, full of confidence in the God of Israel, the descendant
+of David pursued his flight.
+
+He now commenced the ascent of the mountainous chain, a wearisome and
+painful toil. Two hours past noon he reached the summit of the first
+ridge, and looked over a wild and chaotic waste full of precipices
+and ravines, and dark unfathomable gorges. The surrounding hills were
+ploughed in all directions by the courses of dried-up cataracts, and
+here and there a few savage goats browsed on an occasional patch of
+lean and sour pasture. This waste extended for many miles; the distance
+formed by a more elevated range of mountains, and beyond these, high in
+the blue sky, rose the loftiest peaks of Elburz,[8] shining with sharp
+glaciers of eternal snow.
+
+It was apparent that Alroy was no stranger in the scene of his flight.
+He had never hesitated as to his course, and now, after having rested
+for a short time on the summit, he descended towards the left by a
+natural but intricate path, until his progress was arrested by a black
+ravine. Scarcely half a dozen yards divided him from the opposite
+precipice by which it was formed, but the gulf beneath, no one could
+shoot a glance at its invisible termination without drawing back with a
+cold shudder.
+
+The Prince knelt down and examined the surrounding ground with great
+care. At length he raised a small square stone which covered a metallic
+plate, and, taking from his vest a carnelian talisman covered with
+strange characters, he knocked thrice upon the plate with the signet.
+A low solemn murmur sounded around. Presently the plate flew off, and
+Alroy pulled forth several yards of an iron chain, which he threw over
+to the opposite precipice. The chain fastened without difficulty to
+the rock, and was evidently constrained by some magnetic influence.
+The Prince, seizing the chain with both his hands, now swung across
+the ravine. As he landed, the chain parted from the rock, swiftly
+disappeared down the opposite aperture, and its covering closed with the
+same low, solemn murmur as before.
+
+Alroy proceeded for about a hundred paces through a natural cloister
+of basalt until he arrived at a large uncovered court of the same
+formation, which a stranger might easily have been excused for believing
+to have been formed and smoothed by art. In its centre bubbled up a
+perpetual spring, icy cold; the stream had worn a channel through the
+pavement, and might be traced for some time wandering among the rocks,
+until at length it leaped from a precipice into a gorge below, in a
+gauzy shower of variegated spray. Crossing the court, Alroy now entered
+a vast cavern.
+
+The cavern was nearly circular in form, lighted from a large aperture
+in the top. Yet a burning lamp, in a distant and murky corner, indicated
+that its inhabitant did not trust merely to this natural source of the
+great blessing of existence. In the centre of the cave was a circular
+and brazen table, sculptured with strange characters and mysterious
+figures: near it was a couch, on which lay several volumes.[9] Suspended
+from the walls were a shield, some bows and arrows, and other arms.
+
+As the Prince of the Captivity knelt down and kissed the vacant couch, a
+figure advanced from the extremity of the cavern into the light. He
+was a man of middle age, considerably above the common height, with
+a remarkably athletic frame, and a strongly-marked but majestic
+countenance. His black beard descended to his waist, over a dark red
+robe, encircled by a black girdle embroidered with yellow characters,
+like those sculptured on the brazen table. Black also was his turban,
+and black his large and luminous eye.
+
+The stranger advanced so softly, that Alroy did not perceive him, until
+the Prince again rose.
+
+'Jabaster!' exclaimed the Prince.
+
+'Sacred seed of David,' answered the Cabalist,[10] 'thou art expected. I
+read of thee in the stars last night. They spoke of trouble.'
+
+'Trouble or triumph, Time must prove which it is, great master. At
+present I am a fugitive and exhausted. The bloodhounds track me, but
+methinks I have baffled them now. I have slain an Ishmaelite.'
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER III
+
+     _The Hope of Israel_
+
+IT WAS midnight. Alroy slept upon the couch: his sleep was troubled.
+Jabaster stood by his side motionless, and gazing intently upon his
+slumbering guest.
+
+'The only hope of Israel,' murmured the Cabalist,' my pupil and my
+prince! I have long perceived in his young mind the seed of mighty
+deeds, and o'er his future life have often mused with a prophetic hope.
+The blood of David, the sacred offspring of a solemn race. There is a
+magic in his flowing veins my science cannot reach.
+
+'When, in my youth, I raised our standard by my native Tigris, and
+called our nation to restore their ark, why, we were numerous, wealthy,
+potent; we were a people then, and they flocked to it boldly. Did we
+lack counsel? Did we need a leader? Who can aver that Jabaster's brain
+or arm was ever wanting? And yet the dream dissolved, the glorious
+vision! Oh! when I struck down Marvan, and the Caliph's camp flung its
+blazing shadow over the bloody river, ah! then indeed I lived. Twenty
+years of vigil may gain a pardon that I then forgot we lacked the chief
+ingredient in the spell, the blood that sleeps beside me.
+
+'I recall the glorious rapture of that sacred strife amid the rocks of
+Caucasus. A fugitive, a proscribed and outlawed wretch, whose life is
+common sport, and whom the vilest hind may slay without a bidding. I,
+who would have been Messiah!
+
+'Burn thy books, Jabaster; break thy brazen tables; forget thy lofty
+science, Cabalist, and read the stars no longer.[11] But last night
+I stood upon the gulf which girds my dwelling: in one hand, I held my
+sacred talisman, that bears the name ineffable; in the other, the mystic
+record of our holy race. I remembered that I had evoked spirits, that I
+had communed with the great departed, and that the glowing heavens were
+to me a natural language. I recalled, as consolation to my gloomy soul,
+that never had my science been exercised but for a sacred or a noble
+purpose. And I remembered Israel, my brave, my chosen, and my antique
+race, slaves, wretched slaves. I was strongly tempted to fling me down
+this perilous abyss, and end my learning and my life together.
+
+'But, as I gazed upon the star of David, a sudden halo rose around its
+rays, and ever and anon a meteor shot from out the silver veil. I read
+that there was trouble in the holy seed; and now comes this boy, who has
+done a deed which----'
+
+'The ark, the ark! I gaze upon the ark!' 'The slumberer speaks; the
+words of sleep are sacred.' 'Salvation only from the house of David.'
+'A mighty truth; my life too well has proved it. 'He is more calm. It
+is the holy hour. I'll steal into the court, and gaze upon the star that
+sways the fortunes of his royal house.'
+
+The moonbeam fell upon the fountain; the pavement of the court was a
+flood of light; the rocks rose dark around. Jabaster, seated by the
+spring, and holding his talisman in his left hand, shaded his sight with
+the other as he gazed upon the luminous heavens.
+
+A shriek! his name was called. Alroy, wild and panting, rushed into the
+court with extended arms. The Cabalist started up, seized him, and held
+him in his careful grasp, foaming and in convulsions.
+
+'Jabaster, Jabaster!'
+
+'I am here, my child.'
+
+'The Lord hath spoken.'
+
+'The Lord is our refuge. Calm thyself, son of David, and tell me all.'
+
+'I have been sleeping, master; is it not so?'
+
+'Even so, my child. Exhausted by his flight and the exciting narrative
+of his exploit, my Prince lay down upon the couch and slumbered; but I
+fear that slumber was not repose.'
+
+'Repose and I have naught in common now. Farewell for ever to that fatal
+word. I am the Lord's anointed.'
+
+'Drink of the fountain, David: it will restore thee.'
+
+'Restore the covenant, restore the ark, restore the holy city.'
+
+'The Spirit of the Lord hath fallen upon him. Son of David, I adjure
+thee tell me all that hath passed. I am a Levite; in my hand I hold the
+name ineffable.'
+
+'Take thy trumpet then, summon the people, bid them swiftly raise again
+our temple. "The bricks have fallen, but we will rebuild with marble."
+Didst hear that chorus, sir?'
+
+'Unto thy chosen ear alone it sounded.'
+
+'Where am I? This is not our fountain. Yet thou didst say, "the
+fountain." Think me not wild. I know thee, I know all. Thou art
+not Miriam. Thou art jabaster; I am Alroy. But thou didst say, "the
+fountain," and it distracted me, and called back my memory to----
+
+'God of Israel, lo, I kneel before thee! Here, in the solitude of
+wildest nature, my only witness here this holy man, I kneel and vow,
+Lord! I will do thy bidding. I am young, O God! and weak; but thou,
+Lord, art all-powerful! What God is like to thee? Doubt not my courage,
+Lord; and fill me with thy spirit! but remember, remember her, O Lord!
+remember Miriam. It is the only worldly thought I have, and it is pure.'
+
+'Still of his sister! Calm thyself, my son.'
+
+'Holy master, thou dost remember when I was thy pupil in this cavern.
+Thou hast not forgotten those days of tranquil study, those sweet, long
+wandering nights of sacred science! I was dutiful, and hung upon each
+accent of thy lore with the devotion that must spring from love.'
+
+'I cannot weep, Alroy; but were it in my power, I would yield a tear of
+homage to the memory of those days.'
+
+'How calmly have we sat on some high brow, and gazed upon the stars!'
+
+''Tis very true, sweet child.'
+
+'And if thou e'er didst chide me, 'twas half in jest, and only for my
+silence.'
+
+'What would he now infer? No matter, he grows calmer. How solemn is his
+visage in the moonlight! And yet not Solomon, upon his youthful throne,
+could look more beautiful.'
+
+'I never told thee an untruth, Jabaster.'
+
+'My life upon thy faith.'
+
+'Fear not the pledge, and so believe me, on the mountain brow watching
+the starry heavens with thyself, I was not calmer than I feel, sir,
+now.'
+
+'I do believe thee.'
+
+'Then, Jabaster, believe as fully I am the Lord's anointed.'
+
+'Tell me all, my child.'
+
+'Know, then, that sleeping on the couch within, my sleep was troubled.
+Many dreams I had, indefinite and broken. I recall none of their images,
+except I feel a dim sensation 'twas my lot to live in brighter days than
+now rise on our race. Suddenly I stood upon a mountain tall and grey,
+and gazed upon the stars. And, as I gazed, a trumpet sounded. Its note
+thrilled through my soul. Never have I heard a sound so awful. The
+thunder, when it broke over the cavern here, and shivered the peak,
+whose ruins lie around us, was but a feeble worldly sound to this
+almighty music. My cheek grew pale, I panted even for breath. A
+flaming light spread over the sky, the stars melted away, and I beheld,
+advancing from the bursting radiancy, the foremost body of a mighty
+host.
+
+'Oh! not when Saul led forth our fighting men against the Philistine,
+not when Joab numbered the warriors of my great ancestor, did human
+vision gaze upon a scene of so much martial splendour. Chariots and
+cavalry, and glittering trains of plumed warriors too robust to need a
+courser's solace; streams of shining spears, and banners like a sunset;
+reverend priests swinging their perfumed censers, and prophets hymning
+with their golden harps a most triumphant future.
+
+'"Joy, joy," they say, "to Israel, for he cometh, he cometh in his
+splendour and his might, the great Messiah of our ancient hopes."
+
+'And, lo! a mighty chariot now appeared, drawn by strange beasts whose
+forms were half obscured by the bright flames on which they seemed to
+float. In that glorious car a warrior stood, proud and immovable his
+form, his countenance. Hold my hand, Jabaster, while I speak; that
+chieftain was myself!'
+
+'Proceed, proceed, my son.'
+
+'I started in my dream, and I awoke. I found myself upsitting on my
+couch. The pageantry had vanished. Naught was seen but the bright
+moonlight and the gloomy cave. And, as I sighed to think I e'er had
+wakened, and mused upon the strangeness of my vision, a still small
+voice descended from above and called, "Alroy!" I started, but I
+answered not. Methought it was my fancy. Again my name was called, and
+now I murmured, "Lord, I am here, what wouldst thou?" Naught responded,
+and soon great dread came over me, and I rushed out and called to thee,
+my master.'
+
+'It was "the Daughter of the Voice"[12] that spake. Since the Captivity
+'tis the only mode by which the saints are summoned. Oft have I heard
+of it, but never in these sad degenerate days has its soft aspiration
+fallen upon us. These are strange times and tidings. The building of the
+temple is at hand. Son of David, my heart is full. Let us to prayer!'
+
+Day dawned upon Jabaster, still musing in solitude among his rocks.
+Within the cavern, Alroy remained in prayer.
+
+Often and anxiously the Cabalist shot a glance at his companion, and
+then again relapsed into reverie.
+
+'The time is come that I must to this youth reveal the secrets of my
+early life. Much will he hear of glory, much of shame. Naught must I
+conceal, and naught gloss over.
+
+'I must tell how in the plains of Tigris I upraised the sacred standard
+of our chosen race, and called them from their bondage; how, despairing
+of his recreant fathers, and inspired by human power alone, I vainly
+claimed the mighty office for his sacred blood alone reserved. God of
+my fathers, grant that future service, the humble service of a
+contrite soul, may in the coming glory that awaits us, atone for past
+presumption!
+
+'But for him great trials are impending. Not lightly must that votary
+be proved, who fain would free a people. The Lord is faithful to his
+promise, but the Lord will choose his season and his minister. Courage,
+and faith, and deep humility, and strong endurance, and the watchful
+soul temptation cannot sully, these are the fruits we lay upon his
+altar, and meekly watch if some descending flame will vouchsafe to
+accept and brightly bless them.
+
+'It is written in the dread volume of our mystic lore, that not alone
+the Saviour shall spring from out our house of princes, but that none
+shall rise to free us, until, alone and unassisted, he have gained the
+sceptre which Solomon of old wielded within his cedar palaces.
+
+'That sceptre must he gain. This fragile youth, untried and delicate,
+unknowing in the ways of this strange world, where every step is danger,
+how much hardship, how much peril, what withering disappointment, what
+dull care, what long despondency, what never-ending lures, now lie in
+ambush for this gentle boy! O my countrymen, is this your hope? And I,
+with all my lore, and all my courage, and all my deep intelligence of
+man; unhappy Israel, why am I not thy Prince?
+
+'I check the blasphemous thought. Did not his great ancestor, as young
+and as untried, a beardless stripling, with but a pebble, a small
+smoothed stone, level a mailed giant with the ground, and save his
+people?
+
+'He is clearly summoned. The Lord is with him. Be he with the Lord, and
+we shall prosper.'
+
+It was at sunset, on the third day after the arrival of Alroy at the
+cave of the Cabalist, that the Prince of the Captivity commenced his
+pilgrimage in quest of the sceptre of Solomon.
+
+Silently the pilgrim and his master took their way to the brink of the
+ravine, and there they stopped to part, perhaps forever.
+
+'It is a bitter moment, Alroy. Human feelings are not for beings like
+us, yet they will have their way. Remember all. Cherish the talisman as
+thy life: nay! welcome death with it pressing against thy heart, rather
+than breathe without it. Be firm, be pious. Think of thy ancestors,
+think of thy God.'
+
+'Doubt me not, dear master; if I seem not full of that proud spirit,
+which was perhaps too much my wont, ascribe it not to fear, Jabaster,
+nor even to the pain of leaving thee, dear friend. But ever since that
+sweet and solemn voice summoned me so thrillingly, I know not how it is,
+but a change has come over my temper; yet I am firm, oh! firmer far than
+when I struck down the Ishmaelite. Indeed, indeed, fear not for me. The
+Lord, that knoweth all things, knows full well I am prepared even to the
+death. Thy prayers, Jabaster, and----'
+
+'Stop, stop. I do remember me. See this ring: 'tis a choice emerald.
+Thou mayst have wondered I should wear a bauble. Alroy, I had a brother
+once: still he may live. When we parted, this was the signal of his
+love: a love, my child, strong, though we greatly differed. Take it. The
+hour may come that thou mayst need his aid. It will command it. If he
+live, he prospers. I know his temper well. He was made for what the
+worldly deem prosperity. God be with thee, sacred boy: the God of our
+great fathers, the God of Abraham, of Isaac, and of Jacob!'
+
+They embraced.
+
+'We linger,' exclaimed the Cabalist, 'we linger. Oh! in vain we quell
+the feelings of our kind. God, God bless and be with thee! Art sure thou
+hast all? thy dagger and thy wallet? That staff has seen some service.
+I cut it on the Jordan. Ah! that I could be thy mate! 'Twould be nothing
+then. At the worst to die together. Such a fate seems sweeter now than
+parting. I'll watch thy star, my child. Thou weepest! And I too. Why!
+what is this? Am I indeed Jabaster? One more embrace, and so----we'll
+not say farewell, but only think it.'
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER IV.
+
+     _Alroy Falls Among Thieves_
+
+TRADITION taught that the sceptre of Solomon could be found only in the
+unknown sepulchres of the ancient Hebrew monarchs, and that none might
+dare to touch it but one of their descendants. Armed with the cabalistic
+talisman, which was to guide him in his awful and difficult researches,
+Alroy commenced his pilgrimage to the Holy City. At this time, the love
+of these sacred wanderings was a reigning passion among the Jews as well
+as the Christians.
+
+The Prince of the Captivity was to direct his course into the heart
+of those great deserts which, in his flight from Hamadan, he had only
+skirted. Following the track of the caravan, he was to make his way
+to Babylon, or Bagdad. From the capital of the caliphs, his journey
+to Jerusalem was one comparatively easy; but to reach Bagdad he must
+encounter hardship and danger, the prospect of which would have
+divested any one of hope, who did not conceive himself the object of an
+omnipotent and particular Providence.
+
+Clothed only in a coarse black frock, common among the Kourds, girded
+round his waist by a cord which held his dagger, his head shaven, and
+covered with a large white turban, which screened him from the heat, his
+feet protected only by slippers, supported by his staff, and bearing on
+his shoulders a bag of dried meat and parched corn, and a leathern skin
+of water, behold, toiling over the glowing sands of Persia, a youth
+whose life had hitherto been a long unbroken dream of domestic luxury
+and innocent indulgence.
+
+He travelled during the warm night or the early starlit morn. During the
+day he rested: happy if he could recline by the side of some
+charitable well, shaded by a palm-tree, or frighten a gazelle from its
+resting-place among the rough bushes of some wild rocks. Were these
+resources wanting, he threw himself upon the sand, and made an awning
+with his staff and turban.
+
+Three weeks had elapsed since he quitted the cavern of the Cabalist.
+Hitherto he had met with no human being. The desert became less arid.
+A scanty vegetation sprang up from a more genial soil; the ground broke
+into gentle undulations; his senses were invigorated with the odour
+of wild plants, and his sight refreshed by the glancing form of some
+wandering bird, a pilgrim like himself, but more at ease.
+
+Soon sprang up a grove of graceful palm-trees, with their tall thin
+stems, and bending feathery crowns, languid and beautiful. Around, the
+verdant sod gleamed like an emerald: silver streams, flowing from a
+bubbling parent spring, wound their white forms within the bright green
+turf. From the grove arose the softening song of doves, and showers of
+gay and sparkling butterflies, borne on their tinted wings of shifting
+light, danced without danger in the liquid air. A fair and fresh Oasis!
+
+Alroy reposed in this delicious retreat for two days, feeding on the
+living dates, and drinking of the fresh water. Fain would he have
+lingered, nor indeed, until he rested, had he been sufficiently
+conscious of his previous exertion. But the remembrance of his great
+mission made him restless, and steeled him to the sufferings which yet
+awaited him.
+
+At the dawn of the second day of his journey from the Oasis he beheld to
+his astonishment, faintly but distinctly traced on the far horizon, the
+walls and turrets of an extensive city.[13] Animated by this unexpected
+prospect, he continued his progress for several hours after sunrise. At
+length, utterly exhausted, he sought refuge from the overpowering heat
+beneath the cupola of the ruined tomb of some Moslem saint. At sunset
+he continued his journey, and in the morning found himself within a few
+miles of the city. He halted, and watched with anxiety for some evidence
+of its inhabitants. None was visible. No crowds or cavalcades issued
+from the gates. Not a single human being, not a solitary camel, moved in
+the vicinity.
+
+The day was too advanced for the pilgrim to proceed, but so great was
+his anxiety to reach this unknown settlement, and penetrate the mystery
+of its silence, that ere sunset Alroy entered the gates.
+
+A magnificent city, of an architecture with which he was unacquainted,
+offered to his entranced vision its gorgeous ruins and deserted
+splendour; long streets of palaces, with their rich line of lessening
+pillars, here and there broken by some fallen shaft, vast courts
+surrounded by ornate and solemn temples, and luxurious baths adorned
+with rare mosaics, and yet bright with antique gilding; now an arch of
+triumph, still haughty with its broken friezes; now a granite obelisk
+covered with strange characters, and proudly towering over a prostrate
+companion; sometimes a void and crumbling theatre, sometimes a long and
+elegant aqueduct, sometimes a porphyry column, once breathing with the
+heroic statue that now lies shivered at its base, all suffused with the
+warm twilight of an eastern eve.
+
+He gazed with wonder and admiration upon the strange and fascinating
+scene. The more he beheld, the more his curiosity was excited. He
+breathed with difficulty; he advanced with a blended feeling of
+eagerness and hesitation. Fresh wonders successively unfolded
+themselves. Each turn developed a new scene of still and solemn
+splendour. The echo of his step filled him with awe. He looked around
+him with an amazed air, a fluttering heart, and a changing countenance.
+All was silent: alone the Hebrew Prince stood amid the regal creation of
+the Macedonian captains. Empires and dynasties flourish and pass away;
+the proud metropolis becomes a solitude, the conquering kingdom even a
+desert; but Israel still remains, still a descendant of the most ancient
+kings breathed amid these royal ruins, and still the eternal sun could
+never rise without gilding the towers of living Jerusalem. A word, a
+deed, a single day, a single man, and we might be a nation.
+
+A shout! he turns, he is seized; four ferocious Kourdish bandits grapple
+and bind him.
+
+The bandits hurried their captive through a street which appeared to
+have been the principal way of the city. Nearly at its termination,
+they turned by a small Ionian temple, and, clambering over some fallen
+pillars, entered a quarter of the city of a more ruinous aspect than
+that which Alroy had hitherto visited. The path was narrow, often
+obstructed, and around were signs of devastation for which the exterior
+of the city had not prepared him.
+
+The brilliant but brief twilight of the Orient was fast fading away; a
+sombre purple tint succeeded to the rosy flush; the distant towers rose
+black, although defined, in the clear and shadowy air; and the moon,
+which, when he first entered, had studded the heavens like a small white
+cloud, now glittered with deceptive light.
+
+Suddenly, before them rose a huge pile. Oval in shape, and formed by
+tiers of arches, it was evidently much dilapidated, and one enormous,
+irregular, and undulating rent, extending from the top nearly to the
+foundation, almost separated the side to which Alroy and his companions
+advanced.
+
+Clambering up the remainder of this massive wall, the robbers and their
+prisoner descended into an immense amphitheatre, which seemed vaster in
+the shadowy and streaming moonlight. In it were groups of men, horses,
+and camels. In the extreme distance, reclining or squatting on mats and
+carpets, was a large assembly, engaged in a rough but merry banquet. A
+fire blazed at their side, its red and uncertain flame mingling with the
+white and steady moonbeam, and throwing a flickering light over their
+ferocious countenances, their glistening armour, ample drapery, and
+shawled heads.
+
+'A spy,' exclaimed the captors, as they dragged Alroy before the leader
+of the band.
+
+'Hang him, then,' said the chieftain, without even looking up.
+
+'This wine, great Scherirah, is excellent, or I am no true Moslem,'
+said a principal robber; 'but you are too cruel; I hate this summary
+punishment. Let us torture him a little, and extract some useful
+information.'
+
+'As you like, Kisloch,' said Scherirah; 'it may amuse us. Fellow, where
+do you come from? He cannot answer. Decidedly a spy. Hang him up.'
+
+The captors half untied the rope that bound Alroy, that it might serve
+him for a further purpose, when another of the gentle companions of
+Scherirah interfered.
+
+'Spies always answer, captain. He is more probably a merchant in
+disguise.'
+
+'And carries hidden treasure,' added Kisloch; 'these rough coats often
+cover jewels. We had better search him.'
+
+'Ah! search him,' said Scherirah, with his rough brutal voice; 'do what
+you like, only give me the bottle. This Greek wine is choice booty. Feed
+the fire, men. Are you asleep? And then Kisloch, who hates cruelty, can
+roast him if he likes.'
+
+The robbers prepared to strip their captive. 'Friends, friends!'
+exclaimed Alroy, 'for there is no reason why you should not be friends,
+spare me, spare me. I am poor, I am young, I am innocent. I am neither a
+spy nor a merchant. I have no plots, no wealth. I am a pilgrim.'
+
+'A decided spy,' exclaimed Scherirah; 'they are ever pilgrims.'
+
+'He speaks too well to speak truth,' exclaimed Kisloch.
+
+'All talkers are liars,' exclaimed Scherirah.
+
+'That is why Kisloch is the most eloquent of the band.'
+
+'A jest at the banquet may prove a curse in the field,' replied Kisloch.
+
+'Pooh!' exclaimed Scherirah. 'Fellows, why do you hesitate? Search the
+prisoner, I say!'
+
+They advanced, they seized him. In vain he struggled.
+
+'Captain,' exclaimed one of the band, 'he wears upon his breast a
+jewel!'
+
+'I told you so,' said the third robber.
+
+'Give it me,' said Scherirah.
+
+But Alroy, in despair at the thought of losing the talisman, remembering
+the injunctions of Jabaster, and animated by supernatural courage, burst
+from his searchers, and, seizing a brand from the fire, held them at
+bay.
+
+'The fellow has spirit,' said Scherirah, calmly. ''Tis pity it will cost
+him his life.'
+
+'Bold man,' exclaimed Alroy, 'for a moment hear me! I am a pilgrim,
+poorer than a beggar. The jewel they talk of is a holy emblem, worthless
+to you, to me invaluable, and to be forfeited only with my life. You
+may be careless of that. Beware of your own. The first man who advances
+dies. I pray you humbly, chieftain, let me go.'
+
+'Kill him,' said Scherirah.
+
+'Stab him!' exclaimed Kisloch.
+
+'Give me the jewel,' said the third robber.
+
+'The God of David be my refuge, then!' exclaimed Alroy.
+
+'He is a Hebrew, he is a Hebrew,' exclaimed Scherirah, jumping up.
+'Spare him, my mother was a Jewess.'
+
+The assailants lowered their arms, and withdrew a few paces. Alroy still
+remained upon his guard.
+
+'Valiant pilgrim,' said Scherirah, advancing, with a softened voice,
+'are you for the holy city?'
+
+'The city of my fathers.'
+
+'A perilous journey. And whence from?'
+
+'Hamadan.'
+
+'A dreary way. You need repose. Your name?'
+
+'David.'
+
+'David, you are among friends. Rest, and repose in safety. You hesitate.
+Fear not! The memory of my mother is a charm that always changes me!'
+Scherirah unsheathed his dagger, punctured his arm,[14] and, throwing
+away the weapon, offered the bleeding member to Alroy. The Prince of the
+Captivity touched the open vein with his lips.
+
+'My troth is pledged,' said the bandit; 'I can never betray him in whose
+veins my own blood is flowing.' So saying, he led Alroy to his carpet.
+
+'Eat,' David,' said Scherirah.
+
+'I will eat bread,' answered Alroy.
+
+'What! have you had so much meat lately that you will refuse this
+delicate gazelle that I brought down this morning with my own lance?
+'Tis food for a caliph.'
+
+'I pray you give me bread.'
+
+'Oh! bread if you like. But that a man should prefer bread to meat, and
+such meat as this, 'tis miraculous.'
+
+'A thousand thanks, good Scherirah; but with our people the flesh of the
+gazelle is forbidden. It is unclean. Its foot is _cloven_.'
+
+'I have heard of these things,' replied Scherirah, with a thoughtful
+air. 'My mother was a Jewess, and my father was a Kourd. Whichever be
+right, I hope to be saved.'
+
+'There is but one God, and Mahomed is his prophet!' exclaimed Kisloch;
+'though I drink wine. Your health, Hebrew.'
+
+'I will join you,' said to the third robber. 'My father was a Guebre,
+and sacrificed his property to his faith; and the consequence is, his
+son has got neither.'
+
+'As for me,' said a fourth robber, of very dark complexion and
+singularly small bright eyes, 'I am an Indian, and I believe in the
+great golden figure with carbuncle eyes, in the temple of Delhi.'
+
+'I have no religion,' said a tall negro in a red turban, grinning with
+his white teeth; 'they have none in my country; but if I had heard of
+your God before, Calidas, I would have believed in him.'
+
+'I almost wish I had been a Jew,' exclaimed Scherirah, musing. 'My
+mother was a good woman.' 'The Jews are very rich,' said the third
+robber. 'When you get to Jerusalem, David, you will see the Christians,'
+continued Scherirah.
+
+'The accursed Giaours,' exclaimed Kisloch, 'we are all against them.'
+
+'With their white faces,' exclaimed the negro. 'And their blue eyes,'
+said the Indian. 'What can you expect of men who live in a country
+without a sun?' observed the Guebre.
+
+Alroy awoke about two hours after midnight. His companions were in deep
+slumber. The moon had set, the fire had died away, a few red embers
+alone remaining; dark masses of shadow hung about the amphitheatre. He
+arose and cautiously stepped over the sleeping bandits. He was not
+in strictness a prisoner; but who could trust to the caprice of these
+lawless men? To-morrow might find him their slave, or their companion in
+some marauding expedition, which might make him almost retrace his steps
+to the Caucasus, or to Hamadan. The temptation to ensure his freedom
+was irresistible. He clambered up the ruined wall, descended into the
+intricate windings that led to the Ionic fane, that served him as a
+beacon, hurried through the silent and starry streets, gained the great
+portal, and rushed once more into the desert.
+
+A vague fear of pursuit made him continue his course many hours without
+resting. The desert again became sandy, the heat increased. The breeze
+that plays about the wilderness, and in early spring is often scented
+with the wild fragrance of aromatic plants, sank away. A lurid
+brightness suffused the heavens. An appalling stillness pervaded nature;
+even the insects were silent. For the first time in his pilgrimage,
+a feeling of deep despondency fell over the soul of Alroy. His energy
+appeared suddenly to have deserted him. A low hot wind began to rise,
+and fan his cheek with pestiferous kisses, and enervate his frame with
+its poisonous embrace. His head and limbs ached with a dull sensation,
+more terrible than pain; his sight was dizzy, his tongue swollen. Vainly
+he looked around for aid; vainly he extended his forlorn arms, and
+wrung them to the remorseless heaven, almost frantic with thirst. The
+boundless horizon of the desert disappeared, and the unhappy victim, in
+the midst of his torture, found himself apparently surrounded by bright
+and running streams, the fleeting waters of the false mirage!
+
+The sun became blood-red, the sky darker, the sand rose in fierce
+eddies, the moaning wind burst into shrieks and exhaled more ardent
+and still more malignant breath. The pilgrim could no longer sustain
+himself.[15] Faith, courage, devotion deserted him with his failing
+energies. He strove no longer with his destiny, he delivered himself
+up to despair and death. He fell upon one knee with drooping head,
+supporting himself by one quivering hand, and then, full of the anguish
+of baffled purposes and lost affections, raising his face and arm to
+heaven, thus to the elements he poured his passionate farewell.
+
+'O life! once vainly deemed a gloomy toil, I feel thy sweetness now!
+Farewell, O life, farewell my high resolves and proud conviction of
+almighty fame. My days, my short unprofitable days, melt into the past;
+and death, with which I struggle, horrible death, arrests me in this
+wilderness. O my sister, could thy voice but murmur in my ear one single
+sigh of love; could thine eye with its soft radiance but an instant
+blend with my dim fading vision, the pang were nothing. Farewell,
+Miriam! my heart is with thee by thy fountain's side. Fatal blast,
+bear her my dying words, my blessing. And ye too, friends, whose too
+neglected love I think of now, farewell! Farewell, my uncle; farewell,
+pleasant home, and Hamadan's serene and shadowy bowers! Farewell,
+Jabaster, and the mighty lore of which thou wert the priest and I the
+pupil! Thy talisman throbs on my faithful heart. Green earth and golden
+sun, and all the beautiful and glorious sights ye fondly lavish on
+unthinking man, farewell, farewell! I die in the desert: 'tis bitter. No
+more, oh! never more for me the hopeful day shall break, and the fresh
+breeze rise on its cheering wings of health and joy. Heaven and earth,
+water and air, my chosen country and my antique creed, farewell,
+farewell! And thou, too, city of my soul, I cannot name thee, unseen
+Jerusalem----'
+
+Amid the roar of the wind, the bosom of the earth heaved and opened,
+swift columns of sand sprang up to the lurid sky, and hurried towards
+their victim. With the clang of universal chaos, impenetrable darkness
+descended on the desert.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER V.
+
+     _Lord Honain Rescues Alroy_
+
+NOW our dreary way is over, now the desert's toil is past. Soon the
+river broadly flowing, through its green and palmy banks, to our
+wearied limbs shall offer baths 'which caliphs cannot buy. Allah-illah,
+Allah-hu. Allah-illah, Allah-hu.'
+
+'Blessed the man who now may bear a relic from our Prophet's tomb;
+blessed the man who now unfolds the treasures of a distant mart,
+jewels of the dusky East, and silks of farthest Samarcand. Allah-illah,
+Allah-hu. Allah-illah, Allah-hu.'
+
+'Him the sacred mosque shall greet with a reverence grave and
+low; him the busy Bezestein shall welcome with confiding smile. Holy
+merchant, now receive the double triumph of thy toil. Allah-illah,
+Allah-hu. Allah-illah, Allah-hu.'
+
+'The camel jibs, Abdallah! See, there is something in the track.'
+
+'By the holy stone,[16] a dead man. Poor devil! One should never make
+a pilgrimage on foot. I hate your humble piety. Prick the beast and he
+will pass the corpse.'
+
+'The Prophet preaches charity, Abdallah. He has favoured my enterprise,
+and I will practise his precept. See if he be utterly dead.'
+
+It was the Mecca caravan returning to Bagdad. The pilgrims were within
+a day's journey of the Euphrates, and welcomed their approach to fertile
+earth with a triumphant chorus. Far as the eye could reach, the long
+line of their straggling procession stretched across the wilderness,
+thousands of camels in strings, laden with bales of merchandise, and
+each company headed by an animal of superior size, leading with tinkling
+bells; groups of horsemen, clusters of litters; all the pilgrims
+armed to their teeth, the van formed by a strong division of Seljukian
+cavalry, and the rear protected by a Kourdish clan, who guaranteed the
+security of the pious travellers through their country.
+
+Abdallah was the favourite slave of the charitable merchant Ali. In
+obedience to his master's orders, he unwillingly descended from his
+camel, and examined the body of the apparently lifeless Alroy.
+
+'A Kourd, by his dress,' exclaimed Abdallah, with a sneer; 'what does he
+here?'
+
+'It is not the face of a Kourd,' replied Ali; 'perchance a pilgrim from
+the mountains.'
+
+'Whatever he be, he is dead,' answered the slave: 'I doubt not an
+accursed Giaour.'
+
+'God is great,' exclaimed Ali; 'he breathes; the breast of his caftan
+heaved.'
+
+''Twas the wind,' said Abdallah.
+
+''Twas the sigh of a human heart,' answered Ali.
+
+Several pilgrims who were on foot now gathered around the group.
+
+'I am a Hakim,'[17] observed a dignified Armenian. 'I will feel his
+pulse; 'tis dull, but it beats.'
+
+'There is but one God,' exclaimed Ali.
+
+'And Mahomed is his Prophet,' responded Abdallah. 'You do not believe in
+him, you Armenian infidel.'
+
+'I am a Hakim,' replied the dignified Armenian. 'Although an infidel,
+God has granted me skill to cure true believers. Worthy Ali, believe me,
+the boy may yet live.'
+
+'Hakim, you shall count your own dirhems if he breathe in my divan in
+Bagdad,' answered Ali; 'I have taken a fancy to the boy. God has sent
+him to me. He shall carry my slippers.'
+
+'Give me a camel, and I will save his life.'
+
+'We have none,' said the servant.
+
+'Walk, Abdallah,' said the master.
+
+'Is a true believer to walk to save the life of a Kourd? Master
+slipper-bearer shall answer for this, if there be any sweetness in the
+bastinado,' murmured Abdallah.
+
+The Armenian bled Alroy; the blood flowed slowly but surely. The Prince
+of the Captivity opened his eyes.
+
+'There is but one God,' exclaimed Ali.
+
+'The evil eye fall on him!' muttered Abdallah.
+
+The Armenian took a cordial from his vest, and poured it down his
+patient's throat. The blood flowed more freely.
+
+'He will live, worthy merchant,' said the physician.
+
+'And Mahomed is his Prophet,' continued Ali.
+
+'By the stone of Mecca, I believe it is a Jew,' shouted Abdallah.
+
+'The dog!' exclaimed Ali.
+
+'Pah!' said a negro slave, drawing back with disgust.
+
+'He will die,' said the Christian physician, not even binding up the
+vein.
+
+'And be damned,' said Abdallah, again jumping on his camel.
+
+The party rode on, the caravan proceeded. A Kourdish horseman galloped
+forward. He curbed his steed as he passed Alroy bleeding to death.
+
+'What accursed slave has wounded one of my clan?'
+
+The Kourd leaped off his horse, stripped off a slip of his blue shirt,
+stanched the wound, and carried the unhappy Alroy to the rear.
+
+The desert ceased, the caravan entered upon a vast but fruitful plain.
+In the extreme distance might be descried a long undulating line of
+palm-trees. The vanguard gave a shout, shook their tall lances in the
+air, and rattled their scimitars in rude chorus against their small
+round iron shields. All eyes sparkled, all hands were raised, all voices
+sounded, save those that were breathless from overpowering joy. After
+months wandering in the sultry wilderness, they beheld the great
+Euphrates.
+
+Broad and fresh, magnificent and serene, the mighty waters rolled
+through the beautiful and fertile earth. A vital breeze rose from their
+bosom. Every being responded to their genial influence. The sick were
+cured, the desponding became sanguine, the healthy and light-hearted
+broke into shouts of laughter, jumped from their camels, and embraced
+the fragrant earth, or, wild in their renovated strength, galloped over
+the plain, and threw their wanton jerreeds in the air,[18] as if to
+show that suffering and labour had not deprived them of that skill and
+strength, without which it were vain again to enter the haunts of their
+less adventurous brethren.
+
+The caravan halted on the banks of the broad river, glowing in the
+cool sunset. The camp was pitched, the plain glittered with tents. The
+camels, falling on their knees, crouched in groups, the merchandise
+piled up in masses by their sides. The unharnessed horses rushed
+neighing about the plain, tossing their glad heads, and rolling in the
+unaccustomed pasture. Spreading their mats, and kneeling towards Mecca,
+the pilgrims performed their evening orisons. Never was thanksgiving
+more sincere. They arose: some rushed into the river, some lighted
+lamps, some pounded coffee.[19] Troops of smiling villagers arrived with
+fresh provisions, eager to prey upon such light hearts and heavy purses.
+It was one of those occasions when the accustomed gravity of the Orient
+disappears. Long through the night the sounds of music and the shouts of
+laughter were heard on the banks of that starry river; long through the
+night you might have listened with enchantment to the wild tales of the
+storier, or gazed with fascination on the wilder gestures of the dancing
+girls.[20]
+
+The great bazaar of Bagdad afforded an animated and sumptuous spectacle
+on the day after the arrival of the caravan. All the rare and costly
+products of the world were collected in that celebrated mart: the shawls
+of Cachemire and the silks of Syria, the ivory, and plumes, and gold
+of Afric, the jewels of Ind, the talismans of Egypt, the perfumes and
+manuscripts of Persia, the spices and gums of Araby, beautiful horses,
+more beautiful slaves, cloaks of sable, pelisses of ermine, armour alike
+magnificent in ornament and temper, rare animals, still rarer birds,
+blue apes in silver collars, white gazelles bound by a golden chain,
+greyhounds, peacocks, paroquets. And everywhere strange, and busy, and
+excited groups; men of all nations, creeds, and climes: the sumptuous
+and haughty Turk, the graceful and subtle Arab, the Hebrew with his
+black cap and anxious countenance; the Armenian Christian, with his dark
+flowing robes, and mild demeanour, and serene visage. Here strutted
+the lively, affected, and superfine Persian; and there the Circassian
+stalked with his long hair and chain cuirass. The fair Georgian jostled
+the ebony form of the merchant of Dongola or Sennaar.
+
+Through the long, narrow, arched, and winding streets of the bazaar,
+lined on each side with loaded stalls, all was bustle, bargaining, and
+barter. A passenger approached, apparently of no common rank. Two pages
+preceded him, beautiful Georgian boys, clothed in crimson cloth, and
+caps of the same material, sitting tight to their heads, with long
+golden tassels. One bore a blue velvet bag, and the other a clasped and
+richly bound volume. Four footmen, armed, followed their master, who
+rode behind the pages on a milk-white mule. He was a man of middle age,
+eminently handsome. His ample robes concealed the only fault in
+his appearance, a figure which indulgence had rendered somewhat too
+exuberant. His eyes were large, and soft, and dark; his nose aquiline,
+but delicately moulded; his mouth small, and beautifully proportioned;
+his lip full and red; his teeth regular and dazzling white. His ebony
+beard flowed, but not at too great a length, in graceful and natural
+curls, and was richly perfumed; a delicate mustachio shaded his upper
+lip, but no whisker was permitted to screen the form and shroud the
+lustre of his oval countenance and brilliant complexion. Altogether, the
+animal perhaps predominated too much in the expression of the stranger's
+countenance; but genius beamed from his passionate eye, and craft lay
+concealed in that subtle lip. The dress of the rider was sumptuous. His
+turban, formed by a scarlet Cachemire shawl, was of great breadth, and
+concealing half of his white forehead, increased by the contrast the
+radiant height of the other. His under-vest was of white Damascus silk,
+stiff with silver embroidery, and confined by a girdle formed by a Brusa
+scarf of gold stuff, and holding a dagger, whose hilt appeared blazing
+with brilliants and rubies. His loose and exterior robe was of crimson
+cloth. His white hands sparkled with rings, and his ears glittered with
+pendulous gems.
+
+'Who is this?' asked an Egyptian merchant, in a low whisper, of the
+dealer whose stuffs he was examining.
+
+''Tis the Lord Honain,' replied the dealer. 'And who may he be?'
+continued the Egyptian. 'Is he the Caliph's son?'
+
+'A much greater man; his physician.' The white mule stopped at the very
+stall where this conversation was taking place. The pages halted, and
+stood on each side of their master, the footmen kept off the crowd.
+
+'Merchant,' said Honain, with a gracious smile of condescension, and
+with a voice musical as a flute, 'Merchant, did you obtain me my wish?'
+
+'There is but one God,' replied the dealer, who was the charitable
+Ali, 'and Mahomed is his Prophet. I succeeded, please your highness, in
+seeing at Aleppo the accursed Giaour, of whom I spoke, and behold,
+that which you desired is here.' So saying, Ali produced several Greek
+manuscripts, and offered them to his visitor.
+
+'Hah!' said Honain, with a sparkling eye, ''tis well; their cost?'
+
+'The infidel would not part with them under five hundred dirhems,'
+replied Ali.
+
+'Ibrahim, see that this worthy merchant receive a thousand.'
+
+'As many thanks, my Lord Honain.'
+
+The Caliph's physician bowed gracefully.
+
+'Advance, pages,' continued Honain; 'why this stoppage? Ibrahim, see
+that our way be cleared. What is all this?'
+
+A crowd of men advanced, pulling along a youth, who, almost exhausted,
+still singly struggled with his ungenerous adversaries.
+
+'The Cadi, the Cadi,' cried the foremost of them, who was Abdallah,
+'drag him to the Cadi.'
+
+'Noble lord,' cried the youth, extricating himself by a sudden struggle
+from the grasp of his captors, and seizing the robe of Honain, 'I am
+innocent and injured. I pray thy help.'
+
+'The Cadi, the Cadi,' exclaimed Abdallah; 'the knave has stolen my ring,
+the ring given me by my faithful Fatima on our marriage-day, and which I
+would not part with for my master's stores.'
+
+The youth still clung to the robe of Honain, and, mute from exhaustion,
+fixed upon him his beautiful and imploring eye.
+
+'Silence,' proclaimed Honain, 'I will judge this cause.'
+
+'The Lord Honain, the Lord Honain, listen to the Lord Honain!'
+
+'Speak, thou brawler; of what hast thou to complain?' said Honain to
+Abdallah.
+
+'May it please your highness,' said Abdallah, in a whining voice, 'I am
+the slave of your faithful servant, Ali: often have I had the honour of
+waiting on your highness. This young knave here, a beggar, has robbed
+me, while slumbering in a coffee-house, of a ring; I have my witnesses
+to prove my slumbering. 'Tis a fine emerald, may it please your
+highness, and doubly valuable to me as a love-token from my Fatima.
+No consideration in the world could induce me to part with it; and so,
+being asleep, here are three honest men who will prove the sleep, comes
+this little vagabond, may it please your highness, who while he pretends
+to offer me my coffee, takes him my finger, and slips off this precious
+ring, which he now wears upon his beggarly paw, and will not restore to
+me without the bastinado.'
+
+'Abdallah is a faithful slave, may it please your highness, and a
+Hadgee,' said Ali, his master.
+
+'And what sayest thou, boy?' inquired Honain.
+
+'That this is a false knave, who lies as slaves ever will.'
+
+'Pithy, and perhaps true,' said Honain.
+
+'You call me a slave, you young scoundrel?' exclaimed Abdallah; 'shall
+I tell you what you are? Why, your highness, do not listen to him a
+moment. It is a shame to bring such a creature into your presence; for,
+by the holy stone, and I am a Hadgee, I doubt little he is a Jew.'
+
+Honain grew somewhat pale, and bit his lip. He was perhaps annoyed that
+he had interfered so publicly in behalf of so unpopular a character as
+a Hebrew, but he was unwilling to desert one whom a moment before he had
+resolved to befriend, and he inquired of the youth where he had obtained
+the ring.
+
+'The ring was given to me by my dearest friend when I first set out upon
+an arduous pilgrimage not yet completed. There is but one person in the
+world, except the donor, to whom I would part with it, and with that
+person I am unacquainted. All this may seem improbable, but all this is
+true. I have truth alone to support me. I am destitute and friendless;
+but I am not a beggar, nor will any suffering induce me to become one.
+Feeling, from various circumstances, utterly exhausted, I entered a
+coffee-house and lay down, it may have been to die. I could not sleep,
+although my eyes were shut, and nothing would have roused me from a
+tremulous trance, which I thought was dying, but this plunderer here,
+who would not wait until death had permitted him quietly to possess
+himself of a jewel I value more than life.'
+
+'Show me the jewel.'
+
+The youth held up his hand to Honain, who felt his pulse, and then took
+off the ring.
+
+'O, my Fatima!' exclaimed Abdallah.
+
+'Silence, sir!' said Honain. 'Page, call a jeweller.'
+
+Honain examined the ring attentively. Whether he were near-sighted, or
+whether the deceptive light of the covered bazaar prevented him from
+examining it with ease, he certainly raised his hand to his brow, and
+for some moments his countenance was invisible.
+
+The jeweller arrived, and, pressing his hand to his heart, bowed before
+Honain.
+
+'Value this ring,' said Honain, in a low voice.
+
+The jeweller took the ring, viewed it in all directions with a
+scrutinising glance, held it to the light, pressed it to his tongue,
+turned it over and over, and finally declared that he could not sell
+such a ring under a thousand dirhems.
+
+'Whatever be the justice of the case,' said Honain to Abdallah, 'art
+thou ready to part with this ring for a thousand dirhems?'
+
+'Most certainly,' said Abdallah. 'And thou, lad, if the decision be in
+thy favour, wilt thou take for the ring double the worth at which the
+jeweller prizes it?'
+
+'My lord, I have spoken the truth. I cannot part with that ring for the
+palace of the Caliph.'
+
+'The truth for once is triumphant,' said Honain. 'Boy, the ring is
+thine; and for thee, thou knave,' turning to Abdallah, 'liar, thief, and
+slanderer!--for thee the bastinado,[21] which thou destinedst for
+this innocent youth. Ibrahim, see that he receives five hundred. Young
+pilgrim, thou art no longer destitute or friendless. Follow me to my
+palace.'
+
+The arched chamber was of great size and beautiful proportion. The
+ceiling, encrusted with green fretwork, and studded with silver stars,
+rested upon clustered columns of white and green marble. In the centre
+of a variegated pavement of the same material, a fountain rose and fell
+into a green porphyry basin, and by the side of the fountain, upon a
+couch of silver, reposed Honain.
+
+He raised his eyes from the illuminated volume on which he had been long
+intent; he clapped his hands, and a Nubian slave advanced, and, folding
+his arms upon his breast, bowed in silence before his lord. 'How fares
+the Hebrew boy, Analschar?'
+
+'Master, the fever has not returned. We gave him the potion; he
+slumbered for many hours, and has now awakened, weak but well.'
+
+'Let him rise and attend me.'
+
+The Nubian disappeared.
+
+'There is nothing stranger than sympathy,' soliloquised the physician
+of the Caliph, with a meditative air; 'all resolves itself into this
+principle, and I confess this learned doctor treats it deeply and well.
+An erudite spirit truly, and an eloquent pen; yet he refines too
+much. 'Tis too scholastic. Observation will teach us more than dogma.
+Meditating upon my passionate youth, I gathered wisdom. I have seen so
+much that I have ceased to wonder. However we doubt, there is a mystery
+beyond our penetration. And yet 'tis near our grasp. I sometimes deem a
+step, a single step, would launch us into light. Here comes my patient.
+The rose has left his cheek, and his deep brow is wan and melancholy.
+Yet 'tis a glorious visage, Meditation's throne; and Passion lingers in
+that languid eye. I know not why, a strong attraction draws me to this
+lone child.
+
+'Gentle stranger, how fares it with thee?'
+
+'Very well, my lord. I come to thank thee for all thy goodness. My only
+thanks are words, and those too weak; and yet the orphan's blessing is a
+treasure.'
+
+'You are an orphan, then'
+
+'I have no parent but my father's God.'
+
+'And that God is----'
+
+'The God of Israel.'
+
+'So I deemed. He is a Deity we all must honour; if he be the great
+Creator whom we all allow.'
+
+'He is what he is, and we are what we are, a fallen people, but faithful
+still.'
+
+'Fidelity is strength.'
+
+'Thy words are truth, and strength must triumph.'
+
+'A prophecy!'
+
+'Many a prophet is little honoured, till the future proves his
+inspiration.'
+
+'You are young and sanguine.'
+
+'So was my ancestor within the vale of Elah. But I speak unto a Moslem,
+and this is foolishness.'
+
+'I have read something, and can take your drift. As for my faith, I
+believe in truth, and wish all men to do the same. By-the-bye, might I
+inquire the name of him who is the inmate of my house?'
+
+'They call me David.'
+
+'David, you have a ring, an emerald cut with curious characters, Hebrew,
+I believe.'
+
+''Tis here.'
+
+'A fine stone, and this inscription means----'
+
+'A simple legend, "_Parted, but one_;" the kind memorial of a brother's
+love.'
+
+'Your brother?'
+
+'I never had a brother.'
+
+'I have a silly fancy for this ring: you hesitate. Search my palace, and
+choose the treasure you deem its match.'
+
+'Noble sir, the gem is little worth; but were it such might deck a
+Caliph's brow, 'twere a poor recompense for all thy goodness. This ring
+is a trust rather than a possession, and strange to say, although I
+cannot offer it to thee who mayst command, as thou hast saved, the life
+of its unhappy wearer, some stranger may cross my path to-morrow, and
+almost claim it as his own.'
+
+'And that stranger is----'
+
+'The brother of the donor.'
+
+'The brother of Jabaster?'
+
+'Jabaster!'
+
+'Even so. I am that parted brother.'
+
+'Great is the God of Israel! Take the ring. But what is this? the
+brother of Jabaster a turbaned chieftain! a Moslem! Say, but say, that
+thou hast not assumed their base belief; say, but say, that thou hast
+not become a traitor to our covenant, and I will bless the fortunes of
+this hour.'
+
+'I am false to no God. Calm thyself, sweet youth. These are higher
+questions than thy faint strength can master now. Another time we'll
+talk of this, my boy; at present of my brother and thyself. He lives and
+prospers?'
+
+'He lives in faith; the pious ever prosper.'
+
+'A glorious dreamer! Though our moods are different, I ever loved him.
+And thyself? Thou art not what thou seemest. Tell me all. Jabaster's
+friend can be no common mind. Thy form has heralded thy fame. Trust me.'
+
+'I am Alroy.'
+
+'What! the Prince of our Captivity?'
+
+'Even so.'
+
+'The slayer of Alschiroch?'
+
+'Ay!'
+
+'My sympathy was prophetic. I loved thee from the first. And what dost
+thou here? A price is set upon thy head: thou knowest it?'
+
+'For the first time; but I am neither astonished nor alarmed. I am upon
+the Lord's business.'
+
+'What wouldst thou?'
+
+'Free his people.'
+
+'The pupil of Jabaster: I see it all. Another victim to his reveries.
+I'll save this boy. David,--for thy name must not be sounded within this
+city,--the sun is dying. Let us to the terrace, and seek the solace of
+the twilight breeze.'
+
+'What is the hour, David?'
+
+'Near to midnight. I marvel if thy brother may read in the stars our
+happy meeting.'
+
+'Men read that which they wish. He is a learned Cabalist.'
+
+'But what we wish comes from above.'
+
+'So they say. We make our fortunes, and we call them Fate.'
+
+'Yet the Voice sounded, the Daughter of the Voice that summoned Samuel.'
+
+'You have told me strange things; I have heard stranger solved.'
+
+'My faith is a rock.'
+
+'On which you may split.'
+
+'Art thou a Sadducee?'
+
+'I am a man who knows men.'
+
+'You are learned, but different from Jabaster.'
+
+'We are the same, though different. Day and Night are both portions of
+Time.'
+
+'And thy portion is----'
+
+'Truth.'
+
+'That is, light.'
+
+'Yes; so dazzling that it sometimes seems dark.'
+
+'Like thy meaning.'
+
+'You are young.'
+
+'Is youth a defect?'
+
+'No, the reverse. But we cannot eat the fruit while the tree is in
+blossom.'
+
+'What fruit?'
+
+'Knowledge.'
+
+'I have studied.'
+
+'What?'
+
+'All sacred things.'
+
+'How know you that they are sacred?'
+
+'They come from God.'
+
+'So does everything. Is everything sacred?'
+
+'They are the deep expression of his will.'
+
+'According to Jabaster. Ask the man who prays in yonder mosque, and he
+will tell you that Jabaster's wrong.'
+
+'After all, thou art a Moslem?'
+
+'No.'
+
+'What then?'
+
+'I have told you, a man.'
+
+'But what dost thou worship?'
+
+'What is worship?'
+
+'Adoration due from the creature to the Creator.'
+
+'Which is he?'
+
+'Our God.'
+
+'The God of Israel?'
+
+'Even so.'
+
+'A frail minority, then, burn incense to him.'
+
+'We are the chosen people.'
+
+'Chosen for scoffs, and scorns, and contumelies. Commend me to such
+choice.'
+
+'We forgot Him, before He chastened us.'
+
+'Why did we?'
+
+'Thou knowest the records of our holy race.'
+
+'Yes, I know them; like all records, annals of blood.'
+
+'Annals of victory, that will dawn again.'
+
+'If redemption be but another name for carnage, I envy no Messiah.'
+
+'Art thou Jabaster's brother?' 'So our mother was wont to say: a meek
+and blessed woman.'
+
+'Lord Honain, thou art rich, and wise, and powerful. Thy fellow-men
+speak of thee only with praise or fear, and both are cheering. Thou
+hast quitted our antique ark; why, no matter. We'll not discuss it. 'Tis
+something; if a stranger, at least thou art not a renegade. The world
+goes well with thee, my Lord Honain. But if, instead of bows and
+blessings, thou, like thy brethren, wert greeted only with the cuff
+and curse; if thou didst rise each morning only to feel existence to
+be dishonour, and to find thyself marked out among surrounding men as
+something foul and fatal; if it were thy lot, like theirs, at best to
+drag on a mean and dull career, hopeless and aimless, or with no other
+hope or aim but that which is degrading, and all this, too, with a keen
+sense of thy intrinsic worth, and a deep conviction of superior race;
+why, then, perchance, Honain might even discover 'twere worth a struggle
+to be free and honoured.' 'I pray your pardon, sir; I thought you were
+Jabaster's pupil, a dreaming student. I see you have a deep ambition.'
+
+'I am a prince; and I fain would be a prince without my fetters.'
+
+'Listen to me, Alroy,' said Honain in a low voice, and he placed his
+arm around him, 'I am your friend. Our acquaintance is very brief: no
+matter, I love you; I rescued you in injury, I tended you in sickness,
+even now your life is in my power, I would protect it with my own. You
+cannot doubt me. Our affections are not under our own control; and mine
+are yours. The sympathy between us is entire. You see me, you see what I
+am; a Hebrew, though unknown; one of that despised, rejected, persecuted
+people, of whom you are the chief. I too would be free and honoured.
+Freedom and honour are mine, but I was my own messiah. I quitted in
+good time our desperate cause, but I gave it a trial. Ask Jabaster how I
+fought. Youth could be my only excuse for such indiscretion. I left
+this country; I studied and resided among the Greeks. I returned from
+Constantinople, with all their learning, some of their craft. No one
+knew me. I assumed their turban, and I am the Lord Honain. Take my
+experience, child, and save yourself much sorrow. Turn your late
+adventure to good account. No one can recognise you here. I will
+introduce you amongst the highest as my child by some fair Greek. The
+world is before you. You may fight, you may love, you may revel. War,
+and Women, and luxury are all at your command. With your person and
+talents you may be grand vizir. Clear your head of nonsense. In the
+present disordered state of the empire, you may even carve yourself out
+a kingdom, infinitely more delightful than the barren land of milk and
+honey. I have seen it, child; a rocky wilderness, where I would not let
+my courser graze.'
+
+He bent down, and fixed his eyes upon his companion with a scrutinising
+glance. The moonlight fell upon the resolved visage of the Prince of the
+Captivity.
+
+'Honain,' he replied, pressing his hand, 'I thank thee. Thou knowest not
+me, but still I thank thee.'
+
+'You are resolved, then, on destruction.'
+
+'On glory, eternal glory.'
+
+'Is it possible to succeed?'
+
+'Is it possible to fail?'
+
+'You are mad.'
+
+'I am a believer.'
+
+'Enough. You have yet one chance. My brother has saddled your enterprise
+with a condition, and an impossible one. Gain the sceptre of Solomon,
+and I will agree to be your subject. You will waste a year in this
+frolic. You are young, and can afford it. I trust you will experience
+nothing worse than a loss of time, which is, however, valuable. My duty
+will be, after all your sufferings, to send you forth on your adventures
+in good condition, and to provide you means for a less toilsome
+pilgrimage than has hitherto been your lot. Trust me, you will return to
+Bagdad to accept my offers. At present, the dews are descending, and we
+will return to our divan, and take some coffee.'
+
+Some few days after this conversation on the terrace, as Alroy was
+reclining in a bower, in the beautiful garden of his host, meditating
+on the future, some one touched him on the back. He looked up. It was
+Honain.
+
+'Follow me,' said the brother of Jabaster.
+
+The Prince rose, and followed him in silence. They entered the house,
+and, passing through the saloon already described, they proceeded down
+a long gallery, which terminated in an arched flight of broad steps
+leading to the river. A boat was fastened to the end of the stairs,
+floating on the blue line of the Tigris, bright in the sun.
+
+Honain now gave to Alroy a velvet bag, which he requested him to carry,
+and then they descended the steps and entered the covered boat; and,
+without any directions to the rower, they were soon skimming over the
+water. By the sound of passing vessels, and the occasional shouts of the
+boatmen, Alroy, although he could observe nothing, was conscious that
+for some time their course lay through a principal thoroughfare of
+the city; but by degrees the sounds became less frequent, and in time
+entirely died away, and all that caught his ear was the regular and
+monotonous stroke of their own oar.
+
+At length, after the lapse of nearly an hour from their entrance,
+the boat stopped, and was moored against a quay. The curtains were
+withdrawn, and Honain and his companion debarked.
+
+A low but extensive building, painted in white and gold arabesque, and
+irregular but picturesque in form, with many small domes, and tall thin
+towers, rose amid groves of cypress on the bank of the broad and silent
+river. The rapid stream had carried them far from the city, which was
+visible but distant. Around was no habitation, no human being. The
+opposite bank was occupied by enclosed gardens. Not even a boat passed.
+
+Honain, beckoning to Alroy to accompany him, but still silent, advanced
+to a small portal, and knocked. It was instantly opened by a single
+Nubian, who bowed reverently as the visitors passed him. They proceeded
+along a low and gloomy passage, covered with arches of fretwork, until
+they arrived at a door of tortoise-shell and mother-of-pearl.[22] Here
+Honain, who was in advance, turned round to Alroy, and said, 'Whatever
+happen, and whoever may address you, as you value your life and mine, do
+not speak.'
+
+The door opened, and they found themselves in a vast and gorgeous hall.
+Pillars of many-coloured marbles rose from a red and blue pavement
+of the same material, and supported a vaulted, circular, and
+highly-embossed roof of purple, scarlet, and gold.[23] Around a
+fountain, which rose fifty feet in height from an immense basin of
+lapis-lazuli, and reclining on small yellow Barbary mats, was a group
+of Nubian eunuchs, dressed in rich habits of scarlet and gold,[24]
+and armed with ivory battle-axes, the white handles worked in precious
+arabesque finely contrasting with the blue and brilliant blades.
+
+The commander of the eunuch-guard rose on seeing Honain, and pressing
+his hand to his head, mouth, and heart, saluted him. The physician of
+the Caliph, motioning Alroy to remain, advanced some paces in front of
+him, and entered into a whispering conversation with the eunuch. After
+a few minutes, this officer resumed his seat, and Honain, beckoning to
+Alroy to rejoin him, crossed the hall.
+
+Passing through an open arch, they entered a quadrangular court of
+roses,[25] each bed of flowers surrounded by a stream of sparkling
+water, and floating like an enchanted islet upon a fairy ocean. The
+sound of the water and the sweetness of the flowers blended together,
+and produced a lulling sensation, which nothing but his strong and
+strange curiosity might have enabled Alroy to resist. Proceeding along
+a cloister of light airy workmanship which connected the hall with the
+remainder of the buildings, they stood before a lofty and sumptuous
+portal.
+
+It was a monolith gate, thirty feet in height, formed of one block of
+green and red jasper, and cut into the fanciful undulating arch of the
+Saracens. The consummate artist had seized the advantage afforded to him
+by the ruddy veins of the precious stone, and had formed them in bold
+relief into two vast and sinuous serpents, which shot forth their
+crested heads and glittering eyes at Honain and his companion.
+
+The physician of the Caliph, taking his dagger from his girdle, struck
+the head of one of the serpents thrice. The massy portal opened with a
+whirl and a roar, and before them stood an Abyssinian giant,[26] holding
+in his leash a roaring lion.
+
+'Hush, Haroun!' said Honain to the animal, raising at the same time his
+arm; and the beast crouched in silence. 'Worthy Morgargon, I bring you
+a remembrance.' The Abyssinian showed his tusks, larger and whiter than
+the lion's, as he grinningly received the tribute of the courtly Honain;
+and he uttered a few uncouth sounds, but he could not speak, for he was
+a mute.
+
+The jasper portal introduced the companions to a long and lofty and
+arched chamber, lighted by high windows of stained glass, hung with
+tapestry of silk and silver, covered with prodigious carpets, and
+surrounded by immense couches. And thus through similar chambers they
+proceeded, in some of which were signs of recent habitation, until they
+arrived at another quadrangle nearly filled by a most singular fountain
+which rose from a basin of gold encrusted with pearls, and which was
+surrounded by figures of every rare quadruped[27] in the most costly
+materials. Here a golden tiger, with flaming eyes of ruby and flowing
+stripes of opal, stole, after some bloody banquet, to the refreshing
+brink; a camelopard raised its slender neck of silver from the centre
+of a group of every inhabitant of the forest; and brilliant bands of
+monkeys, glittering with precious stones, rested, in every variety of
+fantastic posture, on the margin of the basin.
+
+The fountain itself was a tree of gold and silver[28] spreading into
+innumerable branches, covered with every variety of curious birds, their
+plumage appropriately imitated by the corresponding tints of precious
+stones, which warbled in beautiful melody as they poured forth from
+their bills the musical and refreshing element.
+
+It was with difficulty that Alroy could refrain from an admiring
+exclamation, but Honain, ever quick, turned to him, with his finger
+pressed on his mouth, and quitting the quadrangle, they entered the
+gardens.
+
+Lofty terraces, dark masses of cypress, winding walks of acacia, in
+the distance an interminable paradise, and here and there a glittering
+pavilion and bright kiosk! Its appearance on the river had not prepared
+Alroy for the extent of the palace itself. It seemed infinite, and it
+was evident that he had only viewed a small portion of it. While they
+were moving on, there suddenly rose a sound of trumpets. The sound grew
+nearer and nearer, louder and louder: soon was heard the tramp of
+an approaching troop. Honain drew Alroy aside. A procession appeared
+advancing from a dark grove of cypress. Four hundred men led as many
+white bloodhounds with collars of gold and rubies.[29] Then came one
+hundred men, each with a hooded hawk; then six horsemen in rich dresses;
+after them a single horseman, mounted on a steed, marked on its forehead
+with a star.[30] The rider was middle-aged, handsome, and dignified. He
+was plainly dressed, but the staff of his hunting-spear was entirely of
+diamonds and the blade of gold.
+
+He was followed by a company of Nubian eunuchs, with their scarlet
+dresses and ivory battle-axes, and the procession closed.
+
+'The Caliph,' whispered Honain, when they had passed, placing at the
+same time his finger on his lip to prevent any inquiry. This was
+the first intimation that had reached Alroy of what he had already
+suspected, that he was a visitor to the palace of the Commander of the
+Faithful.
+
+The companions turned down a wild and winding walk, which, after some
+time, brought them to a small and gently sloping lawn, surrounded
+by cedar-trees of great size. Upon the lawn was a kiosk, a long and
+many-windowed building, covered with blinds, and further screened by
+an overhanging roof. The kiosk was built of white and green marble,
+the ascent to it was by a flight of steps the length of the building,
+alternately of white and green marble, and nearly covered with
+rose-trees. Honain went up these steps alone, and entered the kiosk.
+After a few minutes he looked out from the blinds and beckoned to Alroy.
+David advanced, but Honain, fearful of some indiscretion, met him, and
+said to him in a low whisper between his teeth, 'Remember you are deaf,
+a mute, and a eunuch.' Alroy could scarcely refrain from smiling, and
+the Prince of the Captivity and the physician of the Caliph entered
+the kiosk together. Two women, veiled, and two eunuchs of the guard,
+received them in an antechamber. And then they passed into a room which
+ran nearly the whole length of the kiosk, opening on one side to the
+gardens, and on the other supported by an ivory wall, with niches
+painted in green fresco, and in each niche a rose-tree. Each niche,
+also, was covered with an almost invisible golden grate, which confined
+a nightingale, and made him constant to the rose he loved. At the foot
+of each niche was a fountain, but, instead of water, each basin was
+replenished with the purest quicksilver.[31] The roof of the kiosk was
+of mother-of-pearl inlaid with tortoise-shell; the pavement, a mosaic of
+rare marbles and precious stones, representing the most delicious fruits
+and the most beautiful flowers. Over this pavement, a Georgian page
+flung at intervals refreshing perfumes. At the end of this elegant
+chamber was a divan of light green silk, embroidered with pearls,
+and covered with cushions of white satin and gold. Upon one of these
+cushions, in the middle of the divan, sat a lady, her eyes fixed in
+abstraction upon a volume of Persian poetry lying on her knees, one hand
+playing with a rosary of pearls and emeralds,[32] and the other holding
+a long gold chain, which imprisoned a white gazelle.
+
+The lady looked up as Honain and his companion entered. She was very
+young, as youthful as Alroy. Her long light brown hair, drawn off a high
+white forehead covered with blue veins, fell braided with pearls over
+each shoulder. Her eyes were large and deeply blue; her nose small, but
+high and aquiline. The fairness of her face was dazzling, and, when she
+looked up and greeted Honain, her lustrous cheeks broke into dimples,
+the more fascinating from their contrast with the general expression of
+her countenance, which was haughty and derisive. The lady was dressed
+in a robe of crimson silk girded round her waist by a green shawl, from
+which peeped forth the diamond hilt of a small poniard.[33] Her round
+white arms looked infinitely small, as they occasionally flashed forth
+from their large loose hanging sleeves. One was covered with jewels, and
+the right arm was quite bare.
+
+Honain advanced, and, bending, kissed the lady's proffered hand. Alroy
+fell into the background.
+
+'They told me that the Rose of the World drooped this morning,' said the
+physician, bending again as he smiled, 'and her slave hastened at her
+command to tend her.'
+
+'It was a south wind. The wind has changed, and the Rose of the World is
+better,' replied the lady laughing.
+
+Honain touched her pulse.
+
+'Irregular,' said the physician.
+
+'Like myself,' said the lady. 'Is that a new slave?'
+
+'A recent purchase, and a great bargain. He is good-looking, has the
+advantage of being deaf and dumb, and is harmless in every respect.'
+
+''Tis a pity,' replied the lady; 'it seems that all good-looking people
+are born to be useless. I, for instance.'
+
+'Yet rumour whispers the reverse,' remarked the physician.
+
+'How so?' inquired the lady.
+
+'The young King of Karasme.'
+
+'Poh! I have made up my mind to detest him. A barbarian!'
+
+'A hero!'
+
+'Have you ever seen him?'
+
+'I have.'
+
+'Handsome?'
+
+'An archangel.'
+
+'And sumptuous?'
+
+'Is he not a conqueror? All the plunder of the world will be yours.'
+
+'I am tired of magnificence. I built this kiosk to forget it.'
+
+'It is not in the least degree splendid,' said Honain, looking round
+with a smile.
+
+'No,' answered the lady, with a self-satisfied air: 'here, at least, one
+can forget one has the misfortune to be a princess.'
+
+'It is certainly a great misfortune,' said the physician.
+
+'And yet it must be the only tolerable lot,' replied the lady.
+
+'Assuredly,' replied Honain.
+
+'For our unhappy sex, at least.'
+
+'Very unhappy.'
+
+'If I were only a man!'
+
+'What a hero you would be!'
+
+'I should like to live in endless confusion.'
+
+'I have not the least doubt of it.'
+
+'Have you got me the books?' eagerly inquired the Princess.
+
+'My slave bears them,' replied Honain.
+
+'Let me see them directly.'
+
+Honain took the bag from Alroy, and unfolded its contents; the very
+volumes of Greek romances which Ali, the merchant, had obtained for him.
+
+'I am tired of poetry,' said the Princess, glancing over the costly
+volumes, and tossing them away; 'I long to see the world.'
+
+'You would soon be tired of that,' replied the physician.
+
+'I suppose common people are never tired.' said the Princess.
+
+'Except with labour;' said the physician; 'care keeps them alive.'
+
+'What is care?' asked the Princess, with a smile.
+
+'It is a god,' replied the physician, 'invisible, but omnipotent. It
+steals the bloom from the cheek and lightness from the pulse; it takes
+away the appetite, and turns the hair grey.'
+
+'It is no true divinity, then,' replied the Princess, 'but an idol we
+make ourselves. I am a sincere Moslem, and will not worship it. Tell me
+some news, Honain.'
+
+'The young King of Karasme----'
+
+'Again! the barbarian! You are in his pay. I'll none of him. To leave
+one prison, and to be shut up in another,--why do you remind me of it?
+No, my dear Hakim, if I marry at all, I will marry to be free.'
+
+'An impossibility,' said Honain.
+
+'My mother was free till she was a queen and a slave. I intend to end as
+she began. You know what she was.'
+
+Honain knew well, but he was too politic not to affect ignorance.
+
+'The daughter of a bandit,' continued the Princess, 'who fought by the
+side of her father. That is existence! I must be a robber. 'Tis in the
+blood. I want my fate foretold, Honain. You are an astrologer; do it.'
+
+'I have already cast your nativity. Your star is a comet.'
+
+'That augurs well; brilliant confusion and erratic splendour. I wish
+I were a star,' added the Princess in a deep rich voice, and with a
+pensive air; 'a star in the clear blue sky, beautiful and free. Honain,
+Honain, the gazelle has broken her chain, and is eating my roses.'
+
+Alroy rushed forward and seized the graceful truant. Honain shot him an
+anxious look; the Princess received the chain from the hand of Alroy,
+and cast at him a scrutinising glance.
+
+'What splendid eyes the poor beast has got!' exclaimed the Princess.
+
+'The gazelle?' inquired the physician.
+
+'No, your slave,' replied the Princess. 'Why, he blushes. Were he not
+deaf as well as dumb, I could almost believe he understood me.'
+
+'He is modest,' replied Honain, rather alarmed; 'and is frightened at
+the liberty he has taken.'
+
+'I like modesty,' said the Princess; 'it is interesting. I am modest;
+you think so?'
+
+'Certainly,' said Honain.
+
+'And interesting?'
+
+'Very.'
+
+'I detest an interesting person. After all, there is nothing like plain
+dulness.'
+
+'Nothing,' said Honain.
+
+'The day flows on so serenely in such society.'
+
+'It does,' said Honain.
+
+'No confusion; no scenes.'
+
+'None.'
+
+'I make it a rule only to have ugly slaves.'
+
+'You are quite right.'
+
+'Honain, will you ever contradict me? You know very well I have the
+handsomest slaves in the world.'
+
+'Every one knows it.'
+
+'And, do you know, I have taken a great fancy to your new purchase, who,
+according to your account, is eminently qualified for the post. Why, do
+you not agree with me?'
+
+'Why, yes; I doubt not your Highness would find him eminently qualified,
+and certainly few things would give me greater pleasure than offering
+him for your acceptance; but I got into such disgrace by that late
+affair of the Circassian, that----'
+
+'Oh! leave it to me,' said the Princess.
+
+'Certainly,' said the physician, turning the conversation; 'and when
+the young King of Karasme arrives at Bagdad, you can offer him to his
+majesty as a present.'
+
+'Delightful! and the king is really handsome and young as well as brave;
+but has he any taste?'
+
+'You have enough for both.'
+
+'If he would but make war against the Greeks!'
+
+'Why so violent against the poor Greeks?'
+
+'You know they are Giaours. Besides, they might beat him, and then I
+should have the pleasure of being taken prisoner.'
+
+'Delightful!'
+
+'Charming! to see Constantinople, and marry the Emperor.'
+
+'Marry the Emperor!'
+
+'To be sure. Of course he would fall in love with me.'
+
+'Of course.'
+
+'And then, and then, I might conquer Paris!'
+
+'Paris!'
+
+'You have been at Paris?'[34]
+
+'Yes.'
+
+'The men are shut up there,' said the Princess with a smile, 'are they
+not? and the women do what they like?'
+
+'You will always do what you like,' said Honain, rising.
+
+'You are going?'
+
+'My visits must not be too long.'
+
+'Farewell, dear Honain!' said the Princess, with a melancholy air. 'You
+are the only person who has an idea in all Bagdad, and you leave me. A
+miserable lot is mine, to feel everything, and be nothing. These books
+and flowers, these sweet birds, and this fair gazelle: ah! poets may
+feign as they please, but how cheerfully would I resign all these
+elegant consolations of a captive life for one hour of freedom! I wrote
+some verses on myself yesterday; take them, and get them blazoned for me
+by the finest scribe in the city; letters of silver on a violet ground
+with a fine flowing border; I leave the design to you. Adieu! Come
+hither, mute.' Alroy advanced to her beckon, and knelt. 'There, take
+that rosary for thy master's sake, and those dark eyes of thine.'
+
+The companions withdrew, and reached their boat in silence. It was
+sunset. The musical and sonorous voice of the Muezzin resounded from
+the innumerable minarets of the splendid city. Honain threw back the
+curtains of the barque. Bagdad rose before them in huge masses of
+sumptuous dwellings, seated amid groves and gardens. An infinite
+population, summoned by the invigorating twilight, poured forth in all
+directions. The glowing river was covered with sparkling caiques, the
+glittering terraces with showy groups. Splendour, and power, and luxury,
+and beauty were arrayed before them in their most captivating forms, and
+the heart of Alroy responded to their magnificence. 'A glorious vision!'
+said the Prince of the Captivity.
+
+'Very different from Hamadan,' said the physician of the Caliph.
+
+'To-day I have seen wonders,' said Alroy.
+
+'The world is opening to you,' said Honain.
+
+Alroy did not reply; but after some minutes he said, in a hesitating
+voice, 'Who was that lady?'
+
+'The Princess Schirene,' replied Honain, 'the favourite daughter of the
+Caliph. Her mother was a Georgian and a Giaour.'
+
+The moonlight fell upon the figure of Alroy lying on a couch; his face
+was hidden by his arm. He was motionless, but did not sleep.
+
+He rose and paced the chamber with agitated steps; sometimes he stopped,
+and gazed on the pavement, fixed in abstraction. He advanced to the
+window, and cooled his feverish brow in the midnight air.
+
+An hour passed away, and the young Prince of the Captivity remained
+fixed in the same position. Suddenly he turned to a tripod of porphyry,
+and, seizing a rosary of jewels, pressed it to his lips.
+
+'The Spirit of my dreams, she comes at last; the form for which I have
+sighed and wept; the form which rose upon my radiant vision when I shut
+my eyes against the jarring shadows of this gloomy world.
+
+'Schirene! Schirene! here in this solitude I pour to thee the passion
+long stored up: the passion of my life, no common life, a life full of
+deep feeling and creative thought. O beautiful! O more than beautiful!
+for thou to me art as a dream unbroken: why art thou not mine? why lose
+a moment in our glorious lives, and balk our destiny of half its bliss?
+
+'Fool, fool, hast thou forgotten? The rapture of a prisoner in his cell,
+whose wild fancy for a moment belies his fetters! The daughter of the
+Caliph and a Jew!
+
+'Give me my fathers' sceptre.
+
+'A plague on talismans! Oh! I need no inspiration but her memory,
+no magic but her name. By heavens! I will enter this glorious city a
+conqueror, or die.
+
+'Why, what is Life? for meditation mingles ever with my passion: why,
+what is Life? Throw accidents to the dogs, and tear off the painted
+mask of false society! Here am I a hero; with a mind that can devise all
+things, and a heart of superhuman daring, with youth, with vigour, with
+a glorious lineage, with a form that has made full many a lovely
+maiden of our tribe droop her fair head by Hamadan's sweet fount, and I
+am--nothing!
+
+'Out on Society! 'twas not made for me. I'll form my own, and be the
+deity I sometimes feel.
+
+'We make our fortunes, and we call them Fate. Thou saidst well, Honain.
+Most subtle Sadducee! The saintly blood flowed in my fathers' veins,
+and they did nothing; but I have an arm formed to wield a sceptre, and I
+will win one.
+
+'I cannot doubt my triumph. Triumph is a part of my existence. I am
+born for glory, as a tree is born to bear its fruit, or to expand
+its flowers. The deed is done. 'Tis thought of, and 'tis done. I will
+confront the greatest of my diademed ancestors, and in his tomb. Mighty
+Solomon! he wedded Pharaoh's daughter. Hah! what a future dawns upon my
+hope. An omen, a choice omen!
+
+'Heaven and earth are mingling to form my fortunes. My mournful
+youth, which I have so often cursed, I hail thee: thou wert a glorious
+preparation; and when feeling no sympathy with the life around me,
+I deemed myself a fool, I find that I was a most peculiar being. By
+heavens, I am joyful; for the first time in my life I am joyful. I could
+laugh, and fight, and drink. I am new-born; I am another being; I am
+mad!
+
+'O Time, great Time! the world belies thy fame. It calls thee swift.
+Methinks thou art wondrous slow. Fly on, great Time, and on thy coming
+wings bear me my sceptre!
+
+'All is to be. It is a lowering thought. My fancy, like a bright and
+wearied bird, will sometimes flag and fall, and then I am lost. The
+young King of Karasme, a youthful hero! Would he had been Alschiroch! My
+heart is sick even at the very name. Alas! my trials have not yet begun.
+Jabaster warned me: good, sincere Jabaster! His talisman presses on my
+frantic heart, and seems to warn me. I am in danger. Braggart to
+stand here, filling the careless air with idle words, while all is
+unaccomplished. I grow dull. The young King of Karasme! Why, what am I
+compared to this same prince? Nothing, but in my thoughts. In the full
+bazaar, they would not deem me worthy even to hold his stirrup or
+his slipper---- Oh! this contest, this constant, bitter, never-ending
+contest between my fortune and my fancy! Why do I exist? or, if
+existing, why am I not recognised as I would be?
+
+'Sweet voice, that in Jabaster's distant cave de-scendedst from thy holy
+home above, and whispered consolation, breathe again! Again breathe thy
+still summons to my lonely ear, and chase away the thoughts that hover
+round me; thoughts dark and doubtful, like fell birds of prey hovering
+around a hero in expectation of his fall, and gloating on their triumph
+over the brave. There is something fatal in these crowded cities. Faith
+flourishes in solitude.'
+
+He threw himself upon the couch, and, leaning down his head, seemed lost
+in meditation. He started up, and, seizing his tablets, wrote upon them
+these words:
+
+'Honain, I have been the whole night like David in the wilderness of
+Ziph; but, by the aid of the Lord, I have conquered. I fly from this
+dangerous city upon his business, which I have too much neglected.
+Attempt not to discover me, and accept my gratitude.'
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER VI.
+
+     _The Learned Rabbi Zimri._
+
+A SCORCHING sun, a blue and burning sky, on every side lofty ranges of
+black and barren mountains, dark ravines, deep caverns, unfathomable
+gorges! A solitary being moved in the distance. Faint and toiling, a
+pilgrim slowly clambered up the steep and stony track.
+
+The sultry hours moved on; the pilgrim at length gained the summit of
+the mountain, a small and rugged table-land, strewn with huge masses
+of loose and heated, rock. All around was desolation: no spring, no
+herbage; the bird and the insect were alike mute. Still it was the
+summit: no loftier peaks frowned in the distance; the pilgrim stopped,
+and breathed with more facility, and a faint smile played over his
+languid and solemn countenance.
+
+He rested a few minutes; he took from his wallet some locusts and wild
+honey, and a small skin of water. His meal was short as well as simple.
+An ardent desire to reach his place of destination before nightfall
+urged him to proceed. He soon passed over the table-land, and commenced
+the descent of the mountain. A straggling olive-tree occasionally
+appeared, and then a group, and soon the groups swelled into a grove.
+His way wound through the grateful and unaccustomed shade. He emerged
+from the grove, and found that he had proceeded down more than half
+the side of the mountain. It ended precipitously in a dark and narrow
+ravine, formed on the other side by an opposite mountain, the lofty
+steep of which was crested by a city gently rising on a gradual slope.
+
+Nothing could be conceived more barren, wild, and terrible than the
+surrounding scenery, unillumined by a single trace of culture. The city
+stood like the last gladiator in an amphitheatre of desolation.
+
+It was surrounded by a lofty turreted wall, of an architecture to which
+the pilgrim was unaccustomed: gates with drawbridge and portcullis,
+square towers, and loopholes for the archer. Sentinels, clothed in steel
+and shining in the sunset, paced, at regular intervals, the cautious
+wall, and on a lofty tower a standard waved, a snowy standard, with a
+red, red cross!
+
+The Prince of the Captivity at length beheld the lost capital of his
+fathers.[35]
+
+A few months back, and such a spectacle would have called forth all the
+latent passion of Alroy; but time and suffering, and sharp experience,
+had already somewhat curbed the fiery spirit of the Hebrew Prince. He
+gazed upon Jerusalem, he beheld the City of David garrisoned by the
+puissant warriors of Christendom, and threatened by the innumerable
+armies of the Crescent. The two great divisions of the world seemed
+contending for a prize, which he, a lonely wanderer, had crossed the
+desert to rescue.
+
+If his faith restrained him from doubting the possibility of his
+enterprise, he was at least deeply conscious that the world was a very
+different existence from what he had fancied amid the gardens of
+Hamadan and the rocks of Caucasus, and that if his purpose could be
+accomplished, it could only be effected by one means. Calm, perhaps
+somewhat depressed, but full of pious humiliation, and not deserted by
+holy hope, he descended into the Valley of Jehoshaphat, and so, slaking
+his thirst at Siloah, and mounting the opposite height, David Alroy
+entered Jerusalem by the gate of Zion.[36]
+
+He had been instructed that the quarter allotted to his people was near
+this entrance. He inquired the direction of the sentinel, who did not
+condescend to answer him. An old man, in shabby robes, who was passing,
+beckoned to him.
+
+'What want you, friend?' inquired Alroy.
+
+'You were asking for the quarter of our people. You must be a stranger,
+indeed, in Jerusalem, to suppose that a Frank would speak to a Jew. You
+were lucky to get neither kicked nor cursed.'
+
+'Kicked and cursed! Why, these dogs----'
+
+'Hush! hush! for the love of God,' said his new companion, much alarmed.
+'Have you lent money to their captain that you speak thus? In Jerusalem
+our people speak only in a whisper.'
+
+'No matter: the cure is not by words. Where is our quarter?'
+
+'Was the like ever seen! Why, he speaks as if he were a Frank. I save
+him from having his head broken by a gauntlet, and----'
+
+'My friend, I am tired. Our quarter?'
+
+'Whom may you want?'
+
+'The Chief Rabbi.'
+
+'You bear letters to him?'
+
+'What is that to you?'
+
+'Hush! hush! You do not know what Jerusalem is, young man. You must not
+think of going on in this way. Where do you come from?'
+
+'Bagdad.'
+
+'Bagdad! Jerusalem is not Bagdad. A Turk is a brute, but a Christian is
+a demon.'
+
+'But our quarter, our quarter?'
+
+'Hush! you want the Chief Rabbi?'
+
+'Ay! ay!'
+
+'Rabbi Zimri?'
+
+'It may be so. I neither know nor care.'
+
+'Neither knows nor cares! This will never do; you must not go on in this
+way at Jerusalem. You must not think of it.'
+
+'Fellow, I see thou art a miserable prattler. Show me our quarter, and I
+will pay thee well, or be off.'
+
+'Be off! Art thou a Hebrew? to say "be off" to any one. You come from
+Bagdad! I tell you what, go back to Bagdad. You will never do for
+Jerusalem.'
+
+'Your grizzled beard protects you. Old fool, I am a pilgrim just
+arrived, wearied beyond expression, and you keep me here listening to
+your flat talk!'
+
+'Flat talk! Why! what would you?'
+
+'Lead me to the Rabbi Zimri, if that be his name.'
+
+'If that be his name! Why, every one knows Rabbi Zimri, the Chief Rabbi
+of Jerusalem, the successor of Aaron. We have our temple yet, say what
+they like. A very learned doctor is Rabbi Zimri.'
+
+'Wretched driveller. I am ashamed to lose my patience with such a
+dotard.'
+
+'Driveller! dotard! Why, who are you?'
+
+'One you cannot comprehend. Without another word, lead me to your
+chief.'
+
+'Chief! you have not far to go. I know no one of the nation who holds
+his head higher than I do here, and they call me Zimri.'
+
+'What, the Chief Rabbi, that very learned doctor?'
+
+'No less; I thought you had heard of him.'
+
+'Let us forget the past, good Zimri. When great men play the incognito,
+they must sometimes hear rough phrases. It is the Caliph's lot as well
+as yours. I am glad to make the acquaintance of so great a doctor.
+Though young, and roughly habited, I have seen the world a little, and
+may offer next Sabbath in the synagogue more dirhems than you would
+perhaps suppose. Good and learned Zimri, I would be your guest.'
+
+'A very worshipful young man! And he speaks low and soft now! But it was
+lucky I was at hand. Good, what's your name?'
+
+'David.'
+
+'A very honest name, good David. It was lucky I was at hand when you
+spoke to the sentinel, though. A Jew speak to a Frank, and a sentinel
+too! Hah! hah! hah! that is good. How Rabbi Maimon will laugh! Faith it
+was very lucky, now, was not it?'
+
+'Indeed, most fortunate.'
+
+'Well that is candid! Here! this way. 'Tis not far. We number few, sir,
+of our brethren here, but a better time will come, a better time will
+come.'
+
+'I think so. This is your door?'
+
+'An humble one. Jerusalem is not Bagdad, but you are welcome.'
+
+'King Pirgandicus[37] entered them,' said Rabbi Maimon, 'but no one
+since.'
+
+'And when did he live?' inquired Alroy. 'His reign is recorded in the
+Talmud,' answered Rabbi Zimri, 'but in the Talmud there are no dates.'
+'A long while ago?' asked Alroy. 'Since the Captivity,' answered Rabbi
+Maimon. 'I doubt that,' said Rabbi Zimri, 'or why should he be called
+king?'
+
+'Was he of the house of David?' said Alroy.
+
+'Without doubt,' said Rabbi Maimon; 'he was one of our greatest kings,
+and conquered Julius Caesar.'[38]
+
+'His kingdom was in the northernmost parts of Africa,' said Rabbi Zimri,
+'and exists to this day, if we could but find it.'
+
+'Ay, truly,' added Rabbi Maimon, 'the sceptre has never departed out of
+Judah; and he rode always upon a white elephant.'
+
+'Covered with cloth of gold,' added Rabbi Zimri. 'And he visited the
+Tombs of the Kings?'[39] inquired Alroy.
+
+'Without doubt,' said Rabbi Maimon. 'The whole account is in the
+Talmud.'
+
+'And no one can now find them?' 'No one,' replied Rabbi Zimri: 'but,
+according to that learned doctor, Moses Hallevy, they are in a valley in
+the mountains of Lebanon, which was sealed up by the Archangel Michael.'
+
+'The illustrious Doctor Abarbanel, of Babylon,' said Rabbi Maimon,
+'gives one hundred and twenty reasons in his commentary on the Gemara to
+prove that they sunk under the earth at the taking of the Temple.'
+
+'No one reasons like Abarbanel of Babylon,' said Rabbi Zimri.
+
+'The great Rabbi Akiba, of Pundebita, has answered them all,' said Rabbi
+Maimon, 'and holds that they were taken up to heaven.'
+
+'And which is right?' inquired Rabbi Zimri.
+
+'Neither,' said Rabbi Maimon.
+
+'One hundred and twenty reasons are strong proof,' said Rabbi Zimri.
+
+'The most learned and illustrious Doctor Aaron Mendola, of Granada,'
+said Rabbi Maimon, 'has shown that we must look for the Tombs of the
+Kings in the south of Spain.'
+
+'All that Mendola writes is worth attention,' said Rabbi Zimri.
+
+'Rabbi Hillel,[40] of Samaria, is worth two Mendolas any day,' said
+Rabbi Maimon.
+
+''Tis a most learned doctor,' said Rabbi Zimri; 'and what thinks he?'
+
+'Hillel proves that there are two Tombs of the Kings,' said Rabbi
+Maimon, 'and that neither of them are the right ones.'
+
+'What a learned doctor!' exclaimed Rabbi Zimri.
+
+'And very satisfactory,' remarked Alroy.
+
+'These are high subjects,' continued Maimon, his blear eyes twinkling
+with complacency. 'Your guest, Rabbi Zimri, must read the treatise of
+the learned Shimei, of Damascus, on "Effecting Impossibilities."'
+
+'That is a work!' exclaimed Zimri.
+
+'I never slept for three nights after reading that work,' said Rabbi
+Maimon. 'It contains twelve thousand five hundred and thirty-seven
+quotations from the Pentateuch, and not a single original observation.'
+
+'There were giants in those days,' said Rabbi Zimri; 'we are children
+now.'
+
+'The first chapter makes equal sense, read backward or forward,'
+continued Rabbi Maimon. 'Ichabod!' exclaimed Rabbi Zimri. 'And the
+initial letter of every section is a cabalistical type of a king of
+Judah.'
+
+'The temple will yet be built,' said Rabbi Zimri. 'Ay, ay! that is
+learning!' exclaimed Rabbi Maimon; 'but what is the great treatise on
+"Effecting Impossibilities" to that profound, admirable, and----'
+
+'Holy Rabbi!' said a youthful reader of the synagogue, who now entered,
+'the hour is at hand.'
+
+'You don't say so! Learned Miamon, I must to the synagogue. I could sit
+here all day listening to you. Come, David, the people await us.'
+
+Zimri and Alroy quitted the house, and proceeded along the narrow hilly
+streets to the chief temple of the Hebrews.
+
+'It grieves the venerable Maimon much that he cannot join us,' said
+Rabbi Zimri. 'You have doubtless heard of him at Bagdad; a most learned
+doctor.' Alroy bowed in silence.
+
+'He bears his years well. You would hardly believe that he was my
+master.'
+
+'I perceive that you inherit much of his erudition.'
+
+'You are kind. If he have breathed one year, Rabbi Maimon will be a
+hundred and ten next Passover.'
+
+'I doubt it not.'
+
+'When he is gathered to his fathers, a great light will be extinguished
+in Israel. You wanted to know something about the Tombs of the Kings; I
+told you he was your man. How full he was! His mind, sir, is an egg.'
+
+'A somewhat ancient one. I fear his guidance will hardly bring me the
+enviable fortune of King Pirgandicus.'
+
+'Between ourselves, good David, talking of King Pirgandicus, I cannot
+help fancying that the learned Maimon made a slight mistake. I hold
+Pirgandicus was only a prince. It was after the Captivity, and I know no
+authority for any of our rulers since the destruction assuming a higher
+title. Clearly a prince, eh? But, though I would whisper it to no
+one but you, I think our worthy friend grows a little old. We should
+remember his years, sir. A hundred and ten next Passover. 'Tis a great
+burden.'
+
+'Ay! with his learning added, a very fearful burden indeed!'
+
+'You have been a week in Jerusalem, and have not yet visited our
+synagogue. It is not of cedar and ivory, but it is still a temple. This
+way. It is only a week that you have been here? Why, you look another
+man! I shall never forget our first meeting: you did not know me. That
+was good, eh? And when I told you I was the chief Rabbi Zimri, how you
+changed! You have quite regained your appetite. Ah! 'tis pleasant to
+mix once more with our own people. To the left. So! we must descend a
+little. We hold our meetings in an ancient cemetery. You have a finer
+temple, I warrant me, in Bagdad. Jerusalem is not Bagdad. But this has
+its conveniences. 'Tis safe, and we are not very rich, nor wish to seem
+so.'
+
+A long passage brought them to a number of small, square, low
+chambers[41] leading into each other. They were lighted by brass lamps,
+placed at intervals in vacant niches, that once held corpses, and
+which were now soiled by the smoky flame. Between two and three
+hundred individuals were assembled in these chambers, at first scarcely
+distinguishable by those who descended from the broad daylight; but
+by degrees the eyesight became accustomed to the dim and vaporous
+atmosphere, and Al-roy recognised in the final and more illumined
+chamber a high cedar cabinet, the type of the ark, and which held the
+sacred vessels and the sanctified copy of the law.
+
+Standing in lines, with their heads mystically covered,[42] the forlorn
+remnant of Israel, captives in their ancient city, avowed, in spite of
+all their sufferings, their fidelity to their God, and, notwithstanding
+all the bitterness of hope delayed, their faith in the fulfilment of his
+promises. Their simple service was completed, their prayers were
+read, their responses made, their law exhibited, and their charitable
+offerings announced by their high priest. After the service, the
+venerable Zimri, opening a volume of the Talmud, and fortified by the
+opinions of all those illustrious and learned doctors, the heroes of
+his erudite conversations with the aged Maimon, expounded the law to the
+congregation of the people.[43]
+
+'It is written,' said the Rabbi, '"Thou shalt have none other God but
+me." Now know ye what our father Abraham said when Nimrod ordered him to
+worship fire? "Why not water," answered Abraham, "which can put out fire?
+why not clouds, which can pour forth water? why not the winds, which can
+produce clouds? why not God, which can create winds?"'
+
+A murmur of approbation sounded throughout the congregation.
+
+'Eliezer,' said Zimri, addressing himself to a young Rabbi, 'it is
+written, that he took a rib from Adam when he was asleep. Is God then a
+robber?'
+
+The young Rabbi looked puzzled, and cast his eyes on the ground. The
+congregation was perplexed and a little alarmed.
+
+'Is there no answer?' said Zimri.
+
+'Rabbi,' said a stranger, a tall, swarthy African pilgrim, standing in
+a corner, and enveloped in a red mantle, over which a lamp threw a
+flickering light; 'Rabbi, some robbers broke into my house last night,
+and stole an earthen pipkin, but they left a golden vase in its stead.'
+
+'It is well said; it is well said,' exclaimed the congregation. The
+applause was loud.
+
+'Learned Zimri,' continued the African, 'it is written in the Gemara,
+that there was a youth in Jerusalem who fell in love with a beautiful
+damsel, and she scorned him. And the youth was so stricken with his
+passion that he could not speak; but when he beheld her, he looked at
+her imploringly, and she laughed. And one day the youth, not knowing
+what to do with himself, went out into the desert; and towards night
+he returned home, but the gates of the city were shut. And he went down
+into the valley of Jehoshaphat, and entered the tomb of Absalom and
+slept;[44] and he dreamed a dream; and next morning he came into the
+city smiling. And the maiden met him, and she said, "Is that thou; art
+thou a laugher?" and he answered, "Behold, yesterday being disconsolate,
+I went out of the city into the desert, and I returned home, and
+the gates of the city were shut, and I went down into the valley of
+Jehoshaphat, and I entered the tomb of Absalom, and I slept, and I
+dreamed a dream, and ever since then I have laughed." And the damsel
+said, "Tell me thy dream." And he answered and said, "I may not tell my
+dream only to my wife, for it regards her honour." And the maiden grew
+sad and curious, and said, "I am thy wife, tell me thy dream." And
+straightway they went and were married and ever after they both laughed.
+Now, learned Zimri, what means this tale, an idle jest for a master of
+the law, yet it is written by the greatest doctor of the Captivity?'
+
+'It passeth my comprehension,' said the chief Rabbi.
+
+Rabbi Eliezer was silent; the congregation groaned.
+
+'Now hear the interpretation,' said the African. 'The youth is our
+people, and the damsel is our lost Sion, and the tomb of Absalom proves
+that salvation can only come from the house of David. Dost thou hear
+this, young man?' said the African, coming forward and laying his hand
+on Alroy. 'I speak to thee, because I have observed a deep attention in
+thy conduct.'
+
+The Prince of the Captivity started, and shot a glance at the dark
+visage before him, but the glance read nothing. The upper part of the
+countenance of the African was half concealed by masses of dark matted
+hair, and the lower by his uncouth robes. A flashing eye was its only
+characteristic, which darted forth like lightning out of a black cloud.
+
+'Is my attention the only reason that induces you to address me?'
+inquired Alroy.
+
+'Whoever gave all his reasons?' replied the African, with a laughing
+sneer.
+
+'I seek not to learn them. Suffice it, stranger, that how much soever
+you may mean, as much I can understand.'
+
+''Tis well. Learned Zimri, is this thy pupil? I congratulate thee.
+I will match him against the hopeful Eliezer.' So saying, the lofty
+African stalked out of the chamber. The assembly also broke up. Alroy
+would willingly have immediately followed the African, and held some
+further and more private conversation with him; but some minutes
+elapsed, owing to the officious attentions of Zimri, before he could
+escape; and, when he did, his search after the stranger was vain. He
+inquired among the congregation, but none knew the African. He was no
+man's guest and no man's debtor, and apparently had never before been
+seen.
+
+The trumpet was sounding to close the gates, as Alroy passed the Zion
+entrance. The temptation was irresistible. He rushed out, and ran for
+more than one hundred yards without looking back, and when he did, he
+had the satisfaction of ascertaining that he was fairly shut out for the
+night. The sun had set, still the Mount of Olives was flushed with the
+reflection of his dying beams, but Jehoshaphat at its feet was in deep
+shadow.
+
+He wandered among the mountains for some time, beholding Jerusalem from
+a hundred different points of view, and watching the single planets and
+clustering constellations that gradually burst into beauty, or gathered
+into light. At length, somewhat exhausted, he descended into the vale.
+The scanty rill of Siloah[45] looked like a thread of silver winding in
+the moonlight. Some houseless wretches were slumbering under the arch
+of its fountain. Several isolated tombs of considerable size[46] rose at
+the base of Olivet, and the largest of these Alroy entered. Proceeding
+through a narrow passage, he entered a small square chamber. On each
+side was an empty sarcophagus of granite, one with its lid broken.
+Between these the Prince of the Captivity laid his robe, and, wearied by
+his ramble, soon soundly slept.
+
+After some hours he woke. He fancied that he had been wakened by the
+sound of voices. The chamber was not quite dark. A straggling moonbeam
+fought its way through an open fretwork pattern in the top of the tomb,
+and just revealed the dim interior. Suddenly a voice spoke, a strange
+and singular voice.
+
+'Brother, brother, the sounds of the night begin.'
+
+Another voice answered,
+
+'Brother, brother, I hear them, too.'
+
+'The woman in labour!'
+
+'The thief at his craft!'
+
+'The sentinel's challenge!'
+
+'The murderer's step!'
+
+'Oh! the merry sounds of the night!'
+
+'Brother, brother, let us come forth and wander about the world.'
+
+'We have seen all things. I'll lie here and listen to the baying hound.
+'Tis music for a tomb.'
+
+'Choice and rare. You are idle. I like to sport in the starry air. Our
+hours are few, they should be fair.'
+
+'What shall we see, Heaven or Earth?' 'Hell for me, 'tis more amusing.'
+'As for me, I am sick of Hades.' 'Let us visit Solomon!' 'In his unknown
+metropolis?'
+
+'That will be rare.'
+
+'But where, oh! where?'
+
+'Even a spirit cannot tell. But they say, but they say, I dare not
+whisper what they say.'
+
+'Who told you?'
+
+'No one. I overheard an Afrite whispering to a female Ghoul he wanted to
+seduce.'
+
+'Hah! hah! hah! hah! choice pair, choice pair! We are more ethereal.'
+
+'She was a beauty in her way. Her eyes were luminous, though somewhat
+dank, and her cheek tinged with carnation caught from infant blood.'
+
+'Oh! gay; oh! gay; what said they?'
+
+'He was a deserter without leave from Solomon's body-guard. The trull
+wriggled the secret out.'
+
+'Tell me, kind brother.'
+
+'I'll show, not tell.'
+
+'I pr'ythee tell me.'
+
+'Well, then, well. In Genthesma's gloomy cave there is a river none has
+reached, and you must sail, and you must sail---- Brother!'
+
+'Ay.'
+
+'Methinks I smell something too earthly.'
+
+'What's that?'
+
+'The breath of man.'
+
+'Scent more fatal than the morning air! Away, away!'
+
+In the range of mountains that lead from Olivet to the river Jordan is
+the great cavern of Genthesma, a mighty excavation formed by the
+combined and immemorial work of Nature and of Art; for on the high
+basaltic columns are cut strange characters and unearthly forms,[47] and
+in many places the natural ornaments have been completed by the hands of
+the sculptor into symmetrical entablatures and fanciful capitals, the
+work, they say, of captive Dives and conquered Afrites for the great
+king.
+
+It was midnight; the cold full moon showered it brilliancy upon this
+narrow valley, shut in on all sides by black and barren mountains.   A
+single being stood at the entrance of the cave.
+
+It was Alroy. Desperate and determined, after listening to the spirits
+in the tomb, he resolved to penetrate the mysteries of Genthesma.  He
+took from his girdle a flint and steel, with which he lighted a torch
+and then he entered.
+
+The cavern narrowed as he cautiously advanced, and soon he found himself
+at the head of an evidently artificial gallery.  A crowd of bats rushed
+forward and extinguished his torch [48]  He leant down to relight it and
+in so doing observed that he had trod upon an artificial pavement.
+
+The gallery was of great extent, with a gradual declination [49] Being
+in a straight line with the mouth of the cavern, the moonlit scene was
+long visible, but Alroy, on looking round, now perceived that the
+exterior was shut out by the eminence that he had left behind him.  The
+sides of the gallery were covered with strange and sculptured forms.
+
+The Prince of the Captivity proceeded along this gallery for nearly two
+hours. A distant murmur of falling water, which might have been
+distinguished nearly from the first, increased in sound as he advanced,
+and now, from the loud roar and dash at hand, he felt that he was on the
+brink of some cataract.  It as very dark. His heart trembled. He felt
+his footing ere he ventured to advance. The spray suddenly leaped
+forward and extinguished his torch.
+
+His eminent danger filled him with terror, and he receded some paces,
+but in vain endeavoured to reillumine his torch, which was soaked with
+water.
+
+His courage deserted him. Energy and exertion seemed hopeless. He was
+about to deliver himself up to despair, when and expanding lustre
+attracted his attention in the opposing gloom.
+
+A small and bright red cloud seemed sailing towards him.  It opened,
+discharged from its bosom as silvery star, and dissolved again into
+darkness. But the star remained, the silvery star, and threw a long line
+of tremulous light upon the vast and raging rapid, which now, fleet and
+foaming, revealed itself on all sides to the eye of Alroy.
+
+The beautiful interposition in his favour re-animated the adventurous
+pilgrim. A dark shadow in the foreground, breaking the line of light
+shed by the star upon the waters, attracted his attention. He advanced,
+regained his former footing, and more nearly examined it. It was a boat,
+and in the boat, mute and immovable, sat one of those vast, singular,
+and hidden forms which eh had observed sculptured on the walls of the
+gallery.
+
+David Alry, committing his fortunes to the God of Israel, leapt into the
+boat.
+
+And at the same moment the Afrite, for it was one of those dread
+beings,[50] raised the oars, and the barque moved.  The falling waters
+suddenly parted in the long line of the  star's reflection, and the
+barque glided through their high and severed masses.
+
+In this wise they proceeded for a few minutes, until they entered a
+beautiful and moonlit lake.  In the distance was mountainous country.
+Alroy examined his companion with a feeling of curiosity not unmixed
+with terror. It was remarkable that Alroy could never succeed in any way
+in attracting his notice. The Afrite seemed totally unconscious of the
+presence of his passenger. At length the boat reached the opposite shore
+of the lake, and the Prince of the Captivity debarked.
+
+He debarked at the head of an avenue of colossal lions of red
+granite,[51] extending far as the eye could reach, and ascending the
+side of the mountain, which was cut into a flight of magnificent
+steps. The easy ascent was in consequence soon accomplished, and Alroy,
+proceeding along the avenue of lions, soon gained the summit of the
+mountain.
+
+To his infinite astonishment he beheld Jerusalem. That strongly-marked
+locality could not be mistaken: at his feet were Jehoshaphat, Kedron,
+Siloah; he stood upon Olivet; before him was Zion. But in all other
+respects, how different was the landscape from the one that he had gazed
+upon a few days back, for the first time! The surrounding hills
+sparkled with vineyards, and glowed with summer palaces, and voluptuous
+pavilions, and glorious gardens of pleasure. The city, extending all
+over Mount Sion, was encompassed with a wall of white marble, with
+battlements of gold; a gorgeous mass of gates and pillars, and gardened
+terraces; lofty piles of rarest materials, cedar, and ivory, and
+precious stones; and costly columns of the richest workmanship and the
+most fanciful orders, capitals of the lotus and the palm, and flowing
+friezes of the olive and the vine.
+
+And in the front a mighty Temple rose, with inspiration in its very
+form; a Temple so vast, so sumptuous, that there needed no priest to
+tell us that no human hand planned that sublime magnificence!
+
+'God of my fathers!' said Alroy, 'I am a poor, weak thing, and my life
+has been a life of dreams and visions, and I have sometimes thought my
+brain lacked a sufficient master; where am I? Do I sleep or live? Am I a
+slumberer or a ghost? This trial is too much.' He sank down, and hid
+his face in his hands: his over-exerted mind appeared to desert him: he
+wept.
+
+Many minutes elapsed before Alroy grew composed. His wild bursts of
+weeping sank into sobs, and the sobs died off into sighs. And at length,
+calm from exhaustion, he again looked up, and lo! the glorious city was
+no more! Before him was a moon-lit plain, over which the avenue of
+lions still advanced, and appeared to terminate only in the mountainous
+distance.
+
+This limit the Prince of the Captivity at length reached, and stood
+before a stupendous portal, cut out of the solid rock, four hundred feet
+in height, and supported by clusters of colossal Caryatides.[52] Upon
+the portal were engraven some Hebrew characters, which upon examination
+proved to be the same as those upon the talisman of Jabaster. And so,
+taking from his bosom that all-precious and long-cherished deposit,
+David Alroy, in obedience to his instructions, pressed the signet
+against the gigantic portal.
+
+The portal opened with a crash of thunder louder than an earthquake.
+Pale, panting, and staggering, the Prince of the Captivity entered an
+illimitable hall, illumined by pendulous balls of glowing metal. On each
+side of the hall, sitting on golden thrones, was ranged a line of kings,
+and, as the pilgrim entered, the monarchs rose, and took off their
+diadems, and waved them thrice, and thrice repeated, in solemn chorus,
+'All hail, Alroy! Hail to thee, brother king! Thy crown awaits thee!'
+
+The Prince of the Captivity stood trembling, with his eyes fixed upon
+the ground, and leaning breathless against a column. And when at length
+he had a little recovered himself, and dared again to look up, he found
+that the monarchs were re-seated; and, from their still and vacant
+visages, apparently unconscious of his presence. And this emboldened
+him, and so, staring alternately at each side of the hall, but with a
+firm, perhaps desperate step, Alroy advanced.
+
+And he came to two thrones which were set apart from the others in the
+middle of the hall. On one was seated a noble figure, far above the
+common stature, with arms folded and downcast eyes. His feet rested upon
+a broken sword and a shivered sceptre, which told that he was a monarch,
+in spite of his discrowned head.
+
+And on the opposite throne was a venerable personage, with a long
+flowing beard, and dressed in white raiment. His countenance
+was beautiful, although ancient. Age had stolen on without its
+imperfections, and time had only invested it with a sweet dignity and
+solemn grace. The countenance of the king was upraised with a seraphic
+gaze, and, as he thus looked up on high, with eyes full of love, and
+thanksgiving, and praise, his consecrated fingers seemed to touch the
+trembling wires of a golden harp.
+
+And further on, and far above the rest, upon a throne that stretched
+across the hall, a most imperial presence straightway flashed upon the
+startled vision of Alroy. Fifty steps of ivory, and each step guarded
+by golden lions,[53] led to a throne of jasper. A dazzling light blazed
+forth from the glittering diadem and radiant countenance of him who sat
+upon the throne, one beautiful as a woman, but with the majesty of a
+god. And in one hand he held a seal, and in the other a sceptre.
+
+And when Alroy had reached the foot of the throne, he stopped, and his
+heart misgave him. And he prayed for some minutes in silent devotion,
+and, without daring to look up, he mounted the first step of the throne,
+and the second, and the third, and so on, with slow and faltering feet,
+until he reached the forty-ninth step.
+
+The Prince of the Captivity raised his eyes. He stood before the monarch
+face to face. In vain Alroy attempted to attract his attention, or to
+fix his gaze. The large dark eyes, full of supernatural lustre, appeared
+capable of piercing all things, and illuminating all things, but they
+flashed on without shedding a ray upon Alroy.
+
+Pale as a spectre, the pilgrim, whose pilgrimage seemed now on the point
+of completion, stood cold and trembling before the object of all his
+desires and all his labours. But he thought of his country, his people,
+and his God; and, while his noiseless lips breathed the name of Jehovah,
+solemnly he put forth his arm, and with a gentle firmness grasped the
+unresisting sceptre of his great ancestor.
+
+And, as he seized it, the whole scene vanished from his sight!
+
+Hours or years might have passed away, so far as the sufferer was
+concerned, when Alroy again returned to self-consciousness. His eyes
+slowly opened, he cast around a vacant stare, he was lying in the cavern
+of Genthesma. The moon had set, but the morn had not broken. A single
+star glittered over the brow of the black mountains. He faintly moved
+his limbs; he would have raised his hand to his bewildered brain, but
+found that it grasped a sceptre. The memory of the past returned to him.
+He tried to rise, and found that he was reposing in the arms of a human
+being. He turned his head; he met the anxious gaze of Jabaster!
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER VII.
+
+     _Conquest of the Seljuks_
+
+YOUR face is troubled, uncle.' 'So is my mind.' 'All may go well.'
+'Miriam, we have seen the best. Prepare yourself for sorrow, gentle
+girl. I care not for myself, for I am old, and age makes heroes of us
+all. I have endured, and can endure more. As we approach our limit, it
+would appear that our minds grow callous. I have seen my wealth, raised
+with the labours of a thoughtful life, vanish in a morn: my people, a
+fragile remnant, nevertheless a people, dispersed, or what is worse. I
+have wept for them, although no tear of selfish grief has tinged this
+withered cheek. And, were I but alone, ay! there's the pang. The solace
+of my days is now my sorrow.'
+
+'Weep not for me, dear uncle. Rather let us pray that our God will not
+forsake us.'
+
+'We know not when we are well. Our hours stole tranquilly along, and
+then we murmured. Prospering, we murmured, and now we are rightly
+stricken. The legend of the past is Israel's bane. The past is a dream;
+and, in the waking present, we should discard the enervating shadow. Why
+should we be free? We murmured against captivity. This _is_ captivity:
+this damp, dim cell, where we are brought to die.
+
+'O! youth, rash youth, thy being is destruction. But yesterday a child,
+it seems but yesterday I nursed him in these arms, a thoughtless child,
+and now our house has fallen by his deeds. I will not think of it;
+'twill make me mad.'
+
+'Uncle, dearest uncle, we have lived together, and we will die together,
+and both in love; but, I pray you, speak no harsh word of David.'
+
+'Shall I praise him?'
+
+'Say nothing. What he has done, if done in grief, has been done all in
+honour. Would you that he had spared Alschiroch?'
+
+'Never! I would have struck him myself. Brave boy, he did his duty; and
+I, I, Miriam, thy uncle, at whom they wink behind his back and call him
+niggard, was I wanting in that hour of trial? Was my treasure spared to
+save my people? Did I shrink from all the toil and trouble of that time?
+A trying time, my Miriam, but compared with this, the building of the
+Temple----'
+
+'You were then what you have ever been, the best and wisest. And since
+our fathers' God did not forsake us, even in that wilderness of wildest
+woe, I offer gratitude in present faith, and pay him for past mercies by
+my prayers for more.'
+
+'Well, well, life must end. The hour approaches when we must meet our
+rulers and mock trial; precious justice that begins in threats and ends
+in torture. You are silent, Miriam.'
+
+'I am speaking to my God.'
+
+'What is that noise? A figure moves behind the dusky grate. Our gaoler.
+No, no, it is Caleb! Faithful child, I fear you have perilled much.'
+
+'I enter with authority, my lord, and bear good tidings.'
+
+'He smiles! Is't possible? Speak on, speak on!'
+
+'Alroy has captured the harem of our Governor, as they journeyed from
+Bagdad to this city, guarded by his choicest troops. And he has sent to
+offer that they shall be exchanged for you and for your household. And
+Hassan has answered that his women shall owe their freedom to nothing
+but his sword. But, in the meantime, it is agreed between him and the
+messenger of your nephew, that both companies of prisoners shall be
+treated with all becoming courtesy. You, therefore, are remanded to
+your palace, and the trumpet is now sounding before the great mosque
+to summon all the host against Alroy, whom Hassan has vowed to bring to
+Hamadan dead or alive.'
+
+'The harem of the Governor, guarded too by his choicest troops! 'Tis a
+great deed. He did remember us. Faithful boy! The harem of the Governor!
+his choicest troops! 'Tis a very great deed. Me-thinks the Lord is with
+him. He has his great father's heart. Only think of David, a child! I
+nursed him, often. Caleb! Can this be David, our David, a child, a girl?
+Yet he struck Alschiroch! Miriam! where is she? Worthy Caleb, look to
+your mistress; she has fallen. Quite gone! Fetch water. 'Tis not very
+pure, but we shall be in our palace soon. The harem of the Governor! I
+can't believe it. Sprinkle, sprinkle. David take them prisoners! Why,
+when they pass, we are obliged to turn our heads, and dare not look.
+More water: I'll rub her hand. 'Tis warmer! Her eyes open! Miriam,
+choice news, my child! The harem of the Governor! I'll not believe it!
+
+'Once more within our walls, Caleb. Life is a miracle. I feel young
+again. This is home; and yet I am a prisoner. You said the host were
+assembling; he can have no chance. Think you, Caleb, he has any chance?
+I hope he will die. I would not have him taken. I fear their tortures.
+We will die too; we will all die. Now I am out of that dungeon,
+me-thinks I could even fight. Is it true that he has joined with
+robbers?'
+
+'I saw the messenger, and learnt that he first repaired to some bandits
+in the ruins in the desert. He had become acquainted with them in his
+pilgrimage. They say their leader is one of our people.'
+
+'I am glad of that. He can eat with him. I would not have him eat
+unclean things with the Ishmaelites.'
+
+'Lord, sir! our people gather to him from all quarters. 'Tis said that
+Jabaster, the great Cabalist, has joined him from the mountains with ten
+thousand men.'
+
+'The great Jabaster! then there is some chance. I know Jabaster well. He
+is too wise to join a desperate cause. Art sure about Jabaster? 'Tis
+a great name, a very potent spirit. I have heard such things of that
+Jabaster, sir, would make you stare like Saul before the spirit! Only
+think of our David, Caleb, making all this noise! I am full of hope. I
+feel not like a prisoner. He beat the harem guard, and, now he has got
+Jabaster, he will beat them all.'
+
+'The messenger told me he captured the harem, only to free his uncle and
+his sister.'
+
+'He ever loved me; I have done my duty to him; I think I have. Jabaster!
+why, man, the name is a spell I There are men at Bagdad who will get up
+in the night to join Jabaster. I hope David will follow his counsels
+in all things. I would I had seen his servant, I could have sent him a
+message.'
+
+'Lord, sir! the Prince Alroy has no great need of counsellors, I can
+tell you. 'Tis said he bears the sceptre of great Solomon, which he
+himself obtained in the unknown tombs of Palestine.'
+
+'The sceptre of Solomon! could I but believe it! 'Tis an age of wonders!
+Where are we? Call for Miriam, I'll tell her this. Only think of David,
+a mere child, our David with the sceptre of Solomon! and Jabaster too! I
+have great faith. The Lord confound his enemies!'
+
+'Gentle Rachel, I fear I trouble you; sweet Beruna, I thank you for your
+zeal. I am better now; the shock was great. These are strange tidings,
+maidens.'
+
+'Yes, dear lady! who would have thought of your brother turning out a
+Captain?'
+
+'I am sure I always thought he was the quietest person in the world,'
+said Beruna, 'though he did kill Alschiroch.'
+
+'One could never get a word out of him,' said Rachel.
+
+'He was always moping alone,' said Beruna.
+
+'And when one spoke to him he always turned away,' said Leah.
+
+'Or blushed,' added Imra.
+
+'Well, for my part,' said the beautiful Bathsheba, 'I always thought
+Prince David was a genius. He had such beautiful eyes!'
+
+'I hope he will conquer Hassan,' said Rachel.
+
+'So do I,' said Beruna.
+
+'I wonder what he has done with the harem,' said Leah.
+
+'I don't think he will dare to speak to them,' said Imra.
+
+'You are very much mistaken,' said Bathsheba.
+
+'Hark!' said Miriam.
+
+''Tis Hassan,' said Bathsheba; 'may he never return!'
+
+The wild drum of the Seljuks sounded, then a flourish of their fierce
+trumpets, and soon the tramp of horse. Behind the blinds of their
+chamber, Miriam and her maidens beheld the magnificent troop of
+tur-baned horsemen, who, glittering with splendid armour and bright
+shawls, and proudly bounding on their fiery steeds, now went forth to
+crush and conquer the only hope of Israel. Upon an Arab, darker than
+night, rode the superb Hassan, and, as he passed the dwelling of
+his late prisoners, whether from the exulting anticipation of coming
+triumph, or from a soft suspicion that, behind that lattice, bright
+eyes and brilliant faces were gazing on his state, the haughty but
+handsome Seljuk flourished his scimitar over his head, as he threw his
+managed steed into attitudes that displayed the skill of its rider.
+
+'He is handsomer than Alschiroch,' said Rachel.
+
+'What a shawl!' said Beruna.
+
+'His scimitar was like lightning,' said Leah.
+
+'And his steed like thunder,' said Imra.
+
+'The evil eye fall on him!' said Bathsheba.
+
+'Lord,' exclaimed Miriam, 'remember David and all his afflictions!'
+
+The deserted city of the wilderness presented a very different
+appearance from that which met the astonished gaze of Alroy, when he
+first beheld its noble turrets, and wandered in its silent streets of
+palaces.
+
+Without the gates was pitched a numerous camp of those low black tents
+common among the Kourds and Turkmans; the principal street was full
+of busy groups engaged in all the preparations of warfare, and all the
+bustling expedients of an irregular and adventurous life; steeds were
+stalled in ruined chambers, and tall camels raised their still visages
+among the clustering columns, or crouched in kneeling tranquillity amid
+fallen statues and prostrate obelisks.
+
+Two months had scarcely elapsed since Alroy and Jabaster had sought
+Scherirah in his haunt, and announced to him their sacred mission. The
+callous heart of him, whose 'mother was a Jewess,' had yielded to their
+inspired annunciations. He embraced their cause with all the fervour
+of conversion, and his motley band were not long sceptical of a creed
+which, while it assuredly offered danger and adventure, held out the
+prospects of wealth and even empire. From the city of the wilderness
+the new Messiah sent forth his messengers to the neighbouring cities, to
+announce his advent to his brethren in captivity. The Hebrews, a
+proud and stiff-necked race, ever prone to rebellion, received the
+announcement of their favourite prince with transport. The descendant
+of David, and the slayer of Alschiroch, had double claims upon their
+confidence and allegiance, and the flower of the Hebrew youth in the
+neighbouring cities of the Caliphate repaired in crowds to pay their
+homage to the recovered sceptre of Solomon.
+
+The affair was at first treated by the government with contempt, and the
+sultan of the Seljuks contented himself with setting a price upon the
+head of the murderer of his brother; but, when several cities had been
+placed under contribution, and more than one Moslem caravan stopped,
+and plundered in the name of the God of Abraham, of Isaac, and of Jacob,
+orders were despatched from Bagdad to the new governor of Hamadan,
+Hassan Subah, to suppress the robbers, or the rebels, and to send David
+Alroy dead or alive to the capital.
+
+The Hebrew malcontents were well apprised by their less adventurous
+but still sympathising brethren of everything that took place at the
+head-quarters of the enemy. Spies arrived on the same day at the city
+of the wilderness, who informed Alroy that his uncle was thrown into
+a dungeon at Hamadan, and that a body of chosen troops were about to
+escort a royal harem from Bagdad into Persia.
+
+Alroy attacked the escort in person, utterly discomfited them, and
+captured their charge. It proved to be the harem of the Governor of
+Hamadan, and if for a moment the too sanguine fancy of the captor
+experienced a passing pang of disappointment, the prize at least
+obtained, as we have seen, the freedom and security of his dear though
+distant friends. This exploit precipitated the expedition which was
+preparing at Hamadan for his destruction. The enraged Hassan Subah
+started from his divan, seized his scimitar, and without waiting for the
+auxiliaries he had summoned from the neighbouring chieftains, called to
+horse, and at the head of two thousand of the splendid Seljuk cavalry,
+hurried to vindicate his love and satiate his revenge.
+
+Within the amphitheatre which he first entered as a prisoner, Alroy sat
+in council. On his right was Jabaster, Scherirah on his left. A youth,
+little his senior, but tall as a palm-tree, and strong as a young lion,
+was the fourth captain. In the distance, some standing, some reclining,
+were about fifty men completely armed.
+
+'Are the people numbered, Abner?' inquired Alroy of the youth.
+
+'Even so; three hundred effective horsemen, and two thousand footmen;
+but the footmen lack arms.'
+
+'The Lord will send them in good time,' said Jabaster; 'meanwhile let
+them continue to make javelins.'
+
+'Trust in the Lord,' murmured Scherirah, bending his head, with his eyes
+fixed on the ground.
+
+A loud shout was heard throughout the city. Alroy started from his
+carpet. The messenger had returned. Pale and haggard, covered with sweat
+and sand, the faithful envoy was borne into the amphitheatre almost upon
+the shoulders of the people. In vain the guard endeavoured to stem the
+passage of the multitude. They clambered up the tiers of arches,
+they filled the void and crumbling seats of the antique circus, they
+supported themselves upon each other's shoulders, they clung to the
+capitals of the lofty columns. The whole multitude had assembled to
+hear the intelligence; the scene recalled the ancient purpose of the
+building, and Alroy and his fellow-warriors seemed like the gladiators
+of some old spectacle.
+
+'Speak,' said Alroy, 'speak the worst. No news can be bitter to those
+whom the Lord will avenge.'
+
+'Ruler of Israel! thus saith Hassan Subah,' answered the messenger: 'My
+harem shall owe their freedom to nothing but my sword. I treat not with
+rebels, but I war not with age or woman; and between Bostenay and his
+household on one side, and the prisoners of thy master on the other, let
+there be peace. Go, tell Alroy, I will seal it in his best blood. And
+lo! thy uncle and thy sister are again in their palace.'
+
+Alroy placed his hand for a moment to his eyes, and then instantly
+resuming his self-possession, he enquired as to the movements of the
+enemy.
+
+'I have crossed the desert on a swift dromedary[54] lent to me by
+Shelomi of the Gate, whose heart is with our cause. I have not tarried,
+neither have I slept. Ere to-morrow's sunset the Philistines will be
+here, led by Hassan Subah himself. The Lord of Hosts be with us! Since
+we conquered Canaan, Israel hath not struggled with such a power!'
+
+A murmur ran through the assembly. Men exchanged enquiring glances, and
+involuntarily pressed each other's arms.
+
+'The trial has come,' said a middle-aged Hebrew, who had fought twenty
+years ago with Jabaster.
+
+'Let me die for the Ark!' said a young enthusiast of the band of Abner.
+
+'I thought we should get into a scrape,' whispered Kisloch the Kourd to
+Calidas the Indian. 'What could have ever induced us to give up robbing
+in a quiet manner?'
+
+'And turn Jews!' said the Guebre, with a sneer.
+
+'Look at Scherirah,' said the Negro, grinning. 'If he is not kissing the
+sceptre of Solomon!'
+
+'I wish to heaven he had only hung Alroy the first time he met him,'
+said Calidas.
+
+'Sons of the Covenant!' exclaimed Alroy, 'the Lord hath delivered them
+into our hands. To-morrow eve we march to Hamadan!'
+
+A cheer followed this exclamation.
+
+'It is written,' said Jabaster, opening a volume, '"Lo! I will defend
+this city, to save it, for mine own sake, and for my servant David's
+sake."
+
+'"And it came to pass that night that the angel of the Lord went out,
+and smote in the camp of the Assyrians, an hundred four score and five
+thousand; and when they arose early in the morning, behold! they were
+all dead corpses."
+
+'Now, as I was gazing upon the stars this morn, and reading the
+celestial alphabet known to the true Cabalist,[55] behold! the star of
+the house of David and seven other stars moved, and met together, and
+formed into a circle. And the word they formed was a mystery to me; but
+lo! I have opened the book, and each star is the initial letter of each
+line of the Targum that I have now read to you. Therefore the fate of
+Sennacherib is the fate of Hassan Subah!'
+
+'_"Trust in him at all times, ye people; pour out your heart before him."
+god is a refuge for us. Selah!_'
+
+At this moment a female form appeared on the very top of the
+amphitheatre, upon the slight remains of the upper most tier of which
+a solitary arch alone was left. The chorus instantly died away, every
+tongue was silent, every eye fixed. Hushed, mute, and immovable, even
+Kisloch and his companions were appalled as they gazed upon Esther the
+Prophetess.
+
+Her eminent position, her imposing action, the flashing of her immense
+eyes, her beautiful but awful countenance, her black hair, that hung
+almost to her knees, and the white light of the moon, just rising over
+the opposite side of the amphitheatre, and which threw a silvery flash
+upon her form, and seemed to invest her with some miraculous emanation,
+while all beneath her was in deep gloom,-these circumstances combined
+to render her an object of universal interest and attention, while in a
+powerful but high voice she thus addressed them:
+
+'They come, they come! But will they go? Lo! hear ye this, O house of
+Jacob, which are called by the name of Israel, and are come forth out of
+the waters of Judah! I hear their drum in the desert, and the voice of
+their trumpets is like the wind of eve, but a decree hath gone forth,
+and it says, that a mortal shall be more precious than fine gold, yea, a
+man than the rich ore of Ophir.
+
+'They come, they come! But will they go? I see the flash of their
+scimitars, I mark the prancing of their cruel steeds; but a decree hath
+gone forth, and it says, a gleaning shall be left among them, as in
+the shaking of the olive-tree; two or three berries on the top of the
+uppermost bough; four or five on the straggling branches.
+
+'They come, they come! But will they go? Lo! a decree hath gone forth,
+and it says, Hamadan shall be to thee for a spoil, and desolation shall
+fall upon Babylon. And there shall the wild beasts of the desert lodge,
+and howling monsters shall fill their houses, and there shall the
+daughters of the ostrich dwell, and there shall the screech-owl pitch
+her tent, and there shall the night-raven lay her eggs, and there shall
+the satyrs hold their revels. And wolves shall howl to one another in
+their palaces, and dragons in their voluptuous pavilions. Her time is
+near at hand; her days shall not be prolonged; the reed and the lotus
+shall wither in her rivers; and the meadows by her canals shall be as
+the sands of the desert. For, is it a light thing that the Lord should
+send his servant to raise up the tribes of Jacob, and to restore the
+preserved of Israel? Sing, O heavens, and be joyful, O earth, and break
+forth into singing, O mountains, for the Lord hath comforted his people,
+and will have mercy upon his afflicted!'
+
+She ceased; she descended the precipitous side of the amphitheatre with
+rapid steps, vaulting from tier to tier, and bounding with wonderful
+agility from one mass of ruin to another. At length she reached the
+level; and then, foaming and panting, she rushed to Alroy, threw herself
+upon the ground, embraced his feet, and wiped off the dust from his
+sandals with her hair.
+
+The assembly broke into long and loud acclamations of supernatural
+confidence and sanguine enthusiasm. They beheld their Messiah wave his
+miraculous sceptre. They thought of Hassan Subah and his Seljuks only
+as of victims, and of to-morrow only as of a day which was to commence a
+new era of triumph, freedom, and empire!
+
+Hassan Subah after five days' forced marches pitched his sumptuous
+pavilion in that beautiful Oasis, which had afforded such delightful
+refreshment to Alroy when a solitary pilgrim. Around for nearly a mile,
+were the tents of his warriors, and of the numerous caravan that had
+accompanied him, laden with water and provisions for his troops. Here,
+while he reposed, he also sought information as to the position of his
+enemy.
+
+A party of observation, which he had immediately despatched, returned
+almost instantly with a small caravan that had been recently plundered
+by the robbers. The merchant, a venerable and pious Moslem, was ushered
+into the presence of the Governor of Hamadan.
+
+'From the robbers' haunt?' enquired Hassan.
+
+'Unfortunately so,' answered the merchant.
+
+'Is it far?'
+
+'A day's journey.'
+
+'And you quitted it?'
+
+'Yesterday morn.'
+
+'What is their force?'
+
+The merchant hesitated.
+
+'Do they not make prisoners?' enquired the Governor, casting a
+scrutinising glance at his companion.
+
+'Holy Prophet! what a miserable wretch am I!' exclaimed the venerable
+merchant, bursting into tears. 'A faithful subject of the Caliph, I am
+obliged to serve rebels, a devout Moslem, I am forced to aid Jews! Order
+me to be hanged at once, my lord,' continued the unfortunate merchant,
+wringing his hands. 'Order me to be hanged at once. I have lived long
+enough.'
+
+'What is all this?' enquired Hassan; 'speak, friend, without fear.'
+
+'I am a faithful subject of the Caliph,' answered the merchant; 'I am a
+devout Moslem, but I have lost ten thousand dirhems.'
+
+'I am sorry for you, sir; I also have lost something, but my losses are
+nothing to you, nor yours to me.'
+
+'Accursed be the hour when these dogs tempted me! Tell me, is it sin to
+break faith with a Jew?'
+
+'On the contrary, I could find you many reverend Mollahs, who will tell
+you that such a breach is the highest virtue. Come! come, I see how it
+is: you have received your freedom on condition of not betraying your
+merciful plunderers. Promises exacted by terror are the bugbears of
+fools. Speak, man, all you know. Where are they? What is their force?
+Are we supposed to be at hand?'
+
+'I am a faithful subject of the Caliph, and I am bound to serve him,'
+replied the merchant; 'I am a devout Moslem, and 'tis my duty to destroy
+all Giaours, but I am also a man, and I must look after my own interest.
+Noble Governor, the long and the short is, these scoundrels have robbed
+me of ten thousand dirhems, as my slaves will tell you: at least, goods
+to that amount. No one can prove that they be worth less. It is true
+that I include in that calculation the fifty per cent. I was to make
+on my shawls at Hamadan, but still to me it is as good as ten thousand
+dirhems. Ask my slaves if such an assortment of shawls was ever yet
+beheld.'
+
+'To the point, to the point. The robbers?' 'I am at the point. The
+shawls is the point. For when I talked of the shawls and the heaviness
+of my loss, you must know that the captain of the robbers--'
+
+'Alroy?'
+
+'A fierce young gentleman, I do not know how they call him: said the
+captain to me, "Merchant, you look gloomy." "Gloomy," I said, "you would
+look gloomy if you were a prisoner, and had lost ten thousand dirhems."
+"What, is this trash worth ten thousand dirhems?" said he. "With the
+fifty per cent. I was to make at Hamadan." "Fifty per cent.," said he;
+"you are an old knave." "Knave! I should like to hear any one call me
+knave at Bagdad." "Well, knave or not, you may get out of this scrape."
+"How?" "Why you are a respectable-looking man," said he, "and are a good
+Moslem into the bargain, I warrant." "That I am," said I, "although you
+be a Jew: but how the faith is to serve me here I am sure I don't
+know, unless the angel Gabriel, as in the fifty-fifth verse of the
+twenty-seventh chapter of the Koran----"'
+
+'Tush, tush!' exclaimed Hassan; 'to the point.'
+
+'I always am at the point, only you put me out. However, to make it
+as short as possible, the captain knows all about your coming, and is
+frightened out of his wits, although he did talk big; I could easily see
+that. And he let me go, you see, with some of my slaves, and gave me an
+order for five thousand dirhems on one Bostenay, of Hamadan (perhaps
+you know him; is he a good man?), on condition that I would fall in with
+you, and, Mohammed forgive me, tell you a lie!'
+
+'A lie!'
+
+'Yes, a lie; but these Jewish dogs do not understand what a truly
+religious man is, and when I began to tell the lie, I was soon put
+out. Now, noble Hassan, if a promise to a Jew be not binding on a true
+believer, and you will see me straight with the five thousand dirhems, I
+will betray everything at once.'
+
+'Be easy about the five thousand dirhems, good man, and tell me all.'
+
+'You will see me paid?'
+
+'My honour upon it.'
+
+''Tis well! Know then, the infamous dogs are very weak, and terrified
+at the news of your progress: one, whom I think they call Jabaster, has
+departed with the great majority of the people into the interior of the
+desert, about seven hundred strong. I heard so; but mind, I do not
+know it. The young man, whom you call Alroy, being wounded in a recent
+conflict, could not depart with them, but remains among the ruins with
+some female prisoners, some treasure, and about a hundred companions
+hidden in sepulchres. He gave me my freedom on condition that I should
+fall in with you, and assure you that the dogs, full five thousand
+strong, had given you the go-by in the night, and marched towards
+Hamadan. They wanted me to frighten you; it was a lie, and I could not
+tell it. And now you know the plain truth; and if it be a sin to break
+faith with an infidel, you are responsible for it, as well as for the
+five thousand dirhems, which, by-the-bye, ought to have been ten.'
+
+'Where is your order?'
+
+''Tis here,' said the merchant, drawing it from his vest, 'a very
+business-like document, drawn upon one Bostenay, whom they described as
+very rich, and who is here enjoined to pay me five thousand dirhems, if,
+in consequence of my information, Hassan Subah, that is yourself, return
+forthwith to Hamadan without attacking them.'
+
+'Old Bostenay's head shall answer for this.'
+
+'I am glad of it. But were I you, I would make him pay me first.'
+
+'Merchant,' said Hassan, 'have you any objection to pay another visit to
+your friend Alroy?'
+
+'Allah forbid!'
+
+'In my company?'
+
+'That makes a difference.'
+
+'Be our guide. The dirhems shall be doubled.'
+
+'That will make up for the fifty per cent. I hardly like it; but in your
+company that makes a difference. Lose no time. If you push on, Alroy
+must be captured. Now or never! The Jewish dogs, to rifle a true
+believer!'
+
+'Oglu,' said Hassan to one of his officers. 'To horse! You need not
+strike the tents. Can we reach the city by sunset, merchant?'
+
+'An hour before, if you be off at once.' 'Sound the drums. To horse! to
+horse!' The Seljuks halted before the walls of the deserted city. Their
+commander ordered a detachment to enter and reconnoitre. They returned
+and reported its apparent desolation. Hassan Subah, then directing
+that a guard should surround the walls to prevent any of the enemy from
+escaping, passed with his warriors through the vast portal into the
+silent street. The still magnificence of the strange and splendid scene
+influenced the temper even of this ferocious cavalry. They gazed around
+them with awe and admiration. The fierceness of their visages was
+softened, the ardour of their impulse stilled. A supernatural feeling
+of repose stole over their senses. No one brandished his scimitar, the
+fiery courser seemed as subdued as his lord, and no sound was heard but
+the melancholy, mechanical tramp of the disciplined march, unrelieved
+by martial music, inviolate by oath or jest, and unbroken even by the
+ostentatious caracoling of any showy steed.
+
+It was sunset; the star of eve glittered over the white Ionian fane that
+rose serene and delicate in the flashing and purple sky.
+
+'This way, my lord!' said the merchant guide, turning round to Hassan
+Subah, who, surrounded by his officers, led the van. The whole of the
+great way of the city was filled with the Seljukian warriors. Their ebon
+steeds, their snowy turbans, adorned with plumes of the black eagle and
+the red heron, their dazzling shawls, the blaze of their armour in
+the sunset, and the long undulating perspective of beautiful forms and
+brilliant colours, this regiment of heroes in a street of palaces. War
+had seldom afforded a more imposing or more picturesque spectacle.
+
+'This way, my lord!' said the merchant, pointing to the narrow turning
+that, at the foot of the temple, led through ruined streets to the
+amphitheatre.
+
+'Halt!' exclaimed a wild shrill voice. Each warrior suddenly arrested
+his horse.
+
+'Who spoke?' exclaimed Hassan Subah.
+
+'I!' answered a voice. A female form stood in the portico of the temple,
+with uplifted arms.
+
+'And who art thou?' enquired Hassan Subah, not a little disconcerted.
+
+'Thine evil genius, Seljuk!'
+
+Hassan Subah, pale as his ivory battle-axe, did not answer; every man
+within hearing shuddered; still the dread woman remained immovable
+within the porch of the temple.
+
+'Woman, witch, or goddess,' at length exclaimed Hassan Subah, 'what
+wouldst thou here?'
+
+'Seljuk! behold this star. 'Tis a single drop of light, yet who even
+of thy wild band can look upon it without awe? And yet thou worse than
+Sisera, thou comest to combat against those for whom even "the stars in
+their courses fought."'
+
+'A Jewish witch!' exclaimed the Seljuk.
+
+'A Jewish witch! Be it so; behold, then, my spell falls upon thee, and
+that spell is Destruction.
+
+'Awake, awake, Deborah: awake, awake, utter a song; arise, Barak, and
+lead thy captivity captive, thou son of Abinoam!'
+
+Immediately the sky appeared to darken, a cloud of arrows and javelins
+broke from all sides upon the clevoted Seljuks: immense masses of stone
+and marble were hurled from all directions, horses were stabbed by
+spears impelled by invisible hands, and riders fell to the ground
+without a struggle, and were trampled upon by their disordered and
+affrighted brethren.
+
+'We are betrayed,' exclaimed Hassan Subah, hurling a javelin at the
+merchant, but the merchant was gone. The Seljuks raised their famous war
+cry.
+
+'Oglu, regain the desert,' ordered the chieftain.
+
+But no sooner had the guard without the walls heard the war cry of
+their companions, than, alarmed, for their safety, they rushed to their
+assistance. The retreating forces of Subah, each instant diminishing as
+they retreated, were baffled in their project by the very eagerness of
+their auxiliaries. The unwilling contention of the two parties increased
+the confusion; and when the Seljuks, recently arrived, having at length
+formed into some order, had regained the gate, they found to their
+dismay that the portal was barricadoed and garrisoned by the enemy.
+Uninspired by the presence of their commander, who was in the rear, the
+puzzled soldiers were seized with a panic, and spurring their
+horses, dispersed in all directions of the city. In vain Hassan Subah
+endeavoured to restore order. The moment was past. Dashing with about
+thirty men to an open ground, which his quick eye had observed in his
+progress down the street, and dealing destruction with every blow, the
+dreaded Governor of Hamadan, like a true soldier, awaited an inevitable
+fate, not wholly despairing that some chance might yet turn up to
+extricate him from his forlorn situation.
+
+And now, as it were by enchantment, wild armed men seemed to arise from
+every part of the city. From every mass of ruin, from every crumbling
+temple and mouldering mansion, from every catacomb and cellar, from
+behind every column and every obelisk, upstarted some desperate warrior
+with a bloody weapon. The massacre of the Seljuks was universal. The
+horsemen dashed wildly about the ruined streets, pursued by crowds of
+footmen; sometimes, formed in small companies, the Seljuks charged and
+fought desperately; but, however stout might be their resistance to the
+open foe, it was impossible to withstand their secret enemies. They had
+no place of refuge, no power of gaining even a moment's breathing time.
+If they retreated to a wall it instantly bristled with spears; if they
+endeavoured to form, in a court, they sank under the falling masses
+which were showered upon them. Strange shouts of denunciation blended
+with the harsh braying of horns, and the clang and clash of cymbals and
+tambours sounded in every quarter of the city.
+
+'If we could only mount the walls, Ibrahim, and leap into the desert!'
+exclaimed Hassan Subah to one of his few remaining comrades; ''tis our
+only chance. We die here like dogs! Could I but meet Alroy!'
+
+Three of the Seljuks dashed swiftly across the open ground in front,
+followed by several Hebrew horsemen.
+
+'Smite all, Abner. Spare none, remember Amalek,' exclaimed their
+youthful leader, waving his bloody scimitar.
+
+'They are down; one, two, there goes the third. My javelin has done for
+him.'
+
+'Your horse bleeds freely. Where's Jabaster?'
+
+'At the gates; my arm aches with slaughter. The Lord hath delivered them
+into our hands. Could I but meet their chieftain!'
+
+'Turn, bloodhound, he is here,' exclaimed Hassan Subah.
+
+'Away, Abner, this affair is mine.'
+
+'Prince, you have already slain your thousands.'
+
+'And Abner his tens of thousands. Is it so? This business is for me
+only. Come on, Turk.'
+
+'Art thou Alroy?'
+
+'The same.'
+
+'The slayer of Alschiroch?'
+
+'Even so.'
+
+'A rebel and a murderer.'
+
+'What you please. Look to yourself.'
+
+The Hebrew Prince flung a javelin at the Seljuk. It glanced from the
+breastplate; but Hassan Subah staggered in his seat. Recovering, he
+charged Alroy with great force. Their scimitars crossed, and the blade
+of Hassan shivered.
+
+'He who sold me that blade told me it was charmed, and could be broken
+only by a caliph,' said Hassan Subah. 'He was a liar.'
+
+'As it may be,' said Alroy, and he cut the Seljuk to the ground. Abner
+had dispersed his comrades. Alroy leaped from his fainting steed, and,
+mounting the ebon courser of his late enemy, dashed again into the
+thickest of the fight.
+
+The shades of night descended, the clamour gradually decreased, the
+struggle died away. A few unhappy Moslemin who had quitted their saddles
+and sought concealment among the ruins, were occasionally hunted out,
+and brought forward and massacred. Long ere midnight the last of the
+Seljuks had expired.[56]
+
+The moon shed a broad light upon the street of palaces crowded with
+the accumulated slain and the living victors. Fires were lit, torches
+illumined, the conquerors prepared the eager meal as they sang hymns of
+praise and thanksgiving.
+
+A procession approached. Esther the prophetess, clashing her cymbals,
+danced before the Messiah of Israel, who leant upon his victorious
+scimitar, surrounded by Jabaster, Abner, Scherirah, and his chosen
+chieftains. Who could now doubt the validity of his mission? The
+wide and silent desert rang with the acclamations of his enthusiastic
+votaries.
+
+Heavily the anxious hours crept on in the Jewish quarter of Hamadan.
+Again and again the venerable Bostenay discussed the chances of success
+with the sympathising but desponding elders. Miriam was buried in
+constant prayer. Their most sanguine hopes did not extend beyond the
+escape of their Prince.
+
+A fortnight had elapsed, and no news had been received of the progress
+of the expedition, when suddenly, towards sunset, a sentinel on a
+watch-tower announced the appearance of an armed force in the distance.
+The walls were instantly lined with the anxious inhabitants, the streets
+and squares filled with curious crowds. Exultation sat on the triumphant
+brow of the Moslemin; a cold tremor stole over the fluttering heart of
+the Hebrew.
+
+'There is but one God,' said the captain of the gate.
+
+'And Mahomed is His prophet,' responded a sentinel.
+
+'To-morrow we will cut off the noses of all these Jewish dogs.'
+
+'The sceptre has departed,' exclaimed the despairing Bostenay.
+
+'Lord, remember David!' whispered Miriam, as she threw herself upon the
+court of the palace, and buried her face in ashes.
+
+The Mollahs in solemn procession advanced to the ramparts, to shed their
+benediction on the victorious Hassan Subah. The Muezzin ascended the
+minarets to watch the setting sun, and proclaim the power of Allah with
+renewed enthusiasm.
+
+'I wonder if Alroy be dead or alive,' said the captain of the gate.
+
+'If he be alive, he will be impaled,' responded a sentinel.
+
+'If dead, the carcass will be given to the dogs,' rejoined the captain;
+'that is the practice.'
+
+'Bostenay will be hung,' said the sentinel.
+
+'And his niece, too,' answered the captain.
+
+'Hem!' said the sentinel. 'Hassan Subah loves a black eye.'
+
+'I hope a true Moslem will not touch a Jewess,' exclaimed an indignant
+black eunuch.
+
+'They approach. What a dust!' said the captain of the gate.
+
+'I see Hassan Subah!' said the sentinel.
+
+'So do I,' said the eunuch, 'I know his black horse.'
+
+'I wonder how many dirhems old Bostenay is worth,' said the captain.
+
+'Immense!' said the sentinel.
+
+'No plunder, I suppose?' said the eunuch.
+
+'We shall see,' said the captain; 'at any rate, I owe a thousand to old
+Shelomi. We need not pay now, you know.'
+
+'Certainly not,' said the black eunuch. 'The rebels.'
+
+A body of horsemen dashed forward. Their leader in advance reined in his
+fiery charger beneath the walls.
+
+'In the name of the Prophet, who is that?' exclaimed the captain of the
+gate, a little confused.
+
+'I never saw him before,' said the sentinel, 'although he is in the
+Seljuk dress. 'Tis some one from Bagdad, I guess.'
+
+A trumpet sounded.
+
+'Who keeps the gate?' called out the warrior.
+
+'I am the captain of the gate,' answered our friend.
+
+'Open it, then, to the King of Israel.'
+
+'To whom?' enquired the astonished captain.
+
+'To King David. The Lord hath delivered Hassan Subah and his host into
+our hands, and of all the proud Seljuks none remaineth. Open thy gates,
+I say, and lose no time. I am Jabaster, a lieutenant of the Lord; this
+scimitar is my commission. Open thy gates, and thou and thy people shall
+have that mercy which they have never shown; but if thou delayest one
+instant, thus saith the King our master, "I will burst open your portal,
+and smite, and utterly destroy all that you have, and spare them not;
+but slay both man and woman, infant and suckling, ox and sheep, camel
+and ass."'
+
+'Call forth the venerable Lord Bostenay,' said the captain of the gate,
+with chattering teeth. 'He will intercede for us.'
+
+'And the gentle Lady Miriam,' said the sentinel. 'She is ever
+charitable.'
+
+'I will head the procession,' said the black eunuch; 'I am accustomed to
+women.'
+
+The procession of Mollahs shuffled back to their college with profane
+precipitation; the sun set, and the astounded Muezzin stood with their
+mouths open, and quite forgot to announce the power of their Deity,
+and the validity of their Prophet. The people all called out for the
+venerable Lord Bostenay and the gentle Lady Miriam, and ran in crowds to
+see who could first kiss the hem of their garments.
+
+The principal gate of Hamadan opened into the square of the great
+mosque. Here the whole population of the city appeared assembled. The
+gates were thrown open; Jabaster and his companions mounted guard. The
+short twilight died away, the shades of night descended. The minarets
+were illumined,[57] the houses hung with garlands, the ramparts covered
+with tapestry and carpets.
+
+A clang of drums, trumpets, and cymbals announced the arrival of the
+Hebrew army. The people shouted, the troops without responded with a
+long cheer of triumph. Amid the blaze of torches, a youth waving his
+scimitar, upon a coal-black steed, bounded into the city, at the head
+of his guards, the people fell upon their knees, and shouted 'Long live
+Alroy!'
+
+A venerable man, leading a beauteous maiden with downcast eyes,
+advanced. They headed a deputation of the chief inhabitants of the city.
+They came to solicit mercy and protection. At the sight of them, the
+youthful warrior leaped from his horse, flung away his scimitar, and
+clasping the maiden in his arms, exclaimed, 'Miriam, my sister, this,
+this indeed is triumph!'
+
+'Drink,' said Kisloch the Kourd to Calidas the Indian; 'you forget,
+comrade, we are no longer Moslemin.'
+
+'Wine, methinks, has a peculiarly pleasant flavour in a golden cup,'
+said the Guebre. 'I got this little trifle to-day in the Bazaar,' he
+added, holding up a magnificent vase studded with gems.
+
+'I thought plunder was forbidden,' grinned the Negro.
+
+'So it is,' replied the Guebre; 'but we may purchase what we please,
+upon credit.'
+
+'Well, for my part, I am a moderate man,' exclaimed Calidas the Indian,
+'and would not injure even these accursed dogs of Turks. I have not cut
+my host's throat, but only turned him into my porter, and content myself
+with his harem, his baths, his fine horses, and other little trifles.'
+
+'What quarters we are in! There is nothing like a true Messiah!'
+exclaimed Kisloch, devoutly.
+
+'Nothing,' said Calidas; 'though to speak truth, I did not much believe
+in the efficacy of Solomon's sceptre, till his Majesty clove the head of
+the valiant Seljuk with it.'
+
+'But now there's no doubt of it,' said the Guebre.
+
+'We should indeed be infidels if we doubted now,' replied the Indian.
+
+'How lucky,' grinned the Negro, 'as I had no religion before, that I
+have now fixed upon the right one!'
+
+'Most fortunate!' said the Guebre. 'What shall we do to amuse ourselves
+to-night?'
+
+'Let us go to the coffee-houses and make the Turks drink wine,' said
+Calidas the Indian.
+
+'What say you to burning down a mosque?' said Kisloch the Kourd.
+
+'I had great fun with some Dervishes this morning,' said the Guebre. 'I
+met one asking alms with a wire run through his cheek,[58] so I caught
+another, bored his nose, and tied them both together!'
+
+'Hah! hah! hah!' burst the Negro.
+
+Asia resounded with the insurrection of the Jews, and the massacre of
+the Seljuks. Crowds of Hebrews, from the rich cities of Persia and the
+populous settlements on the Tigris and the Euphrates, hourly poured into
+Hamadan.
+
+The irritated Moslemin persecuted the brethren of the successful rebel,
+and this impolicy precipitated their flight. The wealth of Bagdad
+flowed into the Hebrew capital. Seated on the divan of Hassan Subah, and
+wielding the sceptre of Solomon, the King of Israel received the homage
+of his devoted subjects, and despatched his envoys to Syria and to
+Egypt. The well-stored magazines and arsenals of Hamadan soon converted
+the pilgrims into warriors. The city was unable to accommodate the
+increased and increasing population. An extensive camp, under the
+command of Abner, was formed without the walls, where the troops were
+daily disciplined, and where they were prepared for greater exploits
+than a skirmish in a desert.
+
+Within a month after the surrender of Hamadan, the congregation of the
+people assembled in the square of the great mosque, now converted into a
+synagogue. The multitude was disposed in ordered ranks, and the terrace
+of every house was crowded. In the centre of the square was an altar of
+cedar and brass, and on each side stood a company of priests guarding
+the victims, one young bullock, and two rams without blemish.
+
+Amid the flourish of trumpets, the gates of the synagogue opened, and
+displayed to the wondering eyes of the Hebrews a vast and variegated
+pavilion planted in the court. The holy remnant, no longer forlorn,
+beheld that tabernacle of which they had so long dreamed, once more
+shining in the sun, with its purple and scarlet hangings, its curtains
+of rare skins, and its furniture of silver and gold.
+
+A procession of priests advanced, bearing, with staves of cedar, run
+through rings of gold, a gorgeous ark, the work of the most cunning
+artificers of Persia. Night and day had they laboured, under the
+direction of Jabaster, to produce this wondrous spectacle. Once more
+the children of Israel beheld the cherubim. They burst into a triumphant
+hymn of thanksgiving, and many drew their swords, and cried aloud to be
+led against the Canaanites.
+
+From the mysterious curtains of the tabernacle, Alroy came forward,
+leading Jabaster. They approached the altar. And Alroy took robes from
+the surrounding priests, and put them upon Jabaster, and a girdle, and
+a breastplate of jewels. And Alroy took a mitre, and placed it upon the
+head of Jabaster, and upon the mitre he placed a crown; and pouring oil
+upon his head, the pupil anointed the master High Priest of Israel.
+
+The victims were slain, the sin-offering burnt. Amid clouds of incense,
+bursts of music, and the shouts of a devoted people; amid odour, and
+melody, and enthusiasm, Alroy mounted his charger, and at the head of
+twenty thousand men, departed to conquer Media.
+
+The extensive and important province of Aderbijan, of which Hamadan was
+the capital, was formed of the ancient Media. Its fate was decided
+by one battle. On the plain of Nehauend, Alroy met the hastily-raised
+levies of the Atabek of Kermanshah, and entirely routed them. In the
+course of a month, every city of the province had acknowledged the
+supremacy of the new Hebrew monarch, and, leaving Abner to complete the
+conquest of Louristan, Alroy entered Persia.
+
+The incredible and irresistible progress of Alroy roused Togrul, the
+Turkish Sultan of Persia, from the luxurious indolence of the palaces
+of Nishapur. He summoned his emirs to meet him at the imperial city of
+Rhey, and crush, by one overwhelming effort, the insolent rebel.
+
+Religion, valour, and genius, alike inspired the arms of Alroy, but he
+was, doubtless, not a little assisted by the strong national sympathy
+of his singular and scattered people, which ever ensured him prompt
+information of all the movements of his enemy. Without any preparation,
+he found agents in every court, and camp, and cabinet; and, by their
+assistance, he anticipated the designs of his adversaries, and turned
+even their ingenuity to their confusion. The imperial city of Rhey was
+surprised in the night, sacked, and burnt to the ground. The scared
+and baffled emirs who escaped, flew to the Sultan Togrul, tearing their
+beards, and prophesying the approaching termination of the world. The
+palaces of Nishapur resounded with the imprecations of their master,
+who, cursing the Jewish dogs, and vowing a pilgrimage to Mecca, placed
+himself at the head of a motley multitude of warriors, and rushed upon
+the plains of Irak, to exterminate Alroy.
+
+The Persian force exceeded the Hebrew at least five times in number.
+Besides a large division of Seljuks, the Caucasus had poured forth its
+strange inhabitants to swell the ranks of the Faithful. The wild tribes
+of the Bactiari were even enlisted, with their fatal bows, and the
+savage Turkmans, tempted by the sultan's gold, for a moment yielded
+their liberty, and shook their tall lances in his ranks.
+
+But what is a wild Bactiari, and what is a savage Turkman, and what
+even a disciplined and imperious Seljuk, to the warriors of the God of
+Abraham, of Isaac, and of Jacob? At the first onset, Alroy succeeded in
+dividing the extended centre of Togrul, and separating the greater part
+of the Turks from their less disciplined comrades. At the head of his
+Median cavalry, the Messiah charged and utterly routed the warriors of
+the Caucasus. The wild tribes of the Bactiari discharged their arrows
+and fled, and the savage Turkmans plundered the baggage of their own
+commander.
+
+The Turks themselves fought desperately; but, deserted by their allies,
+and surrounded by an inspired foe, their efforts were unavailing, and
+their slaughter terrible. Togrul was slain while heading a desperate and
+fruitless charge, and, after his fall, the battle resembled a massacre
+rather than a combat. The plain was glotted with Seljuk gore. No quarter
+was given or asked. Twenty thousand chosen troops fell on the side
+of the Turks; the rest dispersed and gained the mountains. Leaving
+Scherirah to restore order, Alroy the next morning pushed on to Nishapur
+at the head of three thousand horsemen, and summoned the city ere the
+inhabitants were apprised of the defeat and death of their sultan. The
+capital of Persia escaped the fate of Rhey by an inglorious treaty and
+a lavish tribute. The treasures of the Chosroes and the Gasnevides
+were despatched to Hamadan, on which city day dawned, only to bring
+intelligence of a victory or a conquest.
+
+While Alroy dictated peace on his own terms in the palaces of Nishapur,
+Abner, having reduced Louristan, crossed the mountains, and entered
+Persia with the reinforcements he had received from Jabaster. Leaving
+the government and garrisoning of his new conquests to this valiant
+captain, Alroy, at the head of the conquerors of Persia, in consequence
+of intelligence received from Hamadan, returned by forced marches to
+that city.
+
+Leaving the army within a day's march of the capital, Alroy, accompanied
+only by his staff, entered Hamadan in the evening, and, immediately
+repairing to the citadel, summoned Jabaster to council. The night was
+passed by the king and the high priest in deep consultation. The next
+morning, a decree apprised the inhabitants of the return of their
+monarch, of the creation of the new 'Kingdom of the Medes and Persians,'
+of which Hamadan was declared the capital, and Abner the viceroy, and
+of the intended and immediate invasion of Syria, and re-conquest of the
+Land of Promise.
+
+The plan of this expedition had been long matured, and the preparations
+to effect it were considerably advanced. Jabaster had not been idle
+during the absence of his pupil. One hundred thousand warriors were now
+assembled[59] at the capital of the kingdom of the Medes and Persians;
+of these the greater part were Hebrews, but many Arabs, wearied of the
+Turkish yoke, and many gallant adventurers from the Caspian, easily
+converted from a vague idolatry to a religion of conquest, swelled the
+ranks of the army of the Lord of Hosts.
+
+The plain of Hamadan was covered with tents, the streets were filled
+with passing troops, the bazaars loaded with military stores; long
+caravans of camels laden with supplies every day arrived from
+the neighbouring towns; each instant some high-capped Tatar with
+despatches[60] rushed into the city and galloped his steed up the steep
+of the citadel. The clang of arms, the prance of horses, the flourish
+of warlike music, resounded from all quarters. The business and the
+treasure of the world seemed, as it were in an instant, to have become
+concentrated in Hamadan. Every man had some great object; gold glittered
+in every hand. All great impulses were stirring; all the causes of human
+energy were in lively action. Every eye sparkled, every foot trod firm
+and fast. Each man acted as if the universal fate depended upon his
+exertions; as if the universal will sympathised with his particular
+desire. A vast population influenced by a high degree of excitement is
+the most sublime of spectacles.
+
+The commander of the Faithful raised the standard of the Prophet on the
+banks of the Tigris. It was the secret intelligence of this intended
+event that had recalled Alroy so suddenly from Persia. The latent
+enthusiasm of the Moslemin was excited by the rare and mystic ceremony,
+and its effects were anticipated by previous and judicious preparations.
+The Seljuks of Bagdad alone amounted to fifty thousand men; the Sultan
+of Syria contributed the warriors who had conquered the Arabian princes
+of Damascus and Aleppo; while the ancient provinces of Asia Minor, which
+formed the rich and powerful kingdom of Seljukian Roum, poured forth a
+myriad of that matchless cavalry, which had so often baffled the armies
+of the Caesars. Never had so imposing a force been collected on the banks
+of the Tigris since the reign of Haroun Alraschid. Each day some warlike
+Atabek, at the head of his armed train, poured into the capital of the
+caliphs,[61] or pitched his pavilion on the banks of the river; each day
+the proud emir of some remote principality astonished or affrighted
+the luxurious Babylonians by the strange or uncouth warriors that had
+gathered round his standard in the deserts of Arabia, or on the shores
+of the Euxine. For the space of twenty miles, the banks of the river
+were, on either side, far as the eye could reach, covered with the
+variegated pavilions, the glittering standards, the flowing streamers
+and twinkling pennons of the mighty host, of which Malek, the Grand
+Sultan of the Seljuks, and Governor of the Caliph's palace, was chief
+commander.
+
+Such was the power assembled on the plains of Asia to arrest the
+progress of the Hebrew Prince, and to prevent the conquest of the
+memorable land promised to the faith of his fathers, and forfeited by
+their infidelity. Before the walls of Hamadan, Alroy reviewed the army
+of Israel, sixty thousand heavy-armed footmen, thirty thousand archers
+and light troops, and twenty thousand cavalry. Besides these, there had
+been formed a body of ten thousand picked horsemen, styled the 'Sacred
+Guard,' all of whom had served in the Persian campaign. In their centre,
+shrouded in a case of wrought gold, studded with carbuncles, and carried
+on a lusty lance of cedar, a giant--for the height of Elnebar exceeded
+that of common men by three feet--bore the sceptre of Solomon. The
+Sacred Guard was commanded by Asriel, the brother of Abner.
+
+The army was formed into three divisions. All marched in solemn order
+before the throne of Alroy, raised upon the ramparts, and drooped their
+standards and lances as they passed their heroic leader. Bostenay, and
+Miriam, and the whole population of the city witnessed the inspiring
+spectacle from the walls. That same eve, Scherirah, at the head of forty
+thousand men, pushed on towards Bagdad, by Kermanshah; and Jabaster,
+who commanded in his holy robes, and who had vowed not to lay aside his
+sword until the rebuilding of the temple, conducted his division over
+the victorious plain of Nehauend. They were to concentrate at the pass
+of Kerrund, which conducted into the province of Bagdad, and await the
+arrival of the king.
+
+At the dawn of day, the royal division and the Sacred Guard, the whole
+under the command of Asriel, quitted the capital. Alroy still lingered,
+and for some hours the warriors of his staff might have been observed
+lounging about the citadel, or practising their skill in throwing the
+jerreed as they exercised their impatient chargers before the gates.
+
+The king was with the Lady Miriam, walking in the garden of their
+uncle. One arm was wound round her delicate waist, and with the other
+he clasped her soft and graceful hand. The heavy tears burst from her
+downcast eyes, and stole along her pale and pensive cheek. They walked
+in silence, the brother and the sister, before the purity of whose
+surpassing love even ambition vanished. He opened the lattice gate.
+They entered into the valley small and green; before them was the marble
+fountain with its columns and cupola, and in the distance the charger of
+Alroy and his single attendant.
+
+They stopped, and Alroy gathered flowers, and placed them in the hair of
+Miriam. He would have softened the bitterness of parting with a smile.
+Gently he relaxed his embracing arm, almost insensibly he dropped her
+quivering hand.
+
+'Sister of my soul,' he whispered, 'when we last parted here, I was a
+fugitive, and now I quit you a conqueror.'
+
+She turned, she threw herself upon his neck, and buried her face in his
+breast.
+
+'My Miriam, we shall meet at Bagdad.'
+
+He beckoned to her distant maidens; they advanced, he delivered Miriam
+into their arms. He pressed her hand to his lips, and, rushing to his
+horse, mounted and disappeared.
+
+A body of irregular cavalry feebly defended the pass of Kerrund. It
+was carried, with slight loss, by the vanguard of Scherirah, and the
+fugitives prepared the host of the caliph for the approach of the Hebrew
+army.
+
+Upon the plain of the Tigris the enemy formed into battle array. The
+centre was commanded by Malek, the Grand Sultan of the Seljuks himself;
+the right wing, headed by the Sultan of Syria, was protected by the
+river; and the left, under the Sultan of Roum, was posted upon the
+advantageous position of some irregular and rising ground. Thus proud
+in the number, valour, discipline, and disposition of his forces, Malek
+awaited the conqueror of Persia.
+
+The glittering columns of the Hebrews might even now be perceived
+defiling from the mountains, and forming at the extremity of the plain.
+Before nightfall the camp of the invaders was pitched within hearing of
+that of Malek. The moving lights in the respective tents might plainly
+be distinguished; and ever and anon the flourish of hostile music fell
+with an ominous sound upon the ears of the opposed foe-men. A few miles
+only separated those mighty hosts. Upon to-morrow depended, perhaps, the
+fortunes of ages. How awful is the eve of battle!
+
+Alroy, attended by a few chieftains, personally visited the tents of
+the soldiery, promising them on the morrow a triumph, before which the
+victories of Nehauend and Nishapur would sink into insignificance. Their
+fiery and excited visages proved at once their courage and their
+faith. The sceptre of Solomon was paraded throughout the camp in solemn
+procession. On the summit of a huge tumulus, perhaps the sepulchre
+of some classic hero, Esther, the prophetess, surrounded by the chief
+zealots of the host, poured forth her exciting inspirations. It was a
+grand picture, that beautiful wild girl, the groups of stern, devoted
+warriors, the red flame of the watch-fires mixing with the silver
+shadows of the moon as they illumined the variegated turbans and
+gleaming armour of her votaries!
+
+In the pavilion of Alroy, Jabaster consulted with his pupil on the
+conduct of the morrow.
+
+'This is a different scene from the cavern of the Caucasus,' said Alroy,
+as the high priest rose to retire.
+
+'It has one great resemblance, sire; the God of our fathers is with us.'
+
+'Ay! the Lord of Hosts. Moses was a great man. There is no career except
+conquest.'
+
+'You muse.'
+
+'Of the past. The present is prepared. Too much thought will mar it.'
+
+'The past is for wisdom, the present for action, but for joy the future.
+The feeling that the building of the temple is at hand, that the Lord's
+anointed will once again live in the house of David, absorbs my spirit;
+and, when I muse over our coming glory, in my fond ecstasy I almost lose
+the gravity that doth beseem my sacred office.'
+
+'Jerusalem; I have seen it. How many hours to dawn?'
+
+'Some three.'
+
+''Tis strange I could sleep. I remember, on the eve of battle I was ever
+anxious. How is this, Jabaster?'
+
+'Your faith, sire, is profound.'
+
+'Yes, I have no fear. My destiny is not complete. Good night, Jabaster.
+See, Asriel, valiant priest. Pharez!'
+
+'My lord!'
+
+'Rouse me at the second watch. Good night, boy.'
+
+'Good night, my lord.'
+
+'Pharez! Be sure you rouse me at the second watch. Think you it wants
+three hours to dawn?'
+
+'About three hours, my lord.'
+
+'Well! at the second watch, remember; good night.'
+
+'It is the second watch, my lord.'
+
+'So soon! Have I slept? I feel fresh as an eagle. Call Scherirah, boy.'
+
+''Tis strange I never dream now. Before my flight my sleep was ever
+troubled. Say what they like, man is made for action. My life is now
+harmonious, and sleep has now become what nature willed it, a solace,
+not a contest. Before, it was a struggle of dark passions and bright
+dreams, in whose creative fancy and fair vision my soul sought refuge
+from the dreary bale of daily reality.
+
+'I will withdraw the curtains of my tent. O most majestic vision! And
+have I raised this host? Over the wide plain, far as my eye can range,
+their snowy tents studding the purple landscape, embattled legions
+gather round their flags to struggle for my fate. It is the agony of
+Asia.
+
+'A year ago, upon this very spot, I laid me down to die, an unknown
+thing, or known and recognised only to be despised, and now the sultans
+of the world come forth to meet me. I have no fear. My destiny is not
+complete. And whither tends it? Let that power decide which hitherto has
+fashioned all my course.
+
+'Jerusalem, Jerusalem! ever harping on Jerusalem. With all his lore,
+he is a narrow-minded zealot whose dreaming memory would fondly make
+a future like the past. O Bagdad, Bagdad, within thy glittering halls,
+there is a charm worth all his Cabala!
+
+'Hah! Scherirah! The dawn is near at hand, the stars are still shining.
+The air is very pleasant. Tomorrow will be a great day, Scherirah, for
+Israel and for you. You lead the attack. A moment in my tent, my brave
+Scherirah!'
+
+The dawn broke; a strong column of the Hebrews, commanded by Scherirah,
+poured down upon the centre of the army of the caliph. Another column,
+commanded by Jabaster, attacked the left wing, headed by the Sultan
+of Roum. No sooner had Alroy perceived that the onset of Scherirah had
+succeeded in penetrating the centre of the Turks, than he placed himself
+at the head of the Sacred Guard, and by an irresistible charge completed
+their disorder and confusion. The division of the Sultan of Syria, and
+a great part of the centre, were entirely routed and driven into the
+river, and the remainder of the division of Malek was effectually
+separated from his left wing.
+
+But while to Alroy the victory seemed already decided, a far different
+fate awaited the division of Jabaster. The Sultan of Roum, posted in
+an extremely advantageous position, and commanding troops accustomed to
+the discipline of the Romans of Constantinople, received the onset of
+Jabaster without yielding, and not only repelled his attack, but finally
+made a charge which completely disordered and dispersed the column of
+the Hebrews. In vain Jabaster endeavoured to rally his troops, in vain
+he performed prodigies of valour, in vain he himself struck down the
+standard-bearer of the sultan, and once even penetrated to the pavilion
+of the monarch. His division was fairly routed. The eagerness of the
+Sultan of Roum to effect the annihilation of his antagonists prevented
+him from observing the forlorn condition of the Turkish centre. Had he,
+after routing the division of Jabaster, only attacked Alroy in the rear,
+the fortune of the day might have been widely different. As it was, the
+eagle eye of Alroy soon detected his inadvertence, and profited by his
+indiscretion. Leaving Ithamar to keep the centre in check, he charged
+the Sultan of Roum with the Sacred Guard, and afforded Jabaster an
+opportunity of rallying some part of his forces. The Sultan of Roum,
+perceiving that the day was lost by the ill-conduct of his colleagues,
+withdrew his troops, retreated in haste, but in good order to Bagdad,
+carried off the caliph, his harem, and some of his treasure, and
+effected his escape into Syria. In the meantime the discomfiture of
+the remaining Turkish army was complete. The Tigris was dyed with their
+blood, and the towns through which the river flowed were apprised of the
+triumph of Alroy by the floating corpses of his enemies. Thirty thousand
+Turks were slain in battle: among them the Sultans of Bagdad and Syria,
+and a vast number of atabeks, emirs, and chieftains. A whole division,
+finding themselves surrounded, surrendered on terms, and delivered up
+their arms. The camps and treasures of the three sultans were alike
+captured, and the troops that escaped so completely dispersed, that they
+did not attempt to rally, but, disbanded and desperate, prowled over and
+plundered the adjoining provinces. The loss of the division of Jabaster
+was also severe, but the rest of the army suffered little. Alroy himself
+was slightly wounded. The battle lasted barely three hours. Its results
+were immense. David Alroy was now master of the East.
+
+The plain was covered with the corpses of men and horses, arms and
+standards, and prostrate tents. Returning from the pursuit of the Sultan
+of Roum, Alroy ordered the trumpets to sound to arms, and, covered
+with gore and dust, dismounted from his charger, and stood before the
+pavilion of Malek, leaning on his bloody scimitar, and surrounded by his
+victorious generals.
+
+'Ah, Jabaster!' said the conqueror, giving his hand to the pontiff,
+''twas well your troops had such a leader. No one but you could have
+rallied them.
+
+You must drill your lads a little before they again meet the Cappadocian
+cavalry. Brave Scherirah, we shall not forget our charge. Asriel, tell
+the guard, from me, that the victory of the Tigris was owing to their
+scimitars. Ithamar, what are our freshest troops?'
+
+'The legion of Aderbijan, sire.'
+
+'How strong can they muster?'
+
+'It counts twelve thousand men: we might collect two-thirds.'
+
+'Valiant Ithamar, take the Aderbijans and a division of the guards, push
+on towards Bagdad, and summon the city. If his Sultanship of Roum offer
+battle, take up a position, and he shall quickly have his desire. For
+the present, after these hasty marches and sharp fighting, the troops
+must rest. I think he will not tarry. Summon the city, and say that if
+any resistance be offered, I will make it as desolate as old Babylon.
+Treat with no armed force. Where is the soldier that saved me a cracked
+skull; his name Benaiah?'
+
+'I wait your bidding, sire.'
+
+'You're a captain. Join the division of Ithamar, and win fresh laurels
+ere we meet again. Gentle Asriel, let your brother know our fortune.'
+
+'Sire, several Tartars have already been despatched to Hamadan.'
+
+''Tis well. Send another with these tablets to the Lady Miriam. Despatch
+the pavilion of Malek as a trophy for the town. Elnebar, Goliath of
+the Hebrews, you bore our sacred standard like a hero! How fares the
+prophetess? I saw her charging in our ranks, waving a sabre with her
+snowy arm, her long, dark hair streaming like a storm, from which her
+eyes flashed lightning.'
+
+
+'The king bleeds,' said Jabaster.
+
+'Slightly. It will do me service. I am somewhat feverish. A kingdom
+for a draught of water! And now for our wounded friends. Asriel, do you
+marshal the camp. It is the Sabbath eve.[62] Time presses.'
+
+The dead were plundered, and thrown into the river, the encampment of
+the Hebrews completed. Alroy, with his principal officers, visited the
+wounded, and praised the valiant. The bustle which always succeeds a
+victory was increased in the present instance by the anxiety of the army
+to observe with grateful strictness the impending Sabbath.
+
+When the sun set, the Sabbath was to commence. The undulating horizon
+rendered it difficult to ascertain the precise moment of the setting.
+The crimson orb sunk behind the purple mountains, the sky was flushed
+with a rich and rosy glow. Then might be perceived the zealots, proud in
+their Talmudical lore, holding a skein of white silk in their hands,
+and announcing the approach of the Sabbath by their observation of
+its shifting tints. While the skein was yet golden, the forge of the
+armourer still sounded, the fire of the cook still blazed, still the
+cavalry led their steeds to the river, and still the busy footmen braced
+up their tents and hammered at their palisades. The skein of silk became
+rosy, the armourer worked with renewed energy, the cook puffed with
+increased zeal, the horsemen scampered from the river, the footmen cast
+an anxious glance at the fading twilight.
+
+The skein of silk became blue; a dim, dull, sepulchral, leaden tinge
+fell over its purity. The hum of gnats arose, the bat flew in circling
+whirls over the tents, horns sounded from all quarters, the sun had set,
+the Sabbath had commenced. 'The forge was mute, the fire extinguished,
+the prance of horses and the bustle of men in a moment ceased. A deep, a
+sudden, an all-pervading stillness dropped over that mighty host. It
+was night; the sacred lamp of the Sabbath sparkled in every tent of the
+camp, which vied in silence and in brilliancy with the mute and glowing
+heavens.
+
+Morn came; the warriors assembled around the altar and the sacrifice.
+The high priest and his attendant Levites proclaimed the unity and the
+omnipotence of the God of Israel, and the sympathetic responses of his
+conquering and chosen people reechoed over the plain. They retired
+again to their tents, to listen to the expounding of the law; even
+the distance of a Sabbath walk was not to exceed that space which
+lies between Jerusalem and the Mourft of Olives. This was the distance
+between the temple and the tabernacle; it had been nicely measured, and
+every Hebrew who ventured forth from the camp this day might be observed
+counting the steps of a Sabbath-day's journey. At length the sun again
+set, and on a sudden fires blazed, voices sounded, men stirred, in
+the same enchanted and instantaneous manner that had characterised the
+stillness of the preceding eve. Shouts of laughter, bursts of music,
+announced the festivity of the coming night; supplies poured in from all
+the neighbouring villages, and soon the pious conquerors commemorated
+their late triumph in a round of banqueting.
+
+On the morrow, a Tatar arrived from Ithamar, informing Alroy that the
+Sultan of Roum had retreated into Syria, that Bagdad was undefended, but
+that he had acceded to the request of the inhabitants that a deputation
+should wait upon Alroy before the troops entered the city, and had
+granted a safe conduct for their passage.
+
+On the morrow, messengers announced the approach of the deputation. All
+the troops were under arms. Alroy directed that the suppliants should
+be conducted through the whole camp before they arrived at the royal
+pavilion, on each side of which the Sacred Guard was mustered in array.
+The curtains of his tent withdrawn displayed the conqueror himself,
+seated on a sumptuous divan. On his right hand stood Jabaster in his
+priestly robes, on his left Scherirah. Behind him, the giant Elnebar
+supported the sacred sceptre. A crowd of chieftains was ranged on each
+side of the pavilion.
+
+Cymbals sounded, muffled kettle-drums, and the faint flourish of
+trumpets; the commencement of the procession might be detected in the
+long perspective of the tented avenue. First came a company of beauteous
+youths, walking two by two, and strewing flowers; then a band of
+musicians in flowing robes of cloth of gold, plaintively sounding their
+silver trumpets. After these followed slaves of all climes, bearing
+a tribute of the most rare and costly productions of their countries:
+Negroes with tusks and teeth of the elephant, plumes of ostrich
+feathers, and caskets of gold dust; Syrians with rich armour; Persians
+with vases of atar-gul, and Indians with panniers of pearls of Ormuz,
+and soft shawls of Cachemire. Encircled by his children, each of whom
+held alternately a white or fawn-coloured gazelle, an Arab clothed in
+his blue bornouz, led by a thick cord of crimson silk a tall and tawny
+giraffe. Fifty stout men succeeded two by two, carrying in company a
+silver shield laden with gold coin, or chased goblets studded with gems.
+
+The clash of cymbals announced the presence of the robes of honour,[63]
+culled from the wardrobe of the commander of the Faithful; the silk of
+Aleppo and the brocade of Damascus, lined with the furs of the sable
+and the ermine, down from the breast of the swan, and the skins of white
+foxes.
+
+After these followed two grey dromedaries, with furniture of silver, and
+many caparisoned horses, each led by a groom in rich attire. The last
+of these was a snow-white steed, upon whose front was the likeness of a
+ruby star, a courser of the sacred stud of Solomon, and crossed only by
+the descendants of the Prophet.
+
+The muffled kettle-drums heralded the company of black eunuchs, with
+their scarlet vests and ivory battle-axes. They surrounded and shrouded
+from the vulgar gaze fourteen beautiful Circassian girls, whose
+brilliant visages and perfect forms were otherwise concealed by their
+long veils and ample drapery.
+
+The gorgeous procession, as they approached the conqueror, bowed humbly
+to Alroy, and formed in order on each side of the broad avenue. The
+deputation appeared; twelve of the principal citizens of Bagdad, with
+folded arms, and downcast eyes, and disordered raiment. Meekly and
+mutely each touched the earth with his hand, and kissed it in token of
+submission, and then, moving aside, made way for the chief envoy and
+orator of the company, Honain!
+
+Humbly, but gracefully, the physician of the caliph bowed before the
+conqueror of the East. His appearance and demeanour afforded a contrast
+to the aspect of his brother envoys; not less calm or contented his
+countenance, not less sumptuous or studied his attire, than when he
+first rescued Alroy in the bazaar of Bagdad from the grip of the false
+Abdallah.
+
+He spoke, and every sound was hushed before the music of his voice.
+
+'Conqueror of the world, that destiny with which it is in vain to
+struggle has placed our lives and fortunes in your power. Your slaves
+offer for your approbation specimens of their riches; not as tribute,
+for all is yours; but to show you the products of security and peace,
+and to induce you to believe that mercy may be a policy as profitable
+to the conqueror as to the conquered; that it may be better to preserve
+than to destroy; and wiser to enjoy than to extirpate.
+
+'Fate ordained that we should be born the slaves of the caliph; that
+same fate has delivered his sceptre into your hands. We offer you the
+same devotion that we yielded to him, and we entreat the same protection
+which he granted to us.
+
+'Whatever may be your decision, we must bow to your decree with the
+humility that recognises superior force. Yet we are not without hope.
+We cannot forget that it is our good fortune not to be addressing
+a barbarous chieftain, unable to sympathise with the claims of
+civilisation, the creations of art, and the finer impulses of humanity.
+We acknowledge your irresistible power, but we dare to hope everything
+from a prince whose genius all acknowledge and admire, who has spared
+some portion of his youth from the cares of government and the pursuits
+of arms to the ennobling claims of learning, whose morality has been
+moulded by a pure and sublime faith, and who draws his lineage from a
+sacred and celebrated race, the unrivalled antiquity of which even the
+Prophet acknowledges.'
+
+He ceased: a buzz of approbation sounded throughout the pavilion, which
+was hushed instantly as the lips of the conqueror moved.
+
+'Noble emir,' replied Alroy, 'return to Bagdad, and tell your
+fellow-subjects that the King of Israel grants protection to their
+persons, and security to their property.'
+
+'And for their faith?' enquired the envoy, in a lower voice.
+
+'Toleration,' replied Alroy, turning to Jabaster.
+
+'Until further regulations,' added the high priest.
+
+'Emir,' said Alroy, 'the person of the caliph will be respected.'
+
+'May it please your highness,' replied Honain, 'the Sultan of Roum has
+retired with our late ruler.'
+
+'And his harem?'
+
+'And his harem.'
+
+'It was needless. We war not with women.'
+
+'Men, as well as women, must acknowledge the gracious mercy of your
+highness.'
+
+'Benomi,' said Alroy, addressing himself to a young officer of the
+guard, 'command the guard of honour that will attend this noble emir on
+his return. We soldiers deal only in iron, sir, and cannot vie with the
+magnificence of Bagdad, yet wear this dagger for the donor's sake:' and
+Alroy held out to Honain a poniard flaming with gems.
+
+The Envoy of Bagdad advanced, took the dagger, pressed it to his lips,
+and placed it in his vest.[64]
+
+'Scherirah,' continued Alroy, 'this noble emir is your charge. See
+that a choice pavilion of the host be for his use, and that his train
+complain not of the rough customs of our camp.'
+
+'May it please your highness,' replied Honain, 'I have fulfilled my
+office, and, with your gracious permission, would at once return. I have
+business only less urgent than the present, because it concerns myself.'
+
+'As you will, noble emir. Benomi, to your post. Farewell, sir.'
+
+The deputation advanced, bowed, and retired. Alroy turned to Jabaster.
+
+'No common person that, Jabaster?'
+
+'A very gracious Turk, sire.'
+
+'Think you he is a Turk?'
+
+'By his dress.'
+
+'It may be so. Asriel, break up the camp. We'll march at once to
+Bagdad.'
+
+The chiefs dispersed to make the necessary arrangements for the march.
+The news that the army was immediately to advance to Bagdad soon
+circulated throughout the camp, and excited the most lively enthusiasm.
+Every hand was at work, striking the tents, preparing the arms and
+horses. Alroy retired to his pavilion. The curtains were drawn. He was
+alone, and plunged in profound meditation.
+
+'Alroy!' a voice sounded.
+
+He started, and looked up. Before him stood Esther the prophetess.
+
+'Esther! is it thou?'
+
+'Alroy! enter not into Babylon.'
+
+'Indeed.'
+
+'As I live, the Lord hath spoken it. Enter not into Babylon.'
+
+'Not enjoy my fairest conquest, maiden?'
+
+'Enter not into Babylon.'
+
+'What affrights thee?'
+
+'Enter not into Babylon.'
+
+'I shall surely change the fortunes of my life without a cause.'
+
+'The Lord hath spoken. Is not that a cause?'
+
+'I am the Lord's anointed. His warning has not reached me.'
+
+'Now it reaches thee. Doth the king despise the prophetess of the Lord?
+It is the sin of Ahab.'
+
+'Despise thee! Despise the mouth that is the herald of my victories!
+'Twere rank blasphemy. Prophesy triumph, Esther, and Alroy will never
+doubt thy inspiration.'
+
+'He doubts it now. I see he doubts it now. O my king, I say again, enter
+not into Babylon.'
+
+'Beauteous maiden, those eyes flash lightning. Who can behold their wild
+and liquid glance, and doubt that Esther is inspired! Be calm, sweet
+girl, some dream disturbs thy fancy.'
+
+'Alroy, Alroy, enter not into Babylon!'
+
+'I have no fear, I bear a charmed life.'
+
+'Ah me! he will not listen.' All is lost!'
+
+'All is gained, my beautiful.'
+
+'I would we were upon the Holy Mount, and gazing on the stars of sacred
+Zion.'
+
+'Esther,' said Alroy, advancing, and gently taking her hand, 'the
+capital of the East will soon unfold its marvels to thy sight. Prepare
+thyself for wonders. Girl, we are no longer in the desert. Forget thy
+fitful fancies. Come, choose a husband from my generals, child, and I
+will give a kingdom for thy dower. I would gladly see a crown upon that
+imperial brow. It well deserves one.'
+
+The prophetess turned her dark eyes full upon Alroy. What passed in her
+mind was neither evident nor expressed. She gazed intently upon the calm
+and inscrutable countenance of the conqueror, then flung away his hand,
+and rushed out of the pavilion.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER VIII.
+
+     _Bagdad and the Princess_
+
+THE waving of banners, the flourish of trumpets, the neighing of steeds,
+and the glitter of spears! On the distant horizon they gleam like the
+morning, when the gloom of the night shivers bright into day. Hark!
+the tramp of the foemen, like the tide of the ocean, flows onward and
+onward, and conquers the shore. From the brow of the mountain, like the
+rush of a river, the column defiling melts into the plain.
+
+Warriors of Judah! holy men that battle for the Lord! The land wherein
+your fathers wept, and touched their plaintive psalteries; the haughty
+city where your sires bewailed their cold and distant hearths; your
+steeds are prancing on its plain, and you shall fill its palaces.
+Warriors of Judah! holy men that battle for the Lord!
+
+March, onward march, ye valiant tribes, the hour has come, the hour has
+come! All the promises of ages, all the signs of sacred sages, meet in
+this ravishing hour. Where is now the oppressor's chariot, where your
+tyrant's purple robe? The horse and the rider are both overthrown, the
+horse and the rider are both overthrown!
+
+Rise, Rachel, from thy wilderness, arise, and weep no more. No more thy
+lonely palm-tree's shade need shroud thy secret sorrowing. The Lord
+hath heard the widow's sigh, the Lord hath stilled the widow's tear. Be
+comforted, be comforted, thy children live again!
+
+Yes! yes! upon the bounding plain fleet Asriel glances like a star, and
+stout Scherirah shakes his spear by stern Jabaster's scimitar. And He is
+there, the chosen one, hymned by prophetic harps, whose life is like the
+morning dew on Zion's holy hill: the chosen one, the chosen one, that
+leads his race to victory; warriors of Judah! holy men that battle for
+the Lord!
+
+They come, they come, they come!
+
+The ramparts of the city were crowded with the inhabitants, the river
+sparkled with ten thousand boats, the bazaars were shut, the streets
+lined with the populace, and the terrace of every house covered with
+spectators. In the morning, Ithamar had entered with his division and
+garrisoned the city. And now the vanguard of the Hebrew army, after
+having been long distinguished in the distance, approached the walls. A
+large body of cavalry dashed forward at full speed from the main
+force. Upon a milk-white charger, and followed by a glittering train of
+warriors, amid the shouts of the vast multitude, Alroy galloped up to
+the gates.
+
+He was received by Ithamar and the members of the deputation, but Honain
+was not there. Accompanied by his staff and a strong detachment of the
+Sacred Guard, Alroy was conducted through the principal thoroughfares
+of the city, until he arrived at the chief entrance of the serail,
+or palace, of the caliph. The vast portal conducted him into a large
+quadrangular court, where he dismounted, and where he was welcomed by
+the captain of the eunuch guard. Accompanied by his principal generals
+and his immediate attendants, Alroy was then ushered through a suite of
+apartments which reminded him of his visit with Honain, until he arrived
+at the grand council-chamber of the caliphs.
+
+The conqueror threw himself upon the gorgeous divan of the commander of
+the Faithful.
+
+'An easy seat after a long march,' said Alroy, as he touched with his
+lips the coffee, which the chief of the eunuchs presented to him in a
+cup of transparent pink porcelain, studded with pearls.[65] 'Itha-mar,
+now for your report. What is the temper of the city? Where is his
+Sultanship of Roum?'
+
+'The city, sire, is calm, and I believe content. The sultan and the
+caliph are still hovering on the borders of the province.'
+
+'So I supposed. Scherirah will settle that. Let the troops be encamped
+without the walls, the garrison, ten thousand strong, must be changed
+monthly. Ithamar, you are governor of the city: Asriel commands the
+forces. Worthy Jabaster, draw up a report of the civil affairs of
+the capital. Your quarters are the College of the Dervishes. Brave
+Scherirah, I cannot afford you a long rest. In three days you must have
+crossed the river with your division. It will be quick work. I foresee
+that they will not fight. Meet me all here in council by to-morrow's
+noon. Farewell.'
+
+The chieftains retired, the high priest lingered.
+
+'Were it not an intrusion, sire, I would fain entreat a moment's
+audience.'
+
+'My own Jabaster, you have but to speak.'
+
+'Sire, I would speak of Abidan, as valiant a warrior as any in the
+host. It grieves me much, that by some fatality, his services seem ever
+overlooked.'
+
+'Abidan! I know him well, a valiant man, but a dreamer, a dreamer.'
+
+'A dreamer, sire! Believe me, a true son of Israel, and one whose faith
+is deep.'
+
+'Good Jabaster, we are all true sons of Israel. Yet let me have
+men about me who see no visions in a mid-day sun. We must beware of
+dreamers.'
+
+'Dreams are the oracles of God.'
+
+'When God sends them. Very true, Jabaster. But this Abidan and the
+company with whom he consorts are filled with high-flown notions,
+caught from old traditions, which, if acted on, would render government
+impracticable; in a word, they are dangerous men.'
+
+'The very flower of Israel! Some one has poisoned your sacred ear
+against them.'
+
+'No one, worthy Jabaster. I have no counsellor except yourself. They may
+be the flower of Israel, but they are not the fruit. Good warriors, bad
+subjects: excellent means, by which we may accomplish greater ends.
+I'll have no dreamers in authority. I must have practical men about
+me, practical men. See how Abner, Asriel, Ithamar, Medad, see how these
+conform to what surrounds them, yet invincible captains, invincible
+captains. But then they are practical men, Jabaster; they have eyes
+and use them. They know the difference of times and seasons. But this
+Abidan, he has no other thought but the rebuilding of the temple: a
+narrow-souled bigot, who would sacrifice the essence to the form. The
+rising temple soon would fall again with such constructors. Why, sir,
+what think you, this same Abidan preached in the camp against my entry
+into what the quaint fanatic chooses to call "Babylon," because he had
+seen what he calls a vision.'
+
+'There was a time your Majesty thought not so ill of visions.'
+
+'Am I Abidan, sir? Are other men to mould their conduct or their
+thoughts by me? In this world I stand alone, a being of a different
+order from yourselves, incomprehensible even to you. Let this matter
+cease. I'll hear no more and have heard too much. To-morrow at council.'
+
+The high priest withdrew in silence.
+
+'He is gone; at length I am alone. I cannot bear the presence of these
+men, except in action. Their words, even their looks, disturb the still
+creation of my brooding thought. I am once more alone, and loneliness
+hath been the cradle of my empire. Now I do feel inspired. There needs
+no mummery now to work a marvel.
+
+'The sceptre of Solomon! It may be so. What then? Here's now the sceptre
+of Alroy. What's that without his mind? The legend said that none should
+free our people but he who bore the sceptre of great Solomon. The legend
+knew that none could gain that sceptre, but with a mind to whose supreme
+volition the fortunes of the world would bow like fate. I gained it; I
+confronted the spectre monarchs in their sepulchre; and the same hand
+that grasped their shadowy rule hath seized the diadem of the mighty
+caliphs by the broad rushing of their imperial river.
+
+'The world is mine: and shall I yield the prize, the universal and
+heroic prize, to realise the dull tradition of some dreaming priest,
+and consecrate a legend? He conquered Asia, and he built the temple. Are
+these my annals? Shall this quick blaze of empire sink to a glimmering
+and a twilight sway over some petty province, the decent patriarch of a
+pastoral horde? Is the Lord of Hosts so slight a God, that we must place
+a barrier to His sovereignty, and fix the boundaries of Omnipotence
+between the Jordan and the Lebanon? It is not thus written; and were it
+so, I'll pit my inspiration against the prescience of my ancestors.
+I also am a prophet, and Bagdad shall be my Zion. The daughter of
+the Voice! Well, I am clearly summoned. I am the Lord's servant, not
+Jabaster's. Let me make His worship universal as His power; and where's
+the priest shall dare impugn my faith, because His altars smoke on other
+hills than those of Judah?
+
+'I must see Honain. That man has a great mind. He alone can comprehend
+my purpose. Universal empire must not be founded on sectarian prejudices
+and exclusive rights. Jabaster would massacre the Moslemin like Amalek;
+the Moslemin, the vast majority, and most valuable portion, of my
+subjects. He would depopulate my empire, that it might not be said that
+Ishmael shared the heritage of Israel. Fanatic! I'll send him to conquer
+Judah. We must conciliate. Something must be done to bind the conquered
+to our conquering fortunes. That bold Sultan of Roum: I wish Abner had
+opposed him. To run off with the harem! I have half a mind to place
+myself at the head of the pursuing force, and---- Passion and policy
+alike combine: and yet Honain is the man; I might send him on a mission.
+Could we make terms? I detest treaties. My fancy flies from all other
+topics. I must see him. Could I but tell him all I think! This door,
+whither leads it? Hah! methinks I do remember yon glittering gallery!
+No one in attendance. The discipline of our palace is somewhat lax.
+My warriors are no courtiers. What an admirable marshal of the palace
+Honain would make! Silence everywhere. So! 'tis well. These saloons I
+have clearly passed through before. Could I but reach the private portal
+by the river side, unseen or undetected! 'Tis not impossible. Here are
+many dresses. I will disguise myself. Trusty scimitar, thou hast done
+thy duty, rest awhile. 'Tis lucky I am beardless. I shall make a capital
+eunuch. So! a handsome robe. One dagger for a pinch, slippers powdered
+with pearls,66 a caftan of cloth of gold, a Cachemire girdle, and a
+pelisse of sables. One glance at the mirror. Good! I begin to look like
+the conqueror of the world!'
+
+It was twilight: a small and solitary boat, with a single rower, glided
+along the Tigris, and stopped at the archway of a house that descended
+into the river. It stopped, the boatman withdrew the curtains, and his
+single passenger disembarked, and ascended the stairs of the archway.
+
+The stranger reached the landing-place, and unfastening a golden grate,
+proceeded along a gallery, and entered a beautiful saloon of white and
+green marble, opening into gardens. No one was in the apartment; the
+stranger threw himself upon a silver couch, placed at the side of
+a fountain that rose from the centre of the chamber and fell into a
+porphyry basin. A soft whisper roused the stranger from his reverie, a
+soft whisper that faintly uttered the word 'Honain.' The stranger looked
+up, a figure, enveloped in a veil, that touched the ground, advanced
+from the gardens.
+
+'Honain!' said the advancing figure, throwing off the veil. 'Honain! Ah!
+the beautiful mute returned!'
+
+A woman more lovely than the rosy morn, beheld an unexpected guest. They
+stood, the lady and the stranger, gazing on each other in silence.
+A man, with a light, entered the extremity of the hall. Carefully
+he closed the portal, slowly he advanced, with a subdued step; he
+approached the lady and the stranger.
+
+'Alroy!' said the astonished Honain, the light fell from his hand.
+
+'Alroy!' exclaimed the lady, with a bewildered air: she turned pale, and
+leant against a column.
+
+'Daughter of the caliph!' said the leader of Israel; and he advanced,
+and fell upon his knee, and stole her passive hand. 'I am indeed that
+Alroy to whom destiny has delivered the empire of thy sire; but the
+Princess Schirene can have nothing to fear from one who values above
+all his victories this memorial of her goodwill;' and he took from his
+breast a rosary of pearls and emeralds, and, rising slowly, left it in
+her trembling hand.
+
+The princess turned and hid her face in her arm, which reclined against
+the column.
+
+'My kind Honain,' said Alroy, 'you thought me forgetful of the past; you
+thought me ungrateful. My presence here proves that I am not so. I come
+to enquire all your wishes. I come to gratify and to fulfil them, if
+that be in my power.'
+
+'Sire,' replied Honain, who had recovered from the emotion in which
+he rarely indulged, and from the surprise which seldom entrapped him,
+'Sire, my wishes are slight. You see before you the daughter of my
+master. An interview, for which I fear I shall not easily gain that
+lady's pardon, has made you somewhat acquainted with her situation and
+her sentiments. The Princess Schirene seized the opportunity of the
+late convulsions to escape from a mode of life long repugnant to all
+her feelings, and from a destiny at which she trembled. I was her only
+counsellor, and she may feel assured, a faithful, although perhaps an
+indiscreet one. The irresistible solicitation of the inhabitants that I
+should become their deputy to their conqueror prevented us from escaping
+as we had intended. Since then, from the movement of the troops, I have
+deemed it more prudent that we should remain at present here, although
+I have circulated the intelligence of my departure. In the kiosk of my
+garden, the princess is now a willing prisoner. At twilight she
+steals forth for the poor relaxation of my society, to listen to the
+intelligence which I acquire during the day in disguise. The history,
+sire, is short and simple. We are in your power: but instead of
+deprecating your interference, I now solicit your protection.'
+
+'Dear Honain, 'tis needless. The Princess Schirene has only to express
+a wish that it may be fulfilled. I came to speak with you on weighty
+matters, Honain, but I retire, for I am an intruder now. Tomorrow, if
+it please you, at this hour, and in this disguise, I will again repair
+hither. In the meantime, this lady may perchance express to you her
+wishes, and you will bear them to me. If an escort to any country, if
+any palace or province for her rule and residence---- But I will not
+offer to one who should command. Lady! farewell. Pardon the past!
+Tomorrow, good Honain! prythee let us meet. Good even!'
+
+'The royal brow was clouded,' said Ithamar to Asriel, as, departing from
+the council, they entered their magnificent barque.
+
+'With thought; he has so much upon his mind, 'tis wondrous how he bears
+himself.'
+
+'I have seen him gay on the eve of battle, and lively though calm, with
+weightier matters than now oppress him. His brow was clouded, but not,
+me-thinks, with _thought_; one might rather say with _temper_. Mark you,
+how he rated Jabaster?'
+
+'Roundly! The stern priest writhed under it; and as he signed the
+ordinance, shivered his reed in rage. I never saw a man more pale.'
+
+'Or more silent. He looked like an embodied storm. I tell you what,
+Asriel, that stern priest loves not us.'
+
+'Have you just discovered that secret, Ithamar? We are not of his
+school. Nor, in good faith, is our ruler. I am glad to see the king is
+so staunch about Abidan. Were he in council he would support Jabaster.'
+
+'Oh! his mere tool. What think you of Scherirah?'
+
+'I would not trust him. As long as there is fighting, he will meddle
+with nothing else; but, mark my words, Ithamar: in quiet times he will
+support the priest.'
+
+'Medad will have a place in council. He is with us.'
+
+'Heart and soul. I would your brother were here, Asriel: he alone could
+balance Jabaster. Alroy loves your brother like himself. Is it true that
+he marries the Lady Miriam?'
+
+'So the king wishes. 'Twill be a fine match for Abner.'
+
+'The world is all before us. I wonder who will be viceroy of Syria.'
+
+'When we conquer it. Not Scherirah. Mark my words, Ithamar: he never
+will have a government. You or I perchance. For my own part, I would
+rather remain as I am.'
+
+'Yours is a good post; the best.'
+
+'With the command of the city. It should go with the guard.'
+
+'Well, then, help me in getting Syria, and you can ask for my command.'
+
+'Agreed. Jabaster will have it that, in a Hebrew monarchy, the chief
+priest is in fact the grand vizir.'
+
+'Alroy will be his own minister.'
+
+'I am not so sure of that. He may choose to command the Syrian
+expedition in person; he must leave some head at Bagdad. Jabaster is no
+general.'
+
+'Oh! none at all. Alroy will be glad to leave him at home. The Sultan of
+Roum may not be always so merciful.'
+
+'Hah! hah! that was an escape!'
+
+'By heavens! I thought it was all over. You made a fine charge.'
+
+'I shall never forget it. I nearly ran over Jabaster.'
+
+'Would that you had!'
+
+It is the tender twilight hour when maidens in their lonely bower sigh
+softer than the eve! The languid rose her head upraises, and listens to
+the nightingale, while his wild and thrilling praises from his trembling
+bosom gush: the languid rose her head upraises, and listens with a
+blush.
+
+In the clear and rosy air, sparkling with a single star, the sharp
+and spiry cypress-tree rises like a gloomy thought, amid the flow
+of revelry. A singing bird, a single star, a solemn tree, an odorous
+flower, are dangerous in the tender hour, when maidens in their twilight
+bower sigh softer than the eve!
+
+The daughter of the caliph comes forth to breathe the air: her lute her
+only company. She sits her down by a fountain's side, and gazes on the
+waterfall. Her cheek reclines upon her arm, like fruit upon a graceful
+bough. Very pensive is the face of that bright and beauteous lady. She
+starts; a warm voluptuous lip presses her soft and idle hand. It is her
+own gazelle. With his large and lustrous eyes, more eloquent than many
+a tongue, the fond attendant mutely asks the cause of all her
+thoughtfulness.
+
+'Ah! bright gazelle! Ah! bright gazelle!' the princess cried, the
+princess cried; 'thy lips are softer than the swan, thy lips are softer
+than the swan; but his breathed passion when they pressed, my bright
+gazelle! my bright gazelle!
+
+'Ah! bright gazelle! Ah! bright gazelle!' the princess cried, the
+princess cried; 'thine eyes are like the stars of night, thine eyes are
+like the stars of night; but his glanced passion when they gazed, my
+bright gazelle! my bright gazelle!'
+
+She seized her lute, she wildly threw her fingers o'er its thrilling
+strings, and, gazing on the rosy sky, to borrow all its poetry, thus,
+thus she sang--thus, thus she sang:
+
+     He rose in beauty like the morn
+     That brightens in bur Syrian skies;
+     Dark passion glittered in his eyes,
+     And Empire sparkled in his form!
+
+     My soul! thou art the dusky earth,
+     On which his sunlight fell;
+     The dusky earth, that dim no longer,
+     Now breathes with light, now beams with love!
+
+     He rose in beauty, like the morn
+     That brightens in our Syrian skies;
+     Dark passion glittered in his eyes,
+     And Empire sparkled in his form!
+
+[Illustration: page174]
+
+'Once more, once more! Ah! sing that strain once more!'
+
+The princess started and looked round. Before her stood Alroy. She rose,
+she would have retired; but, advancing, the conqueror stole her hand.
+
+'Fair princess,' said Alroy, 'let it not be said that my presence
+banished at once beauty and music.'
+
+'Sire, I doubt not that Honain awaits you. Let me summon him.'
+
+'Lady, it is not with Honain that I would speak.'
+
+He seated himself by her side. His countenance was pale, his heart
+trembled.
+
+'This garden,' at length he observed in a low voice, 'this garden, a
+brief, brief space has glided away since first I wandered within its
+beauteous limits, and yet those days seem like the distant memory of
+another life.'
+
+'It is another life,' said the princess. 'Ourselves, the world, all
+forms and usages, all feelings and all habits, verily they have changed,
+as if we had breathed within another sphere.'
+
+''Tis a great change.'
+
+'Since first you visited my bright kiosk. Pretty bauble! I pray it may
+be spared.'
+
+'It is sacred, like yourself.'
+
+'You are a courteous conqueror.'
+
+'I am no conqueror, fair Schirene, but a slave more lowly than when I
+first bowed humbly in your presence.'
+
+'And bore away a token not forgotten. Your rosary is here.'
+
+'Let me claim it. It has been my consolation in much peril, beauteous
+lady. On the eve of battle I wound it round my heart.'
+
+She held forth the rosary, and turned away her head. Her hand remained
+in his; he pressed it to his lips. His right arm retained her hand; he
+wound the other round her waist, as he fell upon his knee.
+
+'O beautiful! O more than beautiful! for thou to me art like a dream
+unbroken,' exclaimed the young leader of Israel, 'let me, let me breathe
+my adoration. I offer thee not empire: I offer thee not wealth; I offer
+thee not all the boundless gratification of magnificent fancy,--these
+may be thine, but all these thou hast proved; but, if the passionate
+affections of a spirit which never has yielded to the power of woman or
+the might of man, if the deep devotion of the soul of Alroy, be deemed
+an offering meet for the shrine of thy surpassing loveliness, I worship
+thee, Schirene. I worship thee, I worship thee!
+
+'Since I first gazed upon thee, since thy beauty first rose upon my
+presence like a star bright with my destiny, in the still sanctuary
+of my secret love, thy idol has ever rested. Then, then, I was a thing
+whose very touch thy creed might count a contumely. I have avenged the
+insults of long centuries in the best blood of Asia; I have returned,
+in glory and in pride, to claim my ancient sceptre; but sweeter far than
+vengeance, sweeter far than the quick gathering of my sacred tribes, the
+rush of triumph and the blaze of empire, is this brief moment of adoring
+love, wherein I pour the passion of my life!
+
+'O my soul, my life, my very being! thou art silent, but thy silence is
+sweeter than others' speech. Yield, yield thee, dear Schirene, yield to
+thy suppliant! Thy faith, thy father's faith, thy native customs, these,
+these shall be respected, beauteous lady! Pharaoh's daughter yielded her
+dusky beauty to my great ancestor. Thy face is like the bright inspiring
+day! Let it not be said that the daughter of the Nile shared Israel's
+crown, the daughter of the Tigris spurned our sceptre. I am not Solomon,
+but I am one that, were Schirene the partner of my throne, would
+make his glowing annals read like a wearisome and misty tale to our
+surpassing lustre!'
+
+He ceased, the princess turned her hitherto hidden countenance, and
+bowed it on his heart. 'O Alroy!' she exclaimed, 'I have no creed, no
+country, no life, but thee!'
+
+'The king is late to-day.'
+
+'Is it true, Asriel, there is an express from Hamadan?'
+
+'Of no moment, Ithamar. I have private letters from Abner. All is
+quiet.'
+
+''Tis much past the hour. When do you depart, Scherirah?'
+
+'The troops are ready. I wait orders. This morning's council will
+perchance decide.'
+
+'This morning's council is devoted to the settlement of the civil
+affairs of the capital,' remarked Jabaster.
+
+'Indeed!' said Asriel. 'Is your report prepared, Jabaster?'
+
+''Tis here,' replied the high priest. 'The Hebrew legislator requires
+but little musing to shape his order. He has a model which time cannot
+destroy, nor thought improve.'
+
+Ithamar and Asriel exchanged significant glances. Scherirah looked
+solemn. There was a pause, which was broken by Asriel.
+
+''Tis a noble city, this Bagdad. I have not yet visited your quarters,
+Jabaster. You are well placed.'
+
+'As it may be. I hope we shall not tarry here long. The great point is
+still not achieved.'
+
+'How far is it to the holy city?' enquired Scherirah.
+
+'A month's march,' replied Jabaster.
+
+'And when you get there?' enquired Ithamar.
+
+'You may fight with the Franks,' replied Asriel.
+
+'Jabaster, how large is Jerusalem?' enquired Ithamar. 'Is it true, as
+I have sometimes heard, that it is not bigger than the serail here,
+gardens and all?'
+
+'Its glory hath departed,' replied the high priest; 'the bricks have
+fallen, but we will rebuild with marble; and Zion, that is now without
+the Christian walls, shall yet sparkle, as in the olden time, with
+palaces and pavilions.'
+
+A flourish of trumpets, the portals flew open, and Alroy entered,
+leaning on the arm of the Envoy of Bagdad.
+
+'Valiant leaders,' said Alroy to the astonished chieftains, 'in this
+noble stranger, you see one like yourselves entrusted with my unbounded
+confidence. Jabaster, behold thy brother!'
+
+'Honain! art _thou_ Honain?' exclaimed the pontiff starting from his
+seat. 'I have a thousand messengers after thee.' With a countenance
+alternately pallid with surprise and burning with affection, Jabaster
+embraced his brother, and, overpowered with emotion, hid his face on his
+shoulder.
+
+'Sire,' at length exclaimed the high priest, in a low and tremulous
+voice, 'I must pray your pardon that for an instant in this character
+I have indulged in any other thoughts than those that may concern your
+welfare. Tis past: and you, who know all, will forgive me.'
+
+'All that respects Jabaster must concern my welfare. He is the pillar of
+my empire;' and holding forth his hand, Alroy placed the high priest on
+his right. 'Scherirah, you depart this eve.'
+
+The rough captain bowed in silence.
+
+'What is this?' continued Alroy, as Jabaster offered him a scroll. 'Ah!
+your report. "Order of the Tribes," "Service of the Levites," "Princes
+of the People," "Elders of Israel!" The day may come when this may
+be effected. At present, Jabaster, we must be moderate, and content
+ourselves with arrangements which may ensure that order shall be
+maintained, property respected, and justice administered. Is it true
+that a gang has rifled a mosque?'
+
+'Sire! of that I would speak. They are no plunderers, but men, perhaps
+too zealous, who have read and who have remembered that "Ye shall
+utterly destroy all the places wherein the nations which ye shall
+possess, served their gods upon the high mountains, and upon the
+hill, and under every green tree. And ye shall overthrow their altars,
+and----"'
+
+'Jabaster, is this a synagogue? Come I to a council of valiant statesmen
+or dreaming Rabbis? For a thousand years we have been quoting the laws
+we dared not practise. Is it with such aid that we captured Nishapur and
+crossed the Tigris? Valiant, wise Jabaster, thou art worthy of better
+things, and capable of all. I entreat thee, urge such matters for the
+last time. Are these fellows in custody?'
+
+'They were in custody. I have freed them.'
+
+'Freed them! Hang them! Hang them in the most public grove. Is this the
+way to make the Moslem a duteous subject? Jabaster! Israel honours
+thee; and I, its chief, know that one more true, more valiant, or more
+learned, crowds not around our standard; but I see, the caverns of the
+Caucasus are not a school for empire.'
+
+'Sire, I had humbly deemed the school for empire was the law of Moses.'
+
+'Ay! adapted to these times.'
+
+'Can aught divine be changed?'
+
+'Am I as tall as Adam? If man, the crown, the rose of all this fair
+creation, the most divine of all divine inventions, if Time have altered
+even this choicest of all godlike works, why shall it spare a law made
+but to rule his conduct? Good Jabaster, we must establish the throne of
+Israel, that is my mission, and for the means, no matter how, or where.
+Asriel, what news of Medad?'
+
+'All is quiet between the Tigris and Euphrates. It would be better
+to recall his division, which has been much harassed. I thought of
+relieving him by Abidan.'
+
+'I think so, too. We may as well keep Abidan out of the city. If the
+truth were known, I'll wager some of his company plundered the mosque.
+We must issue a proclamation on that subject. My good Jabaster, we'll
+talk over these matters alone. At present I will leave you with your
+brother. Scherirah, sup with me to-night; before you quit Asriel, come
+with me to my cabinet.'
+
+'I must see the king!'
+
+'Holy priest, his highness has retired. It is impossible.'
+
+'I must see the king. Worthy Pharez, I take all peril on myself.'
+
+'Indeed his highness' orders are imperative. You cannot see him.'
+
+'Knowest thou who I am?'
+
+'One whom all pious Hebrews reverence.'
+
+'I say I must see the king.'
+
+'Indeed, indeed, holy Jabaster, it cannot be.'
+
+'Shall Israel perish for a menial's place? Go to; I _will_ see him.'
+
+'Nay! if you _will_, I'll struggle for my duty.'
+
+'Touch not the Lord's anointed. Dog, you shall suffer for this!'
+
+So saying, Jabaster threw aside Pharez, and, with the attendant clinging
+to his robes, rushed into the royal chamber.
+
+'What is all this?' exclaimed Alroy, starting from the divan. 'Jabaster!
+Pharez, withdraw! How now, is Bagdad in insurrection?'
+
+'Worse, much worse, Israel soon will be.'
+
+'Ay!'
+
+'My fatal brother has told me all, nor would I sleep, until I lifted up
+my voice to save thee.'
+
+'Am I in danger?'
+
+'In the wilderness, when the broad desert quivered beneath thy trembling
+feet, and the dark heavens poured down their burning torrents, thou wert
+less so. In that hour of death, One guarded thee, who never forgets His
+fond and faithful offspring, and now, when He has brought thee out of
+the house of bondage; now, when thy fortunes, like a noble cedar, swell
+in the air and shadow all the land; thou, the very leader of His people,
+His chosen one, for whom He hath worked such marvels, thy heart is
+turned from thy fathers' God, and hankers after strange abominations.'
+
+Through the broad arch that led into the gardens of the serail, the
+moonlight fell upon the tall figure and the upraised arm of the priest;
+Alroy stood with folded arms at some distance, watching Jabaster as he
+spoke, with a calm but searching glance. Suddenly he advanced with a
+quick step, and, placing his hand upon Jabaster's arm, said, in a low,
+enquiring tone, 'You are speaking of this marriage?'
+
+'Of that which ruined Solomon.'
+
+'Listen to me, Jabaster,' said Alroy, interrupting him, in a calm but
+peremptory tone, 'I cannot forget that I am speaking to my master, as
+well as to my friend. The Lord, who knoweth all things, hath deemed me
+worthy of His mission. My fitness for this high and holy office was not
+admitted without proof. A lineage, which none else could offer, mystic
+studies shared by few, a mind that dared encounter all things, and a
+frame that could endure most, these were my claims. But no more of this.
+I have passed the great ordeal; the Lord of Hosts hath found me not
+unworthy of His charge; I have established His ancient people; His
+altars blaze with sacrifices; His priests are honoured, bear witness
+thou, Jabaster, His omnipotent unity is declared. What wouldst thou
+more?'
+
+'All!'
+
+'Then Moses knew you well. It is a stiff-necked people.'
+
+'Sire, bear with me. If I speak in heat, I speak in zeal. You ask me
+what I wish: my answer is, a national existence, which we have not. You
+ask me what I wish: my answer is, the Land of Promise. You ask me what I
+wish: my answer is, Jerusalem. You ask me what I wish: my answer is, the
+Temple, all we have forfeited, all we have yearned after, all for
+which we have fought, our beauteous country, our holy creed, our simple
+manners, and our ancient customs.'
+
+'Manners change with time and circumstances; customs may be observed
+everywhere. The ephod on thy breast proves our faith; and, for a
+country, is the Tigris less than Siloah, or the Euphrates inferior to
+the Jordan?'
+
+'Alas! alas! there was a glorious prime when Israel stood aloof from
+other nations, a fair and holy thing that God had hallowed. We were
+then a chosen family, a most peculiar people, set apart for God's entire
+enjoyment. All about us was solemn, deep, and holy. We shunned the
+stranger as an unclean thing that must defile our solitary sanctity,
+and, keeping to ourselves and to our God, our lives flowed on in one
+great solemn tide of deep religion, making the meanest of our multitude
+feel greater than the kings of other lands. It was a glorious time: I
+thought it had returned; but I awake from this, as other dreams.'
+
+'We must leave off dreaming, good Jabaster, we must act. Were I, by any
+chance, to fall into one of those reveries, with which I have often lost
+the golden hours at Hamadan, or in our old cave, I should hear, some
+fine morning, his Sultanship of Roum rattling at my gates.' Alroy smiled
+as he spoke; he would willingly have introduced a lighter tone into the
+dialogue, but the solemn countenance of the priest was not sympathetic
+with his levity.
+
+'My heart is full, and yet I cannot speak: the memory of the past
+overpowers my thought. I had vainly deemed that my voice, inspired by
+the soul of truth, might yet preserve him; and now I stand here in his
+presence, silent and trembling, like a guilty thing. O, my prince! my
+pupil!' said the priest, advancing, falling on his knee, and seizing the
+robe of Alroy, 'by thy sacred lineage; by the sweet memory of thy ardent
+youth, and our united studies, by all thy zealous thoughts, and solemn
+musings, and glorious aspirations after fame; by all thy sufferings, and
+by all thy triumphs, and chiefly by the name of that great God, who
+hath elected thee his favoured child; by all the marvels of thy mighty
+mission, I do adjure thee! Arise, Alroy, arise and rouse thyself. The
+lure that snared thy fathers may trap thee, this Delilah may shear thy
+mystic locks. Spirits like thee act not by halves. Once fall out from
+the straight course before thee, and, though thou deemest 'tis but to
+saunter 'mid the summer trees, soon thou wilt find thyself in the dark
+depths of some infernal forest, where none may rescue thee!'
+
+'What if I do inherit the eager blood of my great ancestor, at least
+I hold his sceptre. Shall aught of earthly power prevail against the
+supernatural sway of Heaven and Hades?'
+
+'Sire, sire, the legend that came from Sinai is full of high
+instruction. But shape thy conduct by its oracles, and all were well. It
+says our people can be established only by him who rules them with the
+rod of Solomon. Sire, when the Lord offered his pleasure to that mighty
+king, thou knowest his deep discretion. Riches and length of days,
+empire and vengeance, these were not the choice of one to whom all
+accidents were proffered. The legend bears an inward spirit, as well
+as an outward meaning. The capture of the prize was a wise test of thy
+imperial fitness. Thou hast his sceptre, but, without his wisdom, 'tis
+but a staff of cedar.'
+
+'Hah! Art thou there? I am glad to see Jabaster politic. Hear me, my
+friend. What my feelings be unto this royal lady, but little matters.
+Let them pass, and let us view this question by the light wherein you
+have placed it, the flame of policy and not of passion. I am no traitor
+to the God of Israel, in whose name I have conquered, and in whose name
+I shall rule; but thou art a learned doctor, thou canst inform us.
+I have heard no mandate to yield my glorious empire for my meanest
+province. I am Lord of Asia, so would I have my long posterity. Our
+people are but a remnant, a feeble fraction of the teeming millions that
+own my sway. What I hold I can defend; but my children may not inherit
+the spirit of their sire. The Moslemin will recognise their rule with
+readier hearts, when they remember that a daughter of their caliphs gave
+them life. You see I too am politic, my good Jabaster!'
+
+'The policy of the son of Kareah[67], 'twas fatal. He preferred Egypt
+to Judah, and he suffered. Sire, the Lord hath blessed Judah: it is
+His land. He would have it filled by His peculiar people, so that His
+worship might ever flourish. For this He has, by many curious rites and
+customs, marked us out from all other nations, so that we cannot, at the
+same time, mingle with them and yet be true to Him. We must exist alone.
+To preserve that loneliness is the great end and essence of our law.
+What have we to do with Bagdad, or its people, where every instant we
+must witness some violation of our statutes? Can we pray with them?
+Can we eat with them? Alike in the highest duties, and the lowest
+occupations of existence, we cannot mingle. From the altar of our God to
+our domestic boards, we are alike separated from them. Sire, you may be
+King of Bagdad, but you cannot, at the same time, be a Jew.'
+
+'I am what I am. I worship the Lord of Hosts. Perhaps, in His mercy, He
+will accept the days of Nishapur and the Tigris as a compensation for
+some slight relaxation in the ritual of the baker and the bath.'
+
+'And mark my words: it was by the ritual of the baker and the bath that
+Alroy rose, and without it he will fall. The genius of the people, which
+he shared, raised him; and that genius has been formed by the law of
+Moses. Based on that law, he might indeed have handed down an empire
+to his long posterity; and now, though the tree of his fortunes seems
+springing up by the water-side, fed by a thousand springs, and its
+branches covered with dew, there is a gangrene in the sap, and to-morrow
+he may shrink like a shrivelled gourd. Alas! alas! for Israel! We
+have long fed on mallows; but to lose the vintage in the very day of
+fruition, 'tis very bitter. Ah! when I raised thy exhausted form in
+the cavern of Genthesma, and the star of David beamed brightly in the
+glowing heavens upon thy high fulfilment, who could have dreamed of a
+night like this? Farewell, sire.'
+
+'Stop, Jabaster! earliest, dearest friend, prythee, prythee stop!'
+
+The priest slowly turned, the prince hesitated.
+
+'Part not in anger, good Jabaster.'
+
+'In sorrow, sire, only in sorrow; but deep and terrible.'
+
+'Israel is Lord of Asia, my Jabaster. Why should we fear?'
+
+'Solomon built Tadmor in the wilderness, and his fleet brought gold from
+Ophir; and yet Alroy was born a slave.'
+
+'But did not die one. The sultans of the world have fallen before me.
+I have no fear. Nay, do not go. At least you will give some credence to
+the stars, my learned Cabalist. See, my planet shines as brightly as
+my fortunes.' Alroy withdrew the curtain, and with Jabaster stepped out
+upon the terrace. A beautiful star glittered on high. As they gazed, its
+colour changed, and a blood-red meteor burst from its circle, and fell
+into space. The conqueror and the priest looked at each other at the
+same time. Their countenances were pale, enquiring, and agitated.
+
+'Sire,' said Jabaster, 'march to Judah.'
+
+'It portends war,' replied Alroy, endeavouring to recover himself.
+'Perchance some troubles in Persia.'
+
+'Troubles at home, no other. The danger is nigh. Look to thyself.'
+
+A wild scream was heard in the gardens. It sounded thrice.
+
+'What is this?' exclaimed Alroy, really agitated. 'Rouse the guard,
+Jabaster, search the gardens.'
+
+''Tis useless and may do harm. It was a spirit that shrieked.'
+
+'What said it?'
+
+'_Mene, Mene, Tekel, Upharsin!_'
+
+'The old story, the priest against the king,' said Honain to Alroy,
+when at his morrow's interview, he had listened to the events of the
+preceding night. 'My pious brother wishes to lead you back to the
+Theocracy, and is fearful that, if he prays at Bagdad instead of Zion,
+he may chance to become only the head of an inferior sect, instead of
+revelling in the universal tithes of a whole nation. As for the meteor,
+Scherirah must have crossed the river about the same time, and the
+Sultan of Roum may explain the bloody portent. For the shriek, as I
+really have no acquaintance with spirits, I must leave the miraculous
+communication to the favoured ears and initiated intelligences of your
+highness and my brother. It seems that it differed from "the Daughter
+of the Voice" in more respects than one, since it was not only extremely
+noisy, but, as it would appear, quite unintelligible except to the
+individual who had an interest in the interpretation, an ingenious
+one, I confess. When I enter upon my functions as your highness's
+chamberlain, I will at least guarantee that your slumbers shall not be
+disturbed either by spirits or more unwelcome visitors.'
+
+'Enter upon them at once, good Honain. How fares my Persian rose to-day,
+my sweet Schirene?'
+
+'Feeding on your image in your absence. She spares no word to me, I do
+assure your highness.'
+
+'Nay, nay, we know you are a general favourite with the sex, Honain.
+I'faith I'm jealous.'
+
+'I would your highness had cause,' said Honain, demurely.
+
+The approaching marriage between the King of the Hebrews and the
+Princess of Bagdad was published throughout Asia. Preparations were made
+on the plain of the Tigris for the great rejoicing. Whole forests
+were felled to provide materials for the buildings and fuel for the
+banqueting. All the governors of provinces and cities, all the chief
+officers and nobility of both nations, were specially invited, and daily
+arrived in state at Bagdad. Among them the Viceroy of the Medes and
+Persians, and his recent bride, the Princess Miriam, were conspicuous,
+followed by a train of nearly ten thousand persons.
+
+A throne, ascended by one hundred steps covered with crimson cloth, and
+crowned by a golden canopy, was raised in the middle of the plain; on
+each side was a throne less elevated, but equally gorgeous. In the front
+of these thrones an immense circus was described, formed by one
+hundred chartaks or amphitheatres, ample room for the admittance of the
+multitude being left between the buildings. These chartaks were covered
+with bright brocades and showy carpets; on each was hoisted a brilliant
+banner. In some of them were bands of choice musicians, in others
+companies of jugglers, buffoons, and storiers. Five chartaks on each
+side of the thrones were allotted for the convenience of the court;
+the rest were filled by the different trades of the city. In one the
+fruiterers had formed a beautiful garden, glowing with pomegranates and
+gourds and watermelons, oranges, almonds, and pistachio-nuts; in another
+the butchers exhibited their meats carved in fanciful shapes, and the
+skins of animals formed into ludicrous figures. Here assembled the
+furriers, all dressed in masquerade, like leopards, lions, tigers and
+foxes; and in another booth mustered the upholsterers, proud of a camel
+made of wood, and reeds, and cord, and painted linen, a camel which
+walked about as if alive, though ever and anon a curtain drawn aside
+discovered to the marvelling multitude the workman within, performing in
+his own piece. Further on might be perceived the cotton manufacturers,
+whose chartak was full of birds of all shapes and plumage, formed
+nevertheless of their curious plant; and, in the centre rose a lofty
+minaret, constructed of the same material, with the help of reeds,
+although every one imagined it to be built with bricks and mortar. It
+was covered with embroidered work, and on the top was placed a stork, so
+cunningly devised that the children pelted it with pistachio-nuts. The
+saddlers showed their skill in two litters, open at top, each carried on
+a dromedary, and in each a beautiful woman, who diverted the spectators
+with light balls of gilt leather, throwing them up both with their
+hands and feet. Nor were the mat-makers backward in the proof of their
+dexterity, since, instead of a common banner, they exhibited a large
+standard of reeds worked with two lines of writing in Kufic, proclaiming
+the happy names of Alroy and Schirene.
+
+But indeed in every chartak might be seen some wondrous specimens of the
+wealth of Bagdad, and of the ingenuity of its unrivalled artisans.
+
+Around this mighty circus, on every side for the space of many miles,
+the plain was studded with innumerable pavilions. At measured intervals
+were tables furnished with every species of provision, and attended by
+appointed servants; flagons of wine and jars of sherbets, mingled
+with infinite baskets of delicious fruits and trays of refreshing
+confectionery. Although open to all comers, so great and rapid was the
+supply, that these banqueting tables seemed ever laden; and that the
+joys of the people might be complete, they were allowed to pursue
+whatever pleasures they thought fit without any restraint, by
+proclamation, in these terms.
+
+'_This is the time of feasting, pleasure, and rejoicing. Let no person
+reprimand or complain of another: let not the rich insult the poor, or
+the strong the weak: let no one ask another, "why have you done this
+_?"'
+
+Millions of people were collected in this Paradise. They rejoiced, they
+feasted, they frolicked, they danced, they sang. They listened to the
+tales of the Arabian story-teller, at once enchanted and enchanting,
+or melted to the strain of the Persian poet as he painted the moon-lit
+forehead of his heroine and the wasting and shadowy form of his
+love-sick hero; they beheld with amazement the feats of the juggler of
+the Ganges, or giggled at the practised wit and the practical buffoonery
+of the Syrian mime. And the most delighted could still spare a
+fascinating glance to the inviting gestures and the voluptuous grace of
+the dancing girls of Egypt.[68] Everywhere reigned melody and merriment,
+rarity and beauty. For once mankind forgot their cares, and delivered
+themselves up to infinite enjoyment.
+
+'I grow courteous,' said Kisloch the Kourd, assisting a party into one
+of the shows.
+
+'And I humane,' said Calidas the Indian. 'Fellow, how dare you violate
+the proclamation, by thrashing that child?' He turned to one of the
+stewards of the table, who was belabouring the unfortunate driver of a
+camel which had stumbled and in its fall had shivered its burden, two
+panniers of porcelain.
+
+'Mind your own business, fellow,' replied the steward, 'and be thankful
+that for once in your life you can dine.'
+
+'Is this the way to speak to an officer?' said Calidas the Indian; 'I
+have half a mind to cut your tongue out.'
+
+'Never mind, little fellow,' said the Guebre, 'here is a dirhem for you.
+Run away and be merry.'
+
+'A miracle!' grinned the Negro; 'he giveth alms.'
+
+'And you are witty,' rejoined the Guebre. ''Tis a wondrous day.'
+
+'What shall we do?' said Kisloch.
+
+'Let us dine,' proposed the Negro.
+
+'Ay! under this plane-tree,' said Calidas. ''Tis pleasant to be alone. I
+hate everybody but ourselves.'
+
+'Here stop, you rascal,' said the Guebre. 'What's your name?'
+
+'I am a Hadgee,' said our old friend Abdallah, the servant of the
+charitable merchant Ali, and who was this day one of the officiating
+stewards.
+
+'Are you a Jew, you scoundrel?' said the Guebre, 'that is the only thing
+worth being. Bring some wine, you accursed Giaour!'
+
+'Instantly,' said Kisloch, 'and a pilau.' 'And a gazelle stuffed with
+almonds,' said Calidas. 'And some sugar-plums,' said the Negro. 'Quick,
+you infernal Gentile, or I'll send this javelin in your back,' hallooed
+the Guebre.
+
+The servile Abdallah hastened away, and soon bustled back, bearing two
+flagons of wine, and followed by four servants, each with a tray covered
+with dainties.
+
+'Where are you going, you accursed scoundrels?' grumbled Kisloch; 'wait
+upon the true believers.' 'We shall be more free alone,' whispered
+Calidas. 'Away, then, dogs,' growled Kisloch. Abdallah and his
+attendants hurried off, but were soon summoned back.
+
+'Why did you not bring Schiraz wine?' asked Calidas, with an eye of
+fire.
+
+'The pilau is overdone,' thundered Kisloch. 'You have brought a lamb
+stuffed with pistachio-nuts, instead of a gazelle with almonds,' said
+the Guebre.
+
+'Not half sugar-plums enough,' said the Negro. 'Everything is wrong,'
+said Kisloch. 'Go, and get us a kabob.'
+
+In time, however, even this unmanageable crew were satisfied; and,
+seated under their plane-tree, and stuffing themselves with all the
+dainties of the East, they became more amiable as their appetites
+decreased. 'A bumper, Calidas, and a song,' said Kisloch. ''Tis rare
+stuff,' said the Guebre; 'come, Cally, it should inspire you.'
+
+'Here goes, then; mind the chorus.'
+
+     Drink, drink, deeply drink,
+     Never feel, and never think;
+     What's love? what's fame? a sigh, a smile.
+     Friendship? but a hollow wile.
+     If you've any thought or woe,
+     Drown them in the goblet's flow.
+     Yes! dash them in this brimming cup;
+     Dash them in, and drink them up.
+     Drink, drink, deeply drink,
+     Never feel, and never think.
+
+'Hark, the trumpets! The King and Queen! 'The procession is coming.
+Let's away.'
+
+'Again! they must be near. Hurry, hurry, for good places.'
+
+'Break all the cups and dishes. Come along!'
+
+The multitude from all quarters hurried to the great circus, amid the
+clash of ten thousand cymbals and the blast of innumerable trumpets.
+In the distance, issuing from the gates of Bagdad, might be discerned a
+brilliant crowd, the advance company of the bridal procession.
+
+There came five hundred maidens crowned with flowers, and beauteous as
+the buds that girt their hair. Their flowing robes were whiter than the
+swan, and each within her hand a palm-branch held. Followed these a
+band of bright musicians, clothed in golden robes, and sounding silver
+trumpets.
+
+Then five hundred youths, brilliant as stars, clad in jackets of
+white-fox skin, and alternately bearing baskets of fruit or flowers.
+
+Followed these a band of bright musicians, clothed in silver robes, and
+sounding golden trumpets.
+
+Six choice steeds, sumptuously caparisoned, each led by an Arab
+groom.[69]
+
+The household of Medad, in robes of crimson, lined with sable.
+
+The standard of Medad.
+
+Medad, on a coal-black Arab, followed by three hundred officers of his
+division, all mounted on steeds of pure race.
+
+Slaves, bearing the bridal present of Medad; six Damascus sabres of
+unrivalled temper.[70]
+
+Twelve choice steeds, sumptuously caparisoned, each led by an Anatolian
+groom.
+
+The household of Ithamar, in robes of violet, lined with ermine.
+
+The standard of Ithamar.
+
+Ithamar, on a snow-white Anatolian charger, followed by six hundred
+officers of his division, all mounted on steeds of pure race.
+
+Slaves bearing the marriage present of Ithamar; a golden vase of rubies
+borne on a violet throne.
+
+One hundred Negroes, their noses bored, and hung with rings of
+brilliants, playing upon wind instruments and kettle-drums.
+
+The standard of the City of Bagdad.
+
+The deputation from the citizens of Bagdad.
+
+Two hundred mules, with caparisons of satin, embroidered with gold,
+and adorned with small golden bells. These bore the sumptuous wardrobe,
+presented by the city to their princess. Each mule was attended by a
+girl, dressed like a Peri, with starry wings, and a man, masked as a
+hideous Dive.
+
+The standard of Egypt.
+
+The deputation from the Hebrews of Egypt, mounted on dromedaries, with
+silver furniture.
+
+Fifty slaves, bearing their present to the princess, with golden cords,
+a mighty bath of jasper, beautifully carved, the sarcophagus of some
+ancient temple, and purchased for an immense sum.
+
+The standard of Syria.
+
+The deputation from the Hebrews of the Holy Land, headed by Rabbi Zimri
+himself, each carrying in his hand his offering to the nuptial pair, a
+precious vase, containing earth from the Mount of Zion.
+
+The standard of Hamadan.
+
+The deputation from the citizens of Hamadan, headed by the venerable
+Bostenay himself, whose sumptuous charger was led by Caleb.
+
+The present of the city of Hamadan to David Al-roy, offered at his own
+suggestion; the cup in which the Prince of the Captivity carried his
+tribute, now borne full of sand.
+
+Fifty choice steeds, sumptuously caparisoned, each led by a Median or
+Persian groom.
+
+The household of Abner and Miriam, in number twelve hundred, clad in
+chain armour of ivory and gold.
+
+The standard of the Medes and Persians.
+
+Two white elephants, with golden litters, bearing the Viceroy and his
+Princess.
+
+The offering of Abner to Alroy; twelve elephants of state, with
+furniture embroidered with jewels, each tended by an Indian clad in
+chain armour of ivory and gold.
+
+The offering of Miriam to Schirene; fifty plants of roses from
+Rocnabad;[71] a white shawl of Cachemire fifty feet in length, which
+folded into the handle of a fan; fifty screens, each made of a feather
+of the roc;[72] and fifty vases of crystal full of exquisite perfumes,
+and each sealed with a talisman of precious stones.
+
+After these followed the eunuch guard.
+
+Then came the band of the serail, consisting of three hundred dwarfs,
+hideous indeed to behold, but the most complete musicians in the world.
+
+The steeds of Solomon, in number one hundred, each with a natural star
+upon its front, uncaparisoned, and led only by a bridle of diamonds.
+
+The household of Alroy and Schirene. Foremost, the Lord Honain riding
+upon a chestnut charger, shod with silver; the dress of the rider, pink
+with silver stars. From his rosy turban depended a tremulous aigrette of
+brilliants,73 blazing with a thousand shifting tints.
+
+Two hundred pages followed him; and then servants of both sexes,
+gorgeously habited, amounting to nearly two thousand, carrying rich
+vases, magnificent caskets, and costly robes. The treasurer and two
+hundred of his underlings came next, showering golden dirhems on all
+sides.
+
+The sceptre of Solomon borne by Asriel himself.
+
+A magnificent and lofty car, formed of blue enamel with golden wheels,
+and axletrees of turquoises and brilliants, and drawn by twelve
+snow-white and sacred horses, four abreast; in the car Alroy and
+Schirene.
+
+Five thousand of the Sacred Guard closed the procession.
+
+Amid the exclamations of the people, this gorgeous procession crossed
+the plain, and moved around the mighty circus. The conqueror and his
+bride ascended their throne; its steps were covered by the youths and
+maidens. On the throne upon their right sat the venerable Bostenay; on
+the left, the gallant Viceroy and his Princess. The chartaks on each
+side were crowded with the court.
+
+The deputations made their offerings, the chiefs and captains paid their
+homage, the trades of the city moved before the throne in order, and
+exhibited their various ingenuity. Thrice was the proclamation made,
+amid the sound of trumpets, and then began the games.
+
+A thousand horsemen dashed into the arena and threw the jerreed. They
+galloped at full speed; they arrested their fiery charges in mid course,
+and flung their long javelins at the minute but sparkling target, the
+imitative form of a rare and brilliant bird. The conquerors received
+their prizes from the hand of the princess herself, bright shawls, and
+jewelled daggers, and rosaries of gems. Sometimes the trumpets announced
+a prize from the vice-queen, sometimes from the venerable Bostenay,
+sometimes from the victorious generals, or the loyal deputations,
+sometimes from the united trades, sometimes from the City of Bagdad,
+sometimes from the City of Hamadan. The hours flew away in gorgeous and
+ceaseless variety.
+
+'I would we were alone, my own Schirene,' said Alroy to his bride.
+
+'I would so too; and yet I love to see all Asia prostrate at the feet of
+Alroy.'
+
+'Will the sun never set? Give me thy hand to play with.'
+
+'Hush! See, Miriam smiles.'
+
+'Lovest thou my sister, my own Schirene?'
+
+'None dearer but thyself.'
+
+'Talk not of my sister, but ourselves. Thinkest thou the sun is nearer
+setting, love?'
+
+'I cannot see; thine eyes they dazzle me, they are so brilliant, sweet!'
+
+'Oh, my soul! I could pour out my passion on thy breast.'
+
+'Thou art very serious.'
+
+'Love is ever so.'
+
+'Nay, sweet! It makes me wild and fanciful. Now I could do such things,
+but what I know not. I would we had wings, and then we would fly away.'
+
+'See, I must salute this victor in the games. Must I unloose thy hand!
+Dear hand, farewell! Think of me while I speak, my precious life. 'Tis
+done. Give back thy hand, or else methinks I shall die. What's this?'
+
+A horseman, in no holiday dress, but covered with dust, rushed into the
+circus, bearing in his hand a tall lance, on which was fixed a scroll.
+The marshals of the games endeavoured to prevent his advance, but he
+would not be stayed. His message was to the king alone. A rumour of news
+from the army circulated throughout the crowd. And news from the army it
+was. Another victory! Scherirah had defeated the Sultan of Roum, who was
+now a suppliant for peace and alliance. Sooth to say, the intelligence
+had arrived at dawn of day, but the courtly Honain had contrived that it
+should be communicated at a later and more effective moment.
+
+There scarcely needed this additional excitement to this glorious day.
+But the people cheered, the golden dirhems were scattered with renewed
+profusion, and the intelligence was received by all parties as a solemn
+ratification by Jehovah, or by Allah, of the morning ceremony.
+
+The sun set, the court rose, and returned in the same pomp to the
+serail. The twilight died away, a beacon fired on a distant eminence
+announced the entrance of Alroy and Schirene into the nuptial chamber,
+and suddenly, as by magic, the mighty city, every mosque, and minaret,
+and tower, and terrace, and the universal plain, and the numberless
+pavilions, and the immense circus, and the vast and winding river,
+blazed with light. From every spot a lamp, a torch, a lantern, tinted
+with every hue, burst forth; enormous cressets of silver radiancy beamed
+on the top of each chartak, and huge bonfires of ruddy flame started up
+along the whole horizon.
+
+For seven days and seven nights this unparalleled scene of rejoicing,
+though ever various, never ceased. Long, long was remembered the bridal
+feast of the Hebrew prince and the caliph's daughter; long, long did the
+peasantry on the plains of Tigris sit down by the side of that starry
+river, and tell the wondrous tale to their marvelling posterity.
+
+Now what a glorious man was David Alroy, lord of the mightiest empire
+in the world, and wedded to the most beautiful princess, surrounded by
+a prosperous and obedient people, guarded by invincible armies, one on
+whom Earth showered all its fortune, and Heaven all its favour; and all
+by the power of his own genius!
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER IX.
+
+     _The Death of Jabaster_
+
+'TWAS midnight, and the storm still raged; 'mid the roar of the thunder
+and the shrieks of the wind, the floods of forky lightning each instant
+revealed the broad and billowy breast of the troubled Tigris. Jabaster
+stood gazing upon the wild scene from the gallery of his palace. His
+countenance was solemn, but disquieted.
+
+'I would that he were here!' exclaimed the high priest. 'Yet why should
+I desire his presence, who heralds only gloom? Yet in his absence am I
+gay? I am nothing. This Bagdad weighs upon me like a cloak of lead: my
+spirit is dull and broken.'
+
+'They say Alroy gives a grand banquet in the serail to-night, and toasts
+his harlot 'mid the thunderbolts. Is there no hand to write upon the
+wall? He is found wanting, he is weighed, and is indeed found wanting.
+The parting of his kingdom soon will come, and then, I could weep, oh!
+I could weep, and down these stern and seldom yielding cheeks pour the
+wild anguish of my desperate woe. So young, so great, so favoured! But
+one more step a God, and now a foul Belshazzar!
+
+'Was it for this his gentle youth was passed in musing solitude and
+mystic studies? Was it for this the holy messenger summoned his most
+religious spirit? Was it for this he crossed the fiery desert, and
+communed with his fathers in their tombs? Is this the end of all his
+victories and all his vast achievements? To banquet with a wanton!
+
+'A year ago, this very night, it was the eve of battle, I stood within
+his tent to wait his final word. He mused awhile, and then he said,
+"Good night, Jabaster!" I believed myself the nearest to his heart, as
+he has ever been nearest to mine, but that's all over. He never says,
+"Good night, Jabaster," now. Why, what's all this? Methinks I am a
+child.
+
+'The Lord's anointed is a prisoner now in the light grating of a bright
+kiosk, and never gazes on the world he conquered. Egypt and Syria, even
+farthest Ind, send forth their messengers to greet Alroy, the great, the
+proud, the invincible. And where is he? In a soft Paradise of girls and
+eunuchs, crowned with flowers, listening to melting lays, and the wild
+trilling of the amorous lute. He spares no hours to council; all is left
+to his prime favourites, of whom the leader is that juggling fiend I
+sometime called my brother.
+
+'Why rest I here? Whither should I fly? Methinks my presence is still a
+link to decency. Should I tear off the ephod, I scarcely fancy 'twould
+blaze upon another's breast. He goes not to the sacrifice; they say he
+keeps no fast, observes no ritual, and that their festive fantasies will
+not be balked, even by the Sabbath. I have not seen him thrice since
+the marriage. Honain has told her I did oppose it, and she bears to me
+a hatred that only women feel. Our strong passions break into a thousand
+purposes: women have one. Their love is dangerous, but their hate is
+fatal.
+
+'See! a boat bounding on the waters. On such a night, but one would dare
+to venture.'
+
+Now visible, now in darkness, a single lantern at the prow, Jabaster
+watched with some anxiety the slight bark buffeting the waves. A flash
+of lightning illumined the whole river, and tipped with a spectral light
+even the distant piles of building. The boat and the toiling figure
+of the single rower were distinctly perceptible. Now all again was
+darkness; the wind suddenly subsided; in a few minutes the plash of the
+oars was audible, and the boat apparently stopped beneath the palace.
+
+There was a knocking at the private portal.
+
+'Who knocks?' enquired Jabaster.
+
+'A friend to Israel.'
+
+'Abidan, by his voice. Art thou alone?'
+
+'The prophetess is with me; only she.'
+
+'A moment. I'll open the gate. Draw the boat within the arch.'
+
+Jabaster descended from the gallery, and in a few moments returned with
+two visitors: the youthful prophetess Esther, and her companion, a
+man short in stature, but with a powerful and well-knit frame. His
+countenance was melancholy, and, with harshness in the lower part, not
+without a degree of pensive beauty in the broad clear brow and sunken
+eyes, unusual in Oriental visages.
+
+'A rough night,' said Jabaster.
+
+'To those who fear it,' replied Abidan. 'The sun has brought so little
+joy to me, I care not for the storm.'
+
+'What news?'
+
+'Woe! woe! woe!'
+
+'Thy usual note, my sister. Will the day never come when we may change
+it?'
+
+'Woe! woe! woe! unutterable woe!'
+
+'Abidan, how fares it?'
+
+'Very well.'
+
+'Indeed!'
+
+'As it may turn out.'
+
+'You are brief.'
+
+'Bitter.'
+
+'Have you been to court, that you have learnt to be so wary in your
+words, my friend?'
+
+'I know not what may happen. In time we may all become courtiers, though
+I fear, Jabaster, we have done too much to be rewarded. I gave him my
+blood, and you something more, and now we are at Bagdad. 'Tis a
+fine city. I wish to Heaven the shower of Sodom would rain upon its
+terraces.'
+
+'I know thou hast something terrible to tell. I know it by that gloomy
+brow of thine, that lowers like the tempest. Speak out, man, I can bear
+the worst, for which I am prepared.'
+
+'Take it, then. Alroy has proclaimed himself Caliph. Abner is made
+Sultan of Persia; Asriel, Ithamar, Medad, and the chief captains,
+Vizirs, Honain their chief. Four Moslem nobles are sworn into the
+council. The Princess goes to mosque in state next Friday; 'tis said thy
+pupil doth accompany her.'
+
+'I'll not believe it! By the God of Sinai, I'll not believe it! Were
+my own eye the accursed witness of the deed, I'd not believe it. Go to
+mosque! They play with thee, my good Abidan, they play with thee.'
+
+'As it may be. Tis a rumour, but rumours herald deeds. The rest of my
+intelligence is true. I had it from my kinsman, stout Zalmunna. He left
+the banquet.'
+
+'Shall I go to him? Methinks one single word, To mosque! only a rumour
+and a false one. I'll never believe it; no, no, no, never, never! Is he
+not the Lord's anointed? The ineffable curse upon this daughter ot the
+Moabite! No marvel that it thunders! By heavens, I'll go and beard him
+in his orgies!'
+
+'You know your power better than Abidan. You bearded him before his
+marriage, yet----'
+
+'He married. Tis true. Honain, their chief. And I kept his ring! Honain
+is my brother. Have I ne'er a dagger to cut the bond of brotherhood?'
+
+'We have all daggers, Jabaster, if we knew but how to use them.'
+
+''Tis strange, we met after twenty years of severance. You were not
+in the chamber, Abidan. 'Twas at council. We met after twenty years of
+severance. He is my brother. 'Tis strange, I say: I felt that man shrink
+from my embrace.'
+
+'Honain is a philosopher, and believes in sympathy. 'Twould appear there
+was none between you. His system, then, absolves you from all ties.'
+
+'You are sure the rest of the intelligence is true? I'll not believe the
+mosque, the rest is bad enough.'
+
+'Zalmunna left the banquet. Hassan Subah's brother sat above him.'
+
+'Subah's brother! 'Tis all over, then. Is he of the council?'
+
+'Ay, and others.'
+
+'Where now is Israel?'
+
+'She should be in her tents.'
+
+'Woe! woe! unutterable woe!' exclaimed the prophetess, who, standing
+motionless at the back of the chamber, seemed inattentive to their
+conversation.
+
+Jabaster paced the gallery with agitated steps. Suddenly he stopped,
+and, walking up to Abidan, seized his arm, and looked him sternly in
+the face. 'I know thy thoughts, Abidan,' exclaimed the priest; 'but it
+cannot be. I have dismissed, henceforth and for ever I have dismissed
+all feeling from my mind; now I have no brother, no friend, no pupil,
+and, I fear, no Saviour. Israel is all in all to me. I have no other
+life. 'Tis not compunction, then, that stays my arm. My heart's as hard
+as thine.'
+
+'Why stays it then?'
+
+'Because with him we fall. He is the last of all his sacred line. There
+is no other hand to grasp our sceptre.'
+
+'_Our_ sceptre! what sceptre?'
+
+'The sceptre of our kings.'
+
+'Kings!'
+
+'Ay, why dost thou look so dark?'
+
+'How looked the prophet when the stiff-necked populace forsooth must
+have a king! Did he smile? Did he shout, and clap his hands, and cry,
+God save his Majesty! O, Jabaster! honoured, rare Jabaster! thou second
+Samuel of our lightheaded people! there was a time when Israel had no
+king except their God. Were we viler then? Did kings conquer Canaan? Who
+was Moses, who was Aaron, who was mighty Joshua? Was the sword of Gideon
+a kingly sword? Did the locks of Samson shade royal temples? Would a
+king have kept his awful covenant like solemn Jephtha? Royal words
+are light as air, when, to maintain them, you injure any other than a
+subject.
+
+'Kings! why, what's a king? Why should one man break the equal sanctity
+of our chosen race? Is their blood purer than our own? We are all the
+seed of Abraham. Who was Saul, and who was David? I never heard that
+they were a different breed from our fathers. Grant them devout, which
+they were not; and brave and wise, which other men were; have their
+posterity a patent for all virtues? No, Jabaster! thou ne'er didst err,
+but when thou placedst a crown upon this haughty stripling. What he did,
+a thousand might have done. 'Twas thy mind inspired the deed. And now he
+is a king; and now Jabaster, the very soul of Israel, who should be our
+Judge and leader, Jabaster trembles in disgrace, while our unhallowed
+Sanhedrim is filled with Ammonites!'
+
+'Abidan, thou hast touched me to the quick; thou hast stirred up
+thoughts that ever and anon, like strong and fatal vapours, have risen
+from the dark abyss of thought, and I have quelled them.'
+
+'Let them rise, I say; let them drown the beams of that all-scorching
+sun we suffer under, that drinks all vegetation up, and makes us
+languish with a dull exhaustion!'
+
+'Joy! joy! unutterable joy!'
+
+'Hark! the prophetess has changed her note; and yet she hears us not.
+The spirit of the Lord is truly with her. Come, Jabaster, I see thy
+heart is opening to thy people's sufferings; thy people, my Jabaster,
+for art not thou our Judge? At least, thou shalt be.'
+
+'Can we call back the Theocracy? Is't possible?'
+
+'But say the word, and it is done, Jabaster. Nay, stare not. Dost thou
+think there are no true hearts in Israel? Dost thou suppose thy children
+have beheld, without a thought, the foul insults poured on thee; thee,
+their priest, their adored high priest, one who recalls the best days
+of the past, the days of their great Judges? But one word, one single
+movement of that mitred head, and---- But I speak unto a mind that feels
+more than I can express. Be silent, tongue, thou art a babbling
+counsellor. Jabaster's patriot soul needs not the idle schooling of a
+child. If he be silent, 'tis that his wisdom deems that the hour is not
+ripe, but when her leader speaks, Israel will not be slack.'
+
+'The Moslemin in council! We know what must come next. Our national
+existence is in its last agony. Methinks the time is very ripe, Abidan.'
+
+'Why, so we think, great sir; and say the word, and twenty thousand
+spears will guard the Ark. I'll answer for my men. Stout Scherirah looks
+grimly on the Moabites. A word from thee, and the whole Syrian army will
+join our banner, the Lion of Judah, that shall be our flag. The tyrant
+and his satraps, let them die, and then the rest must join us. We'll
+proclaim the covenant, and, leaving Babylon to a bloody fate, march on
+to Zion!'
+
+'Zion, his youthful dream, Zion!'
+
+'You muse!'
+
+'King or no king, he is the Lord's anointed. Shall this hand, that
+poured the oil on his hallowed head, wash out the balmy signet with his
+blood? Must I slay him? Shall this kid be seethed even in its mother's
+milk?'
+
+'His voice is low, and yet his face is troubled. How now, sir?'
+
+'What art thou? Ah! Abidan, trusty, stanch Abidan! You see, Abidan, I
+was thinking, my good Abidan, all this may be the frenzy of a revel.
+Tomorrow's dawn may summon cooler counsels. The tattle of the table, it
+is sacred. Let us forget it; let us pass it over. The Lord may turn his
+heart. Who knows, who knows, Abidan!'
+
+'Noble sir, a moment since your mind was like your faith, firm and
+resolved, and now----'
+
+'School me not, school me not, good Abidan. There is that within my mind
+you cannot fathom; some secret sorrows which are all my own. Leave
+me, good friend, leave me awhile. When Israel calls me I shall not be
+wanting. Be sure of that, Abidan, be sure of that. Nay, do not go; the
+night is very rough, and the fair prophetess should not again stem the
+swelling river. I'll to my closet, and will soon return.'
+
+Jabaster quitted the gallery, and entered a small apartment. Several
+large volumes, unclasped and open, were lying on various parts of the
+divan. Before them stood his brazen cabalistic table. He closed
+the chamber with a cautious air. He advanced into the centre of the
+apartment. He lifted up his hands to heaven, and clasped them with an
+expression almost of agony.
+
+'Is it come to this?' he muttered in a tone of deep oppression. 'Is it
+come to this? What is't I have heard? what done? Down, tempting devil,
+down! O life! O glory! O my country, my chosen people, and my sacred
+creed! why do we live, why act? Why have we feeling for aught that's
+famous, or for aught that's holy? Let me die! let, let me die! The
+torture of existence is too great.'
+
+He flung himself upon the couch; he buried his awful countenance in his
+robes. His mighty heart was convulsed with passion. There did he lie,
+that great and solemn man, prostrate and woe-begone.
+
+'The noisy banquet lingers in my ear; I love to be alone.'
+
+'With me?'
+
+'Thou art myself; I have no other life.'
+
+'Sweet bird! It is now a caliph.'
+
+'I am what thou wiliest, soul of my sweet existence! Pomp and dominion,
+fame and victory, seem now but flawed and dimly-shaded gems compared
+with thy bright smile!'
+
+'My plaintive nightingale, shall we hunt to-day?'
+
+'Alas! my rose, I would rather lie upon this lazy couch, and gaze upon
+thy beauty!'
+
+'Or sail upon the cool and azure lake, in some bright barque, like to a
+sea-nymph's shell, and followed by the swans?'
+
+'There is no lake so blue as thy deep eye; there is no swan so white as
+thy round arm!'
+
+'Or shall we launch our falcons in the air, and bring the golden
+pheasant to our feet?'
+
+'I am the golden pheasant at thy feet; why wouldst thou richer prey?'
+
+'Rememberest thou thy earliest visit to this dear kiosk, my gentle mute?
+There thou stoodst with folded arms and looks demure as day, and ever
+and anon with those dark eyes stealing a glance which made my cheek
+quite pale. Methinks I see thee even yet, shy bird. Dost know, I was so
+foolish when it quitted me, dost know I cried?'
+
+'Ah, no! thou didst not cry?'
+
+'Indeed, I think I did.'
+
+'Tell me again, my own Schirene, indeed didst cry?'
+
+'Indeed I did, my soul!'
+
+'I would those tears were in some crystal vase, I'd give a province for
+the costly urn.'
+
+She threw her arms around his neck and covered his face with kisses.
+
+Sunset sounded from the minarets. They arose and wandered together in
+the surrounding paradise. The sky was tinted with a pale violet flush,
+a single star floating by the side of the white moon, that beamed with a
+dim lustre, soft and shapely as a pearl.
+
+'Beautiful!' exclaimed the pensive Schirene, as she gazed upon the star.
+'O, my Alroy, why cannot we ever live alone, and ever in a paradise?'
+
+'I am wearied of empire,' replied Alroy with a smile, 'let us fly!'
+
+'Is there no island, with all that can make life charming, and yet
+impervious to man? How little do we require! Ah! if these gardens,
+instead of being surrounded by hateful Bagdad, were only encompassed by
+some beautiful ocean!'
+
+'My heart, we live in a paradise, and are seldom disturbed, thanks to
+Honain!'
+
+'But the very consciousness that there are any other persons existing
+besides ourselves is to me painful. Every one who even thinks of you
+seems to rob me of a part of your being. Besides, I am weary of pomp and
+palaces. I should like to live in a sparry grot, and sleep upon a couch
+of sweet leaves!'
+
+This interesting discussion was disturbed by a dwarf, who, in addition
+to being very small and very ugly, was dumb. He bowed before the
+Princess; and then had recourse to a great deal of pantomimic action, by
+which she discovered that it was dinnertime. No other person could
+have ventured to disturb the royal pair, but this little being was a
+privileged favourite.
+
+So Alroy and Schirene entered the serail. An immense cresset-lamp, fed
+with perfumed oil, threw a soft light round the sumptuous chamber. At
+the end stood a row of eunuchs in scarlet dresses, and each holding a
+tall silver staff. The Caliph and the Sultana threw themselves upon
+a couch covered with a hundred cushions; on one side stood a group
+consisting of the captain of the guard and other officers of the
+household, on the other, of beautiful female slaves magnificently
+attired.
+
+The line of domestics at the end of the apartment opened, and a body of
+slaves advanced, carrying trays of ivory and gold, and ebony and silver,
+covered with the choicest dainties, curiously prepared. These were
+in turn offered to the Caliph and the Sultana by their surrounding
+attendants. The Princess accepted a spoon made of a single pearl,
+the long, thin golden handle of which was studded with rubies, and
+condescended to partake of some saffron soup, of which she was fond.
+Afterwards she regaled herself with the breast of a cygnet, stuffed
+with almonds, and stewed with violets and cream. Having now a little
+satisfied her appetite, and wishing to show a mark of her favour to a
+particular individual, she ordered the captain of the guard instantly
+to send him the whole of the next course[74] with her compliments. Her
+attention was then engaged with a dish of those delicate ortolans that
+feed upon the vine-leaves of Schiraz, and with which the Governor of
+Nishapur took especial care that she should be well provided. Tearing
+the delicate birds to pieces with her still more delicate fingers, she
+insisted upon feeding Alroy, who of course yielded to her solicitations.
+In the meantime, they refreshed themselves with their favourite sherbet
+of pomegranates, and the golden wine of Mount Lebanon.[76] The Caliph,
+who could eat no more ortolans, although fed by such delicate fingers,
+was at length obliged to call for 'rice,' which was synonymous to
+commanding the banquet to disappear. The attendants now brought to each
+basins of gold, and ewers of rock crystal filled with rose water, with
+towels of that rare Egyptian linen which can be made only of the cotton
+that grows upon the banks of the Nile. While they amused themselves with
+eating sugar-plums, and drinking coffee flavoured with cinnamon, the
+female slaves danced before them in the most graceful attitudes to the
+melody of invisible musicians.
+
+'My enchanting Schirene,' said the Caliph, 'I have dined, thanks to your
+attention, very well. These slaves of yours dance admirably, and are
+exceedingly beautiful. Your music, too, is beyond all praise; but, for
+my own part, I would rather be quite alone, and listening to one of your
+songs.'
+
+'I have written a new one to-day. You shall hear it.' So saying, she
+clapped her little white hands, and all the attendants immediately
+withdrew.
+
+'The stars are stealing forth, and so will I. Sorry sight! to view
+Jabaster, with a stealthy step, skulk like a thing dishonoured! Oh! may
+the purpose consecrate the deed! the die is cast.'
+
+So saying, the High Priest, muffled up in his robe, emerged from his
+palace into the busy streets. It is at night that the vitality of
+Oriental life is most impressive. The narrow winding streets, crowded
+with a population breathing the now sufferable air, the illuminated
+coffee-houses, the groups of gay yet sober revellers, the music, and the
+dancing, and the animated recitals of the poet and the story-teller, all
+combine to invest the starry hours with a beguiling and even fascinating
+character of enjoyment and adventure.
+
+It was the night after the visit of Abidan and the prophetess. Jabaster
+had agreed to meet Abidan in the square of the great mosque two hours
+after sunset, and thither he now repaired.
+
+'I am somewhat before my time,' he said, as he entered the great square,
+over which the rising moon threw a full flood of light. A few dark
+shadows of human beings alone moved in the distance. The world was in
+the streets and coffee-houses. 'I am somewhat before my time,' said
+Jabaster. 'Conspirators are watchful. I am anxious for the meeting, and
+yet I dread it. Since he broke this business, I have never slept. My
+mind is a chaos. I will not think. If 'tis to be done, let it be done at
+once. I am more tempted to sheathe this dagger in Jabaster's breast than
+in Alroy's. If life or empire were the paltry stake, I would end a life
+that now can bring no joy, and yield authority that hath no charm; but
+Israel, Israel, thou for whom I have endured so much, let me forget
+Jabaster had a mother!
+
+'But for this thought that links me with my God, and leads my temper to
+a higher state, how vain and sad, how wearisome and void, were this said
+world they think of! But for this thought, I could sit down and die.
+Yea! my great heart could crack, worn out, worn out; my mighty passions,
+with their fierce but flickering flame, sink down and die; and the
+strong brain that ever hath urged my course, and pricked me onward with
+perpetual thought, desert the rudder it so long hath held, like some
+baffled pilot in blank discomfiture, in the far centre of an unknown
+sea.
+
+'Study and toil, anxiety and sorrow, mighty action, perchance Time, and
+disappointment, which is worse than all, have done their work, and not
+in vain. I am no longer the same Jabaster that gazed upon the stars of
+Caucasus. Methinks even they look dimmer than of yore. The glory of my
+life is fading. My leaves are sear, tinged, but not tainted. I am still
+the same in one respect; I have not left my God, in deed or thought. Ah!
+who art thou?'
+
+'A friend to Israel.'
+
+'I am glad that Israel hath a friend. Noble Abi-dan, I have well
+considered all that hath passed between us. Sooth to say, you touched
+upon a string I've played before, but kept it for my loneliness; a
+jarring tune, indeed a jarring tune, but so it is, and being so, let me
+at once unto your friends, Abi-dan.'
+
+'Noble Jabaster, thou art what I deemed thee.'
+
+'Abidan, they say the consciousness of doing justly is the best basis of
+a happy mind.'
+
+'Even so.'
+
+'And thou believest it?'
+
+'Without doubt.'
+
+'We are doing very justly?'
+
+''Tis a weak word for such a holy purpose.'
+
+'I am most wretched!'
+
+The High Priest and his companion entered the house of Abidan. Jabaster
+addressed the already assembled guests.
+
+'Brave Scherirah, it joys me to find thee here. In Israel's cause when
+was Scherirah wanting? Stout Zalmunna, we have not seen enough of each
+other: the blame is mine. Gentle prophetess, thy blessing!
+
+'Good friends, why we meet here is known to all. Little did we dream of
+such a meeting when we crossed the Tigris. But that is nothing. We come
+to act, and not to argue. Our great minds, they are resolved: our solemn
+purpose requires no demonstration. If there be one among us who would
+have Israel a slave to Ishmael, who would lose all we have prayed
+for, all we have fought for, all we have won, and all for which we
+are prepared to die, if there be one among us who would have the Ark
+polluted, and Jehovah's altar stained with a Gentile sacrifice, if there
+be one among us who does not sigh for Zion, who would not yield his
+breath to build the Temple and gain the heritage his fathers lost,
+why, let him go! There is none such among us: then stay, and free your
+country!'
+
+'We are prepared, great Jabaster; we are prepared, all, all!'
+
+'I know it; you are like myself. Necessity hath taught decision. Now for
+our plans. Speak, Zalmunna.'
+
+'Noble Jabaster, I see much difficulty. Alroy no longer quits his
+palace. Our entrance unwatched is, you well know, impossible. What say
+you, Scherirah?'
+
+'I doubt not of my men, but war against Alroy is, to say nought of
+danger, of doubtful issue.'
+
+'I am prepared to die, but not to fail,' said Abidan. 'We must be
+certain. Open war I fear. The mass of the army will side with their
+leaders, and they are with the tyrant. Let us do the deed, and they must
+join us.'
+
+'Is it impossible to gain his presence to some sacrifice in honour of
+some by-gone victory; what think ye?'
+
+'I doubt much, Jabaster. At this moment he little wishes to sanction our
+national ceremonies with his royal person. The woman assuredly will
+stay him. And, even if he come, success is difficult, and therefore
+doubtful.'
+
+'Noble warriors, list to a woman's voice,' exclaimed the prophetess,
+coming forward. ''Tis weak, but with such instruments, even the
+aspirations of a child, the Lord will commune with his chosen people.
+There is a secret way by which I can gain the gardens of the palace.
+To-morrow night, just as the moon is in her midnight bower, behold the
+accursed pile shall blaze. Let Abidan's troops be all prepared, and at
+the moment when the flames first ascend, march to the Seraglio gate as
+if with aid. The affrighted guard will offer no opposition. While
+the troops secure the portals, you yourselves, Zalmunna, Abidan, and
+Jabaster, rush to the royal chamber and do the deed. In the meantime,
+let brave Scherirah, with his whole division, surround the palace, as if
+unconscious of the mighty work. Then come you forward, show, if it need,
+with tears, the fated body to the soldiery, and announce the Theocracy.'
+
+'It is the Lord who speaks,' said Abidan, who was doubtless prepared for
+the proposition. 'He has delivered them into our hands.'
+
+'A bold plan,' said Jabaster, musing, 'and yet I like it. 'Tis quick,
+and that is something. I think 'tis sure.'
+
+'It cannot fail,' exclaimed Zalmunna, 'for if the flame ascend not,
+still we are but where we were.'
+
+'I am for it,' said Scherirah.
+
+'Well, then,' said Jabaster, 'so let it be. Tomorrow's eve will see us
+here again prepared. Good night.'
+
+'Good night, holy Priest. How seem the stars, Jabaster?'
+
+'Very troubled; so have they been some days. What they portend I know
+not.'
+
+'Health to Israel.'
+
+'Let us hope so. Good night, sweet friends.'
+
+'Good night, holy Jabaster. Thou art our cornerstone.'
+
+'Israel hath no other hope but in Jabaster.'
+
+'My Lord,' said Abidan, 'remain, I pray, one moment.'
+
+'What is't? I fain would go.'
+
+'Alroy must die, my Lord, but dost thou think a single death will seal
+the covenant?'
+
+'The woman?'
+
+'Ay! the woman! I was not thinking of the woman. Asriel, Ithamar,
+Medad?'
+
+'Valiant soldiers! doubt not we shall find them useful instruments. I
+do not fear such loose companions. They follow their leaders, like other
+things born to obey. Having no head themselves, they must follow us who
+have.'
+
+'I think so too. There is no other man who might be dangerous?'
+
+Zalmunna and Scherirah cast their eyes upon the ground. There was a dead
+silence, broken by the prophetess.
+
+'A judgment hath gone forth against Honain!' 'Nay! he is Lord Jabaster's
+brother,' said Abidan.
+
+'It is enough to save a more inveterate foe to Israel, if such there
+be.'
+
+'I have no brother, Sir. The man you speak of I will not slay, since
+there are others who may do that deed. And so again, good night.'
+
+It was the dead of night, a single lamp burned in the chamber, which
+opened into an arched gallery that descended by a flight of steps into
+the gardens of the Serail.
+
+A female figure ascended the flight with slow and cautious steps. She
+paused on the gallery, she looked around, one foot was in the chamber.
+
+She entered. She entered a chamber of small dimensions, but richly
+adorned. In the farthest corner was a couch of ivory, hung with a gauzy
+curtain of silver tissue, which, without impeding respiration, protected
+the slumberer from the fell insects of an Oriental night. Leaning
+against an ottoman was a large brazen shield of ancient fashion, and
+near it some helmets and curious weapons.
+
+'An irresistible impulse hath carried me into this chamber!' exclaimed
+the prophetess. 'The light haunted me like a spectre; and wheresoever I
+moved, it seemed to summon me.
+
+'A couch and a slumberer!'
+
+She approached the object, she softly withdrew the curtain. Pale and
+panting, she rushed back, yet with a light step. She beheld Alroy!
+
+For a moment she leant against the wall, overpowered by her emotions.
+Again she advanced, and gazed on her unconscious victim.
+
+'Can the guilty sleep like the innocent? Who would deem this gentle
+slumberer had betrayed the highest trust that ever Heaven vouchsafed to
+favoured man? He looks not like a tyrant and a traitor: calm his brow,
+and mild his placid breath! His long dark hair, dark as the raven's
+wing, hath broken from its fillet, and courses, like a wild and stormy
+night, over his pale and moon-lit brow. His cheek is delicate, and yet
+repose hath brought a flush; and on his lip there seems some word of
+love, that will not quit it. It is the same Alroy that blessed our
+vision when, like the fresh and glittering star of morn, he rose up in
+the desert, and bringing joy to others, brought to me only----
+
+'Oh! hush my heart, and let thy secret lie hid in the charnel-house of
+crushed affections. Hard is the lot of woman: to love and to conceal is
+our sharp doom! O bitter life! O most unnatural lot! Man made society,
+and made us slaves. And so we droop and die, or else take refuge in idle
+fantasies, to which we bring the fervour that is meant for nobler ends.
+
+'Beauteous hero! whether I bear thee most hatred or most love I cannot
+tell. Die thou must; yet I feel I should die with thee. Oh! that
+to-night could lead at the same time unto our marriage bed and funeral
+pyre. Must that white bosom bleed? and must those delicate limbs be
+hacked and handled by these bloody butchers? Is that justice? They lie,
+the traitors, when they call thee false to our God. Thou art thyself a
+god, and I could worship thee! See those beauteous lips; they move. Hark
+to the music!'
+
+'Schirene, Schirene!'
+
+'There wanted but that word to summon back my senses. Fool! whither is
+thy fancy wandering? I will not wait for tardy justice. I will do the
+deed myself. Shall I not kill my Sisera?' She seized a dagger from the
+ottoman, a rare and highly-tempered blade. Up she raised it in the air,
+and dashed it to his heart with superhuman force. It struck against the
+talisman which Jabaster had given to Alroy, and which, from a lingering
+superstition, he still wore; it struck, and shivered into a thousand
+pieces. The Caliph sprang from his couch; his eyes met the prophetess,
+standing over him in black despair, with the hilt of the dagger in her
+hand.
+
+'What is all this? Schirene! Who art thou? Esther!' He jumped from
+the couch, called to Pharez, and seized her by both hands. 'Speak!' he
+continued. 'Art thou Esther? What dost thou here?'
+
+She broke into a wild laugh; she wrestled with his grasp, and pulled him
+towards the gallery. He beheld the chief tower of the Serail in flames.
+Joining her hands together, grasping them both in one of his, and
+dragging her towards the ottoman, he seized a helmet and flung it upon
+the mighty shield. It sounded like a gong. Pharez started from his
+slumbers, and rushed into the chamber.
+
+'Pharez! Treason! treason! Send instant orders that the palace gates be
+opened on no pretence whatever. Go, fly! See the captain himself. Summon
+the household. Order all to arms. Speed, for our lives!'
+
+The whole palace was now roused. Alroy delivered Esther, exhausted,
+and apparently senseless, to a guard of eunuchs. Slaves and attendants
+poured in from all directions. Soon arrived Schirene, with dishevelled
+hair and hurried robes, attended by a hundred maidens, each bearing a
+torch.
+
+'My soul, what ails thee?'
+
+'Nothing, sweetest; all will soon be well,' replied Alroy, picking up,
+and examining the fragments of the shivered dagger, which he had just
+discovered.
+
+'My life has been attempted; the palace is in flames; I suspect the city
+is in insurrection. Look to your mistress, maidens!' Schirene fell into
+their arms. 'I will soon be back.' So saying, he hurried to the grand
+court.
+
+Several thousand persons, for the population of the Serail and its
+liberties was very considerable, were assembled in the grand court;
+eunuchs, women, pages, slaves, and servants, and a few soldiers; all
+in confusion and alarm, fire raging within, and mysterious and terrible
+outcries without. A cry of 'The Caliph! the Caliph!' announced the
+arrival of Alroy, and produced a degree of comparative silence.
+
+'Where is the captain of the guard?' he exclaimed. 'That's well. Open
+the gates to none. Who will leap the wall and bear a message to Asriel?
+You? That's well too. To-morrow you shall yourself command. Where's
+Mesrour? Take the eunuch guard and the company of gardeners,76 and
+suppress the flames at all cost. Pull down the intervening buildings.
+Abidan's troop arrived with succour, eh! I doubt it not. I expected
+them. Open to none. They force an entrance, eh! I thought so. So that
+javelin has killed a traitor. Feed me with arms. I'll keep the gate.
+Send again to Asriel. Where's Pharez?'
+
+'By your side, my lord.'
+
+'Run to the Queen, my faithful Pharez, and tell her that all's well. I
+wish it were! Didst ever hear a din so awful? Methinks all the tambours
+and cymbals of the city are in full chorus. Foul play, I guess. Oh! for
+Asriel! Has Pharez returned?'
+
+'I am by your side, my lord.'
+
+'How's the Queen?'
+
+'She would gladly join your side.'
+
+'No, no! Keep the gates there. Who says they are making fires before
+them? Tis true. We must sally, if the worst come to the worst, and die
+at least like soldiers. O Asriel! Asriel!'
+
+'May it please your Highness, the troops are pouring in from all
+quarters.'
+
+''Tis Asriel.'
+
+'No, your Highness, 'tis not the guard. Methinks they are Scherirah's
+men.'
+
+'Hum! What it all is, I know not; but very foul play I do not doubt.
+Where's Honain?'
+
+'With the Queen, Sire.'
+
+''Tis well. What's that shout?'
+
+'Here's the messenger from Asriel. Make way! way!'
+
+'Well! how is't, Sir?'
+
+'Please your Highness, I could not reach the guard.'
+
+'Could not reach the guard! God of my fathers! who should let thee?'
+
+'Sire, I was taken prisoner.'
+
+'Prisoner! By the thunder of Sinai, are we at war? Who made thee
+prisoner?'
+
+'Sire, they have proclaimed thy death.'
+
+'Who?'
+
+'The council of the Elders. So I heard. Abidan, Zalmunna----'
+
+'Rebels and dogs! Who else?'
+
+'The High Priest.'
+
+'Hah! Is it there? Pharez, fetch me some drink. Is it true Scherirah has
+joined them?'
+
+'His force surrounds the Serail. No aid can reach us without cutting
+through his ranks.'
+
+'Oh! that I were there with my good guard! Are we to die here like rats,
+fairly murdered? Cowardly knaves! Hold out, hold out, my men! 'Tis sharp
+work, but some of us will smile at this hereafter. Who stands by Alroy
+to-night bravely and truly, shall have his heart's content to-morrow.
+Fear not: I was not born to die in a civic broil. I bear a charmed life.
+So to it.'
+
+'Go to the Caliph, good Honain, I pray thee, go. I can support myself,
+he needs thy counsel. Bid him not expose his precious life. The wicked
+men! Asriel must soon be here. What sayest thou?'
+
+'There is no fear. Their plans are ill-devised. I have long expected
+this stormy night, and feel even now more anxious than alarmed.'
+
+''Tis at me they aim; it is I whom they hate. The High Priest, too! Ay,
+ay! Thy proud brother, good Honain, I have ever felt he would not rest
+until he drove me from this throne, my right; or washed my hated name
+from out our annals in my life's blood. Wicked, wicked Jabaster! He
+frowned upon me from the first, Honain. Is he indeed thy brother?'
+
+'I care not to remember. He aims at something further than thy life; but
+Time will teach us more than all our thoughts.'
+
+The fortifications of the Serail resisted all the efforts of the rebels.
+Scherirah remained in his quarters, with his troops under arms, and
+recalled the small force that he had originally sent out as much to
+watch the course of events as to assist Abidan. Asriel and Ithamar
+poured down their columns in the rear of that chieftain, and by dawn a
+division of the guard had crossed the river, the care of which had been
+entrusted to Scherirah, and had thrown themselves into the palace. Alroy
+sallied forth at the head of these fresh troops. His presence decided a
+result which was perhaps never doubtful. The division of Abidan fought
+with the desperation that became their fortunes. The carnage was
+dreadful, but their discomfiture complete. They no longer acted
+in masses, or with any general system. They thought only of
+self-preservation, or of selling their lives at the dearest cost. Some
+dispersed, some escaped. Others entrenched themselves in houses, others
+fortified the bazaar. All the horrors of war in the streets were now
+experienced. The houses were in flames, the thoroughfares flowed with
+blood.
+
+At the head of a band of faithful followers, Abidan proved himself, by
+his courage and resources, worthy of success. At length, he was alone,
+or surrounded only by his enemies. With his back against a building in a
+narrow street, where the number of his opponents only embarrassed them,
+the three foremost of his foes fell before his irresistible scimitar.
+The barricaded door yielded to the pressure of the multitude. Abidan
+rushed up the narrow stairs, and, gaining a landing-place, turned
+suddenly round, and cleaved the skull of his nearest pursuer. He hurled
+the mighty body at his followers, and, retarding their advance, himself
+dashed onward, and gained the terrace of the mansion. Three soldiers of
+the guard followed him as he bounded from terrace to terrace. One, armed
+with a javelin, hurled it at the chieftain. The weapon slightly wounded
+Abidan, who, drawing it from his arm, sent it back to the heart of its
+owner. The two other soldiers, armed only with swords, gained upon him.
+He arrived at the last terrace in the cluster of buildings. He stood
+at bay on the brink of the precipice. He regained his breath. They
+approached him. He dodged them in their course. Suddenly, with admirable
+skill, he flung his scimitar edgewise at the legs of his farthest
+foe, who stopped short, roaring with pain. The chieftain sprang at the
+foremost, and hurled him down into the street below, where he was dashed
+to atoms. A trap-door offered itself to the despairing eye of the
+rebel. He descended and found himself in a room filled with women. They
+screamed, he rushed through them, and descending a Staircase, entered a
+chamber tenanted by a bed-ridden old man. The ancient invalid enquired
+the cause of the uproar, and died of fright before he could receive
+an answer, at the sight of the awful being before him, covered with
+streaming blood. Abidan secured the door, washed his blood-stained face,
+and disguising himself in the dusty robes of the deceased Armenian,
+sallied forth to watch the fray. The obscure street was silent. The
+chieftain proceeded unmolested. At the corner he found a soldier holding
+a charger for his captain. Abidan, unarmed, seized a poniard from the
+soldier's belt, stabbed him to the heart, and vaulting on the steed,
+galloped towards the river. No boat was to be found; he breasted the
+stream upon the stout courser. He reached the opposite bank. A company
+of camels were reposing by the side of a fountain. Alarm had dispersed
+their drivers. He mounted the fleetest in appearance; he dashed to the
+nearest gate of the city. The guard at the gate refused him a passage.
+He concealed his agitation. A marriage procession, returning from the
+country, arrived. He rushed into the centre of it, and overset the bride
+in her gilded wagon. In the midst of the confusion, the shrieks, the
+oaths, and the scuffle, he forced his way through the gate, scoured over
+the country, and never stopped until he had gained the desert.
+
+The uproar died away. The shouts of warriors, the shrieks of women, the
+wild clang of warfare, all were silent. The flames were extinguished,
+the carnage ceased. The insurrection was suppressed, and order restored.
+The city, all the houses of which were closed, was patrolled by the
+conquering troops, and by sunset the conqueror himself, in his hall of
+state, received the reports and the congratulations of his chieftains.
+The escape of Abidan seemed counterbalanced by the capture of Jabaster.
+After performing prodigies of valour, the High Priest had been
+overpowered, and was now a prisoner in the Serail. The conduct of
+Scherirah was not too curiously criticised; a commission was appointed
+to enquire into the mysterious affair; and Alroy retired to the bath[77]
+to refresh himself after the fatigues of the victory which he could not
+consider a triumph.
+
+As he reposed upon his couch, melancholy and exhausted, Schirene was
+announced. The Princess threw herself upon his neck and covered him with
+embraces. His heart yielded to her fondness, his spirit became lighter,
+his depression melted away.
+
+'My ruby!' said Schirene, and she spoke in a low smothered voice, her
+face hidden and nestled in his breast. 'My ruby! dost thou love me?'
+
+He smiled in fondness as he pressed her to his heart.
+
+'My ruby, thy pearl is so frightened, it dare not look upon thee. Wicked
+men! 'tis I whom they hate, 'tis I whom they would destroy.'
+
+'There is no danger, sweet. 'Tis over now. Speak not, nay, do not think
+of it.'
+
+'Ah! wicked men! There is no joy on earth while such things live.
+Slay Alroy, their mighty master, who, from vile slaves, hath made them
+princes! Ungrateful churls! I am so alarmed, I ne'er shall sleep again.
+What! slay my innocent bird, my pretty bird, my very heart! I'll not
+believe it. It is I whom they hate. I am sure they will kill me. You
+shall never leave me, no, no, no, no! You shall not leave me, love,
+never, never! Didst hear a noise? Methinks they are even here, ready to
+plunge their daggers in our hearts, our soft, soft hearts! I think you
+love me, child; indeed, I think you do!'
+
+'Take courage, heart! There is no fear, my soul; I cannot love thee
+more, or else I would.'
+
+'All joy is gone! I ne'er shall sleep again. O my soul! art thou
+indeed alive? Do I indeed embrace my own Alroy, or is it all a wild and
+troubled dream, and are my arms clasped round a shadowy ghost, myself a
+spectre in a sepulchre? Wicked, wicked men! Can it indeed be true? What,
+slay Alroy! my joy, my only life! Ah! woe is me; our bright felicity
+hath fled for ever!'
+
+'Not so, sweet child; we are but as we were. A few quick hours, and all
+will be as bright as if no storm had crossed our sunny days.'
+
+'Hast seen Asriel? He says such fearful things!'
+
+'How now?'
+
+'Ah me! I am desolate. I have no friend.'
+
+'Schirene!'
+
+'They will have my blood. I know they will have my blood.'
+
+'Indeed, an idle fancy.'
+
+'Idle! Ask Asriel, question Ithamar. Idle! 'tis written in their
+tablets, their bloody scroll of rapine and of murder. Thy death led only
+to mine, and, had they hoped my bird would but have yielded his gentle
+mate, they would have spared him. Ay! ay! 'tis I whom they hate, 'tis I
+whom they would destroy. This form, I fear it has lost its lustre, but
+still 'tis thine, and once thou saidst thou lovedst it; this form was to
+have been hacked and mangled; this ivory bosom was to have been ripped
+up and tortured, and this warm blood, that flows alone for thee,
+that fell Jabaster was to pour its tide upon the altar of his ancient
+vengeance. He ever hated me!'
+
+'Jabaster! Schirene! Where are we, and what are we? Life, life, they
+lie, that call thee Nature! Nature never sent these gusts of agony. Oh!
+my heart will break. I drove him from my thought, and now she calls him
+up, and now must I remember he is my-prisoner! God of heaven, God of my
+fathers, is it come to this? Why did he not escape? Why must Abidan, a
+common cut-throat, save his graceless life, and this great soul, this
+stern and mighty being---- Ah me! I have lived long enough. Would they
+had not failed, would----'
+
+'Stop, stop, Alroy! I pray thee, love, be calm. I came to soothe thee,
+not to raise thy passions. I did not say Jabaster willed thy death,
+though Asriel says so; 'tis me he wars against; and if indeed Jabaster
+be a man so near thy heart, if he indeed be one so necessary to thy
+prosperity, and cannot live in decent order with thy slave that's here,
+I know my duty, Sir. I would not have thy fortunes farred to save my
+single heart, although I think 'twill break. I will go, I will die,
+and deem the hardest accident of life but sheer prosperity if it profit
+thee.'
+
+'O Schirene! what wouldst thou? This, this is torture.'
+
+'To see thee safe and happy; nothing more.'
+
+'I am both, if thou art.'
+
+'Care not for me, I am nothing.'
+
+'Thou art all to me.'
+
+'Calm thyself, my soul. It grieves me much that when I came to soothe I
+have only galled thee. All's well, all's well. Say that Jabaster lives.
+What then? He lives, and may he prove more duteous than before; that's
+all.'
+
+'He lives, he is my prisoner, he awaits his doom. It must be given.'
+
+'Yes, yes!'
+
+'Shall we pardon?'
+
+'My lord will do that which it pleases him.'
+
+'Nay, nay, Schirene, I pray thee be more kind. I am most wretched.
+Speak, what wouldst thou?'
+
+'If I must speak, I say at once, his life.'
+
+'Ah me!'
+
+'If our past loves have any charm, if the hope ot future joy, not less
+supreme, be that which binds thee to this shadowy world, as it does me,
+and does alone, I say his life, his very carnal life. He stands between
+us and our loves, Alroy, and ever has done. There is no happiness if
+Jabaster breathe; nor can I be the same Schirene to thee as I have been,
+if this proud rebel live to spy my conduct.'
+
+'Banish him, banish him!'
+
+'To herd with rebels. Is this thy policy?'
+
+'O Schirene! I love not this man, although me-thinks I should: yet didst
+thou know but all!'
+
+'I know too much, Alroy. From the first he has been to me a hateful
+thought. Come, come, sweet bird, a boon, a boon unto thy own Schirene,
+who was so frightened by these wicked men! I fear it has done more
+mischief than thou deemest. Ay! robbed us of our hopes. It may be so. A
+boon, a boon! It is not much I ask: a traitor's head. Come, give me thy
+signet ring. It will not; nay, then, I'll take it. What, resist! I know
+thou oft hast told me a kiss could vanquish all denial. There it is.
+Is't sweet? Shalt have another, and another too. I've got the ring!
+Farewell, my lovely bird, I'll soon return to pillow in thy nest.'
+
+'She has got the ring! What's this? what's this? Schirene! art gone?
+Nay, surely not. She jests. Jabaster! A traitor's head! What ho! there.
+Pharez, Pharez!'
+
+'My lord.'
+
+'Passed the Queen that way?'
+
+'She did, my lord.'
+
+'In tears?'
+
+'Nay! very joyful!'
+
+'Call Honain, quick as my thought. Honain! Honain! He waits without. I
+have seen the best of life, that's very sure. My heart is cracking. She
+surely jests! Hah! Honain. Pardon these distracted looks. Fly to the
+Armoury! fly, fly!'
+
+'For what, my lord?'
+
+'Ay! for what, for what! My brain it wanders. Thy brother, thy great
+brother, the Queen, the Queen has stolen my signet ring, that is, I gave
+it her. Fly, fly! or in a word, Jabaster is no more. He is gone. Pharez!
+your arm; I swoon!'
+
+'His Highness is sorely indisposed to-day.'
+
+'They say he swooned this morn.'
+
+'Ay, in the bath.'
+
+'No, not in the bath. 'Twas when he heard of Jabaster's death.'
+
+'How died he, Sir?'
+
+'Self-strangled. His mighty heart could not endure disgrace, and thus he
+ended all his glorious deeds.'
+
+'A great man!'
+
+'We shall not soon see his match. The Queen had gained his pardon, and
+herself flew to the Armoury to bear the news; alas! too late.'
+
+'These are strange times. Jabaster dead!'
+
+'A very great event.'
+
+'Who will be High Priest?'
+
+'I doubt if the appointment will be filled up.'
+
+'Sup you with the Lord Ithamar to-night?'
+
+'I do.'
+
+'I also. We'll go together. The Queen had gained his pardon. Hum! 'tis
+strange.'
+
+'Passing so. They say Abidan has escaped?'
+
+'I hear it. Shall we meet Medad to-night?'
+
+''Tis likely.'
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER X.
+
+     _The Fall of Alroy_
+
+SHE comes not yet! her cheerful form, not yet it sparkles in our
+mournful sky. She comes not yet! the shadowy stars seem sad and
+lustreless without their Queen. She comes not yet!'
+
+'_WE ARE THE WATCHERS OF THE MOON,[78] AND LIVE IN LONELINESS TO HERALD
+LIGHT._'
+
+'She comes not yet! her sacred form, not yet it summons to our holy
+feast. She comes not yet! our brethren far wait mute and motionless the
+saintly beam. She comes not yet!'
+
+'_WE ARE THE WATCHERS OF THE MOON, AND LIVE IN LONELINESS TO HERALD
+LIGHT_.'
+
+'She comes, she comes! her beauteous form sails with soft splendour in
+the glittering air. She comes, she comes! The beacons fire, and tell the
+nation that the month begins! She comes, she comes!'
+
+'_WE ARE THE WATCHERS OF THE MOON, TO TELL THE NATION THAT THE MONTH
+BEGINS_.'
+
+Instantly the holy watchers fired the beacons on the mountain top, and
+anon a thousand flames blazed round the land. From Caucasus to Lebanon,
+on every peak a crown of light.
+
+'Sire! a Tatar has arrived from Hamadan, who will see none but thyself.
+I have told him your Highness was engaged, and sent him to the Lord
+Honain; but all denial is lost upon him. And as I thought perhaps the
+Lady Miriam----'
+
+'From Hamadan? You did well, Pharez. Admit him.'
+
+The Tatar entered.
+
+'Well, Sir; good news, I hope!'
+
+'Sire, pardon me, the worst. I come from the Lord Abner, with orders to
+see the Caliph, and none else.'
+
+'Well, Sir, you see the Caliph. Your mission? What of the Viceroy?'
+
+'Sire, he bade me tell thee, that, the moment the beacon that announced
+the Feast of the New Moon was fired on Caucasus, the dreaded monarch of
+Karasme, the great Alp Arslan, entered thy kingdom, and now overruns all
+Persia.'
+
+'Hah! and Abner?'
+
+'Is in the field, and prays for aid.'
+
+'He shall have it. This is indeed great news! When left you Hamadan?'
+
+'Night and day I have journeyed upon the swiftest dromedary. The third
+morn sees me at Bagdad.'
+
+'You have done your duty. See this faithful courier be well tended,
+Pharez. Summon the Lord Honain.'
+
+'Alp Arslan! Hah! a very famous warrior. The moment the beacon was
+fired. No sudden impulse then, but long matured. I like it not.'
+
+'Sire,' said Pharez, re-entering, 'a Tatar has arrived from the
+frontiers of the province, who will see none but thyself. I have told
+him your Highness was deeply busied, and as methinks he brings but the
+same news, I----'
+
+''Tis very likely; yet never _think_, good Pharez. I'll see the man.'
+The Tatar entered.
+
+'Well, Sir, how now! from whom?'
+
+'From Mozul. The Governor bade me see the Caliph and none else, and tell
+your Highness that the moment the beacon that announced the Feast of the
+New Moon was fired on the mountains, the fell rebel Abidan raised the
+standard of Judah in the province, and proclaimed war against your
+Majesty.'
+
+'In any force?'
+
+'The royal power keeps within their walls.'
+
+'Sufficient answer. Part of the same movement. We shall have some
+trouble. Hast summoned Honain?'
+
+'I have, Sire.'
+
+'Go, see this messenger be duly served, and, Pharez, come hither: let
+none converse with them. You understand?'
+
+'Your Highness may assure yourself.'
+
+'Abidan come to life. He shall not escape so well this time. I must see
+Scherirah. I much suspect----what's this? More news!'
+
+A third Tatar entered.
+
+'May it please your Highness, this Tatar has arrived from the Syrian
+frontier.'
+
+'Mischief in the wind, I doubt not. Speak out, knave!'
+
+'Sire! pardon me; I bear but sad intelligence.'
+
+'Out with the worst!'
+
+'I come from the Lord Medad.'
+
+'Well! has he rebelled? It seems a catching fever.'
+
+'Ah! no, dread Sire, Lord Medad has no thought but for thy glory. Alas!
+alas! he has now to guard it against fearful odds. Lord Medad bade me
+see the Caliph and none else, and tell your Highness, that the moment
+the beacon which announced the Feast of the New Moon was fired on
+Lebanon, the Sultan of Roum and the old Arabian Caliph unfurled the
+standard of their Prophet, in great array, and are now marching towards
+Bagdad.'
+
+'A clear conspiracy! Has Honain arrived? Summon a council of the Vizirs
+instantly. The world is up against me. Well! I'm sick of peace. They
+shall not find me napping!'
+
+'You see, my lords,' said Alroy, ere the council broke up, 'we must
+attack them singly. There can be no doubt of that. If they join, we must
+combat at great odds. 'Tis in detail that we must route them. I will
+myself to Persia. Ithamar must throw himself between the Sultan and
+Abidan, Medad fall back on Ithamar. Scherirah must guard the capital.
+Honain, you are Regent. And so farewell. I shall set off to-night.
+Courage, brave companions. 'Tis a storm, but many a cedar survives the
+thunderbolt.'
+
+The council broke up.
+
+'My own Scherirah!' said the Caliph, as they retired, 'stay awhile.
+I would speak with you alone. Honain,' continued Alroy, following the
+Grand Vizir out of the chamber, and leaving Scherirah alone, 'Honain, I
+have not yet interchanged a word with you in private. What think you of
+all this?'
+
+'Sire, I am prepared for the worst, but hope the best.'
+
+''Tis wise. If Abner could only keep that Karasmian in check! I am about
+to speak with Scherirah alone. I do suspect him much.'
+
+'I'll answer for his treason.'
+
+'Hah! I do suspect him. Therefore I give him no command. I would not
+have him too near his old companion, eh? We will garrison the city with
+his rebels.'
+
+'Sire, these are not moments to be nice. Scherirah is a valiant captain,
+a very valiant captain, but lend me thy signet ring, I pray thee, Sire.'
+
+Alroy turned pale.
+
+'No, Sir, it has left me once, and never shall again. You have touched
+upon a string that makes me sad. There is a burden on my conscience,
+why, or what, I know not. I am innocent, you know I am innocent,
+Honain!'
+
+'I'll answer for your Highness. He who has enough of the milk of human
+kindness to spare a thing like Scherirah, when he stands in his way, may
+well be credited for the nobler mercy that spared his better.'
+
+'Ah me! there's madness in the thought. Why is he not here? Had I
+but followed; tush! tush! Go see the Queen, and tell her all that has
+happened. I'll to Scherirah.'
+
+The Caliph returned.
+
+'Thy pardon, brave Scherirah; in these moments my friends will pardon
+lapse of courtesy.'
+
+'Your Highness is too considerate.'
+
+'You see, Scherirah, how the wind blows, brave heart. There's much to
+do, no doubt. I am in sad want of some right trusty friend, on whose
+devoted bosom I can pillow all my necessities. I was thinking of sending
+you against this Arslan, but perhaps 'tis better that I should go
+myself. These are moments one should not seem to shrink, and yet we know
+not how affairs may run; no, we know not. The capital, the surrounding
+province: one disaster and these false Moslemin may rise against us. I
+should stay here, but if I leave Scherirah, I leave myself. I feel that
+deeply; 'tis a consolation. It may be that I must fall back upon the
+city. Be prepared, Scherirah. Let me fall back upon supporting friends.
+You have a great trust. Oh! use it wisely! Worthily I am sure you must
+do.'
+
+'Your Highness may rest assured I have no other thought but for your
+weal and glory. Doubt not my devotion, Sire. I am not one of those
+mealy-mouthed youths, full of their own deeds and lip-worship, Sire, but
+I have a life devoted to your service, and ready at all times to peril
+all things.'
+
+'I know that, Scherirah, I know it; I feel it deeply. What think you of
+these movements?'
+
+'They are not ill combined, and yet I doubt not your Majesty will prove
+your fortunes most triumphant.'
+
+'Think you the soldiery are in good cue?' 'I'll answer for my own.
+They are rough fellows, like myself, a little too blunt, perhaps, your
+Highness. We are not holiday guards, but we know our duty, and we will
+do it.'
+
+'That's well, that's all I want. I shall review the troops before I
+go. Let a donative be distributed among them; and, 'by-the-bye, I have
+always forgotten it, your legion should be called the Legion of Syria.
+We owe our fairest province to their arms.'
+
+'I shall convey to them your Highness' wish. Were it possible, 'twould
+add to their devotion.'
+
+'I do not wish it. They are my very children. Sup at the Serail
+to-night, Scherirah. We shall be very private. Yet let us drink together
+ere we part. We are old friends, you know. Hast not forgotten our ruined
+city?'
+
+Alroy entered the apartment of Schirene. 'My soul! thou knowest all?'
+
+She sprang forward and threw her arms around his neck.
+
+'Fear not, my life, we'll not disgrace our Queen. 'Twill be quick work.
+Two-thirds of them have been beaten before, and for the new champion,
+our laurels must not fade, and his blood shall nourish fresh ones.'
+
+'Dearest, dearest Alroy, go not thyself, I pray thee. May not Asriel
+conquer?'
+
+'I hope so, in my company. For a time we part, a short one. 'Tis our
+first parting: may it be our last!'
+
+'Oh! no, no, no: oh! say not we must part.'
+
+'The troops are under arms; to-morrow's dawn will hear my trumpet.'
+
+'I will not quit thee, no! I will not quit thee. What business
+has Schirene without Alroy? Hast thou not often told me I am thy
+inspiration? In the hour of danger shall I be wanting? Never! I will not
+quit thee; no, I will not quit thee.'
+
+'Thou art ever present in my thoughts, my soul. In the battle I shall
+think of her for whom alone I conquer.'
+
+'Nay, nay, I'll go, indeed I must, Alroy. I'll be no hindrance, trust
+me, sweet boy, I will not. I'll have no train, no, not a single maid.
+Credit me, I know how a true soldier's wife should bear herself. I'll
+watch thee sleeping, and I'll tend thee wounded, and when thou goest
+forth to combat I'll gird thy sabre round thy martial side, and whisper
+triumph with victorious kisses.'
+
+'My own Schirene, there's victory in thine eyes. We'll beat them, girl.'
+
+'Abidan, doubly false Abidan! would he were doubly hanged! Ere she
+died, the fatal prophetess foretold this time, and gloated on his future
+treachery.'
+
+'Think not of him.'
+
+'And the Karasmian; think you he is very strong?' 'Enough, love, for our
+glory. He is a potent warrior: I trust that Abner will not rob us of our
+intended victory.'
+
+'So you triumph, I care not by whose sword. Dost go indeed to-morrow?'
+
+'At break of dawn. I pray thee stay, my sweet!' 'Never! I will not quit
+thee. I am quite prepared. At break of dawn? 'Tis near on midnight now.
+I'll lay me down upon this couch awhile, and travel in my litter. Art
+sure Alp Arslan is himself in the field?'
+
+'Quite sure, my sweet.'
+
+'Confusion on his crown! We'll conquer. Goes Asriel with us?' 'Ay!'
+
+'That's well; at break of dawn. I'm somewhat drowsy. Methinks I'll sleep
+awhile.'
+
+'Do, my best heart; I'll to my cabinet, and at break of dawn I'll wake
+thee with a kiss.'
+
+The Caliph repaired to his cabinet, where his secretaries were occupied
+in writing. As he paced the chamber, he dictated to them the necessary
+instructions.
+
+'Who is the officer on guard?'
+
+'Benaiah, Sire.'
+
+'I remember him. He saved me a broken skull upon the Tigris. This is for
+him. The Queen accompanies us. She is his charge. These papers for the
+Vizir. Let the troops be under arms by daybreak. This order of the
+day for the Lord Asriel. Send this instantly to Hamadan. Is the Tatar
+despatched to Medad? 'Tis well. You have done your duty. Now to rest.
+Pharez?'
+
+'My lord.'
+
+'I shall not sleep to-night. Give me my drink. Go rest, good boy. I have
+no wants. Good night.'
+
+'Good night, my gracious lord!'
+
+'Let me ponder! I am alone. I am calm, and yet my spirit is not quick.
+I am not what I was. Four-and-twenty hours ago who would have dreamed of
+this? All at stake again! Once more in the field, and struggling at once
+for empire and existence! I do lack the mighty spirit of my former days.
+I am not what I was. I have little faith. All about me seems changed,
+and dull, and grown mechanical. Where are those flashing eyes and
+conquering visages that clustered round me on the battle eve, round me,
+the Lord's anointed? I see none such. They are changed, as I am. Why!
+this Abidan was a host, and now he fights against me. She spoke of the
+prophetess; I remember that woman was the stirring trumpet of our ranks,
+and now where is she? The victim of my justice! And where is he, the
+mightier far, the friend, the counsellor, the constant guide, the master
+of my boyhood; the firm, the fond, the faithful guardian of all my
+bright career; whose days and nights were one unbroken study to make me
+glorious? Alas! I feel more like a doomed and desperate renegade than
+a young hero on the eve of battle, flushed with the memory of unbroken
+triumphs!
+
+'Hah! what awful form art thou that risest from the dusky earth before
+me? Thou shouldst be one I dare not name, yet will: the likeness of
+Jabaster. Away! why frownest thou upon me? I did not slay thee. Do I
+live, or dream, or what? I see him, ay! I see thee. I fear thee not, I
+fear nothing. I am Alroy.
+
+'Speak, oh speak! I do conjure thee, mighty spectre, speak. By all the
+memory of the past, although 'tis madness, I do conjure thee, let me
+hear again the accents of my boyhood.'
+
+'_Alroy, Alroy, Alroy_!'
+
+'I listen, as to the last trump.'
+
+'_Meet me on the plain of Nehauend._'
+
+''Tis gone! As it spoke it vanished. It was Jabaster! God of my fathers,
+it was Jabaster! Life is growing too wild. My courage is broken! I
+could lie down and die. It was Jabaster! The voice sounds in my ear like
+distant thunder: "_Meet me on the plain of Nehauend_." I'll not fail
+thee, noble ghost, although I meet my doom. Jabaster! Have I seen
+Jabaster! Indeed! indeed! Methinks I'm mad. Hah! What's that?'
+
+An awful clap of thunder broke over the palace, followed by a strange
+clashing sound that seemed to come from one of the chambers. The walls
+of the Serail rocked.
+
+'An earthquake!' exclaimed Alroy. 'Would that the earth would open and
+swallow all! Hah! Pharez, has it roused thee, too? Pharez, we live in
+strange times.'
+
+'Your Highness is very pale.'
+
+'And so art thou, lad! Wouldst have me merry? Pale! we may well be pale,
+didst thou know all. Hah! that awful sound again! I cannot bear it,
+Pharez, I cannot bear it. I have borne many things, but this I cannot.'
+
+'My lord, 'tis in the Armoury.'
+
+'Run, see. No, I'll not be alone. Where's Benaiah? Let him go. Stay with
+me, Pharez, stay with me. I pray thee stay, my child.'
+
+Pharez led the Caliph to a couch, on which Alroy lay pale and trembling.
+In a few minutes he inquired whether Benaiah had returned.
+
+'Even now he comes, Sire.'
+
+'Well, how is it?'
+
+'Sire! a most awful incident. As the thunder broke over the palace, the
+sacred standard fell from its resting-place, and has shivered into a
+thousand pieces. Strange to say, the sceptre of Solomon can neither be
+found nor traced.'
+
+'Say nothing of the past, as ye love me, lads. Let none enter the
+Armoury. Leave me, Benaiah, leave me, Pharez.'
+
+They retired. Alroy watched their departure with a glance of
+inexpressible anguish. The moment that they had disappeared, he flew to
+the couch, and throwing himself upon his knees, and, covering his face
+with his hands, burst into passionate tears, and exclaimed, 'O! my God,
+I have deserted thee, and now thou hast deserted me!'
+
+Sleep crept over the senses of the exhausted and desperate Caliph. He
+threw himself upon the divan, and was soon buried in profound repose. He
+might have slept an hour; he awoke suddenly. From the cabinet in which
+he slept, you entered a vast hall, through a lofty and spacious
+arch, generally covered with drapery, which was now withdrawn. To the
+astonishment of Alroy, this presence-chamber appeared at this moment
+to blaze with light. He rose from his couch, he advanced; he perceived,
+with feelings of curiosity and fear, that the hall was filled with
+beings, terrible indeed to behold, but to his sight more terrible than
+strange. In the colossal and mysterious forms that lined the walls
+of the mighty chamber, and each of which held in its extended arm a
+streaming torch, he recognised the awful Afrites. At the end of the
+hall, upon a sumptuous throne, surrounded by priests and courtiers,
+there was seated a monarch, on whom Alroy had before gazed, Solomon the
+Great! Alroy beheld him in state and semblance the same Solomon, whose
+sceptre the Prince of the Captivity had seized in the royal tombs of
+Judah.
+
+The strange assembly seemed perfectly unconscious of the presence of the
+child of Earth, who, with a desperate courage, leant against a column of
+the arch, and watched, with wonder, their mute and motionless society.
+Nothing was said, nothing done. No one moved, no one, even by gesture,
+seemed sensible of the presence of any other apparition save himself.
+
+Suddenly there advanced from the bottom of the hall, near unto Alroy,
+a procession. Pages and dancing girls, with eyes of fire and voluptuous
+gestures, warriors with mighty arms, and venerable forms with ample
+robes and flowing beards. And, as they passed, even with all the
+activity of their gestures, they made no sound; neither did the
+musicians, whereof there was a great band playing upon harps and
+psalteries, and timbrels and cornets, break, in the slightest degree,
+the almighty silence.
+
+This great crowd poured on in beautiful order, the procession never
+terminating, yet passing thrice round the hall, bowing to him that was
+upon the throne, and ranging themselves in ranks before the Afrites.
+
+And there came in twelve forms, bearing a great seal: the stone green,
+and the engraven characters of living flame, and the characters were
+those on the talisman of Jabaster, which Alroy still wore next to his
+heart. And the twelve forms placed the great seal before Solomon, and
+humbled themselves, and the King bowed. At the same moment Alroy was
+sensible of a pang next to his heart. He instantly put his hand to the
+suffering spot, and lo! the talisman crumbled into dust.
+
+The procession ceased; a single form advanced. Recent experience alone
+prevented Alroy from sinking before the spectre of Jabaster. Such was
+the single form. It advanced, bearing the sceptre. It advanced, it knelt
+before the throne, it offered the sceptre to the crowned and solemn
+vision. And the form of Solomon extended its arm, and took the sceptre,
+and instantly the mighty assembly vanished!
+
+Alroy advanced immediately into the chamber, but all was dark and
+silent. A trumpet sounded. He recognised the note of his own soldiery.
+He groped his way to a curtain, and, pulling it aside, beheld the first
+streak of dawn.
+
+Once more upon his charger, once more surrounded by his legions, once
+more his senses dazzled and inflamed by the waving banners and the
+inspiring trumpets, once more conscious of the power still at his
+command, and the mighty stake for which he was about to play, Alroy in a
+great degree recovered his usual spirit and self-possession. His energy
+returned with his excited pulse, and the vastness of the impending
+danger seemed only to stimulate the fertility of his genius.
+
+He pushed on by forced marches towards Media, at the head of fifty
+thousand men. At the end of the second day's march, fresh couriers
+arrived from Abner, informing him that, unable to resist the valiant
+and almost innumerable host of the King of Karasme, he had entirely
+evacuated Persia, and had concentrated his forces in Louristan. Alroy,
+in consequence of this information, despatched orders to Scherirah, to
+join him with his division instantly, and leave the capital to its fate.
+
+They passed again the mountains of Kerrund, and joined Abner and the
+army of Media, thirty thousand strong, on the river Abzah. Here Alroy
+rested one night, to refresh his men, and on the ensuing morn pushed on
+to the Persian frontier, unexpectedly attacked the advanced posts of Alp
+Arslan, and beat them back with great loss into the province. But the
+force of the King of Karasme was so considerable, that the Caliph did
+not venture on a general engagement, and therefore he fell back, and
+formed in battle array upon the neighbouring plain of Nehauend, the
+theatre of one of his earliest and most brilliant victories, where he
+awaited the hourly-expected arrival of Scherirah.
+
+The King of Karasme, who was desirous of bringing affairs to an issue,
+and felt confident in his superior force, instantly advanced. In two or
+three days at farthest, it was evident that a battle must be fought that
+would decide the fate of the East.
+
+On the morn ensuing their arrival at Nehauend, while the Caliph was out
+hunting, attended only by a few officers, he was suddenly attacked by
+an ambushed band of Karasmians. Alroy and his companions defended
+themselves with such desperation that they at length succeeded in
+beating off their assailants, although triple their number. The leader
+of the Karasmians, as he retreated, hurled a dart at the Caliph, which
+must have been fatal, had not a young officer of the guard interposed
+his own breast, and received the deadly wound. The party, in confusion,
+returned with all speed to the camp, Alroy himself bearing the expiring
+victim of desperate loyalty and military enthusiasm.
+
+The bleeding officer was borne to the royal pavilion, and placed upon
+the imperial couch. The most skilful leech was summoned; he examined the
+wound, but shook his head. The dying warrior was himself sensible of his
+desperate condition. His agony could only be alleviated by withdrawing
+the javelin, which would occasion his immediate decease. He desired to
+be left alone with his Sovereign.
+
+'Sire!' said the officer, 'I must die; and I die without a pang. To die
+in your service, I have ever considered the most glorious end. Destiny
+has awarded it to me;, and if I have not met my fate upon the field
+of battle, it is some consolation that my death has preserved the most
+valuable of lives. Sire! I have a sister.'
+
+'Waste not thy strength, dear friend, in naming her. Rest assured I
+shall ever deem thy relatives my own.'
+
+'I doubt it not. Would I had a thousand lives for such a master! I have
+a burden on my conscience, Sire, nor can I die in peace unless I speak
+of it.'
+
+'Speak, speak freely. If thou hast injured any one, and the power or
+wealth of Alroy can redeem thy oppressed spirit, he will not spare, he
+will not spare, be assured of that.'
+
+'Noble, noble master, I must be brief; for, although, while this javelin
+rests within my body, I yet may live, the agony is great. Sire, the deed
+of which I speak doth concern thee.'
+
+'Ay!'
+
+'I was on guard the day Jabaster died.'
+
+'Powers of heaven! I am all ear. Speak on, speak on!'
+
+'He died self-strangled, so they say?'
+
+'So they ever told me.'
+
+'Thou art innocent, thou art innocent! I thank my God, my King is
+innocent!'
+
+'Rest assured of that, as there is hope in Israel. Tell me all.'
+
+'The Queen came with the signet ring. To such authority I yielded way.
+She entered, and after her, the Lord Honain. I heard high words! I heard
+Jabaster's voice. He struggled, yes! he struggled; but his mighty form,
+wounded and fettered, could not long resist. Foul play, foul play, Sire!
+What could I do against such adversaries? They left the chamber with
+a stealthy step. Her eyes met mine. I never could forget that fell and
+glittering visage.'
+
+'Thou ne'er hast spoken of this awful end?'
+
+'To none but thee. And why I speak it now I cannot tell, save that it
+seems some inspiration urges me; and methinks they who did this may do
+even feller works, if such there be.'
+
+'Thou hast robbed me of all peace and hope of peace; and yet I thank
+thee. Now I know the worth of life. I have never loved to think of that
+sad day; and yet, though I have sometimes dreamed of villainous work,
+the worst were innocence to thy dread tale.'
+
+'Tis told; and now I pray thee secure thy secret, by drawing from my
+agonised frame this javelin.'
+
+'Trusty heart, 'tis a sad office.'
+
+'I die with joy if thou performest it.'
+
+''Tis done.'
+
+'God save Alroy.'
+
+While Alroy, plunged in thought, stood over the body of the officer,
+there arose a flourish of triumphant music, and a eunuch, entering
+the pavilion, announced the arrival of Schirene from Kerrund. Almost
+immediately afterwards, the Princess descending from her litter, entered
+the tent; Alroy tore off his robe, and threw it over the corpse.
+
+'My own,' exclaimed the Princess, as she ran up to the Caliph. 'I have
+heard all. Be not alarmed for me. I dare look upon a corpse. You know I
+am a soldier's bride. I am used to blood.'
+
+'Alas!'
+
+'Why so pale? Thou dost not kiss me! Has this unhinged thee so? 'Tis a
+sad deed; and yet tomorrow's dawn may light up thousands to as grim a
+fate. Why? thou tremblest! Alas! kind soul! The single death of this
+fond, faithful heart hath quite upset my love. Yet art thou used to
+battle. Why! this is foolishness. Art not glad to see me? What, not one
+smile! And I have come to fight for thee! I will be kissed!'
+
+She flung herself upon his neck. Alroy faintly returned her embrace, and
+bore her to a couch. He clapped his hands, and two soldiers entered and
+bore away the corpse.
+
+'The pavilion, Schirene, is now fitter for thy presence. Rest thyself; I
+shall soon return.' Thus speaking, he quitted her.
+
+He quitted her; but her humbled look of sorrowful mortification pierced
+to his heart. He thought of all her love and all her loveliness, he
+called to mind all the marvellous story of their united fortunes. He
+felt that for her and her alone he cared to live, that without her quick
+sympathy, even success seemed unendurable. His judgment fluctuated in
+an eddy of passion and reason. Passion conquered. He dismissed from his
+intelligence all cognizance of good and evil; he determined, under all
+circumstances, to cling ever to her; he tore from his mind all memory
+of the late disclosure. He returned to the pavilion with a countenance
+beaming with affection; he found her weeping, he folded her in his arms,
+he kissed her with a thousand kisses, and whispered between each kiss
+his ardent love.
+
+'Twas midnight. Schirene reposed in the arms of Alroy. The Caliph, who
+was restless and anxious for the arrival of Scherirah, was scarcely
+slumbering when the sound of a voice thoroughly aroused him. He looked
+around; he beheld the spectre of Jabaster. His hair stood on end, his
+limbs seemed to loosen, a cold dew crept over his frame, as he gazed
+upon the awful form within a yard of his couch. Unconsciously he
+disembarrassed his arms of their fair burden, and, rising on the couch,
+leant forward.
+
+'_Alroy, Alroy, Alroy_!'
+
+'I am here.'
+
+'_To-morrow Israel is avenged!_'
+
+'Who is that?' exclaimed the Princess, wakening.
+
+In a frenzy of fear, Alroy, quite forgetting the spectre, turned
+and pressed his hand over her eyes. When he again looked round the
+apparition was invisible.
+
+'What wouldst thou, Alroy?'
+
+'Nothing, sweet! A soldier's wife must bear strange sights, yet I would
+save you some. One of my men, forgetful you were here, burst into my
+tent in such a guise as scarce would suit a female eye. I must away, my
+child. I'll call thy slaves. One kiss! Farewell! but for a time.'
+
+'"To-morrow Israel will be avenged." What! in Karasmian blood? I have
+no faith. No matter. All is now beyond my influence. A rushing destiny
+carries me onward. I cannot stem the course, nor guide the vessel. How
+now! Who is the officer on guard?'
+
+'Benomi, Sire, thy servant.'
+
+'Send to the Viceroy. Bid him meet me here. Who is this?'
+
+'A courier from the Lord Scherirah, Sire, but just arrived. He passed
+last night the Kerrund mountains, Sire, and will be with you by the
+break of day.'
+
+'Good news. Go fetch Abner. Haste! He'll find me here anon. I'll visit
+the camp awhile. Well, my brave fellows, you have hither come to conquer
+again with Alroy. You have fought before, I warrant, on the plain of
+Nehauend. 'Tis a rich soil, and shall be richer with Karasmian gore.'
+
+'God save your Majesty! Our lives are thine.'
+
+'Please you, my little ruler,' said a single soldier, addressing Alroy;
+'pardon my bluntness, but I knew you before you were a Caliph.'
+
+'Stout heart, I like thy freedom. Pr'ythee say on.'
+
+'I was a-saying, I hope you will lead us in the charge to-morrow. Some
+say you will not.'
+
+'They say falsely.'
+
+'I thought so. I'll ever answer for my little ruler, but then the
+Queen?'
+
+'Is a true soldier's wife, and lives in the camp.'
+
+'That's brave! There, I told you so, comrades; you would not believe
+me, but I knew our little ruler before you did. I lived near the gate at
+Hamadan, please your Highness: old Shelomi's son.'
+
+'Give me thy hand; a real friend. What is't ye eat here, boys? Let me
+taste your mess. I'faith I would my cook could dress me such a pilau!
+Tis admirable!'
+
+The soldiers gathered round their chieftain with eyes beaming with
+adoration. 'Twas a fine picture, the hero in the centre, the various
+groups around, some conversing with him, some cooking, some making
+coffee, all offering him by word or deed some testimonial of their
+devotion, and blending with that devotion the most perfect frankness.
+
+'We shall beat them, lads!'
+
+'There is no fear with you, you always conquer.'
+
+'I do my best, and so do you. A good general without good troops is
+little worth.'
+
+'I'faith that's true. One must have good troops. What think you of Alp
+Arslan?'
+
+'I think he may give us as much trouble as all our other enemies
+together, and that's not much.'
+
+'Brave, brave! God save Alroy!'
+
+Benomi approached, and announced that the Viceroy was in attendance.
+
+'I must quit you, my children,' said Alroy. 'We'll sup once more
+together when we have conquered.'
+
+'God save you, Sire; and we will confound your enemies.'
+
+'Good night, my lads. Ere the dawn break we may have hot work.'
+
+'We are ready, we are ready. God save Alroy.'
+
+'They are in good cue, and yet 'twas a different spirit that inspired
+our early days. That I strongly feel. These are men true to a leader who
+has never failed them, and confident in a cause that leads to plunder.
+They are but splendid mercenaries.
+
+No more. Oh! where are now the fighting men of Judah! Where are the men
+who, when they drew their scimitars, joined in a conquering psalm of
+holy triumph! Last eve of battle you would have thought the field a
+mighty synagogue. Priests and altars, flaming sacrifices, and smoking
+censers, groups of fiery zealots hanging with frenzy on prophetic lips,
+and sealing with their blood and holiest vows a solemn covenant to
+conquer Canaan. All is changed, as I am. How now, Abner? You are well
+muffled!'
+
+'Is it true Scherirah is at hand?'
+
+'I doubt not all is right. Would that the dawn would break!'
+
+'The enemy is advancing. Some of their columns are in sight. My scouts
+have dodged them. They intend doubtless to form upon the plain.'
+
+'They are in sight, eh! Then we will attack them at once ere they
+are formed. Rare, rare! We'll beat them yet. Courage, dear brother.
+Scherirah will be here at dawn in good time, very good time: very, very
+good time.'
+
+'I like the thought'
+
+'The men are in good heart. At break of dawn, charge with thirty
+thousand cavalry upon their forming ranks. I'll take the right, Asriel
+the left. It shall be a family affair, dear Abner. How is Miriam?'
+
+'I heard this morn, quite well. She sends you her love and prayers. The
+Queen is here?'
+
+'She came this eve. Quite well.'
+
+'She must excuse all courtesy.'
+
+'Say nothing. She is a soldier's wife. She loves thee well, dear Abner.'
+
+'I know that. I hope my sword may guard her children's throne.'
+
+'Well, give thy orders. Instant battle, eh?'
+
+'Indeed I think so.'
+
+'I'll send couriers to hurry Scherirah. All looks well. Reserve the
+guard.'
+
+'Ay, ay! Farewell, dear Sire. When we meet again, I trust your enemies
+may be your slaves!'
+
+At the first streak of dawn the Hebrew cavalry, with the exception
+of the Guard, charged the advancing columns of the Karasmians with
+irresistible force, and cut them in pieces. Alp Arslan rallied his
+troops, and at length succeeded in forming his main body in good order.
+Alroy and Asriel led on their divisions, and the battle now became
+general. It raged for several hours, and was on both sides well
+maintained. The slaughter of the Karasmians was great, but their stern
+character and superior numbers counterbalanced for a time all the
+impetuosity of the Hebrews and all the energy of their leaders. This
+day Alroy threw into the shade all his former exploits. Twelve times he
+charged at the head of the Sacred Guard, and more than once penetrated
+to the very pavilion of Alp Arslan.
+
+In vain he endeavoured singly, and hand to hand, to meet that famous
+chieftain. Both monarchs fought in the ranks, and yet Fate decided
+that their scimitars should never cross. Four hours before noon, it was
+evident to Alroy, that, unless Scherirah arrived, he could not prevail
+against the vast superiority of numbers. He was obliged early to call
+his reserve into the field, and although the number of the slain on
+the side of Arslan exceeded any in the former victories of the Hebrews,
+still the Karasmians maintained an immense front, which was constantly
+supplied by fresh troops. Confident in his numbers, and aware of the
+weakness of his antagonists, Arslan contented himself with acting on the
+defensive, and wearying his assailants by resisting their terrible and
+repeated charge.
+
+For a moment, Alroy at the head of the Sacred Guard had withdrawn from
+the combat. Abner and Asriel still maintained the fight, and the Caliph
+was at the same time preparing for new efforts, and watching with
+anxiety for the arrival of Scherirah. In the fifth hour, from an
+eminence he marked with exultation the advancing banners of his
+expected succours. Confident now that the day was won, he announced the
+exhilarating intelligence to his soldiers; and, while they were excited
+by the animating tidings, led them once more to the charge. It was
+irresistible; Scherirah seemed to have arrived only for the pursuit,
+only in time to complete the victory. What then was the horror, the
+consternation of Alroy, when Benaiah, dashing up to him, informed
+him that the long-expected succours consisted of the united forces of
+Scherirah and Abidan, and had attacked him in the rear. Human genius
+could afford no resource. The exhausted Hebrews, whose energies had been
+tasked to the utmost, were surrounded. The Karasmians made a general and
+simultaneous advance. In a few minutes the Hebrew army was thrown into
+confusion. The stoutest warriors threw away their swords in despair.
+Every one thought only of self-preservation. Even Abner fled towards
+Hamadan. Asriel was slain. Alroy, finding it was all over, rushed to his
+pavilion at the head of about three hundred of the guards, seized the
+fainting Schirene, threw her before him on his saddle, and cutting his
+way through all obstacles, dashed into the desert.
+
+For eight-and-forty hours they never stopped. Their band was soon
+reduced one-third. On the morning of the third day they dismounted
+and refreshed themselves at a well. Half only regained their saddles.
+Schirene never spoke. On they rushed again, each hour losing some
+exhausted co-mate. At length, on the fifth day, about eighty strong,
+they arrived at a grove of palm-trees. Here they dismounted. And Alroy
+took Schirene in his arms, and the shade seemed to revive her. She
+opened her eyes, and pressed his hand and smiled. He gathered her some
+dates, and she drank some water.
+
+'Our toils will soon be over, sweetest,' he whispered to her; 'I have
+lost everything but thee.'
+
+Again they mounted, and, proceeding at a less rapid pace, they arrived
+towards evening at the ruined city, whither Alroy all this time had
+been directing his course. Dashing down the great street, they at length
+entered the old amphitheatre. They dismounted. Alroy made a couch with
+their united cloaks for Schirene. Some collected fuel, great store
+of which was found, and kindled large fires. Others, while it was yet
+light, chased the gazelles, and were sufficiently fortunate to provide
+their banquet, or fetched water from the well known to their leader.
+In an hour's time, clustering round their fires in groups, and sharing
+their rude fare, you might have deemed them, instead of the discomfited
+and luxurious guards of a mighty monarch, the accustomed tenants of this
+wild abode.
+
+'Come, my lads,' said Alroy, as he rubbed his hands over the ascending
+flame, 'at any rate, this is better than the desert.'
+
+After all his exertions, Alroy fell into profound and dreamless sleep.
+When he awoke, the sun had been long up. Schirene was still slumbering.
+He embraced her, and she opened her eyes and smiled.
+
+'You are now a bandit's bride,' he said. 'How like you our new life?'
+
+'Well! with thee.'
+
+'Rest here, my sweetest: I must rouse our men, and see how fortune
+speeds.' So saying, and tripping lightly over many a sleeping form, he
+touched Benaiah.
+
+'So! my brave captain of the guard, still napping! Come! stir, stir.'
+
+Benaiah jumped up with a cheerful face. 'I am ever ready, Sire.'
+
+'I know it; but remember I am no more a king, only a co-mate. Away with
+me, and let us form some order.'
+
+The companions quitted the amphitheatre and reconnoitred the adjoining
+buildings. They found many stores, the remains of old days, mats, tents,
+and fuel, drinking-bowls, and other homely furniture. They fixed upon
+a building for their stable, and others for the accommodation of their
+band. They summoned their companions to the open place, the scene of
+Hassan Subah's fate, where Alroy addressed them and explained to them
+his plans. They were divided into companies; each man had his allotted
+duty. Some were placed on guard at different parts; some were sent out
+to the chase, or to collect dates from the Oasis; others led the horses
+to the contiguous pasture, or remained to attend to their domestic
+arrangements. The amphitheatre was cleared out. A rude but convenient
+pavilion was formed for Schirene. They covered its ground with
+mats, and each emulated the other in his endeavours to study her
+accommodation. Her kind words and inspiring smiles animated at the same
+time their zeal and their invention.
+
+They soon became accustomed to their rough but adventurous life. Its
+novelty pleased them, and the perpetual excitement of urgent necessity
+left them no time to mourn over their terrible vicissitudes. While Alroy
+lived, hope indeed never deserted their sanguine bosoms. And such was
+the influence of his genius, that the most desponding felt that to be
+discomfited with him, was preferable to conquest with another. They were
+a faithful and devoted band, and merry faces were not wanting when at
+night they assembled in the amphitheatre for their common meal.
+
+No sooner had Alroy completed his arrangements than he sent forth
+spies in all directions to procure intelligence, and especially to
+communicate, if possible, with Ithamar and Medad, provided that they
+still survived and maintained themselves in any force.
+
+A fortnight passed away without the approach of any stranger; at the end
+of which, there arrived four personages at their haunt, not very welcome
+to their chief, who, however, concealed his chagrin at their appearance.
+These were Kisloch the Kourd, and Calidas the Indian, and their
+inseparable companions, the Guebre and the Negro.
+
+'Noble Captain,' said Kisloch, 'we trust that you will permit us to
+enlist in the band. This is not the first time we have served under your
+orders in this spot. Old co-mates, i'faith, who have seen the best and
+the worst. We suspected where you might be found, although, thanks to
+the ever felicitous invention of man, it is generally received that you
+died in battle. I hope your Majesty is well,' added Kisloch, bowing to
+Schirene.
+
+'You are welcome, friends,' replied Alroy; 'I know your worth. You have
+seen, as you say, the best and the worst, and will, I trust, see better.
+Died in battle, eh! that's good.'
+
+''Tis so received,' said Calidas.
+
+'And what news of our friends?'
+
+'Not over good, but strange.'
+
+'How so?'
+
+'Hamadan is taken.'
+
+'I am prepared; tell me all.'
+
+'Old Bostenay and the Lady Miriam are borne prisoners to Bagdad.'
+
+'Prisoners?'
+
+'But so; all will be well with them, I trow. The Lord Honain is in high
+favour with the conqueror, and will doubtless protect them.'
+
+'Honain in favour?'
+
+'Even so. He made terms for the city, and right good ones.'
+
+'Hah! he was ever dexterous. Well! if he save my sister, I care not for
+his favour.'
+
+'There is no doubt. All may yet be well, Sir.'
+
+'Let us act, not hope. Where's Abner?'
+
+'Dead.'
+
+'How?'
+
+'In battle.'
+
+'Art sure?'
+
+'I saw him fall, and fought beside him.'
+
+'A soldier's death is all our fortune now. I am glad he was not
+captured. Where's Medad, Ithamar?'
+
+'Fled into Egypt.'
+
+'We have no force whatever, then?'
+
+'None but your guards here.'
+
+'They are strong enough to plunder a caravan. Honain, you say, in
+favour?'
+
+'Very high. He'll make good terms for us.'
+
+'This is strange news.'
+
+'Very, but true.'
+
+'Well! you are welcome! Share our fare; 'tis rough, and somewhat scanty;
+but we have feasted, and may feast again. Fled into Egypt, eh?'
+
+'Ay! Sir.'
+
+'Schirene, shouldst like to see the Nile?'
+
+'I have heard of crocodiles.'
+
+If the presence of Kisloch and his companions were not very pleasing
+to Alroy, with the rest of the band they soon became great favourites.
+Their local knowledge, and their experience of desert life, made them
+valuable allies, and their boisterous jocularity and unceasing merriment
+were not unwelcome in the present monotonous existence of the fugitives.
+As for Alroy himself, he meditated an escape to Egypt. He determined
+to seize the first opportunity of procuring some camels, and then,
+dispersing his band, with the exception of Benaiah and a few faithful
+retainers, he trusted that, disguised as merchants, they might succeed
+in crossing Syria, and entering Africa by Palestine. With these plans
+and prospects, he became each day more cheerful and more sanguine as
+to the future. He had in his possession some valuable jewels, which he
+calculated upon disposing of at Cairo for a sum sufficient for all his
+purposes; and having exhausted all the passions of life while yet a
+youth, he looked forward to the tranquil termination of his existence in
+some poetic solitude with his beautiful companion.
+
+One evening, as they returned from the Oasis, Alroy guiding the camel
+that bore Schirene, and ever and anon looking up in her inspiring face,
+her sanguine spirit would have indulged in a delightful future.
+
+'Thus shall we pass the desert, sweet,' said Schirene. 'Can this be
+toil?'
+
+'There is no toil with love,' replied Alroy.
+
+'And we were made for love, and not for empire,' rejoined Schirene.
+
+'The past is a dream,' said Alroy. 'So sages teach us; but, until we
+act, their wisdom is but wind. I feel it now. Have we ever lived in
+aught but deserts, and fed on aught but dates? Methinks 'tis very
+natural. But that I am tempted by the security of distant lands, I could
+remain here a free and happy outlaw. Time, custom, and necessity form
+our natures. When I first met Scherirah in these ruins, I shrank with
+horror from degraded man; and now I sigh to be his heir. We must not
+think!'
+
+'No, love, we'll only hope,' replied Schirene; and they passed through
+the gates.
+
+The night was beautiful, the air was still warm and sweet. Schirene
+gazed upon the luminous heavens. 'We thought not of these skies when
+we were at Bagdad,' she exclaimed; 'and yet, my life, what was the
+brightness of our palaces compared to these? All is left to us that man
+should covet, freedom, beauty, and youth. I do believe, ere long, Alroy,
+we shall look back upon the wondrous past as on another and a lower
+world. Would that this were Egypt! Tis my only wish.'
+
+'And it shall soon be gratified. All will soon be arranged. A few brief
+days, and then Schirene will mount her camel for a longer ride than just
+to gather dates. You'll make a sorry traveller, I fear!'
+
+'Not I; I'll tire you all.'
+
+They reached the circus, and seated themselves round the blazing fire.
+Seldom had Alroy, since his fall, appeared more cheerful. Schirene sang
+an Arab air to the band, who joined in joyous chorus. It was late
+ere they sought repose; and they retired to their rest, sanguine and
+contented.
+
+A few hours afterwards, at the break of dawn, Alroy was roused from
+his slumbers by a rude pressure on his breast. He started; a ferocious
+soldier was kneeling over him; he would have spurned him; he found his
+hand manacled. He would have risen; his feet were bound. He looked round
+for Schirene, and called her name; he was answered only by a shriek.
+The amphitheatre was filled with Karasmian troops. His own men were
+surprised and overpowered. Kisloch and the Guebre had been on guard. He
+was raised from the ground, and flung upon a camel, which was instantly
+trotted out of the circus. On every side he beheld a wild scene of
+disorder and dismay. He was speechless from passion and despair.
+The camel was dragged into the desert. A body of cavalry instantly
+surrounded it, and they set off at a rapid pace. The whole seemed the
+work of an instant.
+
+How many days had passed Alroy knew not. He had taken no account of
+time. Night and day were to him the same. He was in a stupor. But the
+sweetness of the air and the greenness of the earth at length partially
+roused his attention. He was just conscious that they had quitted the
+desert. Before him was a noble river; he beheld the Euphrates from
+the very spot he had first viewed it in his pilgrimage. The strong
+association of ideas called back his memory. A tear stole down his
+cheek; the bitter drop stole to his parched lips; he asked the nearest
+horseman for water. The guard gave him a wetted sponge, with which he
+contrived with difficulty to wipe his lips, and then he let it fall to
+the ground. The Karasmian struck him.
+
+They arrived at the river. The prisoner was taken from the camel and
+placed in a covered boat. After some hours they stopped and disembarked
+at a small village. Alroy was placed upon an ass with his back to its
+head. His clothes were soiled and tattered. The children pelted him with
+mud. An old woman, with a fanatic curse, placed a crown of paper on
+his brow. With difficulty his brutal guards prevented their victim
+from being torn to pieces. And in such fashion, towards noon of the
+fourteenth day, David Alroy again entered Bagdad.
+
+The intelligence of the capture of Alroy spread through the agitated
+city. The Moolahs bustled about as if they had received a fresh
+demonstration of the authenticity of the prophetic mission. All the
+Dervishes began begging. The men discussed affairs in the coffee-houses,
+and the women chatted at the fountains.[79]
+
+'They may say what they like, but I wish him well,' said a fair Arab,
+as she arranged her veil. 'He may be an impostor, but he was a very
+handsome one.'
+
+'All the women are for him, that's the truth,' responded a companion;
+'but then we can do him no good.'
+
+'We can tear their eyes out,' said a third.
+
+'And what do you think of Alp Arslan, truly?' inquired a fourth.
+
+'I wish he were a pitcher, and then I could break his neck,' said a
+fifth.
+
+'Only think of the Princess!' said a sixth.
+
+'Well! she has had a glorious time of it,' said a seventh.
+
+'Nothing was too good for her,' said an eighth.
+
+'I like true love,' said a ninth.
+
+'Well! I hope he will be too much for them all yet,' said a tenth.
+
+'I should not wonder,' said an eleventh.
+
+'He can't,' said a twelfth, 'he has lost his sceptre.'
+
+'You don't say so?' said a thirteenth.
+
+'It is too true,' said a fourteenth.
+
+'Do you think he was a wizard?' said a fifteenth. 'I vow, if there be
+not a fellow looking at us behind those trees.'
+
+'Impudent scoundrel!' said a sixteenth. 'I wish it were Alroy. Let us
+all scream, and put down our veils.'
+
+And the group ran away.
+
+Two stout soldiers were playing chess[80] in a coffee-house.
+
+'May I slay my mother,' said one, 'but I cannot make a move. I fought
+under him at Nehauend; and though I took the amnesty, I have half a mind
+now to seize my sword and stab the first Turk that enters.'
+
+''Twere but sheer justice,' said his companion. 'By my father's
+blessing, he was the man for a charge. They may say what they like, but
+compared with him, Alp Arslan is a white-livered Giaour.'
+
+'Here is confusion to him and to thy last move. There's the dirhem, I
+can play no more. May I slay my mother, though, but I did not think he
+would let himself be taken.'
+
+'By the blessing of my father, nor I; but then he was asleep.'
+
+'That makes a difference. He was betrayed.'
+
+'All brave men are. They say Kisloch and his set pocket their fifty
+thousand by the job.'
+
+'May each dirhem prove a plague-spot!'
+
+'Amen! Dost remember Abner?'
+
+'May I slay my mother if I ever forget him. He spoke to his men like so
+many lambs. What has become of the Lady Miriam?'
+
+'She is here.'
+
+'That will cut Alroy.'
+
+'He was ever fond of her. Dost remember she gained Adoram's life?'
+
+'Oh! she could do anything next to the Queen.'
+
+'Before her, I say, before her. He has refused the Queen, he never
+refused the Lady Miriam.'
+
+'Because she asked less.'
+
+'Dost know it seemed to me that things never went on so well after
+Jabaster's death?'
+
+'So say I. There was a something, eh?'
+
+'A sort of a peculiar, as it were, kind of something, eh?'
+
+'You have well described it. Every man felt the same. I have often
+mentioned it to my comrades. Say what you like, said I, but slay my
+mother if ever since the old man strangled himself, things did not seem,
+as it were, in their natural propinquity. 'Twas the phrase I used.'
+
+'A choice one. Unless there is a natural propinquity, the best-arranged
+matters will fall out. However, the ass sees farther than his rider, and
+so it was with Alroy, the best commander I ever served under, all the
+same.'
+
+'Let us go forth and see how affairs run.'
+
+'Ay, do. If we hear any one abuse Alroy, we'll cleave his skull.'
+
+'That will we. There are a good many of our stout fellows about; we
+might do something yet.'
+
+'Who knows?'
+
+A subterranean dungeon of the citadel of Bagdad held in its gloomy
+limits the late lord of Asia. The captive did not sigh, or weep, or
+wail. He did not speak. He did not even think. For several days he
+remained in a state of stupor. On the morning of the fourth day, he
+almost unconsciously partook of the wretched provision which his gaolers
+brought him. Their torches, round which the bats whirled and flapped
+their wings, and twinkled their small eyes, threw a ghastly glare over
+the nearer walls of the dungeon, the extremity of which defied the
+vision of the prisoner; and, when the gaolers retired, Alroy was in
+complete darkness.
+
+The image of the past came back to him. He tried in vain to penetrate
+the surrounding gloom. His hands were manacled, his legs also were
+loaded with chains. The notion that his life might perhaps have been
+cruelly spared in order that he might linger on in this horrible state
+of conscious annihilation filled him with frenzy. He would have dashed
+his fetters against his brow, but the chain restrained him. He flung
+himself upon the damp and rugged ground. His fall disturbed a thousand
+obscene things. He heard the quick glide of a serpent, the creeping
+retreat of the clustering scorpions, and the swift escape of the dashing
+rats. His mighty calamities seemed slight when compared with these petty
+miseries. His great soul could not support him under these noisome and
+degrading incidents. He sprang, in disgust, upon his feet, and stood
+fearful of moving, lest every step should introduce him to some new
+abomination. At length, exhausted nature was unable any longer to
+sustain him. He groped his way to the rude seat, cut in the rocky wall,
+which was his only accommodation. He put forth his hand. It touched the
+slimy fur of some wild animal, that instantly sprang away, its
+fiery eyes sparkling in the dark. Alroy recoiled with a sensation of
+woe-begone dismay. His shaken nerves could not sustain him under this
+base danger, and these foul and novel trials. He could not refrain from
+an exclamation of despair; and, when he remembered that he was now far
+beyond the reach of all human solace and sympathy, even all human aid,
+for a moment his mind seemed to desert him; and he wrung his hands in
+forlorn and almost idiotic woe. An awful thing it is, the failure of
+the energies of a master-mind. He who places implicit confidence in his
+genius will find himself some day utterly defeated and deserted. 'Tis
+bitter! Every paltry hind seems but to breathe to mock you. Slow,
+indeed, is such a mind to credit that the never-failing resource can at
+least be wanting. But so it is. Like a dried-up fountain, the perennial
+flow and bright fertility have ceased, and ceased for ever. Then comes
+the madness of retrospection.
+
+Draw a curtain! draw a curtain! and fling it over this agonising
+anatomy.
+
+The days of childhood, his sweet sister's voice and smiling love, their
+innocent pastimes, and the kind solicitude of faithful servants, all the
+soft detail of mild domestic life: these were the sights and memories
+that flitted in wild play before the burning vision of Alroy, and
+rose upon his tortured mind. Empire and glory, his sacred nation, his
+imperial bride; these, these were nothing. Their worth had vanished with
+the creative soul that called them into action. The pure sympathies
+of nature alone remained, and all his thought and grief, all his
+intelligence, all his emotion, were centred in his sister.
+
+It was the seventh morning. A guard entered at an unaccustomed hour,
+and, sticking a torch into a niche in the wall, announced that a person
+was without who had permission to speak to the prisoner. They were the
+first human accents that had met the ear of Alroy during his captivity,
+which seemed to him an age, a long dark period, that cancelled all
+things. He shuddered at the harsh tones. He tried to answer, but his
+unaccustomed lips refused their office. He raised his heavy arms, and
+endeavoured to signify his consciousness of what had been uttered. Yet,
+indeed, he had not listened to the message without emotion. He looked
+forward to the grate with strange curiosity; and, as he looked, he
+trembled. The visitor entered, muffled in a dark caftan. The guard
+disappeared; and the caftan falling to the ground, revealed Honain.
+
+'My beloved Alroy,' said the brother of Jabaster; and he advanced, and
+pressed him to his bosom. Had it been Miriam, Alroy might have at
+once expired; but the presence of this worldly man called back his
+worldliness. The revulsion of his feelings was wonderful. Pride, perhaps
+even hope, came to his aid; all the associations seemed to counsel
+exertion; for a moment he seemed the same Alroy.
+
+'I rejoice to find at least thee safe, Honain.'
+
+'I also, if my security may lead to thine.'
+
+'Still whispering hope!'
+
+'Despair is the conclusion of fools.'
+
+'O Honain! 'tis a great trial. I can play my part, and yet methinks
+'twere better we had not again met. How is Schirene?'
+
+'Thinking of thee.'
+
+'Tis something that she can think. My mind has gone. Where's Miriam?'
+
+'Free.'
+
+'That's something. Thou hast done that. Good, good Honain, be kind to
+that sweet child, if only for my sake. Thou art all she has left.'
+
+'She hath thee.'
+
+'Her desolation.'
+
+'Live and be her refuge.'
+
+'How's that? These walls! Escape? No, no; it is impossible.'
+
+'I do not deem it so.'
+
+'Indeed! I'll do anything. Speak! Can we bribe? can we cleave their
+skulls? can we----'
+
+'Calm thyself, my friend. There is no need of bribes, no need of
+bloodshed. We must make terms.'
+
+'Terms! We might have made them on the plain of Nehauend. Terms! Terms
+with a captive victim?'
+
+'Why victim?'
+
+'Is Arslan then so generous?'
+
+'He is a beast, more savage than the boar that grinds its tusks within
+his country's forests.'
+
+'Why speakest thou then of hope?'
+
+'I spoke of certainty. I did not mention hope.'
+
+'Dear Honain, my brain is weak; but I can bear strange things, or else
+I should not be here. I feel thy thoughtful friendship; but indeed there
+need no winding words to tell my fate. Pr'ythee speak out.'
+
+'In a word, thy life is safe.'
+
+'What! spared?'
+
+'If it please thee.'
+
+'Please me? Life is sweet. I feel its sweetness. I want but little.
+Freedom and solitude are all I ask. My life spared! I'll not believe
+it. Thou hast done this deed, thou mighty man, that masterest all souls.
+Thou hast not forgotten me; thou hast not forgotten the days gone by,
+thou hast not forgotten thine own Alroy! Who calls thee worldly is a
+slanderer. O Honain! thou art too faithful!'
+
+'I have no thought but for thy service, Prince.'
+
+'Call me not Prince, call me thine own Alroy. My life spared! 'Tis
+wonderful! When may I go? Let no one see me. Manage that, Honain. Thou
+canst manage all things. I am for Egypt. Thou hast been to Egypt, hast
+thou not, Honain?'
+
+'A very wondrous land, 'twill please thee much.'
+
+'When may I go? Tell me when I may go. When may I quit this dark and
+noisome cell? 'Tis worse than all their tortures, dear Honain. Air and
+light, and I really think my spirit never would break, but this
+horrible dungeon---- I scarce can look upon thy face, sweet friend. 'Tis
+serious.'
+
+'Wouldst thou have me gay?'
+
+'Yes! if we are free.'
+
+'Alroy! thou art a great spirit, the greatest that I e'er knew, have
+ever read of. I never knew thy like, and never shall.'
+
+'Tush, tush, sweet friend, I am a broken reed, but still I am free. This
+is no time for courtly phrases. Let's go, and go at once.'
+
+'A moment, dear Alroy. I am no flatterer. What I said came from my
+heart, and doth concern us much and instantly. I was saying thou hast no
+common mind, Alroy; indeed thou hast a mind unlike all others. Listen,
+my Prince. Thou hast read mankind deeply and truly. Few have seen more
+than thyself, and none have so rare a spring of that intuitive knowledge
+of thy race, which is a gem to which experience is but a jeweller, and
+without which no action can befriend us.'
+
+'Well, well!'
+
+'A moment's calmness. Thou hast entered Bagdad in triumph, and thou hast
+entered the same city with every contumely which the base spirit of our
+race could cast upon its victim. 'Twas a great lesson.'
+
+'I feel it so.'
+
+'And teaches us how vile and valueless is the opinion of our
+fellow-men.'
+
+'Alas! 'tis true.'
+
+'I am glad to see thee in this wholesome temper. 'Tis full of wisdom.'
+
+'The miserable are often wise.'
+
+'But to believe is nothing unless we act. Speculation should only
+sharpen practice. The time hath come to prove thy lusty faith in this
+philosophy. I told thee we could make terms. I have made them. To-morrow
+it was doomed Alroy should die--and what a death! A death of infinite
+torture! Hast ever seen a man impaled?'[81]
+
+'Hah!'
+
+'To view it is alone a doom.'
+
+'God of Heaven!'
+
+'It is so horrible, that 'tis ever marked, that when this direful
+ceremony occurs, the average deaths in cities greatly increase. 'Tis
+from the turning of the blood in the spectators, who yet from some
+ungovernable madness cannot refrain from hurrying to the scene. I speak
+with some authority. I speak as a physician.'
+
+'Speak no more, I cannot endure it.'
+
+'To-morrow this doom awaited thee. As for Schirene----'
+
+'Not for her, oh! surely not for her?'
+
+'No, they were merciful. She is a Caliph's daughter. 'Tis not forgotten.
+The axe would close her life. Her fair neck would give slight trouble to
+the headsman's art. But for thy sister, but for Miriam, she is a witch,
+a Jewish witch! They would have burnt her alive!'
+
+'I'll not believe it, no, no, I'll not believe it: damnable, bloody
+demons! When I had power I spared all, all but----ah, me! ah, me! why
+did I live?'
+
+'Thou dost forget thyself; I speak of that which was to have been,
+not of that which is to be. I have stepped in and communed with the
+conqueror. I have made terms.'
+
+'What are they, what can they be?'
+
+'Easy. To a philosopher like Alroy an idle ceremony.'
+
+'Be brief, be brief.'
+
+'Thou seest thy career is a great scandal to the Moslemin. I mark their
+weakness, and I have worked upon it. Thy mere defeat or death will not
+blot out the stain upon their standard and their faith. The public mind
+is wild with fantasies since Alroy rose. Men's opinions flit to and fro
+with that fearful change that bodes no stable settlement of states.
+None know what to cling to, or where to place their trust. Creeds are
+doubted, authority disputed. They would gladly account for thy success
+by other than human means, yet must deny thy mission. There also is the
+fame of a fair and mighty Princess, a daughter of their Caliphs, which
+they would gladly clear. I mark all this, observe and work upon it. So,
+could we devise some means by which thy lingering followers could be for
+ever silenced, this great scandal fairly erased, and the public frame
+brought to a sounder and more tranquil pulse, why, they would concede
+much, much, very much.'
+
+'Thy meaning, not thy means, are evident.'
+
+'They are in thy power.'
+
+'In mine? 'Tis a deep riddle. Pr'ythee solve it.'
+
+'Thou wilt be summoned at to-morrow's noon before this Arslan. There
+in the presence of the assembled people who are now with him as much as
+they were with thee, thou wilt be accused of magic, and of intercourse
+with the infernal powers. Plead guilty.'
+
+'Well! is there more?'
+
+'Some trifle. They will then examine thee about the Princess. It is
+not difficult to confess that Alroy won the Caliph's daughter by an
+irresistible spell, and now 'tis broken.'
+
+'So, so. Is that all?'
+
+'The chief. Thou canst then address some phrases to the Hebrew
+prisoners, denying thy Divine mission, and so forth, to settle the
+public mind, observe, upon this point for ever.'
+
+'Ay, ay, and then----?'
+
+'No more, except for form. (Upon the completion of the conditions,
+mind, you will be conveyed to what land you please, with such amount of
+treasure as you choose.) There is no more, except, I say, for form, I
+would, if I were you ('twill be expected), I would just publicly affect
+to renounce our faith, and bow before their Prophet.'
+
+'Hah! Art thou there? Is this thy freedom? Get thee behind me, tempter!
+Never, never, never! Not a jot, not a jot: I'll not yield a jot. Were
+my doom one everlasting torture, I'd spurn thy terms! Is this thy high
+contempt of our poor kind, to outrage my God! to prove myself the vilest
+of the vile, and baser than the basest? Rare philosophy! O Honain! would
+we had never met!'
+
+'Or never parted. True. Had my word been taken, Alroy would ne'er have
+been betrayed.'
+
+'No more; I pray thee, sir, no more. Leave me.'
+
+'Were this a palace, I would. Harsh words are softened by a friendly
+ear, when spoken in affliction.'
+
+'Say what they will, I am the Lord's anointed. As such I should have
+lived, as such at least I'll die.'
+
+'And Miriam?'
+
+'The Lord will not desert her: she ne'er deserted Him.'
+
+'Schirene?'
+
+'Schirene! why! for her sake alone I will die a hero. Shall it be said
+she loved a craven slave, a base impostor, a vile renegade, a villainous
+dealer in drugs and charms? Oh! no, no, no! if only for her sake, her
+sweet, sweet sake, my end shall be like my great life. As the sun I
+rose, like him I set. Still the world is warm with my bright fame, and
+my last hour shall not disgrace my noon, stormy indeed, but glorious!'
+
+Honain took the torch from the niche, and advanced to the grate. It
+was not fastened: he drew it gently open, and led forward a veiled and
+female figure. The veiled and female figure threw herself at the feet of
+Alroy, who seemed lost to what was passing. A soft lip pressed his hand.
+He started, his chains clanked.
+
+'Alroy!' softly murmured the kneeling female.
+
+'What voice is that?' wildly exclaimed the Prince of the Captivity. 'It
+falls upon my ear like long-forgotten music. I'll not believe it. No!
+I'll not believe it. Art thou Schirene?'
+
+'I am that wretched thing they called thy bride.'
+
+'Oh! this indeed is torture! What impalement can equal this sharp
+moment? Look not on me, let not our eyes meet! They have met before,
+like to the confluence of two shining rivers blending in one great
+stream of rushing light. Bear off that torch, sir. Let impenetrable
+darkness cover our darker fortunes.'
+
+'Alroy.'
+
+'She speaks again. Is she mad, as I am, that thus she plays with agony?'
+
+'Sire,' said Honain advancing, and laying his hand gently on the arm of
+the captive, 'I pray thee moderate this passion. Thou hast some faithful
+friends here, who would fain commune in calmness for thy lasting
+welfare.'
+
+'Welfare! He mocks me.'
+
+'I beseech, thee, Sire, be calm. If, indeed, I speak unto that great
+Alroy whom all men fear and still may fear, I pray remember, 'tis not
+in palaces or in the battle-field alone that the heroic soul can conquer
+and command. Scenes like these are the great proof of a superior soul.
+While we live, our body is a temple where our genius pours forth its
+godlike inspiration, and while the altar is not overthrown, the deity
+may still work marvels. Then rouse thyself, great Sire; bethink thee
+that, a Caliph or a captive, there is no man within this breathing world
+like to Alroy. Shall such a being fall without a struggle, like some
+poor felon, who has naught to trust to but the dull shuffling accident
+of Chance? I, too, am a prophet, and I feel thou still wilt conquer.'
+
+'Give me my sceptre, then, give me the sceptre! I speak to the wrong
+brother! It was not thou, it was not thou that gavest it me.'
+
+'Gain it once more. The Lord deserted David for a time; still he
+pardoned him, and still he died a king.'
+
+'A woman worked his fall.'
+
+'But thee a woman raises. This great Princess, has she not suffered too?
+Yet her spirit is still unbroken. List to her counsel: it is deep and
+fond.'
+
+'So was our love.'
+
+'And is, my Alroy!' exclaimed the Princess. 'Be calm, I pray thee! For
+my sake be calm; I am calm for thine. Thou hast listened to all Honain
+has told thee, that wise man, my Alroy, who never erred.
+
+'Tis but a word he counsels, an empty word, a most unmeaning form. But
+speak it, and thou art free, and Alroy and Schirene may blend again
+their glorious careers and lives of sweet fruition. Dost thou not
+remember when, walking in the garden of our joy, and palled with empire,
+how often hast thou sighed for some sweet isle unknown to man, where
+thou mightst pass thy days with no companion but my faithful self, and
+no adventures but our constant loves? O my beloved, that life may still
+be thine! And dost thou falter? Dost call thyself forlorn with such
+fidelity, and deem thyself a wretch, when Paradise with all its
+beauteous gates but woos thy entrance? Oh! no, no, no, no! thou hast
+forgot Schirene: I fear me much, thy over-fond Schirene, who doats upon
+thy image in thy chains more than she did when those sweet hands of
+thine were bound with gems and played with her bright locks!'
+
+'She speaks of another world. I do remember something. Who has sent this
+music to a dungeon? My spirit softens with her melting words. My
+eyes are moist. I weep! 'Tis pleasant. Sorrow is joy compared with my
+despair. I never thought to shed a tear again. My brain is cooler.'
+
+'Weep, weep, I pray thee weep; but let me kiss away thy tears, my soul!
+Didst think thy Schirene had deserted thee? Ah! that was it that made
+my bird so sad. It shall be free, and fly in a sweet sky, and feed on
+flowers with its faithful mate. Ah me! I am once more happy with my boy.
+There was no misery but thy absence, sweet! Methinks this dungeon is our
+bright kiosk! Is that the sunbeam, or thy smile, my love, that makes the
+walls so joyful?'
+
+'Did I smile? I'll not believe it.'
+
+'Indeed you did. Ah! see he smiles again. Why this is freedom! There is
+no such thing as sorrow. Tis a lie to frighten fools!'
+
+'Why, Honain, what's this? 'Twould seem I am really joyful. There's
+inspiration in her very breath. I am another being. Nay! waste not
+kisses on those ugly fetters.'
+
+'Methinks they are gold.'
+
+They were silent. Schirene drew Alroy to his rough seat, and gently
+placing herself on his knees, threw her arms round his neck, and buried
+her face in his breast. After a few minutes she raised her head, and
+whispered in his ear in irresistible accents of sweet exultation, 'We
+shall be free to-morrow!'
+
+'To-morrow! is the trial so near?' exclaimed the captive, with an
+agitated voice and changing countenance. 'To-morrow!' He threw Schirene
+aside somewhat hastily, and sprang from his seat. 'To-morrow! would it
+were over! To-morrow! Methinks there is within that single word the fate
+of ages! Shall it be said to-morrow that Alroy---- Hah! what art thou
+that risest now before me? Dread, mighty spirit, thou hast come in time
+to save me from perdition. Take me to thy bosom, 'tis not stabbed. They
+did not stab thee. Thou seest me here communing with thy murderers. What
+then? I am innocent. Ask them, dread ghost, and call upon their fiendish
+souls to say I am pure. They would make me dark as themselves, but shall
+not.'
+
+'Honain, Honain!' exclaimed the Princess in a terrible whisper as she
+flew to the Physician. 'He is wild again. Calm him, calm him. Mark! how
+he stands with his extended arms, and fixed vacant eyes, muttering most
+awful words! My spirit fails me. It is too fearful.'
+
+The Physician advanced and stood by the side of Alroy, but in vain
+attempted to catch his attention. He ventured to touch his arm. The
+Prince started, turned round, and recognising him, exclaimed in a
+shrieking voice, 'Off, fratricide!'
+
+Honain recoiled, pale and quivering. Schirene sprang to his arm. 'What
+said he, Honain? Thou dost not speak. I never saw thee pale before. Art
+thou, too, mad?'
+
+'Would I were!'
+
+'All men are growing wild. I am sure he said something. I pray thee tell
+me what was it?'
+
+'Ask him.'
+
+'I dare not. Tell me, tell me, Honain!'
+
+'That I dare not.'
+
+'Was it a word?'
+
+'Ay! a word to wake the dead. Let us begone.'
+
+'Without our end? Coward! I'll speak to him. My own Alroy,' sweetly
+whispered the Princess, as she advanced before him.
+
+'What, has the fox left the tigress! Is't so, eh? Are there no
+judgments? Are the innocent only haunted? I am innocent! I did not
+strangle thee! He said rightly, "Beware, beware! they who did this may
+do even feller deeds." And here they are quick at their damned work.
+Thy body suffered, great Jabaster, but me they would strangle body and
+soul!'
+
+The Princess shrieked, and fell into the arms of the advancing Honain,
+who bore her out of the dungeon.
+
+After the fall of Hamadan, Bostenay and Miriam had been carried
+prisoners to Bagdad. Through the interference of Honain, their
+imprisonment had been exempted from the usual hardships, but they
+were still confined to their chambers in the citadel. Hitherto all the
+endeavours of Miriam to visit her brother had been fruitless. Honain
+was the only person to whom she could apply for assistance, and he, in
+answer to her importunities, only regretted his want of power to aid
+her. In vain had she attempted, by the offer of some remaining jewels,
+to secure the co-operation of her guards, with whom her loveliness and
+the softness of her manners had already ingratiated her. She had not
+succeeded even in communicating with Alroy. But after the unsuccessful
+mission of Honain to the dungeon, the late Vizier visited the sister of
+the captive, and, breaking to her with delicate skill the intelligence
+of the impending catastrophe, he announced that he had at length
+succeeded in obtaining for her the desired permission to visit her
+brother; and, while she shuddered at the proximity of an event for
+which she had long attempted to prepare herself, Honain, with some
+modifications, whispered the means by which he flattered himself that it
+might yet be averted. Miriam listened to him in silence, nor could
+he, with all his consummate art, succeed in extracting from her the
+slightest indication of her own opinion as to their expediency. They
+parted, Honain as sanguine as the wicked ever are.
+
+As Miriam dreaded, both for herself and for Alroy, the shock of an
+unexpected meeting, she availed herself of the influence of Honain
+to send Caleb to her brother, to prepare him for her presence, and to
+consult him as to the desirable moment. Caleb found his late master
+lying exhausted on the floor of his dungeon. At first he would not speak
+or even raise his head, nor did he for a long time apparently recognise
+the faithful retainer of his uncle. But at length he grew milder, and
+when he fully comprehended who the messenger was, and the object of his
+mission, he at first seemed altogether disinclined to see his sister,
+but in the end postponed their meeting for the present, and, pleading
+great exhaustion, fixed for that sad interview the first hour of dawn.
+
+The venerable Bostenay had scarcely ever spoken since the fall of his
+nephew; indeed it was but too evident that his faculties, even if they
+had not entirely deserted him, were at least greatly impaired. He never
+quitted his couch; he took no notice of what occurred. He evinced no
+curiosity, scarcely any feeling. If indeed he occasionally did mutter an
+observation, it was generally of an irritable character, nor truly did
+he appear satisfied if anyone approached him, save Miriam, from
+whom alone he would accept the scanty viands which he ever appeared
+disinclined to touch. But his devoted niece, amid all her harrowing
+affliction, could ever spare to the protector of her youth a placid
+countenance, a watchful eye, a gentle voice, and a ready hand. Her
+religion and her virtue, the strength of her faith, and the inspiration
+of her innocence, supported this pure and hapless lady amid all her
+undeserved and unparalleled sorrows.
+
+It was long past midnight; the young widow of Abner reposed upon a couch
+in a soft slumber. The amiable Beruna and the beautiful Bathsheba, the
+curtains drawn, watched the progress of the night.
+
+'Shall I wake her?' said the beautiful Bathsheba. 'Methinks the stars
+are paler! She bade me rouse her long before the dawn.'
+
+'Her sleep is too benign! Let us not wake her,' replied the amiable
+Beruna. 'We rouse her only to sorrow.'
+
+'May her dreams at least be happy;' rejoined the beautiful Bathsheba.
+'She sleeps tranquilly, as a flower.'
+
+'The veil has fallen from her head,' said the amiable Beruna. 'I will
+replace it lightly on her brow. Is that well, my Bathsheba?'
+
+'It is well, sweet Beruna. Her face shrouded by the shawl is like a
+pearl in its shell. See! she moves!'
+
+'Bathsheba!'
+
+'I am here, sweet lady.'
+
+'Is it near dawn?'
+
+'Not yet, sweet lady; it is yet night. It is long past the noon of
+night, sweet lady; methinks I scent the rising breath of morn; but still
+'tis night, and the young moon shines like a sickle in the heavenly
+field, amid the starry harvest.'
+
+'Beruna, gentle girl, give me thy arm. I'll rise.'
+
+The maidens advanced, and gently raising their mistress, supported her
+to the window.
+
+'Since our calamities,' said Miriam, 'I have never enjoyed such tranquil
+slumber. My dreams were slight, but soothing. I saw him, but he smiled.
+Have I slept long, sweet girls? Ye are very watchful.'
+
+'Dear lady, let me bring thy shawl. The air is fresh----'
+
+'But sweet; I thank thee, no. My brow is not so cool as to need a
+covering. 'Tis a fair night!'
+
+Miriam gazed upon the wide prospect of the moonlit capital. The elevated
+position of the citadel afforded an extensive view of the mighty groups
+of buildings-each in itself a city, broken only by some vast and hooded
+cupola, the tall, slender, white minarets of the mosques, or the black
+and spiral form of some lonely cypress--through which the rushing
+Tigris, flooded with light, sent forth its broad and brilliant torrent.
+All was silent; not a single boat floated on the fleet river, not a
+solitary voice broke the stillness of slumbering millions. She gazed
+and, as she gazed, she could not refrain from contrasting the present
+scene, which seemed the sepulchre of all the passions of our race,
+with the unrivalled excitement of that stirring spectacle which Bagdad
+exhibited on the celebration of the marriage of Alroy. How different
+then, too, was her position from her present, and how happy! The only
+sister of a devoted brother, the lord and conqueror of Asia, the bride
+of his most victorious captain, one worthy of all her virtues, and whose
+youthful valour had encircled her brow with a diadem. To Miriam, exalted
+station had brought neither cares nor crimes. It had, as it were, only
+rendered her charity universal, and her benevolence omnipotent. She
+could not accuse herself, this blessed woman--she could not accuse
+herself, even in this searching hour of self-knowledge--she could not
+accuse herself, with all her meekness, and modesty, and humility, of
+having for a moment forgotten her dependence on her God, or her duty to
+her neighbour.
+
+But when her thoughts recurred to that being from whom they were indeed
+scarcely ever absent; and when she remembered him, and all his life,
+and all the thousand incidents of his youth, mysteries to the world, and
+known only to her, but which were indeed the prescience of his fame, and
+thought of all his surpassing qualities and all his sweet affection,
+his unrivalled glory and his impending fate, the tears, in silent agony,
+forced their way down her pale and pensive cheek. She bowed her head
+upon Bathsheba's shoulder, and sweet Beruna pressed her quivering hand.
+
+The moon set, the stars grew white and ghastly, and vanished one by one.
+Over the distant plain of the Tigris, the scene of the marriage pomp,
+the dark purple horizon shivered into a rich streak of white and orange.
+The solemn strain of the Muezzin sounded from the minarets. Some one
+knocked at the door. It was Caleb.
+
+'I am ready,' said Miriam; and for a moment she covered her face with
+her right hand. 'Think of me, sweet maidens; pray for me!'
+
+Leaning on Caleb, and lighted by a gaoler, bearing torches, Miriam
+descended the damp and broken stairs that led to the dungeon. She
+faltered as she arrived at the grate. She stopped, and leant against the
+cold and gloomy wall. The gaoler and Caleb preceded her. She heard the
+voice of Alroy. It was firm and sweet. Its accents reassured her. Caleb
+came forth with a torch, and held it to her feet; and, as he bent down,
+he said, 'My lord bade me beg you to be of good heart, for he is.'
+
+The gaoler, having stuck his torch in the niche, withdrew. Miriam
+desired Caleb to stay without. Then, summoning up all her energies, she
+entered the dreadful abode. Alroy was standing to receive her. The
+light fell full upon his countenance. It smiled. Miriam could no longer
+restrain herself. She ran forward, and pressed him to her heart.
+
+'O, my best, my long beloved,' whispered Alroy; 'such a meeting indeed
+leads captivity captive!'
+
+But the sister could not speak. She leant her head upon his shoulder,
+and closed her eyes, that she might not weep.
+
+'Courage, dear heart; courage, courage!' whispered the captive. 'Indeed
+I am happy!'
+
+'My brother, my brother!'
+
+'Had we met yesterday, you would have found me perhaps a little vexed.
+But to-day I am myself again. Since I crossed the Tigris, I know not
+that I have felt such self-content. I have had sweet dreams, dear
+Miriam, full of solace. And, more than dreams, the Lord has pardoned me,
+I truly think.'
+
+'O, my brother! your words are full of comfort; for, indeed, I too have
+dreamed, and dreamed of consolation. My spirit, since our fall, has
+never been more tranquil.'
+
+'Indeed I am happy.'
+
+'Say so again, my David; let me hear again these words of solace!'
+
+'Indeed, 'tis very true, my faithful friend. It is not spoken in
+kind mockery to make you joyous. For know, last eve, whether the Lord
+repented of his wrath, or whether some dreadful trials, of which I will
+not speak, and wish not to remember, had made atonement for my manifold
+sins, but so it was, that, about the time my angel Miriam sent her
+soothing message, a feeling of repose came over me, such as I long have
+coveted. Anon, I fell into a slumber, deep and sweet, and, instead of
+those wild and whirling images that of late have darted from my brain
+when it should rest, glimpses of empire and conspiracy, snatches of
+fierce wars and mocking loves, I stood beside our native fountain's
+brink, and gathered flowers with my earliest friend. As I placed the
+fragrant captives in your flowing locks, there came Jabaster, that
+great, injured man, no longer stern and awful, but with benignant
+looks, and full of love. And he said, "David, the Lord hath marked thy
+faithfulness, in spite of the darkness of thy dungeon." So he vanished.
+He spoke, my sister, of some strange temptations by heavenly aid
+withstood. No more of that. I awoke. And lo! I heard my name still
+called. Full of my morning dream, I thought it was you, and I answered,
+"Dear sister, art thou here?" But no one answered; and then, reflecting,
+my memory recognised those thrilling tones that summoned Alroy in
+Jabaster's cave.' 'The Daughter of the Voice?' 'Even that sacred
+messenger. I am full of faith. The Lord hath pardoned me. Be sure of
+that.'
+
+'I cannot doubt it, David. You have done great things for Israel; no one
+in these latter days has risen like you. If you have fallen, you were
+young, and strangely tempted.'
+
+'Yet Israel, Israel! Did I not feel a worthier leader will yet arise, my
+heart would crack. I have betrayed my country!'
+
+'Oh no, no, no! You have shown what we can do and shall do. Your memory
+alone is inspiration. A great career, although baulked of its end, is
+still a landmark of human energy. Failure, when sublime, is not without
+its purpose. Great deeds are great legacies, and work with wondrous
+usury. By what Man has done, we learn what Man can do; and gauge the
+power and prospects of our race.'
+
+'Alas! there is no one to guard my name. 'Twill be reviled; or worse,
+'twill be forgotten.'
+
+'Never! the memory of great actions never dies. The sun of glory, though
+awhile obscured, will shine at last. And so, sweet brother, perchance
+some poet, in some distant age, within whose veins our sacred blood may
+flow, his fancy fired with the national theme, may strike his harp to
+Alroy's wild career, and consecrate a name too long forgotten?'
+
+'May love make thee a prophetess!' exclaimed Alroy, as he bent down his
+head and embraced her. 'Do not tarry,' he whispered. ''Tis better that
+we should part in this firm mood.'
+
+She sprang from him, she clasped her hands. 'We will not part,' she
+exclaimed, with energy; 'I will die with thee.'
+
+'Blessed girl, be calm! Do not unman me.'
+
+'I am calm. See! I do not weep. Not a tear, not a tear. They are all in
+my heart.'
+
+'Go, go, my Miriam, angel of light. Tarry no longer; I pray thee go. I
+would not think of the past. Let all my mind be centred in the present.
+Thy presence calls back our bygone days, and softens me too much. My
+duty to my uncle. Go, dear one, go!'
+
+'And leave thee, leave thee to----Oh! my David, thou hast seen, thou
+hast heard----Honain?'
+
+'No more; let not that accursed name profane those holy lips. Raise not
+the demon in me.'
+
+'I am silent. Yet 'tis madness! Oh! my brother, thou hast a fearful
+trial.'
+
+'The God of Israel is my refuge. He saved our fathers in the fiery
+furnace. He will save me.'
+
+'I am full of faith. I pray thee let me stay.'
+
+'I would be silent; I would be alone. I cannot speak, Miriam. I ask one
+favour, the last and dearest, from her who has never had a thought but
+for my wishes; blessed being, leave me.'
+
+'I go. O Alroy, farewell! Let me kiss you. Again, once more! Let me
+kneel and bless you. Brother, beloved brother, great and glorious
+brother, I am worthy of you: I will not weep. I am prouder in this dread
+moment of your love than all your foes can be of their hard triumph!'
+
+Beruna and Bathsheba received their mistress when she returned to her
+chamber. They marked her desolate air. She was silent, pale, and cold.
+They bore her to her couch, whereon she sat with a most listless and
+unmeaning look; her quivering lips parted, her eyes fixed upon the
+ground in vacant abstraction, and her arms languidly folded before
+her. Beruna stole behind her, and supported her back with pillows, and
+Bathsheba, unnoticed, wiped the slight foam from her mouth. Thus Miriam
+remained for several hours, her faithful maidens in vain watching for
+any indication of her self-consciousness.
+
+Suddenly a trumpet sounded.
+
+'What is that?' exclaimed Miriam, in a shrill voice, and looking up with
+a distracted glance.
+
+Neither of them answered, since they were aware that it betokened the
+going forth of Alroy to his trial.
+
+Miriam remained in the same posture, and with the same expression of
+wild inquiry. Another trumpet sounded, and after that a shout of the
+people. Then she raised up her arms to heaven, and bowed her head, and
+died.
+
+'Has the second trumpet sounded?'
+
+'To be sure: run, run for a good place. Where is Abdallah?'
+
+'Selling sherbet in the square. We shall find him. Has Alroy come
+forth?'
+
+'Yes! he goes the other way. We shall be too late. Only think of
+Abdallah selling sherbet!'
+
+'Father, let me go?'
+
+'You will be in the way; you are too young; you will see nothing. Little
+boys should stay at home.'
+
+'No, they should not. I will go. You can put me on your shoulders.'
+
+'Where is Ibrahim? Where is Ali? We must all keep together. We shall
+have to fight for it. I wish Abdallah were here. Only think of his
+selling sherbet!'
+
+'Keep straight forward. That is right. It is no use going that way. The
+bazaar is shut. There is Fakreddin, there is Osman Effendi. He has got a
+new page.'
+
+'So he has, I declare; and a very pretty boy too.'
+
+'Father, will they impale Alroy alive?'
+
+'I am sure I do not know. Never ask questions, my dear. Little boys
+never should.'
+
+'Yes, they should. I hope they will impale him alive. I shall be so
+disappointed if they do not.'
+
+'Keep to the left. Dash through the Butchers' bazaar: that is open. All
+right, all right. Did you push me, sir?'
+
+'Suppose I did push you, sir, what then, sir?'
+
+'Come along, don't quarrel. That is a Karasmian. They think they are to
+do what they like. We are five to one, to be sure, but still there is
+nothing like peace and quiet. I wish Abdallah were here with his stout
+shoulders. Only think of his selling sherbet!'
+
+The Square of the Grand Mosque, the same spot where Jabaster met Abidan
+by appointment, was the destined scene of the pretended trial of Alroy.
+Thither by break of day the sight-loving thousands of the capital had
+repaired. In the centre of the square, a large circle was described by
+a crimson cord, and guarded by Karasmian soldiers. Around this the
+swelling multitude pressed like the gathering waves of ocean, but,
+whenever the tide set in with too great an impulse, the savage
+Karasmians appeased the ungovernable element by raising their
+battle-axes, and brutally breaking the crowns and belabouring the
+shoulders of their nearest victims. As the morning advanced, the
+terraces of the surrounding houses, covered with awnings, were crowded
+with spectators. All Bagdad was astir. Since the marriage of Alroy,
+there had never been such a merry morn as the day of his impalement.
+
+At one end of the circle was erected a magnificent throne. Half way
+between the throne and the other end of the circle, but further back,
+stood a company of negro eunuchs, hideous to behold, who, clothed in
+white, and armed with various instruments of torture, surrounded the
+enormous stakes, tall, thin, and sharp, that were prepared for the final
+ceremony.
+
+The flourish of trumpets, the clash of cymbals, and the wild beat of the
+tambour, announced the arrival of Alp Arslan from the Serail. An avenue
+to the circle had been preserved through the multitude. The royal
+procession might be traced as it wound through the populace, by the
+sparkling and undulating line of plumes of honour, and the dazzling
+forms of the waving streamers, on which were inscribed the names of
+Allah and the Prophet. Suddenly, amid the bursts of music, and
+the shouts of the spectators, many of whom on the terraces humbled
+themselves on their knees, Alp Arslan mounted the throne, around which
+ranged themselves his chief captains, and a deputation of the Mullahs,
+and Imams, and Cadis, and other principal personages of the city.
+
+The King of Karasme was tall in stature, and somewhat meagre in form. He
+was fair, or rather sandy-coloured, with a red beard, and blue eyes,
+and a flat nose. The moment he was seated, a trumpet was heard in the
+distance from an opposite quarter, and it was soon understood throughout
+the assembly that the great captive was about to appear.
+
+A band of Karasmian guards first entered the circle, and ranged
+themselves round the cord, with their backs to the spectators. After
+them came fifty of the principal Hebrew prisoners, with their hands
+bound behind them, but evidently more for form than security. To these
+succeeded a small covered wagon drawn by mules, and surrounded by
+guards, from which was led forth, his legs relieved from their manacles,
+but his hands still in heavy chains, David Alroy!
+
+A universal buzz of blended sympathy, and wonder, and fear, and triumph
+arose, throughout the whole assembly. Each man involuntarily stirred.
+The vast populace moved to and fro in agitation. His garments soiled and
+tattered, his head bare, and his long locks drawn off his forehead, pale
+and thin, but still unsubdued, the late conqueror and Caliph of Bagdad
+threw around a calm and imperial glance upon those who were but recently
+his slaves.
+
+The trumpets again sounded, order was called, and a crier announced that
+his Highness Alp Arslan, the mighty Sovereign of Karasme, their Lord,
+Protector, and King, and avenger of Allah and the Prophet, against all
+rebellious and evil-minded Jews and Giaours, was about to speak. There
+was a deep and universal silence, and then sounded a voice high as the
+eagle's in a storm.
+
+'David Alroy!' said his conqueror, 'you are brought hither this day
+neither for trial nor for judgment. Captured in arms against your
+rightful sovereign, you are of course prepared, like other rebels, for
+your doom. Such a crime alone deserves the most avenging punishments.
+What then do you merit, who are loaded with a thousand infamies, who
+have blasphemed Allah and the Prophet, and, by the practice of magic
+arts and the aid of the infernal powers, have broken the peace of
+kingdoms, occasioned infinite bloodshed, outraged all law, religion, and
+decency, misled the minds of your deluded votaries, and especially by a
+direct compact with Eblis, by horrible spells and infamous incantations,
+captivated the senses of an illustrious Princess, heretofore famous for
+the practice of every virtue, and a descendant of the Prophet himself.
+
+'Behold these stakes of palm-wood, sharper than a lance! The most
+terrible retribution that human ingenuity has devised for the guilty
+awaits you. But your crimes baffle all human vengeance. Look forward
+for your satisfactory reward to those infernal powers by whose dark
+co-operation you have occasioned such disasters. Your punishment is
+public, that all men may know that the guilty never escape, and that,
+if your heart be visited by the slightest degree of compunction for
+your numerous victims, you may this day, by the frank confession of the
+irresistible means by which you seduced them, exonerate your victims
+from the painful and ignominious end with which, through your influence
+they are now threatened. Mark, O assembled people, the infinite mercy
+of the Vicegerent of Allah! He allows the wretched man to confess his
+infamy, and to save by his confession, his unfortunate victims. I have
+said it. Glory to Allah!'
+
+And the people shouted, 'He has said it, he has said it! Glory to Allah!
+He is great, he is great! and Mahomed is his prophet!'
+
+'Am I to speak?' enquired Alroy, when the tumult had subsided. The
+melody of his voice commanded universal attention.
+
+Alp Arslan nodded his head in approbation.
+
+'King of Karasme! I stand here accused of many crimes. Now hear my
+answers. 'Tis said I am a rebel. My answer is, I am a Prince as thou
+art, of a sacred race, and far more ancient. I owe fealty to no one but
+to my God, and if I have broken that I am yet to learn that Alp Arslan
+is the avenger of His power. As for thy God and Prophet, I know not
+them, though they acknowledge mine. 'Tis well understood in every
+polity, my people stand apart from other nations, and ever will, in
+spite of suffering. So much for blasphemy; I am true to a deep faith
+of ancient days, which even the sacred writings of thy race still
+reverence. For the arts magical I practised, and the communion with
+infernal powers 'tis said I held, know, King, I raised the standard of
+my faith by the direct commandment of my God, the great Creator of the
+universe. What need of magic, then? What need of paltering with petty
+fiends, when backed by His omnipotence? My magic was His inspiration.
+Need I prove why, with such aid, my people crowded round me? The time
+will come when from out our ancient seed, a worthier chief will rise,
+not to be quelled even by thee, Sire.
+
+'For that unhappy Princess of whom something was said (with no great
+mercy, as it seemed to me), that lady is my wife, my willing wife; the
+daughter of a Caliph, still my wife, although your stakes may make her
+soon a widow. I stand not here to account for female fancies. Believe
+me, Sire, she gave her beauty to my raptured arms with no persuasions
+but such as became a soldier and a king. It may seem strange to thee
+upon thy throne that the flower of Asia should be plucked by one so vile
+as I am. Remember, the accidents of Fortune are most strange. I was not
+always what I am. We have met before. There was a day, and that too
+not long since, when, but for the treachery of some knaves I mark here,
+Fortune seemed half inclined to reverse our fates. Had I conquered, I
+trust I should have shown more mercy.'
+
+The King of Karasme was the most passionate of men. He had made a speech
+according to the advice and instructions of his councillors, who had
+assured him that the tone he adopted would induce Alroy to confess all
+that he required, and especially to vindicate the reputation of the
+Princess Schirene, who had already contrived to persuade Alp Arslan that
+she was the most injured of her sex. The King of Karasme stamped thrice
+on the platform of his throne, and exclaimed with great fire, 'By my
+beard, ye have deceived me! The dog has confessed nothing!'
+
+All the councillors and chief captains, and the Mullahs, and the
+Imams, and the Cadis, and the principal personages of the city were
+in consternation. They immediately consulted together, and, after much
+disputation, agreed that, before they proceeded to extremities, it was
+expedient to prove what the prisoner would not confess. A venerable
+Sheikh, clothed in flowing robes of green, with a long white beard,
+and a turban like the tower of Babel, then rose. His sacred reputation
+procured silence while he himself delivered a long prayer, supplicating
+Allah and the Prophet to confound all blaspheming Jews and Giaours, and
+to pour forth words of truth from the mouths of religious men. And
+then the venerable Sheikh summoned all witnesses against David Alroy.
+Immediately advanced Kisloch the Kourd, to whom, being placed in an
+eminent position, the Cadi of Bagdad drawing forth a scroll from his
+velvet bag, read a deposition, wherein the worthy Kisloch stated that he
+first became acquainted with the prisoner, David Alroy, in some ruins in
+the desert, the haunt of banditti, of whom Alroy was the chief; that
+he, Kisloch, was a reputable merchant, and that his caravan had been
+plundered by these robbers, and he himself captured; that, on the second
+night of his imprisonment, Alroy appeared to him in the likeness of a
+lion, and on the third, of a bull with fiery eyes; that he was in the
+habit of constantly transforming himself; that he frequently raised
+spirits; that, at length, on one terrible night, Eblis himself came in
+great procession, and presented Alroy with the sceptre of Solomon Ben
+Daoud; and that the next day Alroy raised his standard, and soon after
+massacred Hassan Subah and his Seljuks, by the visible aid of many
+terrible demons.
+
+Calidas the Indian, the Guebre, and the Negro, and a few congenial
+spirits, were not eclipsed in the satisfactory character of their
+evidence by the luminous testimony of Kisloch the Kourd. The
+irresistible career of the Hebrew conqueror was undeniably accounted
+for, and the honour of Moslem arms and the purity of Moslem faith were
+established in their pristine glory and all their unsullied reputation.
+David Alroy was proved to be a child of Eblis, a sorcerer, and a dealer
+in charms and magical poisons. The people listened with horror and with
+indignation. They would have burst through the guards and torn him in
+pieces, had not they been afraid of the Karasmian battle-axes. So they
+consoled themselves with the prospect of his approaching tortures.
+
+The Cadi of Bagdad bowed himself before the King of Karasme, and
+whispered at a respectful distance in the royal ear. The trumpets
+sounded, the criers enjoined silence, and the royal lips again moved.
+
+'Hear, O ye people, and be wise. The chief Cadi is about to read
+the deposition of the royal Princess Schirene, chief victim of the
+sorcerer.'
+
+And the deposition was read, which stated that David Alroy possessed,
+and wore next to his heart, a talisman, given him by Eblis, the virtue
+of which was so great that, if once it were pressed to the heart of any
+woman, she was no longer mistress of her will. Such had been the unhappy
+fate of the daughter of the Commander of the Faithful.
+
+'Is it so written?' enquired the captive.
+
+'It is so written,' replied the Cadi, 'and bears the imperial signature
+of the Princess.'
+
+'It is a forgery.'
+
+The King of Karasme started from his throne, and in his rage nearly
+descended its steps. His face was like scarlet, his beard was like a
+flame. A favourite minister ventured gently to restrain the royal robe.
+
+'Kill the dog on the spot,' muttered the King of Karasme.
+
+'The Princess is herself here,' said the Cadi, 'to bear witness to the
+spells of which she was a victim, but from which, by the power of Allah
+and the Prophet, she is now released.'
+
+Alroy started!
+
+'Advance, royal Princess,' said the Cadi, 'and, if the deposition thou
+hast heard be indeed true, condescend to hold up the imperial hand that
+adorned it with thy signature.'
+
+A band of eunuchs near the throne gave way; a female figure veiled to
+her feet appeared. She held up her hand amid the breathless agitation of
+the whole assembly; the ranks of the eunuchs again closed; a shriek was
+heard, and the veiled figure disappeared.
+
+'I am ready for thy tortures, King,' said Alroy, in a tone of deep
+depression. His firmness appeared to have deserted him. His eyes were
+cast upon the ground. Apparently he was buried in profound thought, or
+had delivered himself up to despair.
+
+'Prepare the stakes,' said Alp Arslan.
+
+An involuntary, but universal, shudder might be distinguished through
+the whole assembly.
+
+A slave advanced and offered Alroy a scroll. He recognised the Nubian
+who belonged to Honain. His former minister informed him that he was
+at hand, that the terms he offered in the dungeon might even yet be
+granted; that if Alroy would, as he doubted not, as he entreated him,
+accept them, he was to place the scroll in his bosom, but that if
+he were still inexorable, still madly determined on a horrible and
+ignominious end, he was to tear the scroll and throw it in to the arena.
+Instantly Alroy took the scroll, and with great energy tore it into a
+thousand pieces. A puff of wind carried the fragments far and wide.
+The mob fought for these last memorials of David Alroy, and this little
+incident occasioned a great confusion.
+
+In the meantime the negroes prepared the instruments of torture and of
+death.
+
+'The obstinacy of this Jewish dog makes me mad,' said the King of
+Karasme to his courtiers. 'I will hold some parley with him before he
+dies.' The favourite minister entreated his sovereign to be content;
+but the royal beard grew so red, and the royal eyes flashed forth such
+terrible sparks of fire, that even the favourite minister at length gave
+way.
+
+The trumpet sounded, the criers called silence, and the voice of Alp
+Arslan was again heard.
+
+'Thou dog, dost see what is preparing for thee? Dost know what awaits
+thee in the halls of thy master Eblis? Can a Jew be influenced even by
+false pride? Is not life sweet? Is it not better to be my slipper-bearer
+than to be impaled?'
+
+'Magnanimous Alp Arslan,' replied Alroy in a tone of undisguised
+contempt; 'thinkest thou that any torture can be equal to the
+recollection that I have been conquered by thee?'
+
+'By my beard, he mocks me!' exclaimed the Karasmian monarch, 'he defies
+me! Touch not my robe. I will parley with him. Ye see no farther than a
+hooded hawk, ye sons of a blind mother. This is a sorcerer; he hath yet
+some master spell; he will yet save himself. He will fly into the air,
+or sink into the earth. He laughs at our tortures.' The King of Karasme
+precipitately descended the steps of his throne, followed by his
+favourite minister, and his councillors, and chief captains, and the
+Cadis, and the Mullahs, and the Imams, and the principal personages of
+the city.
+
+'Sorcerer!' exclaimed Alp Arslan, 'insolent sorcerer! base son of a base
+mother! dog of dogs! dost thou defy us? Does thy master Eblis whisper
+hope? Dost thou laugh at our punishments? Wilt thou fly into the
+air? wilt thou sink into the earth? eh, eh? Is it so, is it so?' The
+breathless monarch ceased, from the exhaustion of passion. He tore his
+beard out by the roots, he stamped with uncontrollable rage.
+
+'Thou art wiser than thy councillors, royal Arslan; I do defy thee.
+My master, although not Eblis, has not deserted me. I laugh at thy
+punishments. Thy tortures I despise. I shall both sink into the earth
+and mount into the air. Art thou answered?'
+
+'By my beard,' exclaimed the enraged Arslan, 'I am answered. Let Eblis
+save thee if he can;' and the King of Karasme, the most famous master
+of the sabre in Asia, drew his blade like lightning from its sheath,
+and took off the head of Alroy at a stroke. It fell, and, as it fell, a
+smile of triumphant derision seemed to play upon the dying features
+of the hero, and to ask of his enemies, 'Where now are all your
+tortures?'[82]
+
+
+
+
+NOTES TO ALROY.
+
+[Footnote 1: page 4.--_We shall yet see an ass mount a ladder_.--Hebrew
+proverb.]
+
+[Footnote 2: page 12.--Our walls are hung with flowers you love. It is
+the custom of the Hebrews in many of their festivals, especially in
+the feast of the Tabernacle, to hang the walls of their chambers with
+garlands of flowers.]
+
+[Footnote 3: page 13.--_The traditionary tomb of Esther and Mordecai_.
+'I accompanied the priest through the town over much ruin and rubbish
+to an enclosed piece of ground, rather more elevated than any in its
+immediate vicinity. In the centre was the Jewish tomb-a square building
+of brick, of a mosque-like form, with a rather elongated dome at the
+top. The door is in the ancient sepulchral fashion of the country, very
+small, consisting of a single stone of great thickness, and turning on
+its own pivots from one side. Its key is always in possession of
+the eldest of the Jews resident at Hamadan. Within the tomb are two
+sarcophagi, made of a very dark wood, carved with great intricacy of
+pattern and richness of twisted ornament, with a line of inscription in
+Hebrew,' &c.--_Sir R. K. Porter's Travels in Persia, vol. ii. p. 107_.]
+
+[Footnote 4: page 16.--_A marble fountain, the richly-carved cupola
+supported by twisted columns_. The vast magnificence and elaborate
+fancy of the tombs and fountains is a remarkable feature of Oriental
+architecture. The Eastern nations devote to these structures the richest
+and the most durable materials. While the palaces of Asiatic monarchs
+are in general built only of wood, painted in fresco, the rarest marbles
+are dedicated to the sepulchre and the spring, which are often richly
+gilt, and adorned even with precious stones.]
+
+[Footnote 5: page 17.--_The chorus of our maidens._ It is still the
+custom for the women in the East to repair at sunset in company to
+the fountain for their supply of water. In Egypt, you may observe at
+twilight the women descending the banks of the Nile in procession from
+every town and village. Their graceful drapery, their long veils not
+concealing their flashing eyes, and the classical forms of their vases,
+render this a most picturesque and agreeable spectacle.]
+
+[Footnote 6: page 24.--I describe the salty deserts of Persia, a
+locality which my tale required; but I have ventured to introduce here,
+and in the subsequent pages, the principal characteristics of the great
+Arabian deserts: the mirage, the simoom, the gazelle, the oasis.]
+
+[Footnote 7: page 28.--_Jackals and marten-cat._ At nightfall,
+especially in Asia Minor, the lonely horseman will often meet the
+jackals on their evening prowl. Their moaning is often heard during the
+night. I remember, when becalmed off Troy, the most singular screams
+were heard at intervals throughout the night, from a forest on the
+opposite shore, which a Greek sailor assured me proceeded from a
+marten-cat, which had probably found the carcass of some horse.]
+
+[Footnote 8: page 30. Elburz, or Elborus, the highest range of the
+Caucasus.]
+
+[Footnote 9: page 31.--_A circular and brazen table, sculptured with
+strange characters and mysterious figures; near it was a couch on which
+lay several volumes._ A cabalistic table, perhaps a zodiac. The
+books were doubtless _Sepher Happeliah_, the Book of Wonders; _Sepher
+Hakkaneh_, the Book of the Pen; and _Sepher Habbahir_, the Book of
+Light. This last unfolds the most sublime mysteries.]
+
+[Footnote 10: page 32.--_Answered the Cabalist._ 'Simeon ben Jochai,
+who flourished in the second century, and was a disciple of Akibha, is
+called by the Jews the Prince of the Cabalists. After the suppression of
+the sedition in which his master had been so unsuccessful, he concealed
+himself in a cave, where, according to the Jewish historians, he
+received revelations, which he after-wards delivered to his disciples,
+and which they carefully preserved in the book called Sohar. His master,
+Akibha, who lived soon after the destruction of Jerusalem, was the
+author of the famous book Jezirah, quoted by the Jews as of Divine
+authority. When Akibha was far advanced in life, appeared the famous
+impostor Barchochebas, who, under the character of the Messiah, promised
+to deliver his countrymen from the power of the Emperor Adrian. Akibha
+espoused his cause, and afforded him the protection and support of his
+name, and an army of two hundred thousand men repaired to his standard.
+The Romans at first slighted the insurrection; but when they found the
+insurgents spread slaughter and rapine wherever they came, they sent out
+a military force against them. At. first, the issue of the contest
+was doubtful. The Messiah himself was not taken until the end of four
+years.'--Enfield, _Philosophy of the Jews_, vol. ii.
+
+'Two methods of instruction were in use among the Jews; the one public,
+or _exoteric_; the other secret, or esoteric. The exoteric doctrine was
+that which was openly taught the people from the law of Moses and the
+traditions of the fathers. The esoteric was that which treated of the
+mysteries of the Divine nature, and other sublime subjects, and was
+known by the name of the Cabala. The latter was, after the manner of the
+Pythagorean and Egyptian mysteries, taught only to certain persons,
+who were bound, under the most solemn anathema, not to divulge it.
+Concerning the miraculous origin and preservation of the Cabala, the
+Jews relate many marvellous tales. They derive these mysteries from
+Adam, and assert that, while the first man was in Paradise, the angel
+Rasiel brought him a book from heaven, which contained the doctrines
+of heavenly wisdom, and that, when Adam received this book, angels came
+down to him to learn its contents, but that he refused to admit them to
+the knowledge of sacred things entrusted to him alone; that, after the
+Fall, this book was taken back into heaven; that, after many prayers
+and tears, God restored it to Adam, from whom it passed to Seth. In the
+degenerate age before the flood this book was lost, and the mysteries it
+contained almost forgotten; but they were restored by special revelation
+to Abraham, who committed them to writing in the book _Jezirah.'--Vide
+Enfield, vol. ii. p. 219_.
+
+'The Hebrew word _Cabala,'_ says Dom Calmet, 'signifies tradition, and
+the Rabbins, who are named Cabalists, apply themselves principally to
+the combination of certain words, numbers, and letters, by the means of
+which they boasted they could reveal the future, and penetrate the
+sense of the most difficult passages of Scripture. This science does not
+appear to have any fixed principles, but depends upon certain ancient
+traditions, whence its name Cabala. The Cabalists have a great number of
+names which they style sacred, by means of which they raise spirits, and
+affect to obtain supernatural intelligence.'--See Calmet, Art. _Cabala_.
+
+'We spake before,' says Lightfoot, 'of the commonness of Magick among
+them, one singular means whereby they kept their own in delusion, and
+whereby they affronted ours. The general expectation of the nation of
+Messias coming when he did had this double and contrary effect, that it
+forwarded those that belonged to God to believe and receive the Gospel;
+and those that did not, it gave encouragement to some to take upon
+them they were Christ or some great prophet, and to others it gave some
+persuasion to be deluded by them. These deceivers dealt most of them
+with Magick, and that cheat ended not when Jerusalem ended, though one
+would have thought that had been a fair term of not further expecting
+Messias; but since the people were willing to be deceived by such
+expectation, there rose up deluders still that were willing to deceive
+them.'--Lightfoot, vol. ii. p. 371.
+
+For many curious details of the Cabalistic Magic, Vide Basnage, vol. v.
+p. 384, &c.]
+
+[Footnote 11: page 34.--_Read the stars no longer_. 'The modern Jews,'
+says Basnage, 'have a great idea of the influence of the stars.' Vol.
+iv. p. 454. But astrology was most prevalent among the Babylonian
+Rabbins, of whom Jabaster was one. Living in the ancient land of the
+Chaldeans, these sacred sages imbibed a taste for the mystic lore of
+their predecessors. The stars moved, and formed letters and lines, when
+consulted by any of the highly-initiated of the Cabalists. This they
+styled the Celestial Alphabet.]
+
+[Footnote 12: page 38.--__The Daughter of the Voice. 'Both the Talmudick
+and the latter Rabbins,' says Lightfoot, 'make frequent mention of _Bath
+Kol, or Filia Vocis_, or an echoing voice which served under the Second
+Temple for their utmost refuge of revelation. For when Urim and Thummim,
+the oracle, was ceased, and prophecy was decayed and gone, they had,
+as they say, certain strange and extraordinary voices upon certain
+extraordinary occasions, which were their warnings and advertisements
+in some special matters. Infinite instances of this might be adduced, if
+they might be believed. Now here it may be questioned why they called
+it _Bath Kol, the daughter of a voice,_ and not a voice itself? If the
+strictness of the Hebrew word Bath be to be stood upon, which always it
+is not, it may be answered, that it is called The Daughter of a Voice
+in relation to the oracles of Urim and Thummim. For whereas that was a
+voice given from off the mercy-seat, within the vail, and this, upon the
+decay of that oracle, came as it were in its place, it might not
+unfitly or improperly be called a _daughter_, or successor of that
+voice.'--Lightfoot, vol. i. pp. 485, 486. Consult also the learned
+Doctor, vol. ii. pp. 128, 129: 'It was used for a testimony from heaven,
+but was indeed performed by magic art.']
+
+[Footnote 13: page 44.--_The walls and turrets of an extensive city_.
+In Persia, and the countries of the Tigris and Euphrates, the traveller
+sometimes arrives at deserted cities of great magnificence and
+antiquity. Such, for instance, is the city of Anneh. I suppose Alroy to
+have entered one of the deserted capitals of the Seleucidae. They are in
+general the haunt of bandits.]
+
+[Footnote 14: page 49.--_Punctured his arm._ From a story told by an
+Arab.]
+
+[Footnote 15: page 52.--_The pilgrim could no longer sustain himself._
+An endeavor to paint the simoom.]
+
+[Footnote 16: page 54.--_By the holy stone._ The Caaba.--The Caaba is
+the same to the Mahomedan as the Holy Sepulchre to the Christian. It is
+the most unseemly, but the most sacred, part of the mosque at Mecca, and
+is a small, square stone building.]
+
+[Footnote 17: page 56.--_I am a Hakim;_ i.e. Physician, an almost sacred
+character in the East. As all Englishmen travel with medicine-chests,
+the Turks are not be wondered at for considering us physicians.]
+
+[Footnote 18: page 57.--_Threw their wanton jerreeds in the air_. The
+Persians are more famous for throwing the jerreed than any other nation.
+A Persian gentleman, while riding quietly by your side, will suddenly
+dash off at full gallop, then suddenly check his horse, and take a long
+aim with his lance with admirable precision. I should doubt, however,
+whether he could hurl a lance a greater distance or with greater force
+and effect than a Nubian, who will fix a mark at sixty yards with his
+javelin.]
+
+[Footnote 19: page 58.--_Some pounded coffee._ The origin of the use of
+coffee is obscure; but there is great reason to believe that it had not
+been introduced in the time of Alroy. When we consider that the life of
+an Oriental at the present day mainly consists in drinking coffee and
+smoking tobacco, we cannot refrain from asking ourselves, 'What did
+he do before either of these comparatively modern inventions was
+discovered?' For a long time, I was inclined to suspect that tobacco
+might have been in use in Asia before it was introduced into Europe; but
+a passage in old Sandys, in which he mentions the wretched tobacco smoke
+in Turkey, and accounts for it by that country being supplied with 'the
+dregs of our markets,' demonstrates that, in his time, there was no
+native growth in Asia. Yet the choicest tobaccos are now grown on the
+coast of Syria, the real Levant. But did the Asiatics smoke any other
+plant or substance before tobacco? In Syria, at the present day, they
+smoke a plant called _timbac_; the Chinese smoke opium; the artificial
+preparations for the hookah are known to all Indians. I believe,
+however, that these are all refinements, and for this reason, that
+in the classic writers, who were as well acquainted with the Oriental
+nations as ourselves, we find no allusion to the practice of smoking.
+The anachronism of the pipe I have not therefore ventured to commit, and
+that of coffee will, I trust, be pardoned.]
+
+[Footnote 20: page 58.--_Wilder gestures of the dancing girls._ These
+dancing girls abound throughout Asia. The most famous are the Almeh of
+Egypt, and the Nautch of India. These last are a caste, the first only a
+profession.]
+
+[Footnote 21: page 64.--_For thee the bastinado_. The bastinado is the
+common punishment of the East, and an effective and dreaded one. It is
+administered on the soles of the feet, the instrument a long cane or
+palm-branch. Public executions are very-rare.]
+
+[Footnote 22: page 73.--_A door of tortoise-shell and mother-of-pearl_.
+This elegant mode of inlay is common in Oriental palaces, and may be
+observed also in Alhambra, at Granada.]
+
+[Footnote 23: page 74.--_A vaulted, circular, and highly embossed roof,
+of purple, scarlet, and gold._ In the very first style of Saracenic
+architecture. See the Hall of the Ambassadors in Alhambra, and many
+other chambers in that exquisite creation.]
+
+[Footnote 24: page 74.--_Nubian eunuchs dressed in rich habits of
+scarlet and gold._ Thus the guard of Nubian eunuchs of the present Pacha
+of Egypt, Mehemet Ali, or rather Caliph, a title which he wishes to
+assume. They ride upon white horses.]
+
+[Footnote 25: page 74.--_A quadrangular court of roses._ So in Alhambra,
+'The Court of Myrtles,' leading to the Court of Columns, wherein is the
+famous Fountain of Lions.]
+
+[Footnote 26: page 75.--_An Abyssinian giant._ A giant is still a common
+appendage to an Oriental court even at the present day. See a very
+amusing story in the picturesque 'Persian Sketches' of that famous
+elchee, Sir John Malcolm.]
+
+[Footnote 27: page 75.--_Surrounded by figures of every rare quadruped._
+'The hall of audience,' says Gibbon, from Cardonne, speaking of the
+magnificence of the Saracens of Cordova, 'was encrusted with gold and
+pearls, and a great basin in the centre was surrounded with the curious
+and costly figures of birds and quadrupeds.'-_Decline and Fall_, vol. x.
+p. 39.]
+
+[Footnote 28: page 76.--_A tree of gold and silver._ 'Among the other
+spectacles of rare and stupendous luxury was a tree of gold and silver,
+spreading into eighteen large branches, on which, and on the lesser
+boughs, sat a variety of birds made of the same precious metals, as
+well as the leaves of the tree. While the machinery effected spontaneous
+motions, the several birds warbled their natural harmony.'-_Gibbon,_
+vol. x. p. 38, from Abulfeda, describing the court of the Caliphs of
+Bagdad in the decline of their power.]
+
+[Footnote 29: page 76.--_Four hundred men led as many white bloodhounds,
+with collars of gold and rubies_. I have somewhere read of an Indian or
+Persian monarch whose coursing was conducted in this gorgeous style: if
+I remember right, it was Mahmoud the Gaznevide.]
+
+[Footnote 30: page 76.--_A steed marked on its forehead with a star._
+The sacred steed of Solorhon.]
+
+[Footnote 31: page 78.--_Instead of water, each basin was replenished
+with the purest quicksilver._ 'In a lofty pavilion of the gardens, one
+of those basins and fountains so delightful in a sultry climate,
+was replenished, not with water, but with the purest quicksilver.'
+--_Gibbon_, vol. x, from Cardonne.]
+
+[Footnote 32: page 78.-_Playing with a rosary of pearls and emeralds_.
+Moslems of rank are never without the rosary, sometimes of amber and
+rare woods, sometimes of jewels. The most esteemed is of that peculiar
+substance called Mecca wood.]
+
+[Footnote 33: page 78.--_The diamond hilt of a small poniard._ The
+insignia of a royal female.]
+
+[Footnote 34: page 83.--_You have been at Paris_. Paris was known to the
+Orientals at this time as a city of considerable luxury and importance.
+The Embassy from Haroun Alraschid to Charlemagne, at an earlier date, is
+of course recollected.]
+
+[Footnote 35: page 90.--_At length beheld the lost capital of his
+fathers._ The finest view of Jerusalem is from the Mount of Olives. It
+is little altered since the period when David Alroy is supposed to have
+gazed upon it, but it is enriched by the splendid Mosque of Omar, built
+by the Moslem conquerors on the supposed site of the temple, and which,
+with its gardens, and arcades, and courts, and fountains, may fairly be
+described as the most imposing of Moslem fanes. I endeavoured to enter
+it at the hazard of my life. I was detected, and surrounded by a crowd
+of turbaned fanatics, and escaped with difficulty; but I saw enough
+to feel that minute inspection would not belie the general character I
+formed of it from the Mount of Olives. I caught a glorious glimpse of
+splendid courts, and light aify gates of Saracenic triumph, flights of
+noble steps, long arcades, and interior gardens, where silver fountains
+spouted their tall streams amid the taller cypresses.]
+
+[Footnote 36: page 91.--_Entered Jerusalem by the gate of Zion_. The
+gate of Zion still remains, and from it you descend into the valley of
+Siloah.]
+
+[Footnote 37: page 94.-_ King Pirgandicus._ According to a Talmudical
+story, however, of which I find a note, this monarch was not a Hebrew
+but a Gentile, and a very wicked one. He once invited eleven famous
+doctors of the holy nation to supper. They were received in the most
+magnificent style, and were then invited, under pain of death, either
+to eat pork, to accept a pagan mistress, or to drink wine consecrated
+to idols. After long consultation, the doctors, in great tribulation,
+agreed to save their heads by accepting the last alternative, since
+the first and second were forbidden by Moses, and the last only by the
+Rabbins. The King assented, the doctors drank the impure wine, and,
+as it was exceedingly good, drank freely. The wine, as will sometimes
+happen, created a terrible appetite; the table was covered with dishes,
+and the doctors, heated by the grape, were not sufficiently careful of
+what they partook. In short, the wicked King Pirgandicus contrived that
+they should sup off pork, and being carried from the table quite tipsy,
+each of the eleven had the mortification of finding himself next morning
+in the arms of a pagan mistress. In the course of the year all the
+eleven died sudden deaths, and this visitation occurred to them, not
+because they had violated the law of Moses, but because they believed
+that the precepts of the Rabbins could be outraged with more impunity
+than the Word of God.]
+
+[Footnote 38: page 94.--_And conquered Julius Caesar._ This classic hero
+often figures in the erratic pages of the Talmud.]
+
+[Footnote 39: page 94.--_The Tombs of the Kings._ The present pilgrim to
+Jerusalem will have less trouble than Alroy in discovering the Tombs of
+the Kings, though he probably would not as easily obtain the sceptre of
+Solomon. The tombs that bear this title are of the time of the Asmonean
+princes, and of a more ambitious character than any other of the
+remains. An open court, about fifty feet in breadth, and extremely
+deep, is excavated out of the rock. One side is formed by a portico, the
+frieze of which is sculptured in a good Syro-Greek style. There is no
+grand portal; you crawl into the tombs by a small opening on one of
+the sides. There are a few small chambers with niches, recesses, and
+sarcophagi, some sculptured in the same flowing style as the frieze.
+This is the most important monument at Jerusalem; and Dr. Clarke,
+who has lavished wonder and admiration on the tombs of Zachariah and
+Absalom, has declared the Tombs of the Kings to be one of the marvellous
+productions of antiquity.]
+
+[Footnote 40: Page 95.--'_Rabbi Hillel_ was one of the most celebrated
+among the Jewish Doctors, both for birth, learning, rule, and children.
+He was of the seed of David by his mother's side, being of the posterity
+of Shephatiah, the son of Abital, David's wife. He was brought up in
+Babel, from whence he came up to Jerusalem at forty years old, and there
+studied the law forty years more under Shemaiah and Abtalion, and after
+them he was President of the Sanhedrim forty years more. The beginning
+of his Presidency is generally conceded upon to have been just one
+hundred 'years before the Temple was destroyed; by which account he
+began eight-and-twenty years before our Saviour was born, and died
+when he was about twelve years old. He is renowned for his fourscore
+scholars.'--_Lightfoot,_ vol. ii. p. 2008.
+
+The great rival of Hillel was Shammai. Their controversies, and the
+fierceness of their partisans, are a principal feature of Rabbinical
+history. They were the same as the Scotists and Thomists. At last
+the Bath Kol interfered, and decided for Hillel, but in a spirit of
+conciliatory dexterity. The Bath Kol came forth and spake thus: 'The
+words both of the one party and the other are the words of the living
+God, but the certain decision of the matter is according to the decrees
+of the school of Hillel. And henceforth, whoever shall transgress the
+decrees of the school of Hillel is punishable with death.']
+
+[Footnote 41: page 97.--_A number of small, square, low chambers._ These
+excavated cemeteries, which abound in Palestine and Egypt, were often
+converted into places of worship by the Jews and early Christians.
+Sandys thus describes the Synagogue at Jerusalem in his time.]
+
+[Footnote 42: page 08.--_Their heads mystically covered._ The Hebrews
+cover their heads during their prayers with a sacred shawl.]
+
+[Footnote 43: page 98.--_Expounded the law to the congregation of the
+people._ The custom, I believe, even to the present day, among the
+Hebrews, a remnant of their old academies, once so famous.]
+
+[Footnote 44: page 99.--_The Valley of Jehoshaphat and the Tomb of
+Absalom._ In the Vale of Jehoshaphat, among many other tombs, are two
+of considerable size, and which, although of a corrupt Grecian
+architecture, are dignified by the titles of the tombs of Zachariah and
+Absalom.]
+
+[Footnote 45: page 101.--_The scanty rill of Siloah._ The sublime Siloah
+is now a muddy rill; you descend by steps to the fountain which is its
+source, and which is covered with an arch. Here the blind man received
+his sight; and, singular enough, to this very day the healing reputation
+of its waters prevails, and summons to its brink all those neighbouring
+Arabs who suffer from the ophthalmic affections not uncommon in this
+part of the world.]
+
+[Footnote 46: page 102.--_Several isolated tombs of considerable size_.
+There are no remains of ancient Jerusalem, or the ancient Jews. Some
+tombs there are which may be ascribed to the Asmonean princes; but all
+the monuments of David, Solomon, and their long posterity, have utterly
+disappeared.]
+
+[Footnote 47: page 103.--_Are cut strange characters and unearthly
+forms_. As at Benihassan, and many other of the sculptured catacombs of
+Egypt.]
+
+[Footnote 48: page 104.--_A crowd of bats rushed forward and
+extinguished his torch._ In entering the Temple of Dendara, our torches
+were extinguished by a crowd of bats.]
+
+[Footnote 49: page 104.--_The gallery was of great extent, with a
+gradual declination._ So in the great Egyptian tombs.]
+
+[Footnote 50: page 105.--_The Afrite, for it was one of those dread
+beings._ Beings of a monstrous form, the most terrible of all the orders
+of the Dives.]
+
+[Footnote 51: page 106.--_An avenue of colossal lions of red granite._
+An avenue of Sphinxes more than a mile in length connected the quarters
+of Luxoor and Carnak in Egyptian Thebes. Its fragments remain. Many
+other avenues of Sphinxes and lion-headed Kings may be observed in
+various parts of Upper Egypt.]
+
+[Footnote 52: page 107.--_A stupendous portal, cut out of the solid
+rock, four hundred feet in height, and supported by clusters of colossal
+Caryatides._ See the great rock temple of Ipsambul in Lower Nubia. The
+sitting colossi are nearly seventy feet in height. But there is a Torso
+of a statue of Rameses the Second at Thebes, vulgarly called the great
+Memnon, which measures upwards of sixty feet round the shoulders.]
+
+[Footnote 53: page 109.--_Fifty steps of ivory, and each step guarded by
+golden lions._ See 1st Kings, chap. x. 18-20.]
+
+[Footnote 54: page 120.--_Crossed the desert on a swift dromedary_. The
+difference between a camel and a dromedary is the difference between a
+hack and a thorough-bred horse. There is no other.]
+
+[Footnote 55: page 121.--_That celestial alphabet known to the true
+Cabalist_. See Note 11.]
+
+[Footnote 56: page 133.--_The last of the Seljuks had expired._ The
+Orientals are famous for their massacres: that of the Mamlouks by
+the present Pacha of Egypt, and of the Janissaries of the Sultan, are
+notorious. But one of the most terrible, and effected under the most
+difficult and dangerous circumstances, was the massacre of the Albanian
+Beys by the Grand Vizir, in the autumn of 1830. I was in Albania at the
+time.]
+
+[Footnote 57: page 136.--_ The minarets were illumined._ So, I remember,
+at Constantinople, at the commencement of 1831 at the departure of the
+Mecca caravan, and also at the annual fast of Ramadan.]
+
+[Footnote 58: page 138.--_One asking alms with a wire run through his
+cheek._ Not uncommon. These Dervishes frequent the bazaars.]
+
+[Footnote 59: page 142.--_One hundred thousand warriors were now
+assembled._ In countries where the whole population is armed, a vast
+military force is soon assembled. Barchochebas was speedily at the head
+of two hundred thousand fighting men, and held the Romans long in check
+under one of their most powerful emperors.]
+
+[Footnote 60: page 143.--_Some high-capped Tatar with despatches._ I
+have availed myself of a familiar character in Oriental life, but
+the use of a Tatar as a courier in the time of Alroy is, I fear, an
+anachronism.]
+
+[Footnote 61: page 144.--_Each day some warlike Atabek, at the head
+of his armed train, poured into the capital of the caliphs._ I was
+at Yanina, the capital of Albania, when the Grand Vizir summoned the
+chieftains of the country, and I was struck by their magnificent arrays
+each day pouring into the city.]
+
+[Footnote 62: page 153.--_It is the Sabbath etc_. 'They began their
+Sabbath from sunset, and the same time of day they ended it.'--Talm.
+Hierosolym. in _Sheveith_, fol. 33, col. I. The eve of the Sabbath,
+or the day before, was called the day of the preparation for the
+Sabbath.--Luke xxiii. 54.
+
+'And from the time of the evening sacrifice and forward, they began to
+fit themselves for the Sabbath, and to cease from their works, so as
+not to go to the barber, not to sit in judgment, &c.; nay, thenceforward
+they would not set things on working, which, being set a-work, would
+complete their business of themselves, unless it would be completed
+before the Sabbath came--_as wool was not put to dye, unless it
+could take colour while it was yet day! &c._--Talm. in Sab., par. I;
+Lightfoot, vol. i. p. 218.
+
+'Towards sunsetting, when the Sabbath was now approaching, they lighted
+up the Sabbath lamp. Men and women were bound to have a lamp lighted
+up in their houses on the Sabbath, though they were never so poor--nay,
+though they were forced to go a-begging for oil for this purpose; and
+the lighting up of this lamp was a part of making the Sabbath a
+delight; and women were especially commanded to look to this
+business.'--Maimonides in Sab. par. 36.]
+
+[Footnote 63: page 156.--_The presence of the robes of honour_. These
+are ever carried in procession, and their number denotes the rank and
+quality of the chief, or of the individual to whom they are offered.]
+
+[Footnote 64: page 158.--_Pressed it to his lips, and placed it in his
+vest._ The elegant mode in which the Orientals receive presents.]
+
+[Footnote 65: page 164.--A cap of transparent pink porcelain, studded with pearls.
+Thus a great Turk, who afforded me hospitality, was accustomed to drink
+his coffee.]
+
+[Footnote 66: page 168.--_Slippers powdered with pearls_. The slippers
+in the East form a very fanciful portion of the costume. It is not
+uncommon to see them thus adorned and beautifully embroidered. In
+precious embroidery and enamelling the Turkish artists are unrivalled.]
+
+[Footnote 67: page 185.--_The policy of the son of Kareah. Vide_
+Jeremiah, chap. xlii.]
+
+[Footnote 68: page 191.--_The inviting gestures and the voluptuous grace
+of the dancing girls of Egypt._ A sculptor might find fine studies in
+the Egyptian Almeh.]
+
+[Footnote 69: page 194.--_Six choice steeds sumptuously
+caparisoned._ Led horses always precede a great man. I think there were
+usually twelve before the Sultan when he went to Mosque, which he did in
+public every Friday.]
+
+[Footnote 70: page 194.--_Six Damascus sabres of unrivalled temper._
+But sabres are not to be found at Damascus, any more than cheeses at
+Stilton, or oranges at Malta. The art of watering the blade is, however,
+practised, I believe, in Persia. A fine Damascus blade will fetch fifty
+or even one hundred guineas English.]
+
+[Footnote 71: page 195.--_Roses from Rocnabad_. A river in Persia famous
+for its bowery banks of roses.]
+
+[Footnote 72: page 195.--_Screens made of the feather of a roc._ The
+screens and fans in the East, made of the plumage of rare birds with
+jewelled handles, are very gorgeous.]
+
+[Footnote 73: page 196.--_A tremulous aigrette of brilliants._ Worn only
+by persons of the highest rank. The Sultan presented Lord Nelson after
+the battle of the Nile with an aigrette of diamonds.]
+
+[Footnote 74: page 211.--_ To send him the whole of the next course._
+These compliments from the tables of the great are not uncommon in
+the East. When at the head-quarters of the Grand Vizir at Yanina, his
+Highness sent to myself and my travelling companions a course from his
+table, singers and dancing girls.]
+
+[Footnote 75: page 212.--_The golden wine of Mount Lebanon_. A most
+delicious wine, from its colour, brilliancy, and rare flavour, justly
+meriting this title, is made on Lebanon; but it will not, unfortunately,
+bear exportation, and even materially suffers in the voyage from the
+coast to Alexandria.]
+
+[Footnote 76: page 221.--_And the company of gardeners_. These gardeners
+of the Serail form a very efficient body of police.]
+
+[Footnote 77: page 226.--Alroy retired to the bath. The bath is a
+principal scene of Oriental life. Here the Asiatics pass a great portion
+of their day. The bath consists of a long suite of chambers of various
+temperatures, in which the different processes of the elaborate ceremony
+are performed.]
+
+[Footnote 78: page 232.--_We are the watchers of the moon._ The feast of
+the New Moon is one of the most important festivals of the Hebrews.
+'Our year,' says the learned author of the 'Rites and Ceremonies,' 'is
+divided into twelve lunar months, some of which consist of twenty-nine,
+others of thirty days, which difference is occasioned by the various
+appearance of the new moon, in point of time: for if it appeared on the
+30th day, the 29th was the last day of the precedent month; but if it
+did not appear till the 31st day, the 30th was the last day, and the
+31st the first of the subsequent month; and that was an intercalary
+moon, of all which take the following account.
+
+'Our nation heretofore, not only observing the rules of some fixed
+calculation, also celebrated the feast of the New Moon, according to
+the phasis or first appearance of the moon, which was done in compliance
+with God's command, as our received traditions inform us.
+
+'Hence it came to pass that the first appearance was not to be
+determined only by rules of art, but also by the testimony of such
+persons as deposed before the Sanhedrim, or Great Senate, that they had
+seen the New Moon. So a committee of three were appointed from among the
+said Sanhedrim to receive the deposition of the parties aforesaid,
+who, after having calculated what time the moon might possibly appear,
+despatched some persons _into high and mountainous places, to observe
+and give their evidence accordingly, concerning the first appearance of
+the moon._
+
+'As soon as the new moon was either consecrated or appointed to be
+observed, notice was given by the Sanhedrim to the rest of the nation
+what day had been fixed for the New Moon, or first day of the month,
+because that was to be the rule and measure according to which they were
+obliged to keep their feasts and fasts in every month respectively.
+
+'This notice was given to them in time of peace, _by firing of beacons,
+set up for that purpose,_ which was looked upon as the readiest way
+of communication, but, in time of war, when all places were full of
+enemies, who made use of beacons to amuse our nation with, it was
+thought fit to discontinue it.']
+
+[Footnote 79: page 263.--_The women chatted at the fountain_. The bath
+and the fountain are the favourite scenes of feminine conversation.]
+
+[Footnote 80: page 264.--_Playing chess._ On the walls of the palace of
+Amenoph the Second, called Medeenet Abuh, at Egyptian Thebes, the King
+is represented playing chess with the Queen. This monarch reigned long
+before the Trojan war.]
+
+[Footnote 81: page 272.--_Impaled._ A friend of mine witnessed this
+horrible punishment in Upper Egypt. The victim was a man who had
+secretly murdered nine persons. He held an official post, and invited
+travellers and pilgrims to his house, whom he regularly disposed of
+and plundered. I regret that I have mislaid his MS. account of the
+ceremony.]
+
+[Footnote 82: page 299.--In the _Germen Davidis of Gants_, translated
+into Latin by Vorstius, Lug. 1654, is an extract from a Hebrew MS.
+containing an account of Alroy. I subjoin a translation of a passage
+respecting his death.
+
+R. Maimonides deposes: That the Sultan asked him whether he were the
+Messiah, and that he answered him, "I am"; and that then the monarch
+inquired of him what sign he had. To this he replied that they might cut
+off his head and that he would return to life. Then the King commanded
+that his head should be cut off, and he died, having said previously
+to the monarch that the latter should not lack in his life the most
+grievous torments.
+
+Seven years before the incident quoted above, the Israelites had serious
+troubles on account of a son of Belial who called himself the Messiah,
+so that the tetrarch and the princes were justly incensed against the
+Jews, to such an extent, indeed, that they sent to the latter to inquire
+whether they desired the reign of the Messiah. The name of this accursed
+troubler was David El-David, _alias_ Alroy, who hailed from the city
+of Omadia, where were gathered about a thousand rich, honest, happy and
+decently-living families, whose tabernacle was the principal resort
+of those that dwelt in the neighbourhood of the river Sabbathion; and
+around them were gathered more than a hundred minor tabernacles.
+
+This city was on the border of the region of Media, and the dialect
+used there was the Targum. Thence to the region of Golan is a journey
+of fifty days. It is under the rule of Persia, to which it pays a
+heavy tribute every fifteen years, and one golden talent in addition.
+Moreover, this man David El-David was educated under the Prince of the
+Chaldean captivity, in the care of the eminent Scholiarch, in the city
+of Bagdad, who was preeminently wise in the Talmud and in all foreign
+sciences, as well as in all books of divination, magic, and Chaldean
+lore; This David El-David, out of the boldness and arrogance of his
+heart, lifted his hand against the ruling powers, and collected those
+Jews who dwelt in the neighbourhood of Mount Chophtan, seducing them to
+follow him into battle against all the neighbouring peoples. He showed
+them signs-of what value they knew not: there were men, indeed, who
+supported him on account of his magic art and of certain things to be
+done; others said that his great power came from the hand of God. Those
+who flocked to him called him the Messiah, lauding and extolling him.
+
+In another epoch of Persian history a certain Jew arose, calling himself
+the Messiah, and prospered greatly. A large part of the Israelitish
+population believed in him. But when the King indeed heard of all this
+pretender's power, and that he proposed to join battle with him, he sent
+to the Jews who lived thereabouts and notified them that unless they
+deserted this man, and came oui; from all association with him, they
+certainly should be slain, every one of them, with the sword, and
+afterward the children and the women should perish. Then the whole
+population of Israel assembled, and argued with this man, and threw
+themselves down before him on the ground, strongly supplicating him,
+with clamour and tears, to depart from them. Why, indeed, should he
+put them and others in danger? Had not the King already sworn that they
+should perish by the sword, and wherefore should he bring affliction
+upon all the Jewish inhabitants of Persia? Responding, he said: "I have
+come to serve you, and ye will not have me. Whom do ye fear? Who dares
+stand in front of me, and what doth this Persian King that he dare not
+oppose me and my sword?" The Jews asked him what sign he had that he
+was the Messiah. He answered: "My mission prospers: the Messiah needs no
+other sign." They answered that many had acted likewise, and that none
+had reached success. Then he drove them forth from his face with superb
+indignation.]
+
+
+
+
+
+End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of Alroy, by Benjamin Disraeli
+
+*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK ALROY ***
+
+***** This file should be named 20002.txt or 20002.zip *****
+This and all associated files of various formats will be found in:
+        http://www.gutenberg.org/2/0/0/0/20002/
+
+Produced by David Widger
+
+Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions
+will be renamed.
+
+Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no
+one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation
+(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without
+permission and without paying copyright royalties.  Special rules,
+set forth in the General Terms of Use part of this license, apply to
+copying and distributing Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works to
+protect the PROJECT GUTENBERG-tm concept and trademark.  Project
+Gutenberg is a registered trademark, and may not be used if you
+charge for the eBooks, unless you receive specific permission.  If you
+do not charge anything for copies of this eBook, complying with the
+rules is very easy.  You may use this eBook for nearly any purpose
+such as creation of derivative works, reports, performances and
+research.  They may be modified and printed and given away--you may do
+practically ANYTHING with public domain eBooks.  Redistribution is
+subject to the trademark license, especially commercial
+redistribution.
+
+
+
+*** START: FULL LICENSE ***
+
+THE FULL PROJECT GUTENBERG LICENSE
+PLEASE READ THIS BEFORE YOU DISTRIBUTE OR USE THIS WORK
+
+To protect the Project Gutenberg-tm mission of promoting the free
+distribution of electronic works, by using or distributing this work
+(or any other work associated in any way with the phrase "Project
+Gutenberg"), you agree to comply with all the terms of the Full Project
+Gutenberg-tm License (available with this file or online at
+http://gutenberg.org/license).
+
+
+Section 1.  General Terms of Use and Redistributing Project Gutenberg-tm
+electronic works
+
+1.A.  By reading or using any part of this Project Gutenberg-tm
+electronic work, you indicate that you have read, understand, agree to
+and accept all the terms of this license and intellectual property
+(trademark/copyright) agreement.  If you do not agree to abide by all
+the terms of this agreement, you must cease using and return or destroy
+all copies of Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works in your possession.
+If you paid a fee for obtaining a copy of or access to a Project
+Gutenberg-tm electronic work and you do not agree to be bound by the
+terms of this agreement, you may obtain a refund from the person or
+entity to whom you paid the fee as set forth in paragraph 1.E.8.
+
+1.B.  "Project Gutenberg" is a registered trademark.  It may only be
+used on or associated in any way with an electronic work by people who
+agree to be bound by the terms of this agreement.  There are a few
+things that you can do with most Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works
+even without complying with the full terms of this agreement.  See
+paragraph 1.C below.  There are a lot of things you can do with Project
+Gutenberg-tm electronic works if you follow the terms of this agreement
+and help preserve free future access to Project Gutenberg-tm electronic
+works.  See paragraph 1.E below.
+
+1.C.  The Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation ("the Foundation"
+or PGLAF), owns a compilation copyright in the collection of Project
+Gutenberg-tm electronic works.  Nearly all the individual works in the
+collection are in the public domain in the United States.  If an
+individual work is in the public domain in the United States and you are
+located in the United States, we do not claim a right to prevent you from
+copying, distributing, performing, displaying or creating derivative
+works based on the work as long as all references to Project Gutenberg
+are removed.  Of course, we hope that you will support the Project
+Gutenberg-tm mission of promoting free access to electronic works by
+freely sharing Project Gutenberg-tm works in compliance with the terms of
+this agreement for keeping the Project Gutenberg-tm name associated with
+the work.  You can easily comply with the terms of this agreement by
+keeping this work in the same format with its attached full Project
+Gutenberg-tm License when you share it without charge with others.
+
+1.D.  The copyright laws of the place where you are located also govern
+what you can do with this work.  Copyright laws in most countries are in
+a constant state of change.  If you are outside the United States, check
+the laws of your country in addition to the terms of this agreement
+before downloading, copying, displaying, performing, distributing or
+creating derivative works based on this work or any other Project
+Gutenberg-tm work.  The Foundation makes no representations concerning
+the copyright status of any work in any country outside the United
+States.
+
+1.E.  Unless you have removed all references to Project Gutenberg:
+
+1.E.1.  The following sentence, with active links to, or other immediate
+access to, the full Project Gutenberg-tm License must appear prominently
+whenever any copy of a Project Gutenberg-tm work (any work on which the
+phrase "Project Gutenberg" appears, or with which the phrase "Project
+Gutenberg" is associated) is accessed, displayed, performed, viewed,
+copied or distributed:
+
+This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with
+almost no restrictions whatsoever.  You may copy it, give it away or
+re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included
+with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org
+
+1.E.2.  If an individual Project Gutenberg-tm electronic work is derived
+from the public domain (does not contain a notice indicating that it is
+posted with permission of the copyright holder), the work can be copied
+and distributed to anyone in the United States without paying any fees
+or charges.  If you are redistributing or providing access to a work
+with the phrase "Project Gutenberg" associated with or appearing on the
+work, you must comply either with the requirements of paragraphs 1.E.1
+through 1.E.7 or obtain permission for the use of the work and the
+Project Gutenberg-tm trademark as set forth in paragraphs 1.E.8 or
+1.E.9.
+
+1.E.3.  If an individual Project Gutenberg-tm electronic work is posted
+with the permission of the copyright holder, your use and distribution
+must comply with both paragraphs 1.E.1 through 1.E.7 and any additional
+terms imposed by the copyright holder.  Additional terms will be linked
+to the Project Gutenberg-tm License for all works posted with the
+permission of the copyright holder found at the beginning of this work.
+
+1.E.4.  Do not unlink or detach or remove the full Project Gutenberg-tm
+License terms from this work, or any files containing a part of this
+work or any other work associated with Project Gutenberg-tm.
+
+1.E.5.  Do not copy, display, perform, distribute or redistribute this
+electronic work, or any part of this electronic work, without
+prominently displaying the sentence set forth in paragraph 1.E.1 with
+active links or immediate access to the full terms of the Project
+Gutenberg-tm License.
+
+1.E.6.  You may convert to and distribute this work in any binary,
+compressed, marked up, nonproprietary or proprietary form, including any
+word processing or hypertext form.  However, if you provide access to or
+distribute copies of a Project Gutenberg-tm work in a format other than
+"Plain Vanilla ASCII" or other format used in the official version
+posted on the official Project Gutenberg-tm web site (www.gutenberg.org),
+you must, at no additional cost, fee or expense to the user, provide a
+copy, a means of exporting a copy, or a means of obtaining a copy upon
+request, of the work in its original "Plain Vanilla ASCII" or other
+form.  Any alternate format must include the full Project Gutenberg-tm
+License as specified in paragraph 1.E.1.
+
+1.E.7.  Do not charge a fee for access to, viewing, displaying,
+performing, copying or distributing any Project Gutenberg-tm works
+unless you comply with paragraph 1.E.8 or 1.E.9.
+
+1.E.8.  You may charge a reasonable fee for copies of or providing
+access to or distributing Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works provided
+that
+
+- You pay a royalty fee of 20% of the gross profits you derive from
+     the use of Project Gutenberg-tm works calculated using the method
+     you already use to calculate your applicable taxes.  The fee is
+     owed to the owner of the Project Gutenberg-tm trademark, but he
+     has agreed to donate royalties under this paragraph to the
+     Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation.  Royalty payments
+     must be paid within 60 days following each date on which you
+     prepare (or are legally required to prepare) your periodic tax
+     returns.  Royalty payments should be clearly marked as such and
+     sent to the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation at the
+     address specified in Section 4, "Information about donations to
+     the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation."
+
+- You provide a full refund of any money paid by a user who notifies
+     you in writing (or by e-mail) within 30 days of receipt that s/he
+     does not agree to the terms of the full Project Gutenberg-tm
+     License.  You must require such a user to return or
+     destroy all copies of the works possessed in a physical medium
+     and discontinue all use of and all access to other copies of
+     Project Gutenberg-tm works.
+
+- You provide, in accordance with paragraph 1.F.3, a full refund of any
+     money paid for a work or a replacement copy, if a defect in the
+     electronic work is discovered and reported to you within 90 days
+     of receipt of the work.
+
+- You comply with all other terms of this agreement for free
+     distribution of Project Gutenberg-tm works.
+
+1.E.9.  If you wish to charge a fee or distribute a Project Gutenberg-tm
+electronic work or group of works on different terms than are set
+forth in this agreement, you must obtain permission in writing from
+both the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation and Michael
+Hart, the owner of the Project Gutenberg-tm trademark.  Contact the
+Foundation as set forth in Section 3 below.
+
+1.F.
+
+1.F.1.  Project Gutenberg volunteers and employees expend considerable
+effort to identify, do copyright research on, transcribe and proofread
+public domain works in creating the Project Gutenberg-tm
+collection.  Despite these efforts, Project Gutenberg-tm electronic
+works, and the medium on which they may be stored, may contain
+"Defects," such as, but not limited to, incomplete, inaccurate or
+corrupt data, transcription errors, a copyright or other intellectual
+property infringement, a defective or damaged disk or other medium, a
+computer virus, or computer codes that damage or cannot be read by
+your equipment.
+
+1.F.2.  LIMITED WARRANTY, DISCLAIMER OF DAMAGES - Except for the "Right
+of Replacement or Refund" described in paragraph 1.F.3, the Project
+Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation, the owner of the Project
+Gutenberg-tm trademark, and any other party distributing a Project
+Gutenberg-tm electronic work under this agreement, disclaim all
+liability to you for damages, costs and expenses, including legal
+fees.  YOU AGREE THAT YOU HAVE NO REMEDIES FOR NEGLIGENCE, STRICT
+LIABILITY, BREACH OF WARRANTY OR BREACH OF CONTRACT EXCEPT THOSE
+PROVIDED IN PARAGRAPH F3.  YOU AGREE THAT THE FOUNDATION, THE
+TRADEMARK OWNER, AND ANY DISTRIBUTOR UNDER THIS AGREEMENT WILL NOT BE
+LIABLE TO YOU FOR ACTUAL, DIRECT, INDIRECT, CONSEQUENTIAL, PUNITIVE OR
+INCIDENTAL DAMAGES EVEN IF YOU GIVE NOTICE OF THE POSSIBILITY OF SUCH
+DAMAGE.
+
+1.F.3.  LIMITED RIGHT OF REPLACEMENT OR REFUND - If you discover a
+defect in this electronic work within 90 days of receiving it, you can
+receive a refund of the money (if any) you paid for it by sending a
+written explanation to the person you received the work from.  If you
+received the work on a physical medium, you must return the medium with
+your written explanation.  The person or entity that provided you with
+the defective work may elect to provide a replacement copy in lieu of a
+refund.  If you received the work electronically, the person or entity
+providing it to you may choose to give you a second opportunity to
+receive the work electronically in lieu of a refund.  If the second copy
+is also defective, you may demand a refund in writing without further
+opportunities to fix the problem.
+
+1.F.4.  Except for the limited right of replacement or refund set forth
+in paragraph 1.F.3, this work is provided to you 'AS-IS' WITH NO OTHER
+WARRANTIES OF ANY KIND, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO
+WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTIBILITY OR FITNESS FOR ANY PURPOSE.
+
+1.F.5.  Some states do not allow disclaimers of certain implied
+warranties or the exclusion or limitation of certain types of damages.
+If any disclaimer or limitation set forth in this agreement violates the
+law of the state applicable to this agreement, the agreement shall be
+interpreted to make the maximum disclaimer or limitation permitted by
+the applicable state law.  The invalidity or unenforceability of any
+provision of this agreement shall not void the remaining provisions.
+
+1.F.6.  INDEMNITY - You agree to indemnify and hold the Foundation, the
+trademark owner, any agent or employee of the Foundation, anyone
+providing copies of Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works in accordance
+with this agreement, and any volunteers associated with the production,
+promotion and distribution of Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works,
+harmless from all liability, costs and expenses, including legal fees,
+that arise directly or indirectly from any of the following which you do
+or cause to occur: (a) distribution of this or any Project Gutenberg-tm
+work, (b) alteration, modification, or additions or deletions to any
+Project Gutenberg-tm work, and (c) any Defect you cause.
+
+
+Section  2.  Information about the Mission of Project Gutenberg-tm
+
+Project Gutenberg-tm is synonymous with the free distribution of
+electronic works in formats readable by the widest variety of computers
+including obsolete, old, middle-aged and new computers.  It exists
+because of the efforts of hundreds of volunteers and donations from
+people in all walks of life.
+
+Volunteers and financial support to provide volunteers with the
+assistance they need, is critical to reaching Project Gutenberg-tm's
+goals and ensuring that the Project Gutenberg-tm collection will
+remain freely available for generations to come.  In 2001, the Project
+Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation was created to provide a secure
+and permanent future for Project Gutenberg-tm and future generations.
+To learn more about the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation
+and how your efforts and donations can help, see Sections 3 and 4
+and the Foundation web page at http://www.pglaf.org.
+
+
+Section 3.  Information about the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive
+Foundation
+
+The Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation is a non profit
+501(c)(3) educational corporation organized under the laws of the
+state of Mississippi and granted tax exempt status by the Internal
+Revenue Service.  The Foundation's EIN or federal tax identification
+number is 64-6221541.  Its 501(c)(3) letter is posted at
+http://pglaf.org/fundraising.  Contributions to the Project Gutenberg
+Literary Archive Foundation are tax deductible to the full extent
+permitted by U.S. federal laws and your state's laws.
+
+The Foundation's principal office is located at 4557 Melan Dr. S.
+Fairbanks, AK, 99712., but its volunteers and employees are scattered
+throughout numerous locations.  Its business office is located at
+809 North 1500 West, Salt Lake City, UT 84116, (801) 596-1887, email
+business@pglaf.org.  Email contact links and up to date contact
+information can be found at the Foundation's web site and official
+page at http://pglaf.org
+
+For additional contact information:
+     Dr. Gregory B. Newby
+     Chief Executive and Director
+     gbnewby@pglaf.org
+
+
+Section 4.  Information about Donations to the Project Gutenberg
+Literary Archive Foundation
+
+Project Gutenberg-tm depends upon and cannot survive without wide
+spread public support and donations to carry out its mission of
+increasing the number of public domain and licensed works that can be
+freely distributed in machine readable form accessible by the widest
+array of equipment including outdated equipment.  Many small donations
+($1 to $5,000) are particularly important to maintaining tax exempt
+status with the IRS.
+
+The Foundation is committed to complying with the laws regulating
+charities and charitable donations in all 50 states of the United
+States.  Compliance requirements are not uniform and it takes a
+considerable effort, much paperwork and many fees to meet and keep up
+with these requirements.  We do not solicit donations in locations
+where we have not received written confirmation of compliance.  To
+SEND DONATIONS or determine the status of compliance for any
+particular state visit http://pglaf.org
+
+While we cannot and do not solicit contributions from states where we
+have not met the solicitation requirements, we know of no prohibition
+against accepting unsolicited donations from donors in such states who
+approach us with offers to donate.
+
+International donations are gratefully accepted, but we cannot make
+any statements concerning tax treatment of donations received from
+outside the United States.  U.S. laws alone swamp our small staff.
+
+Please check the Project Gutenberg Web pages for current donation
+methods and addresses.  Donations are accepted in a number of other
+ways including checks, online payments and credit card donations.
+To donate, please visit: http://pglaf.org/donate
+
+
+Section 5.  General Information About Project Gutenberg-tm electronic
+works.
+
+Professor Michael S. Hart is the originator of the Project Gutenberg-tm
+concept of a library of electronic works that could be freely shared
+with anyone.  For thirty years, he produced and distributed Project
+Gutenberg-tm eBooks with only a loose network of volunteer support.
+
+
+Project Gutenberg-tm eBooks are often created from several printed
+editions, all of which are confirmed as Public Domain in the U.S.
+unless a copyright notice is included.  Thus, we do not necessarily
+keep eBooks in compliance with any particular paper edition.
+
+
+Most people start at our Web site which has the main PG search facility:
+
+     http://www.gutenberg.org
+
+This Web site includes information about Project Gutenberg-tm,
+including how to make donations to the Project Gutenberg Literary
+Archive Foundation, how to help produce our new eBooks, and how to
+subscribe to our email newsletter to hear about new eBooks.
diff --git a/20002.zip b/20002.zip
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..d31e794
--- /dev/null
+++ b/20002.zip
diff --git a/LICENSE.txt b/LICENSE.txt
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..6312041
--- /dev/null
+++ b/LICENSE.txt
@@ -0,0 +1,11 @@
+This eBook, including all associated images, markup, improvements,
+metadata, and any other content or labor, has been confirmed to be
+in the PUBLIC DOMAIN IN THE UNITED STATES.
+
+Procedures for determining public domain status are described in
+the "Copyright How-To" at https://www.gutenberg.org.
+
+No investigation has been made concerning possible copyrights in
+jurisdictions other than the United States. Anyone seeking to utilize
+this eBook outside of the United States should confirm copyright
+status under the laws that apply to them.
diff --git a/README.md b/README.md
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..d38fbe5
--- /dev/null
+++ b/README.md
@@ -0,0 +1,2 @@
+Project Gutenberg (https://www.gutenberg.org) public repository for
+eBook #20002 (https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/20002)
diff --git a/old/20002-h.htm.2021-01-25 b/old/20002-h.htm.2021-01-25
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..b56f8ea
--- /dev/null
+++ b/old/20002-h.htm.2021-01-25
@@ -0,0 +1,13806 @@
+<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?>
+
+<!DOCTYPE html
+   PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Strict//EN"
+   "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-strict.dtd" >
+
+<html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml" lang="en">
+  <head>
+    <title>
+      Alroy, by Benjamin Disraeli
+    </title>
+    <style type="text/css" xml:space="preserve">
+
+    body { margin:5%; background:#faebd7; text-align:justify}
+    P { text-indent: 1em; margin-top: .25em; margin-bottom: .25em; }
+    H1,H2,H3,H4,H5,H6 { text-align: center; margin-left: 15%; margin-right: 15%; }
+    hr  { width: 50%; text-align: center;}
+    .foot { margin-left: 20%; margin-right: 20%; text-align: justify; text-indent: -3em; font-size: 90%; }
+    blockquote {font-size: 97%; font-style: italic; margin-left: 10%; margin-right: 10%;}
+    .mynote    {background-color: #DDE; color: #000; padding: .5em; margin-left: 10%; margin-right: 10%; font-family: sans-serif; font-size: 95%;}
+    .toc       { margin-left: 10%; margin-bottom: .75em;}
+    .toc2      { margin-left: 20%;}
+    div.fig { display:block; margin:0 auto; text-align:center; }
+    .figleft   {float: left; margin-left: 0%; margin-right: 1%;}
+    .figright  {float: right; margin-right: 0%; margin-left: 1%;}
+    pre     { font-style: italic; font-size: 90%; margin-left: 10%;}
+
+</style>
+  </head>
+  <body>
+<pre xml:space="preserve">
+
+The Project Gutenberg EBook of Alroy, by Benjamin Disraeli
+
+This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with
+almost no restrictions whatsoever.  You may copy it, give it away or
+re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included
+with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org
+
+
+Title: Alroy
+       The Prince Of The Captivity
+
+Author: Benjamin Disraeli
+
+Release Date: December 3, 2006 [EBook #20002]
+Last Updated: August 26, 2016
+
+Language: English
+
+Character set encoding: UTF-8
+
+*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK ALROY ***
+
+
+
+
+Produced by David Widger
+
+
+
+
+
+</pre>
+
+    <p>
+      <br /> <br />
+    </p>
+    <h1>
+      <b>ALROY</b>
+    </h1>
+    <h3>
+      OR
+    </h3>
+    <h2>
+      <i>THE PRINCE OF THE CAPTIVITY</i>
+    </h2>
+    <p>
+      <br /> <br />
+    </p>
+    <h2>
+      By Benjamin Disraeli
+    </h2>
+    <div class="fig" style="width:80%;">
+      width="100%" /><br />
+    </div>
+    <p>
+      <a name="linkimage-0001" id="linkimage-0001">
+      <!-- IMG --></a>
+    </p>
+    <div class="fig" style="width:80%;">
+      <img src="images/alroy_cover.jpg" alt="Cover " width="100%" /><br />
+    </div>
+    <p>
+      <a name="linkimage-0002" id="linkimage-0002">
+      <!-- IMG --></a>
+    </p>
+    <div class="fig" style="width:80%;">
+      <img src="images/alroy_frontis_174.jpg" alt="Alroy-frontis-174 "   width="100%" /><br />
+    </div>
+    <p>
+      <a name="linkimage-0003" id="linkimage-0003">
+      <!-- IMG --></a>
+    </p>
+    <div class="fig" style="width:80%;">
+      <img src="images/frontis_label.jpg" alt="Frontis-label " width="100%" /><br />
+    </div>
+    <p>
+      <br />
+    </p>
+    <blockquote>
+      <p class="toc">
+        <big><b>CONTENTS</b></big>
+      </p>
+      <p>
+        <br />
+      </p>
+      <p class="toc">
+        <a href="#link2H_4_0001"> <big><b>A L R O Y</b></big> </a>
+      </p>
+      <p>
+        <br />
+      </p>
+      <p class="toc">
+        <a href="#linkpreface"> PREFACE </a>
+      </p>
+      <p>
+        <br />
+      </p>
+      <p class="toc">
+        <a href="#link2HCH0001"> CHAPTER I. </a>
+      </p>
+      <p class="toc">
+        <a href="#link2HCH0002"> CHAPTER II. </a>
+      </p>
+      <p class="toc">
+        <a href="#link2HCH0003"> CHAPTER III </a>
+      </p>
+      <p class="toc">
+        <a href="#link2HCH0004"> CHAPTER IV. </a>
+      </p>
+      <p class="toc">
+        <a href="#link2HCH0005"> CHAPTER V. </a>
+      </p>
+      <p class="toc">
+        <a href="#link2HCH0006"> CHAPTER VI. </a>
+      </p>
+      <p class="toc">
+        <a href="#link2HCH0007"> CHAPTER VII. </a>
+      </p>
+      <p class="toc">
+        <a href="#link2HCH0008"> CHAPTER VIII. </a>
+      </p>
+      <p class="toc">
+        <a href="#link2HCH0009"> CHAPTER IX. </a>
+      </p>
+      <p class="toc">
+        <a href="#link2HCH0010"> CHAPTER X. </a>
+      </p>
+      <p class="toc">
+        <a href="#link2H_NOTE"> NOTES TO ALROY. </a>
+      </p>
+      <p>
+        <br /> <br /> <br /> <br />
+      </p>
+      <p class="toc">
+        <big><b>ILLUSTRATIONS</b></big>
+      </p>
+      <p>
+        <br />
+      </p>
+      <p class="toc">
+        <a href="#linkimage-0001"> Cover </a>
+      </p>
+      <p class="toc">
+        <a href="#linkimage-0002"> Alroy-frontis-174 </a>
+      </p>
+      <p class="toc">
+        <a href="#linkimage-0003"> Frontis-label </a>
+      </p>
+      <p class="toc">
+        <a href="#linkimage-0004"> Page001 </a>
+      </p>
+      <p class="toc">
+        <a href="#linkimage-0005"> Page020 </a>
+      </p>
+      <p class="toc">
+        <a href="#linkimage-0006"> Page174 </a>
+      </p>
+    </blockquote>
+    <p>
+      <br /> <br />
+    </p>
+    <hr />
+    <p>
+      <br /> <br /> <a name="linkpreface" id="linkpreface"></a> <br />
+    </p>
+    <h2>
+      AUTHOR&rsquo;S PREFACE
+    </h2>
+    <p>
+      Being at Jerusalem in the year 1831, and visiting the traditionary tombs
+      of the Kings of Israel, my thoughts recurred to a personage whose
+      marvellous career had, even in boyhood, attracted my attention, as one
+      fraught with the richest materials of poetic fiction. And I then commenced
+      these pages that should commemorate the name of Alroy. In the twelfth
+      century, when he arose, this was the political condition of the East:
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      The Caliphate was in a state of rapid decay. The Seljukian Sultans, who
+      had been called to the assistance of the Commanders of the Faithful, had
+      become, like the Mayors of the palace in France, the real sovereigns of
+      the Empire. Out of the dominions of the successors of the Prophet, they
+      had carved four kingdoms, which conferred titles on four Seljukian
+      Princes, to wit, the Sultan of Bagdad, the Sultan of Persia, the Sultan of
+      Syria, and the Sultan of Roum, or Asia Minor.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      But these warlike princes, in the relaxed discipline and doubtful conduct
+      of their armies, began themselves to evince the natural effects of luxury
+      and indulgence. They were no longer the same invincible and irresistible
+      warriors who had poured forth from the shores of the Caspian over the
+      fairest regions of the East; and although they still contrived to preserve
+      order in their dominions, they witnessed with ill-concealed apprehension
+      the rising power of the Kings of Karasmé, whose conquests daily made their
+      territories more contiguous.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      With regard to the Hebrew people, it should be known that, after the
+      destruction of Jerusalem, the Eastern Jews, while they acknowledged the
+      supremacy of their conquerors, gathered themselves together for all
+      purposes of jurisdiction, under the control of a native ruler, a reputed
+      descendant of David, whom they dignified with the title of &lsquo;The Prince of
+      the Captivity.&rsquo; If we are to credit the enthusiastic annalists of this
+      imaginative people, there were periods of prosperity when the Princes of
+      the Captivity assumed scarcely less state and enjoyed scarcely less power
+      than the ancient Kings of Judah themselves. Certain it is that their power
+      increased always in an exact proportion to the weakness of the Caliphate,
+      and, without doubt, in some of the most distracted periods of the Arabian
+      rule, the Hebrew Princes rose into some degree of local and temporary
+      importance. Their chief residence was Bagdad, where they remained until
+      the eleventh century, an age fatal in Oriental history, from the disasters
+      of which the Princes of the Captivity were not exempt. They are heard of
+      even in the twelfth century. I have ventured to place one at Hamadan,
+      which was a favourite residence of the Hebrews, from being the
+      burial-place of Esther and Mordecai.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      With regard to the supernatural machinery of this romance, it is
+      Cabalistical and correct. From the Spirits of the Tombs to the sceptre of
+      Solomon, authority may be found in the traditions of the Hebrews for the
+      introduction of all these spiritual agencies.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Grosvenor Gate: July, 1845.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      <br /> <br />
+    </p>
+    <hr />
+    <p>
+      <br /> <br /> <a name="link2H_4_0001" id="link2H_4_0001">
+      <!--  H2 anchor --> </a>
+    </p>
+    <div style="height: 4em;">
+      <br /><br /><br /><br />
+    </div>
+    <h1>
+      <b>A L R O Y</b>
+    </h1>
+    <p>
+      <a name="linkimage-0004" id="linkimage-0004">
+      <!-- IMG --></a>
+    </p>
+    <div class="fig" style="width:80%;">
+      <img src="images/page001.jpg" alt="Page001 " width="100%" /><br />
+    </div>
+    <p>
+      <a name="link2HCH0001" id="link2HCH0001">
+      <!--  H2 anchor --> </a>
+    </p>
+    <div style="height: 4em;">
+      <br /><br /><br /><br />
+    </div>
+    <h2>
+      CHAPTER I.
+    </h2>
+<pre xml:space="preserve">
+    <i>A Great Day for Israel.</i>
+</pre>
+    <p>
+      THE cornets sounded a final flourish as the Prince of the Captivity
+      dismounted from his white mule; his train shouted as if they were once
+      more a people; and, had it not been for the contemptuous leer which played
+      upon the countenances of the Moslem bystanders, it might have been taken
+      for a day of triumph rather than of tribute.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;The glory has not departed!&rsquo; exclaimed the venerable Bostenay, as he
+      entered the hall of his mansion. &lsquo;It is not as the visit of Sheba unto
+      Solomon; nevertheless the glory has not yet departed. You have done well,
+      faithful Caleb.&rsquo; The old man&rsquo;s courage waxed more vigorous, as each step
+      within his own walls the more assured him against the recent causes of his
+      fear, the audible curses and the threatened missiles of the unbelieving
+      mob.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;It shall be a day of rejoicing and thanksgiving!&rsquo; continued the Prince;
+      &lsquo;and look, my faithful Caleb, that the trumpeters be well served. That
+      last flourish was bravely done. It was not as the blast before Jericho;
+      nevertheless, it told that the Lord of Hosts was for us. How the accursed
+      Ishmaelites started! Did you mark, Caleb, that tall Turk in green upon my
+      left? By the sceptre of Jacob, he turned pale! Oh! it shall be a day of
+      rejoicing and thanksgiving! And spare not the wine, nor the flesh-pots for
+      the people. Look you to this, my child, for the people shouted bravely and
+      with a stout voice. It was not as the great shout in the camp when the ark
+      returned; nevertheless, it was boldly done, and showed that the glory had
+      not yet departed. So spare not the wine, my son, and drink to the
+      desolation of Ishmael in the juice which he dare not quaff.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;It has indeed been a great day for Israel!&rsquo; exclaimed Caleb, echoing his
+      master&rsquo;s exultation.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Had the procession been forbidden,&rsquo; continued Bostenay, &lsquo;had it been
+      reserved for me of all the princes to have dragged the accursed tribute
+      upon foot, without trumpets and without guards, by this sceptre, my good
+      Caleb, I really think that, sluggishly as this old blood now runs, I would&mdash;&mdash;
+      But it is needless now to talk; the God of our fathers hath been our
+      refuge.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Verily, my lord, we were as David in the wilderness of Ziph; but now we
+      are as the Lord&rsquo;s anointed in the stronghold of Engedi!&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;The glory truly has not yet utterly departed,&rsquo; resumed the Prince in a
+      more subdued tone; &lsquo;yet if&mdash;&mdash; I tell you what, Caleb; praise
+      the Lord that you are young.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;My Prince too may yet live to see the good day.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Nay, my child, you misinterpret me. Your Prince has lived to see the evil
+      day. &lsquo;Twas not of the coming that I thought when I bid you praise the Lord
+      because you were young, the more my sin. I was thinking, Caleb, that if
+      your hair was as mine, if you could recollect, like me, the days that are
+      gone by, the days when it needed no bride to prove we were princes,«the
+      glorious days when we led captivity captive; I was thinking, I say, my
+      son, what a gainful heritage it is to be born after the joys that have
+      passed away.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;My father lived at Babylon,&rsquo; said Caleb. &lsquo;Oh! name it not! name it not!&rsquo;
+      exclaimed the old chieftain. &lsquo;Dark was the day that we lost that second
+      Zion! We were then also slaves to the Egyptian; but verily we ruled over
+      the realm of Pharaoh. Why, Caleb, Caleb, you who know all, the days of
+      toil, the nights restless as a love-sick boy&rsquo;s, which it has cost your
+      Prince to gain permission to grace our tribute-day with the paltry
+      presence of half-a-dozen guards; you who know all my difficulties, who
+      have witnessed all my mortifications, what would you say to the purse of
+      dirhems, surrounded by seven thousand scimitars?&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Seven thousand scimitars!&rsquo; &lsquo;Not one less; my father flourished one.&rsquo; &lsquo;It
+      was indeed a great day for Israel!&rsquo; &lsquo;Nay, that is nothing. When old Alroy
+      was prince, old David Alroy, for thirty years, good Caleb, thirty long
+      years we paid <i>no</i> tribute to the Caliph.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;No tribute! no tribute for thirty years! What marvel then, my Prince,
+      that the Philistines have of late exacted interest?&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Nay, that is nothing,&rsquo; continued old Bostenay, unmindful of his servant&rsquo;s
+      ejaculations. &lsquo;When Moctador was Caliph, he sent to the same Prince David,
+      to know why the dirhems were not brought up, and David immediately called
+      to horse, and, attended by all the chief people, rode to the palace, and
+      told the Caliph that tribute was an acknowledgment made from the weak to
+      the strong to insure protection and support; and, inasmuch as he and his
+      people had garrisoned the city for ten years against the Seljuks, he held
+      the Caliph in arrear.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;We shall yet see an ass mount a ladder,&rsquo;<a href="#linknote-1"
+       name="linknoteref-1" id="linknoteref-1">1</a> exclaimed Caleb, with
+      uplifted eyes of wonder.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;It is true, though,&rsquo; continued the Prince; &lsquo;often have I heard my father
+      tell the tale. He was then a child, and his mother held him up to see the
+      procession return, and all the people shouted &ldquo;The sceptre has not gone
+      out of Jacob.&rdquo;&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;It was indeed a great day for Israel.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Nay, that is nothing. I could tell you such things! But we prattle; our
+      business is not yet done. You to the people; the widow and the orphan are
+      waiting. Give freely, good Caleb, give freely; the spoils of the Canaanite
+      are no longer ours, nevertheless the Lord is still our God, and, after
+      all, even this is a great day for Israel. And, Caleb, Caleb, bid my
+      nephew, David Alroy, know that I would speak with him.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;I will do all promptly, good master! We wondered that our honoured lord,
+      your nephew, went not up with the donation this day.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Who bade you wonder? Begone, sir! How long are you to idle here? Away!
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;They wonder he went not up with the tribute to-day. Ay! surely, a common
+      talk. This boy will be our ruin, a prudent hand to wield our shattered
+      sceptre. I have observed him from his infancy; he should have lived in
+      Babylon. The old Alroy blood flows in his veins, a stiff-necked race. When
+      I was a youth, his grandsire was my friend; I had some fancies then
+      myself. Dreams, dreams! we have fallen on evil days, and yet we prosper. I
+      have lived long enough to feel that a rich caravan, laden with the shawls
+      of India and the stuffs of Samarcand, if not exactly like dancing before
+      the ark, is still a goodly sight. And our hard-hearted rulers, with all
+      their pride, can they subsist without us? Still we wax rich. I have lived
+      to see the haughty Caliph sink into a slave viler far than Israel. And the
+      victorious and voluptuous Seljuks, even now they tremble at the dim
+      mention of the distant name of Arslan. Yet I, Bostenay, and the frail
+      remnant of our scattered tribes, still we exist, and still, thanks to our
+      God! we prosper. But the age of power has passed; it is by prudence now
+      that we must flourish. The gibe and jest, the curse, perchance the blow,
+      Israel now must bear, and with a calm or even smiling visage. What then?
+      For every gibe and jest, for every curse, I&rsquo;ll have a dirhem; and for
+      every blow, let him look to it who is my debtor, or wills to be so. But
+      see, he comes, my nephew! His grandsire was my friend. Methinks I look
+      upon him now: the same Alroy that was the partner of my boyish hours. And
+      yet that fragile form and girlish face but ill consort with the dark
+      passions and the dangerous fancies, which, I fear, lie hidden in that
+      tender breast. Well, sir?&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;You want me, uncle?&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;What then? Uncles often want what nephews seldom offer.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;I at least can refuse nothing; for I have naught to give.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;You have a jewel which I greatly covet.&rsquo; &lsquo;A jewel! See my chaplet! You
+      gave it me, my uncle; it is yours.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;I thank you. Many a blazing ruby, many a soft and shadowy pearl, and many
+      an emerald glowing like a star in the far desert, I behold, my child. They
+      are choice stones, and yet I miss a jewel far more precious, which, when I
+      gave you this rich chaplet, David, I deemed you did possess.&rsquo; &lsquo;How do you
+      call it, sir?&rsquo; &lsquo;Obedience.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;A word of doubtful import; for to obey, when duty is disgrace, is not a
+      virtue.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;I see you read my thought. In a word, I sent for you to know, wherefore
+      you joined me not to-day in offering our&mdash;our&mdash;&mdash;&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Tribute.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Be it so: tribute. Why were you absent?&rsquo; &lsquo;Because it was a tribute; I pay
+      none.&rsquo; &lsquo;But that the dreary course of seventy winters has not erased the
+      memory of my boyish follies, David, I should esteem you mad. Think you,
+      because I am old, I am enamoured of disgrace, and love a house of bondage?
+      If life were a mere question between freedom and slavery, glory and
+      dishonour, all could decide. Trust me, there needs but little spirit to be
+      a moody patriot in a sullen home, and vent your heroic spleen upon your
+      fellow-sufferers, whose sufferings you cannot remedy. But of such stuff
+      your race were ever made. Such deliverers ever abounded in the house of
+      Alroy. And what has been the result? I found you and your sister orphan
+      infants, your sceptre broken, and your tribes dispersed. The tribute,
+      which now at least we pay like princes, was then exacted with the scourge
+      and offered in chains. I collected our scattered people, I re-established
+      our ancient throne, and this day, which you look upon as a day of
+      humiliation and of mourning, is rightly considered by all a day of triumph
+      and of feasting; for, has it not proved in the very teeth of the
+      Ishmaelites, that the sceptre has not yet departed from Jacob?&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;I pray you, uncle, speak not of these things. I would not willingly
+      forget you are my kinsman, and a kind one. Let there not be strife between
+      us. What my feelings are is nothing. They are my own: I cannot change
+      them. And for my ancestors, if they pondered much, and achieved little,
+      why then &lsquo;twould seem our pedigree is pure, and I am their true son. At
+      least one was a hero.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Ah! the great Alroy; you may well be proud of such an ancestor.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;I am ashamed, uncle, ashamed, ashamed.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;His sceptre still exists. At least, I have not betrayed him. And this
+      brings me to the real purport of our interview. That sceptre I would
+      return.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;To whom?&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;To its right owner, to yourself.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Oh! no, no, no; I pray you, I pray you not. I do entreat you, sir, forget
+      that I have a right as utterly as I disclaim it. That sceptre you have
+      wielded it wisely and well; I beseech you keep it. Indeed, good uncle, I
+      have no sort of talent for all the busy duties of this post.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;You sigh for glory, yet you fly from toil.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Toil without glory is a menial&rsquo;s lot.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;You are a boy; you may yet live to learn that the sweetest lot of life
+      consists in tranquil duties and well-earned repose.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;If my lot be repose, I&rsquo;ll find it in a lair.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Ah! David, David, there is a wildness in your temper, boy, that makes me
+      often tremble. You are already too much alone, child. And for this, as
+      well as weightier reasons, I am desirous that you should at length assume
+      the office you inherit. What my poor experience can afford to aid you, as
+      your counsellor, I shall ever proffer; and, for the rest, our God will not
+      desert you, an orphan child, and born of royal blood.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Pr&rsquo;ythee, no more, kind uncle. I have but little heart to mount a throne,
+      which only ranks me as the first of slaves.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Pooh, pooh, you are young. Live we like slaves? Is this hall a servile
+      chamber? These costly carpets, and these rich divans, in what proud harem
+      shall we find their match? I feel not like a slave. My coffers are full of
+      dirhems. Is that slavish? The wealthiest company of the caravan is ever
+      Bostenay&rsquo;s. Is that to be a slave? Walk the bazaar of Bagdad, and you will
+      find my name more potent than the Caliph&rsquo;s. Is that a badge of slavery?&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Uncle, you toil for others.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;So do we all, so does the bee, yet he is free and happy.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;At least he has a sting.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Which he can use but once, and when he stings&mdash;&mdash;&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;He dies, and like a hero. Such a death is sweeter than his honey.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Well, well, you are young, you are young. I once, too, had fancies.
+      Dreams all, dreams all. I willingly would see you happy, child. Come, let
+      that face brighten; after all, to-day is a great day. If you had seen what
+      I have seen, David, you too would feel grateful. Come, let us feast. The
+      Ishmaelite, the accursed child of Hagar, he does confess to-day that you
+      are a prince; this day also you complete your eighteenth year. The custom
+      of our people now requires that you should assume the attributes of
+      manhood. To-day, then, your reign commences; and at our festival I will
+      present the elders to their prince. For a while, farewell, my child. Array
+      that face in smiles. I shall most anxiously await your presence.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Farewell, sir.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      He turned his head and watched his uncle as he departed: the bitter
+      expression of his countenance gradually melted away as Bostenay
+      disappeared: dejection succeeded to sarcasm; he sighed, he threw himself
+      upon a couch and buried his face in his hands.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Suddenly he arose and paced the chamber with an irregular and moody step.
+      He stopped, and leant against a column. He spoke in a tremulous and
+      smothered voice:
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Oh! my heart is full of care, and my soul is dark with sorrow! What am I?
+      What is all this? A cloud hangs heavy o&rsquo;er my life. God of my fathers, let
+      it burst!
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;I know not what I feel, yet what I feel is madness. Thus to be is not to
+      live, if life be what I sometimes dream, and dare to think it might be. To
+      breathe, to feed, to sleep, to wake and breathe again, again to feel
+      existence without hope; if this be life, why then these brooding thoughts
+      that whisper death were better?
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Away! The demon tempts me. But to what? What nameless deed shall
+      desecrate this hand? It must not be: the royal blood of twice two thousand
+      years, it must not die, die like a dream. Oh! my heart is full of care,
+      and my soul is dark with sorrow!
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Hark! the trumpets that sound our dishonour. Oh, that they but sounded to
+      battle! Lord of Hosts, let me conquer or die! Let me conquer like David;
+      or die, Lord, like Saul!
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Why do I live? Ah! could the thought that lurks within my secret heart
+      but answer, not that trumpet&rsquo;s blast could speak as loud or clear. The
+      votary of a false idea, I linger in this shadowy life, and feed on silent
+      images which no eye but mine can gaze upon, till at length they are
+      invested with all the terrible circumstance of life, and breathe, and act,
+      and form a stirring world of fate and beauty, time, and death, and glory.
+      And then, from out this dazzling wilderness of deeds, I wander forth and
+      wake, and find myself in this dull house of bondage, even as I do now.
+      Horrible! horrible!
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;God, of my fathers! for indeed I dare not style thee God of their
+      wretched sons; yet, by the memory of Sinai, let me tell thee that some of
+      the antique blood yet beats within these pulses, and there yet is one who
+      fain would commune with thee face to face, commune and conquer.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;And if the promise unto which we cling be not a cheat, why, let him come,
+      come, and come quickly, for thy servant Israel, Lord, is now a slave so
+      infamous, so woe-begone, and so contemned, that even when our fathers hung
+      their harps by the sad waters of the Babylonian stream, why, it was
+      paradise compared with what we suffer.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Alas! they do not suffer; they endure and do not feel. Or by this time
+      our shadowy cherubim would guard again the ark. It is the will that is the
+      father to the deed, and he who broods over some long idea, however wild,
+      will find his dream was but the prophecy of coming fate.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;And even now a vivid flash darts through the darkness of my mind.
+      Methinks, methinks&mdash;ah! worst of woes to dream of glory in despair.
+      No, no; I live and die a most ignoble thing; beauty and love, and fame and
+      mighty deeds, the smile of women and the gaze of men, and the ennobling
+      consciousness of worth, and all the fiery course of the creative passions,
+      these are not for me, and I, Alroy, the descendant of sacred kings, and
+      with a soul that pants for empire, I stand here extending my vain arm for
+      my lost sceptre, a most dishonoured slave! And do I still exist? Exist!
+      ay, merrily. Hark! Festivity holds her fair revel in these light-hearted
+      walls. We are gay to-day; and yet, ere yon proud sun, whose mighty course
+      was stayed before our swords that now he even does not deign to shine
+      upon; ere yon proud sun shall, like a hero from a glorious field, enter
+      the bright pavilion of his rest, there shall a deed be done.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;My fathers, my heroic fathers, if this feeble arm cannot redeem your
+      heritage; if the foul boar must still wallow in thy sweet vineyard,
+      Israel, at least I will not disgrace you. No! let me perish. The house of
+      David is no more; no more our sacred seed shall lurk and linger, like a
+      blighted thing, in this degenerate earth. If we cannot flourish, &lsquo;why,
+      then, we will die!&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Oh! say not so, my brother!&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      He turns, he gazes on a face beauteous as a starry night; his heart is
+      full, his voice is low.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Ah, Miriam! thou queller of dark spirits! is it thou? Why art thou here?&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Why am I here? Are you not here? and need I urge a stronger plea? Oh!
+      brother dear, I pray you come, and mingle in our festival. Our walls are
+      hung with flowers you love;<a href="#linknote-2" name="linknoteref-2"
+       id="linknoteref-2">2</a> I culled them by the fountain&rsquo;s side; the holy
+      lamps are trimmed and set, and you must raise their earliest flame.
+      Without the gate, my maidens wait, to offer you a robe of state. Then,
+      brother dear, I pray you come and mingle in our festival.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Why should we feast?&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Ah! is it not in thy dear name these lamps are lit, these garlands hung?
+      To-day to us a prince is given, to-day&mdash;&mdash;&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;A prince without a kingdom.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;But not without that which makes kingdoms precious, and which full many a
+      royal heart has sighed for, willing subjects, David.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Slaves, Miriam, fellow-slaves.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;What we are, my brother, our God has willed; and let us bow and tremble.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;I will not bow, I cannot tremble.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Hush, David, hush! It was this haughty spirit that called the vengeance
+      of the Lord upon us.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;It was this haughty spirit that conquered Canaan.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Oh, my brother, my dear brother! they told me the dark spirit had fallen
+      on thee, and I came, and hoped that Miriam might have charmed it. What we
+      may have been, Alroy, is a bright dream; and what we may be, at least as
+      bright a hope; and for what we are, thou art my brother. In thy love I
+      find present felicity, and value more thy chance embraces and thy scanty
+      smiles than all the vanished splendour of our race, our gorgeous gardens,
+      and our glittering halls.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Who waits without there?&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Caleb.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Caleb!&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;My lord.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Go tell my uncle that I will presently join the banquet. Leave me a
+      moment, Miriam. Nay, dry those tears.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Oh, Alroy! they are not tears of sorrow.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;God be with thee! Thou art the charm and consolation of my life.
+      Farewell! farewell!
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;I do observe the influence of women very potent over me. &lsquo;Tis not of such
+      stuff that they make heroes. I know not love, save that pure affection
+      which doth subsist between me and this girl, an orphan and my sister. We
+      are so alike, that when, last Passover, in mimicry she twined my turban
+      round her head, our uncle called her David.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;The daughters of my tribe, they please me not, though they are passing
+      fair. Were our sons as brave as they are beautiful, we still might dance
+      on Sion. Yet have I often thought that, could I pillow this moody brow
+      upon some snowy bosom that were my own, and dwell in the wilderness, far
+      from the sight and ken of man, and all the care and toil and wretchedness
+      that groan and sweat and sigh about me, I might haply lose this deep
+      sensation of overwhelming woe that broods upon by being. No matter! Life
+      is but a dream, and mine must be a dull one.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Without the gates of Hamadan, a short distance from the city, was an
+      enclosed piece of elevated ground, in the centre of which rose an ancient
+      sepulchre, the traditionary tomb of Esther and Mordecai.<a
+      href="#linknote-3" name="linknoteref-3" id="linknoteref-3">3</a> This
+      solemn and solitary spot was an accustomed haunt of Alroy, and thither,
+      escaping from the banquet, about an hour before sunset, he this day
+      repaired.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      As he unlocked the massy gate of the burial-place, he heard behind him the
+      trampling of a horse; and before he had again secured the entrance, some
+      one shouted to him.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      He looked up, and recognised the youthful and voluptuous Alschiroch, the
+      governor of the city, and brother of the sultan of the Seljuks. He was
+      attended only by a single running footman, an Arab, a detested favourite,
+      and notorious minister of his pleasures.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Dog!&rsquo; exclaimed the irritated Alschiroch, &lsquo;art thou deaf, or obstinate,
+      or both? Are we to call twice to our slaves? Unlock that gate!&rsquo;
+      &lsquo;Wherefore?&rsquo; inquired Alroy.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Wherefore! By the holy Prophet, he bandies questions with us! Unlock that
+      gate, or thy head shall answer for it!&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Who art thou,&rsquo; inquired Alroy, &lsquo;whose voice is so loud? Art thou some
+      holiday Turk, who hath transgressed the orders of thy Prophet, and drunken
+      aught but water? Go to, or I will summon thee before thy Cadi;&rsquo; and, so
+      saying, he turned towards the tomb.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;By the eyes of my mother, the dog jeers us! But that we are already late,
+      and this horse is like an untamed tiger, I would impale him on the spot.
+      Speak to the dog, Mustapha! manage him!&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Worthy Hebrew,&rsquo; said the silky Mustapha, advancing, &lsquo;apparently you are
+      not aware that this is our Lord Alschiroch. His highness would fain walk
+      his horse through the burial-ground of thy excellent people, as he is
+      obliged to repair, on urgent matters, to a holy Santon, who sojourns on
+      the other side of the hill, and time presses.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;If this be our Lord Alschiroch, thou doubtless art his faithful slave,
+      Mustapha.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;I am, indeed, his poor slave. What then, young master?&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Deem thyself lucky that the gate is closed. It was but yesterday thou
+      didst insult the sister of a servant of my house. I would not willingly
+      sully my hands with such miserable blood as thine, out away, wretch,
+      away!&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Holy Prophet! who is this dog?&rsquo; exclaimed the astonished governor.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;&lsquo;Tis the young Alroy,&rsquo; whispered Mustapha, who had not at first
+      recognised him; &lsquo;he they call their Prince; a most headstrong youth. My
+      lord, we had better proceed.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;The young Alroy! I mark him. They must have a prince too! The young
+      Alroy! Well, let us away, and, dog!&rsquo; shouted Alschiroch, rising in his
+      stirrups, and shaking his hand with a threatening air, &lsquo;dog! remember thy
+      tribute!&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Alroy rushed to the gate, but the massy lock was slow to open; and ere he
+      could succeed, the fiery steed had borne Alschiroch beyond pursuit.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      An expression of baffled rage remained for a moment on his countenance;
+      for a moment he remained with his eager eye fixed on the route of his
+      vanished enemy, and then he walked slowly towards the tomb; but his
+      excited temper was now little in unison with the still reverie in which he
+      had repaired to the sepulchre to indulge. He was restless and disquieted,
+      and at length he wandered into the woods, which rose on the summit of the
+      burial-place.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      He found himself upon a brow crested with young pine-trees, in the midst
+      of which rose a mighty cedar. He threw himself beneath its thick and
+      shadowy branches, and looked upon a valley small and green; in the midst
+      of which was a marble fountain, the richly-carved cupola,<a
+      href="#linknote-4" name="linknoteref-4" id="linknoteref-4">4</a> supported
+      by twisted columns, and banded by a broad inscription in Hebrew
+      characters. The bases of the white pillars were covered with wild flowers,
+      or hidden by beds of variegated gourds. The transparent sunset flung over
+      the whole scene a soft but brilliant light.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      The tranquil hour, the beauteous scene, the sweetness and the stillness
+      blending their odour and serenity, the gentle breeze that softly rose, and
+      summoned forth the languid birds to cool their plumage in the twilight
+      air, and wave their radiant wings in skies as bright&mdash;&mdash; Ah!
+      what stern spirit will not yield to the soft genius of subduing eve?
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      And Alroy gazed upon the silent loneliness of earth, and a tear stole down
+      his haughty cheek.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;&lsquo;Tis singular! but when I am thus alone at this still hour, I ever fancy
+      I gaze upon the Land of Promise. And often, in my dreams, some sunny spot,
+      the bright memorial of a roving hour, will rise upon my sight, and, when I
+      wake, I feel as if I had been in Canaan. Why am I not? The caravan that
+      bears my uncle&rsquo;s goods across the Desert would bear me too. But I rest
+      here, my miserable life running to seed in the dull misery of this
+      wretched city, and do nothing. Why, the old captivity was empire to our
+      inglorious bondage. We have no Esther now to share their thrones, no
+      politic Mordecai, no purple-vested Daniel. O Jerusalem, Jerusalem! I do
+      believe one sight of thee would nerve me to the sticking-point. And yet to
+      gaze upon thy fallen state, my uncle tells me that of the Temple not a
+      stone remains. &lsquo;Tis horrible. Is there no hope?&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;<i>The bricks are fallen, but we will rebuild with marble; the sycamores
+      are cut down, but we will replace them with cedars.</i>&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;The chorus of our maidens, as they pay their evening visit to the
+      fountain&rsquo;s side.<a href="#linknote-5" name="linknoteref-5"
+       id="linknoteref-5">5</a> The burden is prophetic.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Hark again! How beautifully, upon the soft and flowing air, their sweet
+      and mingled voices blend and float!&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;<i>YET AGAIN I WILL BUILD THEE, AND THOU SHALT BE BUILT, O VIRGIN OF
+      ISRAEL! YET AGAIN SHALT THOU DECK THYSELF WITH THY TABRETS, AND GO FORTH
+      IN THE DANCE OF THOSE THAT MAKE MERRY. YET AGAIN SHALT THOU PLANT
+      VINEYARDS ON THE MOUNTAINS OF SAMARIA.</i>&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;See! their white forms break through the sparkling foliage of the sunny
+      shrubs as they descend, with measured step, that mild declivity. A fair
+      society in bright procession: each one clothed in solemn drapery, veiling
+      her shadowy face with modest hand, and bearing on her graceful head a
+      graceful vase. Their leader is my sister.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;And now they reach the fountain&rsquo;s side, and dip their vases in the water,
+      pure and beauteous as themselves. Some repose beneath the marble pillars;
+      some, seated &lsquo;mid the flowers, gather sweets, and twine them into
+      garlands; and that wild girl, now that the order is broken, touches with
+      light fingers her moist vase, and showers startling drops of glittering
+      light on her serener sisters. Hark! again they sing.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;<i>O VINE OF SIBMAH! UPON THY SUMMER FRUITS, AND UPON THY VINTAGE, A
+      SPOILER HATH FALLEN!</i>&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      A scream, a shriek, a long wild shriek, confusion, flight, despair!
+      Behold! from out the woods a tur-baned man rushes, and seizes the leader
+      of the chorus. Her companions fly on all sides, Miriam alone is left in
+      the arms of Alschiroch.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      The water column wildly rising from the breast of summer ocean, in some
+      warm tropic clime, when the sudden clouds too well discover that the
+      holiday of heaven is over, and the shrieking sea-birds tell a time of
+      fierce commotion, the column rising from the sea, it was not so wild as
+      he, the young Alroy.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Pallid and mad, he swift upsprang, and he tore up a tree by its lusty
+      roots, and down the declivity, dashing with rapid leaps, panting and wild,
+      he struck the ravisher on the temple with the mighty pine. Alschiroch fell
+      lifeless on the sod, and Miriam fainting into her brother&rsquo;s arms.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      And there he stood, fixed and immovable, gazing upon his sister&rsquo;s deathly
+      face, and himself exhausted by passion and his exploit, supporting her
+      cherished but senseless body.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      One of the fugitive maidens appeared reconnoitring in the distance. When
+      she observed her mistress in the arms of one of her own people, her
+      courage revived, and, desirous of rallying her scattered companions, she
+      raised her voice, and sang:
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      <i>&lsquo;HASTE, DAUGHTERS OF JERUSALEM; O! HASTE, FOR THE LORD HAS AVENGED US,
+      AND THE SPOILER IS SPOILED.</i>&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      And soon the verse was responded to from various quarters of the woods,
+      and soon the virgins reassembled, singing,
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;<i>WE COME, O DAUGHTER OF JERUSALEM! WE COME; FOR THE LORD HAS AVENGED
+      US, AND THE SPOILER IS SPOILED</i>.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      They gathered round their mistress, and one loosened her veil, and another
+      brought water from the fountain, and sprinkled her reviving countenance.
+      And Miriam opened her eyes, and said, &lsquo;My brother!&rsquo; And he answered, &lsquo;I am
+      here.&rsquo; And she replied in a low voice, &lsquo;Fly, David, fly; for the man you
+      have stricken is a prince among the people.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;He will be merciful, my sister; and, doubtless, since he first erred, by
+      this time he has forgotten my offence.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Justice and mercy! Oh, my brother, what can these foul tyrants know of
+      either! Already he has perhaps doomed you to some refined and
+      procrastinated torture, already&mdash;&mdash; Ah! what unutterable woe is
+      mine! fly, my brother, fly!&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Fly, fly, fly!&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;There is no fear, my Miriam; would all his accursed race could trouble us
+      as little as their sometime ruler. See, he sleeps soundly. But his carcass
+      shall not defile our fresh fountain and our fragrant flowers. I&rsquo;ll stow it
+      in the woods, and stroll here at night to listen to the jackals at their
+      banquet.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;You speak wildly, David. What! No! It is impossible! He is not dead! You
+      have not slain him!
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      He sleeps, he is afraid. He mimics death that we may leave his side, and
+      he may rise again in safety. Girls, look to him. David, you do not answer.
+      Brother, dear brother, surely he has swooned! I thought he had fled. Bear
+      water, maidens, to that terrible man. I dare not look upon him.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Away! I&rsquo;ll look on him, and I&rsquo;ll triumph. Dead! Alschiroch dead! Why, but
+      a moment since, this clotted carcass was a prince, my tyrant! So we can
+      rid ourselves of them, eh? If the prince fall, why not the people? Dead,
+      absolutely dead, and I his slayer! Hah! at length I am a man. This, this
+      indeed is life. Let me live slaying!&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Woe! woe, our house is fallen! The wildness of his gestures frightens me.
+      David, David, I pray thee cease. He hears me not; my voice, perchance, is
+      thin. I am very faint. Maidens, kneel to your Prince, and soothe the
+      madness of his passion.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;<i>SWEET IS THE VOICE OF A SISTER IN THE SEASON OF SORROW, AND WISE IS
+      THE COUNSEL OF THOSE WHO LOVE US</i>.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Why, this is my Goliath! a pebble or a stick, it is the same. The Lord of
+      Hosts is with us. Rightly am I called David.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;<i>DELIVER US FROM OUR ENEMIES, O LORD! FROM THOSE WHO RISE UP AGAINST
+      US, AND THOSE WHO LIE IN WAIT FOR US</i>.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      <a name="linkimage-0005" id="linkimage-0005">
+      <!-- IMG --></a>
+    </p>
+    <div class="fig" style="width:80%;">
+      <img src="images/page020.jpg" alt="Page020 " width="100%" /><br />
+    </div>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Were but this blow multiplied, were but the servants of my uncle&rsquo;s house
+      to do the same, why, we should see again the days of Elah! The Philistine,
+      the foul, lascivious, damnable Philistine! and he must touch my sister!
+      Oh! that all his tribe were here, all, all! I&rsquo;d tie such firebrands to
+      their foxes&rsquo; tails, the blaze should light to freedom!&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      While he spoke, a maiden, who had not yet rejoined the company, came
+      running towards them swiftly with an agitated countenance.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Fly,&rsquo; she exclaimed, &lsquo;they come, they come!&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Miriam was reclining in an attendant&rsquo;s arms, feeble and faint, but the
+      moment her quick ear caught these words she sprang up, and seized her
+      brother&rsquo;s arm.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Alroy! David! brother, dear brother! I beseech thee, listen, I am thy
+      sister, thy Miriam; they come, they come, the hard-hearted, wicked men,
+      they come, to kill, perhaps to torture thee, my tender brother. Rouse
+      thyself, David; rouse thyself from this wild, fierce dream: save thyself,
+      fly!&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Ah! is it thou, Miriam? Thou seest he sleepeth soundly. I was dreaming of
+      noble purposes and mighty hopes. Tis over now. I am myself again. What
+      wouldst thou?&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;They come, the fierce retainers of this fallen man; they come to seize
+      thee. Fly, David!&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;And leave thee?&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;I and my maidens, we have yet time to escape by the private way we
+      entered, our uncle&rsquo;s garden. When in his house, we are for a moment safe,
+      as safe as our poor race can ever be. Bostenay is so rich, so wise, so
+      prudent, so learned in man&rsquo;s ways, and knows so well the character and
+      spirit of these men, all will go right; I fear nothing. But thou, if thou
+      art here, or to be found, thy blood alone will satiate them. If they be
+      persuaded that thou hast escaped, as I yet pray thou mayest, their late
+      master here, whom they could scarcely love, why, give me thy arm an
+      instant, sweet Beruna. So, that&rsquo;s well. I was saying, if well bribed,&mdash;and
+      they may have all my jewels,&mdash;why, very soon, he will be as little in
+      their memories as he is now in life. I can scarcely speak; I feel my words
+      wander, or seem to wander; I could swoon, but will not; nay! do not fear.
+      I will reach home. These maidens are my charge. &lsquo;Tis in these crises we
+      should show the worth of royal blood. I&rsquo;ll see them safe, or die with
+      them.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;O! my sister, methinks I never knew I was a brother until this hour. My
+      precious Miriam, what is life? what is revenge, or even fame and freedom
+      without thee? I&rsquo;ll stay.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;<i>SWEET IS THE VOICE OF A SISTER IN THE SEASON OF SORROW, AND WISE IS
+      THE COUNSEL OF THOSE WHO LOVE US</i>.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Fly, David, fly!&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Fly! whither and how?&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      The neigh of a horse sounded from the thicket.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Ah! they come!&rsquo; exclaimed the distracted Miriam.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;<i>ALL THIS HAS COME UPON US, O LORD! YET HAVE WE NOT FORGOTTEN THEE,
+      NEITHER HAVE WE DEALT FALSELY IN THY COVENANT</i>.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Hark! again it neighs! It is a horse that calleth to its rider. I see it.
+      Courage, Miriam! it is no enemy, but a very present friend in time of
+      trouble. It is Alschiroch&rsquo;s courser. He passed me on it by the tomb ere
+      sunset. I marked it well, a very princely steed.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      <i>&rsquo;BEHOLD, BEHOLD, A RAM IS CAUGHT IN THE THICKET BY HIS HORNS.</i>&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Our God hath not forgotten us! Quick, maidens, bring forth the goodly
+      steed. What! do you tremble? I&rsquo;ll be his groom.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Nay! Miriam, beware, beware. It is an untamed beast, wild as the
+      whirlwind. Let me deal with him.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      He ran after her, dashed into the thicket, and brought forth the horse.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Short time I ween that stately steed had parted from his desert home; his
+      haughty crest, his eye of fire, the glory of his snorting nostril, betoken
+      well his conscious pride, and pure nobility of race. His colour was like
+      the sable night shining with a thousand stars, and he pawed the ground
+      with his delicate hoof, like an eagle flapping its wing.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Alroy vaulted on his back, and reined him with a master&rsquo;s hand.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Hah!&rsquo; he exclaimed, &lsquo;I feel more like a hero than a fugitive. Farewell,
+      my sister; farewell, ye gentle maidens; fare ye well, and cherish my
+      precious Miriam. One embrace, sweet sister,&rsquo; and he bent down and
+      whispered, &lsquo;Tell the good Bostenay not to spare his gold, for I have a
+      deep persuasion that, ere a year shall roll its heavy course, I shall
+      return and make our masters here pay for this hurried ride and bitter
+      parting. Now for the desert!&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      <a name="link2HCH0002" id="link2HCH0002">
+      <!--  H2 anchor --> </a>
+    </p>
+    <div style="height: 4em;">
+      <br /><br /><br /><br />
+    </div>
+    <h2>
+      CHAPTER II.
+    </h2>
+<pre xml:space="preserve">
+     <i>The Slaying of an Ishmaelite</i>
+</pre>
+    <p>
+      SPEED, fleetly speed, thou courser bold, and track the desert&rsquo;s trackless
+      way. Beneath thee is the boundless earth, above thee is the boundless
+      heaven, an iron soil and brazen sky. Speed, swiftly speed, thou courser
+      bold, and track the desert&rsquo;s trackless way. Ah! dost thou deem these salty
+      plains<a href="#linknote-6" name="linknoteref-6" id="linknoteref-6">6</a>
+      lead to thy Yemen&rsquo;s happy groves, and dost thou scent on the hot breeze
+      the spicy breath of Araby? A sweet delusion, noble steed, for this briny
+      wilderness leads not to the happy groves of Yemen, and the breath thou
+      scentest on the coming breeze is not the spicy breath of Araby.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      The day has died, the stars have risen, with all the splendour of a desert
+      sky, and now the Night descending brings solace on her dewy wings to the
+      fainting form and pallid cheek of the youthful Hebrew Prince.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Still the courser onward rushes, still his mighty heart supports him.
+      Season and space, the glowing soil, the burning ray, yield to the tempest
+      of his frame, the thunder of his nerves, and lightning of his veins.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Food or water they have none. No genial fount, no graceful tree, rise with
+      their pleasant company. Never a beast or bird is there, in that hoary
+      desert bare. Nothing breaks the almighty stillness. Even the jackal&rsquo;s
+      felon cry might seem a soothing melody. A grey wild rat, with snowy
+      whiskers, out of a withered bramble stealing, with a youthful snake in its
+      ivory teeth, in the moonlight grins with glee. This is their sole society.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Morn comes, the fresh and fragrant morn, for which even the guilty sigh.
+      Morn comes, and all is visible. And light falls like a signet on the
+      earth, and its face is turned like wax beneath a seal. Before them and
+      also on their right was the sandy desert; but in the night they had
+      approached much nearer to the mountainous chain, which bounded the desert
+      on the left, and whither Alroy had at first guided the steed.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      The mountains were a chain of the mighty Elburz; and, as the sun rose from
+      behind a lofty peak, the horse suddenly stopped and neighed, as if asking
+      for water. But Alroy, himself exhausted, could only soothe him with
+      caresses. And the horse, full of courage, understood his master, and
+      neighed again more cheerfully.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      For an hour or two the Prince and his faithful companion proceeded slowly,
+      but, as the day advanced, the heat became so oppressive, and the desire to
+      drink so overwhelming, that Alroy again urged on the steed towards the
+      mountains, where he knew that he should find a well. The courser dashed
+      willingly forward, and seemed to share his master&rsquo;s desire to quit the
+      arid and exhausting wilderness.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      More than once the unhappy fugitive debated whether he should not allow
+      himself to drop from his seat and die; no torture that could await him at
+      Hamadan but seemed preferable to the prolonged and inexpressible anguish
+      which he now endured. As he rushed along, leaning on his bearer&rsquo;s neck, he
+      perceived a patch of the desert that seemed of a darker colour than the
+      surrounding sand. Here, he believed, might perhaps be found water. He
+      tried to check the steed, but with difficulty he succeeded, and with still
+      greater difficulty dismounted. He knelt down, and feebly raked up the sand
+      with his hands. It was moist. He nearly fainted over his fruitless labour.
+      At length, when he had dug about a foot deep, there bubbled up some water.
+      He dashed in his hand, but it was salt as the ocean. When the horse saw
+      the water his ears rose, but, when he smelt it, he turned away his head,
+      and neighed most piteously.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Alas, poor beast!&rsquo; exclaimed Alroy, &lsquo;I am the occasion of thy suffering,
+      I, who would be a kind master to thee, if the world would let me. Oh, that
+      we were once more by my own fair fountain! The thought is madness. And
+      Miriam too! I fear I am sadly tender-hearted.&rsquo; He leant against his
+      horse&rsquo;s back, with a feeling of utter exhaustion, and burst into hysteric
+      sobs.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      And the steed softly moaned, and turned its head, and gently rubbed its
+      face against his arm, as if to solace him in his suffering. And strange,
+      but Alroy was relieved by having given way to his emotion, and, charmed
+      with the fondness of the faithful horse, he leant down and took water, and
+      threw it over its feet to cool them, and wiped the foam from its face, and
+      washed it, and the horse again neighed.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      And now Alroy tried to remount, but his strength failed him, and the horse
+      immediately knelt down and received him. And the moment that the Prince
+      was in his seat, the horse rose, and again proceeded at a rapid pace in
+      their old direction. Towards sunset they were within a few miles of the
+      broken and rocky ground into which the mountains descended; and afar off
+      Alroy recognised the cupola of the long-expected well. With re-animated
+      courage and rallied energies he patted his courser&rsquo;s neck, and pointed in
+      the direction of the cupola, and the horse pricked up its ears, and
+      increased its pace.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Just us the sun set, they reached the well. Alroy jumped off the horse,
+      and would have led it to the fountain, but the animal would not advance.
+      It stood shivering with a glassy eye, and then with a groan fell down and
+      died.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Night brings rest; night brings solace; rest to the weary, solace to the
+      sad. And to the desperate night brings despair.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      The moon has sunk to early rest; but a thousand stars are in the sky. The
+      mighty mountains rise severe in the clear and silent air. In the forest
+      all is still. The tired wind no longer roams, but has lightly dropped on
+      its leafy couch, and sleeps like man. Silent all but the fountain&rsquo;s drip.
+      And by the fountain&rsquo;s side a youth is lying.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Suddenly a creature steals through the black and broken rocks. Ha, ha! the
+      jackal smells from afar the rich corruption of the courser&rsquo;s clay.
+      Suddenly and silently it steals, and stops, and smells. Brave banqueting I
+      ween to-night for all that goodly company. Jackal, and fox, and
+      marten-cat, haste ye now, ere morning&rsquo;s break shall call the vulture to
+      his feast and rob you of your prey.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      The jackal lapped the courser&rsquo;s blood, and moaned with exquisite delight.
+      And in a moment, a faint bark was heard in the distance. And the jackal
+      peeled the flesh from one of the ribs, and again burst into a shriek of
+      mournful ecstasy.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Hark, their quick tramp! First six, and then three, galloping with ungodly
+      glee. And a marten-cat came rushing down from the woods; but the jackals,
+      fierce in their number, drove her away, and there she stood without the
+      circle, panting, beautiful, and baffled, with her white teeth and glossy
+      skin, and sparkling eyes of rabid rage.<a href="#linknote-7"
+       name="linknoteref-7" id="linknoteref-7">7</a>
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Suddenly as one of the half-gorged jackals retired from the main corpse,
+      dragging along a stray member by some still palpitating nerves, the
+      marten-cat made a spring at her enemy, carried off his prey, and rushed
+      into the woods.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Her wild scream of triumph woke a lion from his lair. His mighty form,
+      black as ebony, moved on a distant eminence, his tail flowed like a
+      serpent. He roared, and the jackals trembled, and immediately ceased from
+      their banquet, turning their heads in the direction of their sovereign&rsquo;s
+      voice. He advanced; he stalked towards them. They retired; he bent his
+      head, examined the carcass with condescending curiosity, and instantly
+      quitted it with royal disdain. The jackals again collected around their
+      garbage. The lion advanced to the fountain to drink. He beheld a man. His
+      mane rose, his tail was wildly agitated, he bent over the sleeping Prince,
+      he uttered an awful roar, which awoke Alroy.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      He awoke; his gaze met the flaming eyes of the enormous beast fixed upon
+      him with a blended feeling of desire and surprise. He awoke, and from a
+      swoon; but the dreamless trance had refreshed the exhausted energies of
+      the desolate wanderer; in an instant he collected his senses, remembered
+      all that had passed, and comprehended his present situation. He returned
+      the lion a glance as imperious, and fierce, and scrutinsing, as his own.
+      For a moment, their flashing orbs vied in regal rivalry; but at length the
+      spirit of the mere animal yielded to the genius of the man. The lion,
+      cowed, slunk away, stalked with haughty timidity through the rocks, and
+      then sprang into the forest.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Morn breaks; a silver light is shed over the blue and starry sky. Pleasant
+      to feel is the breath of dawn. Night brings repose, but day brings joy.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      The carol of a lonely bird singing in the wilderness! A lonely bird that
+      sings with glee! Sunny and sweet, and light and clear, its airy notes
+      float through the sky, and trill with innocent revelry.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      The lonely youth on the lonely bird upgazes from the fountain&rsquo;s side. High
+      in the air it proudly floats, balancing its crimson wings, and its snowy
+      tail, long, delicate, and thin, shines like a sparkling meteor in the sun.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      The carol of a lonely bird singing in the wilderness! Suddenly it downward
+      dashes, and thrice with circling grace it flies around the head of the
+      Hebrew Prince. Then by his side it gently drops a bunch of fresh and
+      fragrant dates.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Tis gone, &lsquo;tis gone! that cheerful stranger, gone to the palmy land it
+      loves; gone like a bright and pleasant dream. A moment since and it was
+      there, glancing in the sunny air, and now the sky is without a guest.
+      Alas, alas! no more is heard the carol of that lonely bird singing in the
+      wilderness.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;As thou didst feed Elijah, so also hast thou fed me, God of my fathers!&rsquo;
+      And Alroy arose, and he took his turban and unfolded it, and knelt and
+      prayed. And then he ate of the dates, and drank of the fountain, and, full
+      of confidence in the God of Israel, the descendant of David pursued his
+      flight.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      He now commenced the ascent of the mountainous chain, a wearisome and
+      painful toil. Two hours past noon he reached the summit of the first
+      ridge, and looked over a wild and chaotic waste full of precipices and
+      ravines, and dark unfathomable gorges. The surrounding hills were ploughed
+      in all directions by the courses of dried-up cataracts, and here and there
+      a few savage goats browsed on an occasional patch of lean and sour
+      pasture. This waste extended for many miles; the distance formed by a more
+      elevated range of mountains, and beyond these, high in the blue sky, rose
+      the loftiest peaks of Elburz,<a href="#linknote-8" name="linknoteref-8"
+       id="linknoteref-8">8</a> shining with sharp glaciers of eternal snow.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      It was apparent that Alroy was no stranger in the scene of his flight. He
+      had never hesitated as to his course, and now, after having rested for a
+      short time on the summit, he descended towards the left by a natural but
+      intricate path, until his progress was arrested by a black ravine.
+      Scarcely half a dozen yards divided him from the opposite precipice by
+      which it was formed, but the gulf beneath, no one could shoot a glance at
+      its invisible termination without drawing back with a cold shudder.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      The Prince knelt down and examined the surrounding ground with great care.
+      At length he raised a small square stone which covered a metallic plate,
+      and, taking from his vest a carnelian talisman covered with strange
+      characters, he knocked thrice upon the plate with the signet. A low solemn
+      murmur sounded around. Presently the plate flew off, and Alroy pulled
+      forth several yards of an iron chain, which he threw over to the opposite
+      precipice. The chain fastened without difficulty to the rock, and was
+      evidently constrained by some magnetic influence. The Prince, seizing the
+      chain with both his hands, now swung across the ravine. As he landed, the
+      chain parted from the rock, swiftly disappeared down the opposite
+      aperture, and its covering closed with the same low, solemn murmur as
+      before.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Alroy proceeded for about a hundred paces through a natural cloister of
+      basalt until he arrived at a large uncovered court of the same formation,
+      which a stranger might easily have been excused for believing to have been
+      formed and smoothed by art. In its centre bubbled up a perpetual spring,
+      icy cold; the stream had worn a channel through the pavement, and might be
+      traced for some time wandering among the rocks, until at length it leaped
+      from a precipice into a gorge below, in a gauzy shower of variegated
+      spray. Crossing the court, Alroy now entered a vast cavern.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      The cavern was nearly circular in form, lighted from a large aperture in
+      the top. Yet a burning lamp, in a distant and murky corner, indicated that
+      its inhabitant did not trust merely to this natural source of the great
+      blessing of existence. In the centre of the cave was a circular and brazen
+      table, sculptured with strange characters and mysterious figures: near it
+      was a couch, on which lay several volumes.<a href="#linknote-9"
+       name="linknoteref-9" id="linknoteref-9">9</a> Suspended from the walls
+      were a shield, some bows and arrows, and other arms.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      As the Prince of the Captivity knelt down and kissed the vacant couch, a
+      figure advanced from the extremity of the cavern into the light. He was a
+      man of middle age, considerably above the common height, with a remarkably
+      athletic frame, and a strongly-marked but majestic countenance. His black
+      beard descended to his waist, over a dark red robe, encircled by a black
+      girdle embroidered with yellow characters, like those sculptured on the
+      brazen table. Black also was his turban, and black his large and luminous
+      eye.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      The stranger advanced so softly, that Alroy did not perceive him, until
+      the Prince again rose.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Jabaster!&rsquo; exclaimed the Prince.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Sacred seed of David,&rsquo; answered the Cabalist,<a href="#linknote-10"
+       name="linknoteref-10" id="linknoteref-10">10</a> &lsquo;thou art expected. I
+      read of thee in the stars last night. They spoke of trouble.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Trouble or triumph, Time must prove which it is, great master. At present
+      I am a fugitive and exhausted. The bloodhounds track me, but methinks I
+      have baffled them now. I have slain an Ishmaelite.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      <a name="link2HCH0003" id="link2HCH0003">
+      <!--  H2 anchor --> </a>
+    </p>
+    <div style="height: 4em;">
+      <br /><br /><br /><br />
+    </div>
+    <h2>
+      CHAPTER III
+    </h2>
+<pre xml:space="preserve">
+     <i>The Hope of Israel</i>
+</pre>
+    <p>
+      IT WAS midnight. Alroy slept upon the couch: his sleep was troubled.
+      Jabaster stood by his side motionless, and gazing intently upon his
+      slumbering guest.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;The only hope of Israel,&rsquo; murmured the Cabalist,&rsquo; my pupil and my prince!
+      I have long perceived in his young mind the seed of mighty deeds, and o&rsquo;er
+      his future life have often mused with a prophetic hope. The blood of
+      David, the sacred offspring of a solemn race. There is a magic in his
+      flowing veins my science cannot reach.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;When, in my youth, I raised our standard by my native Tigris, and called
+      our nation to restore their ark, why, we were numerous, wealthy, potent;
+      we were a people then, and they flocked to it boldly. Did we lack counsel?
+      Did we need a leader? Who can aver that Jabaster&rsquo;s brain or arm was ever
+      wanting? And yet the dream dissolved, the glorious vision! Oh! when I
+      struck down Marvan, and the Caliph&rsquo;s camp flung its blazing shadow over
+      the bloody river, ah! then indeed I lived. Twenty years of vigil may gain
+      a pardon that I then forgot we lacked the chief ingredient in the spell,
+      the blood that sleeps beside me.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;I recall the glorious rapture of that sacred strife amid the rocks of
+      Caucasus. A fugitive, a proscribed and outlawed wretch, whose life is
+      common sport, and whom the vilest hind may slay without a bidding. I, who
+      would have been Messiah!
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Burn thy books, Jabaster; break thy brazen tables; forget thy lofty
+      science, Cabalist, and read the stars no longer.<a href="#linknote-11"
+       name="linknoteref-11" id="linknoteref-11">11</a> But last night I stood
+      upon the gulf which girds my dwelling: in one hand, I held my sacred
+      talisman, that bears the name ineffable; in the other, the mystic record
+      of our holy race. I remembered that I had evoked spirits, that I had
+      communed with the great departed, and that the glowing heavens were to me
+      a natural language. I recalled, as consolation to my gloomy soul, that
+      never had my science been exercised but for a sacred or a noble purpose.
+      And I remembered Israel, my brave, my chosen, and my antique race, slaves,
+      wretched slaves. I was strongly tempted to fling me down this perilous
+      abyss, and end my learning and my life together.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;But, as I gazed upon the star of David, a sudden halo rose around its
+      rays, and ever and anon a meteor shot from out the silver veil. I read
+      that there was trouble in the holy seed; and now comes this boy, who has
+      done a deed which&mdash;&mdash;&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;The ark, the ark! I gaze upon the ark!&rsquo; &lsquo;The slumberer speaks; the words
+      of sleep are sacred.&rsquo; &lsquo;Salvation only from the house of David.&rsquo; &lsquo;A mighty
+      truth; my life too well has proved it. &lsquo;He is more calm. It is the holy
+      hour. I&rsquo;ll steal into the court, and gaze upon the star that sways the
+      fortunes of his royal house.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      The moonbeam fell upon the fountain; the pavement of the court was a flood
+      of light; the rocks rose dark around. Jabaster, seated by the spring, and
+      holding his talisman in his left hand, shaded his sight with the other as
+      he gazed upon the luminous heavens.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      A shriek! his name was called. Alroy, wild and panting, rushed into the
+      court with extended arms. The Cabalist started up, seized him, and held
+      him in his careful grasp, foaming and in convulsions.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Jabaster, Jabaster!&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;I am here, my child.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;The Lord hath spoken.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;The Lord is our refuge. Calm thyself, son of David, and tell me all.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;I have been sleeping, master; is it not so?&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Even so, my child. Exhausted by his flight and the exciting narrative of
+      his exploit, my Prince lay down upon the couch and slumbered; but I fear
+      that slumber was not repose.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Repose and I have naught in common now. Farewell for ever to that fatal
+      word. I am the Lord&rsquo;s anointed.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Drink of the fountain, David: it will restore thee.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Restore the covenant, restore the ark, restore the holy city.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;The Spirit of the Lord hath fallen upon him. Son of David, I adjure thee
+      tell me all that hath passed. I am a Levite; in my hand I hold the name
+      ineffable.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Take thy trumpet then, summon the people, bid them swiftly raise again
+      our temple. &ldquo;The bricks have fallen, but we will rebuild with marble.&rdquo;
+       Didst hear that chorus, sir?&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Unto thy chosen ear alone it sounded.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Where am I? This is not our fountain. Yet thou didst say, &ldquo;the fountain.&rdquo;
+       Think me not wild. I know thee, I know all. Thou art not Miriam. Thou art
+      jabaster; I am Alroy. But thou didst say, &ldquo;the fountain,&rdquo; and it
+      distracted me, and called back my memory to&mdash;&mdash;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;God of Israel, lo, I kneel before thee! Here, in the solitude of wildest
+      nature, my only witness here this holy man, I kneel and vow, Lord! I will
+      do thy bidding. I am young, O God! and weak; but thou, Lord, art
+      all-powerful! What God is like to thee? Doubt not my courage, Lord; and
+      fill me with thy spirit! but remember, remember her, O Lord! remember
+      Miriam. It is the only worldly thought I have, and it is pure.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Still of his sister! Calm thyself, my son.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Holy master, thou dost remember when I was thy pupil in this cavern. Thou
+      hast not forgotten those days of tranquil study, those sweet, long
+      wandering nights of sacred science! I was dutiful, and hung upon each
+      accent of thy lore with the devotion that must spring from love.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;I cannot weep, Alroy; but were it in my power, I would yield a tear of
+      homage to the memory of those days.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;How calmly have we sat on some high brow, and gazed upon the stars!&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;&lsquo;Tis very true, sweet child.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;And if thou e&rsquo;er didst chide me, &lsquo;twas half in jest, and only for my
+      silence.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;What would he now infer? No matter, he grows calmer. How solemn is his
+      visage in the moonlight! And yet not Solomon, upon his youthful throne,
+      could look more beautiful.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;I never told thee an untruth, Jabaster.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;My life upon thy faith.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Fear not the pledge, and so believe me, on the mountain brow watching the
+      starry heavens with thyself, I was not calmer than I feel, sir, now.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;I do believe thee.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Then, Jabaster, believe as fully I am the Lord&rsquo;s anointed.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Tell me all, my child.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Know, then, that sleeping on the couch within, my sleep was troubled.
+      Many dreams I had, indefinite and broken. I recall none of their images,
+      except I feel a dim sensation &lsquo;twas my lot to live in brighter days than
+      now rise on our race. Suddenly I stood upon a mountain tall and grey, and
+      gazed upon the stars. And, as I gazed, a trumpet sounded. Its note
+      thrilled through my soul. Never have I heard a sound so awful. The
+      thunder, when it broke over the cavern here, and shivered the peak, whose
+      ruins lie around us, was but a feeble worldly sound to this almighty
+      music. My cheek grew pale, I panted even for breath. A flaming light
+      spread over the sky, the stars melted away, and I beheld, advancing from
+      the bursting radiancy, the foremost body of a mighty host.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Oh! not when Saul led forth our fighting men against the Philistine, not
+      when Joab numbered the warriors of my great ancestor, did human vision
+      gaze upon a scene of so much martial splendour. Chariots and cavalry, and
+      glittering trains of plumed warriors too robust to need a courser&rsquo;s
+      solace; streams of shining spears, and banners like a sunset; reverend
+      priests swinging their perfumed censers, and prophets hymning with their
+      golden harps a most triumphant future.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;&ldquo;Joy, joy,&rdquo; they say, &ldquo;to Israel, for he cometh, he cometh in his
+      splendour and his might, the great Messiah of our ancient hopes.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;And, lo! a mighty chariot now appeared, drawn by strange beasts whose
+      forms were half obscured by the bright flames on which they seemed to
+      float. In that glorious car a warrior stood, proud and immovable his form,
+      his countenance. Hold my hand, Jabaster, while I speak; that chieftain was
+      myself!&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Proceed, proceed, my son.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;I started in my dream, and I awoke. I found myself upsitting on my couch.
+      The pageantry had vanished. Naught was seen but the bright moonlight and
+      the gloomy cave. And, as I sighed to think I e&rsquo;er had wakened, and mused
+      upon the strangeness of my vision, a still small voice descended from
+      above and called, &ldquo;Alroy!&rdquo; I started, but I answered not. Methought it was
+      my fancy. Again my name was called, and now I murmured, &ldquo;Lord, I am here,
+      what wouldst thou?&rdquo; Naught responded, and soon great dread came over me,
+      and I rushed out and called to thee, my master.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;It was &ldquo;the Daughter of the Voice"<a href="#linknote-12"
+       name="linknoteref-12" id="linknoteref-12">12</a> that spake. Since the
+      Captivity &lsquo;tis the only mode by which the saints are summoned. Oft have I
+      heard of it, but never in these sad degenerate days has its soft
+      aspiration fallen upon us. These are strange times and tidings. The
+      building of the temple is at hand. Son of David, my heart is full. Let us
+      to prayer!&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Day dawned upon Jabaster, still musing in solitude among his rocks. Within
+      the cavern, Alroy remained in prayer.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Often and anxiously the Cabalist shot a glance at his companion, and then
+      again relapsed into reverie.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;The time is come that I must to this youth reveal the secrets of my early
+      life. Much will he hear of glory, much of shame. Naught must I conceal,
+      and naught gloss over.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;I must tell how in the plains of Tigris I upraised the sacred standard of
+      our chosen race, and called them from their bondage; how, despairing of
+      his recreant fathers, and inspired by human power alone, I vainly claimed
+      the mighty office for his sacred blood alone reserved. God of my fathers,
+      grant that future service, the humble service of a contrite soul, may in
+      the coming glory that awaits us, atone for past presumption!
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;But for him great trials are impending. Not lightly must that votary be
+      proved, who fain would free a people. The Lord is faithful to his promise,
+      but the Lord will choose his season and his minister. Courage, and faith,
+      and deep humility, and strong endurance, and the watchful soul temptation
+      cannot sully, these are the fruits we lay upon his altar, and meekly watch
+      if some descending flame will vouchsafe to accept and brightly bless them.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;It is written in the dread volume of our mystic lore, that not alone the
+      Saviour shall spring from out our house of princes, but that none shall
+      rise to free us, until, alone and unassisted, he have gained the sceptre
+      which Solomon of old wielded within his cedar palaces.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;That sceptre must he gain. This fragile youth, untried and delicate,
+      unknowing in the ways of this strange world, where every step is danger,
+      how much hardship, how much peril, what withering disappointment, what
+      dull care, what long despondency, what never-ending lures, now lie in
+      ambush for this gentle boy! O my countrymen, is this your hope? And I,
+      with all my lore, and all my courage, and all my deep intelligence of man;
+      unhappy Israel, why am I not thy Prince?
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;I check the blasphemous thought. Did not his great ancestor, as young and
+      as untried, a beardless stripling, with but a pebble, a small smoothed
+      stone, level a mailed giant with the ground, and save his people?
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;He is clearly summoned. The Lord is with him. Be he with the Lord, and we
+      shall prosper.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      It was at sunset, on the third day after the arrival of Alroy at the cave
+      of the Cabalist, that the Prince of the Captivity commenced his pilgrimage
+      in quest of the sceptre of Solomon.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Silently the pilgrim and his master took their way to the brink of the
+      ravine, and there they stopped to part, perhaps forever.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;It is a bitter moment, Alroy. Human feelings are not for beings like us,
+      yet they will have their way. Remember all. Cherish the talisman as thy
+      life: nay! welcome death with it pressing against thy heart, rather than
+      breathe without it. Be firm, be pious. Think of thy ancestors, think of
+      thy God.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Doubt me not, dear master; if I seem not full of that proud spirit, which
+      was perhaps too much my wont, ascribe it not to fear, Jabaster, nor even
+      to the pain of leaving thee, dear friend. But ever since that sweet and
+      solemn voice summoned me so thrillingly, I know not how it is, but a
+      change has come over my temper; yet I am firm, oh! firmer far than when I
+      struck down the Ishmaelite. Indeed, indeed, fear not for me. The Lord,
+      that knoweth all things, knows full well I am prepared even to the death.
+      Thy prayers, Jabaster, and&mdash;&mdash;&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Stop, stop. I do remember me. See this ring: &lsquo;tis a choice emerald. Thou
+      mayst have wondered I should wear a bauble. Alroy, I had a brother once:
+      still he may live. When we parted, this was the signal of his love: a
+      love, my child, strong, though we greatly differed. Take it. The hour may
+      come that thou mayst need his aid. It will command it. If he live, he
+      prospers. I know his temper well. He was made for what the worldly deem
+      prosperity. God be with thee, sacred boy: the God of our great fathers,
+      the God of Abraham, of Isaac, and of Jacob!&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      They embraced.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;We linger,&rsquo; exclaimed the Cabalist, &lsquo;we linger. Oh! in vain we quell the
+      feelings of our kind. God, God bless and be with thee! Art sure thou hast
+      all? thy dagger and thy wallet? That staff has seen some service. I cut it
+      on the Jordan. Ah! that I could be thy mate! &lsquo;Twould be nothing then. At
+      the worst to die together. Such a fate seems sweeter now than parting.
+      I&rsquo;ll watch thy star, my child. Thou weepest! And I too. Why! what is this?
+      Am I indeed Jabaster? One more embrace, and so&mdash;&mdash;we&rsquo;ll not say
+      farewell, but only think it.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      <a name="link2HCH0004" id="link2HCH0004">
+      <!--  H2 anchor --> </a>
+    </p>
+    <div style="height: 4em;">
+      <br /><br /><br /><br />
+    </div>
+    <h2>
+      CHAPTER IV.
+    </h2>
+<pre xml:space="preserve">
+     <i>Alroy Falls Among Thieves</i>
+</pre>
+    <p>
+      TRADITION taught that the sceptre of Solomon could be found only in the
+      unknown sepulchres of the ancient Hebrew monarchs, and that none might
+      dare to touch it but one of their descendants. Armed with the cabalistic
+      talisman, which was to guide him in his awful and difficult researches,
+      Alroy commenced his pilgrimage to the Holy City. At this time, the love of
+      these sacred wanderings was a reigning passion among the Jews as well as
+      the Christians.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      The Prince of the Captivity was to direct his course into the heart of
+      those great deserts which, in his flight from Hamadan, he had only
+      skirted. Following the track of the caravan, he was to make his way to
+      Babylon, or Bagdad. From the capital of the caliphs, his journey to
+      Jerusalem was one comparatively easy; but to reach Bagdad he must
+      encounter hardship and danger, the prospect of which would have divested
+      any one of hope, who did not conceive himself the object of an omnipotent
+      and particular Providence.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Clothed only in a coarse black frock, common among the Kourds, girded
+      round his waist by a cord which held his dagger, his head shaven, and
+      covered with a large white turban, which screened him from the heat, his
+      feet protected only by slippers, supported by his staff, and bearing on
+      his shoulders a bag of dried meat and parched corn, and a leathern skin of
+      water, behold, toiling over the glowing sands of Persia, a youth whose
+      life had hitherto been a long unbroken dream of domestic luxury and
+      innocent indulgence.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      He travelled during the warm night or the early starlit morn. During the
+      day he rested: happy if he could recline by the side of some charitable
+      well, shaded by a palm-tree, or frighten a gazelle from its resting-place
+      among the rough bushes of some wild rocks. Were these resources wanting,
+      he threw himself upon the sand, and made an awning with his staff and
+      turban.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Three weeks had elapsed since he quitted the cavern of the Cabalist.
+      Hitherto he had met with no human being. The desert became less arid. A
+      scanty vegetation sprang up from a more genial soil; the ground broke into
+      gentle undulations; his senses were invigorated with the odour of wild
+      plants, and his sight refreshed by the glancing form of some wandering
+      bird, a pilgrim like himself, but more at ease.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Soon sprang up a grove of graceful palm-trees, with their tall thin stems,
+      and bending feathery crowns, languid and beautiful. Around, the verdant
+      sod gleamed like an emerald: silver streams, flowing from a bubbling
+      parent spring, wound their white forms within the bright green turf. From
+      the grove arose the softening song of doves, and showers of gay and
+      sparkling butterflies, borne on their tinted wings of shifting light,
+      danced without danger in the liquid air. A fair and fresh Oasis!
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Alroy reposed in this delicious retreat for two days, feeding on the
+      living dates, and drinking of the fresh water. Fain would he have
+      lingered, nor indeed, until he rested, had he been sufficiently conscious
+      of his previous exertion. But the remembrance of his great mission made
+      him restless, and steeled him to the sufferings which yet awaited him.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      At the dawn of the second day of his journey from the Oasis he beheld to
+      his astonishment, faintly but distinctly traced on the far horizon, the
+      walls and turrets of an extensive city.<a href="#linknote-13"
+       name="linknoteref-13" id="linknoteref-13">13</a> Animated by this
+      unexpected prospect, he continued his progress for several hours after
+      sunrise. At length, utterly exhausted, he sought refuge from the
+      overpowering heat beneath the cupola of the ruined tomb of some Moslem
+      saint. At sunset he continued his journey, and in the morning found
+      himself within a few miles of the city. He halted, and watched with
+      anxiety for some evidence of its inhabitants. None was visible. No crowds
+      or cavalcades issued from the gates. Not a single human being, not a
+      solitary camel, moved in the vicinity.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      The day was too advanced for the pilgrim to proceed, but so great was his
+      anxiety to reach this unknown settlement, and penetrate the mystery of its
+      silence, that ere sunset Alroy entered the gates.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      A magnificent city, of an architecture with which he was unacquainted,
+      offered to his entranced vision its gorgeous ruins and deserted splendour;
+      long streets of palaces, with their rich line of lessening pillars, here
+      and there broken by some fallen shaft, vast courts surrounded by ornate
+      and solemn temples, and luxurious baths adorned with rare mosaics, and yet
+      bright with antique gilding; now an arch of triumph, still haughty with
+      its broken friezes; now a granite obelisk covered with strange characters,
+      and proudly towering over a prostrate companion; sometimes a void and
+      crumbling theatre, sometimes a long and elegant aqueduct, sometimes a
+      porphyry column, once breathing with the heroic statue that now lies
+      shivered at its base, all suffused with the warm twilight of an eastern
+      eve.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      He gazed with wonder and admiration upon the strange and fascinating
+      scene. The more he beheld, the more his curiosity was excited. He breathed
+      with difficulty; he advanced with a blended feeling of eagerness and
+      hesitation. Fresh wonders successively unfolded themselves. Each turn
+      developed a new scene of still and solemn splendour. The echo of his step
+      filled him with awe. He looked around him with an amazed air, a fluttering
+      heart, and a changing countenance. All was silent: alone the Hebrew Prince
+      stood amid the regal creation of the Macedonian captains. Empires and
+      dynasties flourish and pass away; the proud metropolis becomes a solitude,
+      the conquering kingdom even a desert; but Israel still remains, still a
+      descendant of the most ancient kings breathed amid these royal ruins, and
+      still the eternal sun could never rise without gilding the towers of
+      living Jerusalem. A word, a deed, a single day, a single man, and we might
+      be a nation.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      A shout! he turns, he is seized; four ferocious Kourdish bandits grapple
+      and bind him.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      The bandits hurried their captive through a street which appeared to have
+      been the principal way of the city. Nearly at its termination, they turned
+      by a small Ionian temple, and, clambering over some fallen pillars,
+      entered a quarter of the city of a more ruinous aspect than that which
+      Alroy had hitherto visited. The path was narrow, often obstructed, and
+      around were signs of devastation for which the exterior of the city had
+      not prepared him.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      The brilliant but brief twilight of the Orient was fast fading away; a
+      sombre purple tint succeeded to the rosy flush; the distant towers rose
+      black, although defined, in the clear and shadowy air; and the moon,
+      which, when he first entered, had studded the heavens like a small white
+      cloud, now glittered with deceptive light.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Suddenly, before them rose a huge pile. Oval in shape, and formed by tiers
+      of arches, it was evidently much dilapidated, and one enormous, irregular,
+      and undulating rent, extending from the top nearly to the foundation,
+      almost separated the side to which Alroy and his companions advanced.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Clambering up the remainder of this massive wall, the robbers and their
+      prisoner descended into an immense amphitheatre, which seemed vaster in
+      the shadowy and streaming moonlight. In it were groups of men, horses, and
+      camels. In the extreme distance, reclining or squatting on mats and
+      carpets, was a large assembly, engaged in a rough but merry banquet. A
+      fire blazed at their side, its red and uncertain flame mingling with the
+      white and steady moonbeam, and throwing a flickering light over their
+      ferocious countenances, their glistening armour, ample drapery, and
+      shawled heads.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;A spy,&rsquo; exclaimed the captors, as they dragged Alroy before the leader of
+      the band.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Hang him, then,&rsquo; said the chieftain, without even looking up.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;This wine, great Scherirah, is excellent, or I am no true Moslem,&rsquo; said a
+      principal robber; &lsquo;but you are too cruel; I hate this summary punishment.
+      Let us torture him a little, and extract some useful information.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;As you like, Kisloch,&rsquo; said Scherirah; &lsquo;it may amuse us. Fellow, where do
+      you come from? He cannot answer. Decidedly a spy. Hang him up.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      The captors half untied the rope that bound Alroy, that it might serve him
+      for a further purpose, when another of the gentle companions of Scherirah
+      interfered.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Spies always answer, captain. He is more probably a merchant in
+      disguise.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;And carries hidden treasure,&rsquo; added Kisloch; &lsquo;these rough coats often
+      cover jewels. We had better search him.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Ah! search him,&rsquo; said Scherirah, with his rough brutal voice; &lsquo;do what
+      you like, only give me the bottle. This Greek wine is choice booty. Feed
+      the fire, men. Are you asleep? And then Kisloch, who hates cruelty, can
+      roast him if he likes.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      The robbers prepared to strip their captive. &lsquo;Friends, friends!&rsquo; exclaimed
+      Alroy, &lsquo;for there is no reason why you should not be friends, spare me,
+      spare me. I am poor, I am young, I am innocent. I am neither a spy nor a
+      merchant. I have no plots, no wealth. I am a pilgrim.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;A decided spy,&rsquo; exclaimed Scherirah; &lsquo;they are ever pilgrims.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;He speaks too well to speak truth,&rsquo; exclaimed Kisloch.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;All talkers are liars,&rsquo; exclaimed Scherirah.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;That is why Kisloch is the most eloquent of the band.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;A jest at the banquet may prove a curse in the field,&rsquo; replied Kisloch.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Pooh!&rsquo; exclaimed Scherirah. &lsquo;Fellows, why do you hesitate? Search the
+      prisoner, I say!&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      They advanced, they seized him. In vain he struggled.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Captain,&rsquo; exclaimed one of the band, &lsquo;he wears upon his breast a jewel!&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;I told you so,&rsquo; said the third robber.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Give it me,&rsquo; said Scherirah.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      But Alroy, in despair at the thought of losing the talisman, remembering
+      the injunctions of Jabaster, and animated by supernatural courage, burst
+      from his searchers, and, seizing a brand from the fire, held them at bay.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;The fellow has spirit,&rsquo; said Scherirah, calmly. &lsquo;&lsquo;Tis pity it will cost
+      him his life.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Bold man,&rsquo; exclaimed Alroy, &lsquo;for a moment hear me! I am a pilgrim, poorer
+      than a beggar. The jewel they talk of is a holy emblem, worthless to you,
+      to me invaluable, and to be forfeited only with my life. You may be
+      careless of that. Beware of your own. The first man who advances dies. I
+      pray you humbly, chieftain, let me go.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Kill him,&rsquo; said Scherirah.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Stab him!&rsquo; exclaimed Kisloch.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Give me the jewel,&rsquo; said the third robber.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;The God of David be my refuge, then!&rsquo; exclaimed Alroy.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;He is a Hebrew, he is a Hebrew,&rsquo; exclaimed Scherirah, jumping up. &lsquo;Spare
+      him, my mother was a Jewess.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      The assailants lowered their arms, and withdrew a few paces. Alroy still
+      remained upon his guard.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Valiant pilgrim,&rsquo; said Scherirah, advancing, with a softened voice, &lsquo;are
+      you for the holy city?&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;The city of my fathers.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;A perilous journey. And whence from?&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Hamadan.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;A dreary way. You need repose. Your name?&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;David.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;David, you are among friends. Rest, and repose in safety. You hesitate.
+      Fear not! The memory of my mother is a charm that always changes me!&rsquo;
+      Scherirah unsheathed his dagger, punctured his arm,<a href="#linknote-14"
+       name="linknoteref-14" id="linknoteref-14">14</a> and, throwing away the
+      weapon, offered the bleeding member to Alroy. The Prince of the Captivity
+      touched the open vein with his lips.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;My troth is pledged,&rsquo; said the bandit; &lsquo;I can never betray him in whose
+      veins my own blood is flowing.&rsquo; So saying, he led Alroy to his carpet.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Eat,&rsquo; David,&rsquo; said Scherirah.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;I will eat bread,&rsquo; answered Alroy.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;What! have you had so much meat lately that you will refuse this delicate
+      gazelle that I brought down this morning with my own lance? &lsquo;Tis food for
+      a caliph.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;I pray you give me bread.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Oh! bread if you like. But that a man should prefer bread to meat, and
+      such meat as this, &lsquo;tis miraculous.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;A thousand thanks, good Scherirah; but with our people the flesh of the
+      gazelle is forbidden. It is unclean. Its foot is <i>cloven</i>.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;I have heard of these things,&rsquo; replied Scherirah, with a thoughtful air.
+      &lsquo;My mother was a Jewess, and my father was a Kourd. Whichever be right, I
+      hope to be saved.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;There is but one God, and Mahomed is his prophet!&rsquo; exclaimed Kisloch;
+      &lsquo;though I drink wine. Your health, Hebrew.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;I will join you,&rsquo; said to the third robber. &lsquo;My father was a Guebre, and
+      sacrificed his property to his faith; and the consequence is, his son has
+      got neither.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;As for me,&rsquo; said a fourth robber, of very dark complexion and singularly
+      small bright eyes, &lsquo;I am an Indian, and I believe in the great golden
+      figure with carbuncle eyes, in the temple of Delhi.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;I have no religion,&rsquo; said a tall negro in a red turban, grinning with his
+      white teeth; &lsquo;they have none in my country; but if I had heard of your God
+      before, Calidas, I would have believed in him.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;I almost wish I had been a Jew,&rsquo; exclaimed Scherirah, musing. &lsquo;My mother
+      was a good woman.&rsquo; &lsquo;The Jews are very rich,&rsquo; said the third robber. &lsquo;When
+      you get to Jerusalem, David, you will see the Christians,&rsquo; continued
+      Scherirah.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;The accursed Giaours,&rsquo; exclaimed Kisloch, &lsquo;we are all against them.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;With their white faces,&rsquo; exclaimed the negro. &lsquo;And their blue eyes,&rsquo; said
+      the Indian. &lsquo;What can you expect of men who live in a country without a
+      sun?&rsquo; observed the Guebre.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Alroy awoke about two hours after midnight. His companions were in deep
+      slumber. The moon had set, the fire had died away, a few red embers alone
+      remaining; dark masses of shadow hung about the amphitheatre. He arose and
+      cautiously stepped over the sleeping bandits. He was not in strictness a
+      prisoner; but who could trust to the caprice of these lawless men?
+      To-morrow might find him their slave, or their companion in some marauding
+      expedition, which might make him almost retrace his steps to the Caucasus,
+      or to Hamadan. The temptation to ensure his freedom was irresistible. He
+      clambered up the ruined wall, descended into the intricate windings that
+      led to the Ionic fane, that served him as a beacon, hurried through the
+      silent and starry streets, gained the great portal, and rushed once more
+      into the desert.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      A vague fear of pursuit made him continue his course many hours without
+      resting. The desert again became sandy, the heat increased. The breeze
+      that plays about the wilderness, and in early spring is often scented with
+      the wild fragrance of aromatic plants, sank away. A lurid brightness
+      suffused the heavens. An appalling stillness pervaded nature; even the
+      insects were silent. For the first time in his pilgrimage, a feeling of
+      deep despondency fell over the soul of Alroy. His energy appeared suddenly
+      to have deserted him. A low hot wind began to rise, and fan his cheek with
+      pestiferous kisses, and enervate his frame with its poisonous embrace. His
+      head and limbs ached with a dull sensation, more terrible than pain; his
+      sight was dizzy, his tongue swollen. Vainly he looked around for aid;
+      vainly he extended his forlorn arms, and wrung them to the remorseless
+      heaven, almost frantic with thirst. The boundless horizon of the desert
+      disappeared, and the unhappy victim, in the midst of his torture, found
+      himself apparently surrounded by bright and running streams, the fleeting
+      waters of the false mirage!
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      The sun became blood-red, the sky darker, the sand rose in fierce eddies,
+      the moaning wind burst into shrieks and exhaled more ardent and still more
+      malignant breath. The pilgrim could no longer sustain himself.<a
+      href="#linknote-15" name="linknoteref-15" id="linknoteref-15">15</a>
+      Faith, courage, devotion deserted him with his failing energies. He strove
+      no longer with his destiny, he delivered himself up to despair and death.
+      He fell upon one knee with drooping head, supporting himself by one
+      quivering hand, and then, full of the anguish of baffled purposes and lost
+      affections, raising his face and arm to heaven, thus to the elements he
+      poured his passionate farewell.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;O life! once vainly deemed a gloomy toil, I feel thy sweetness now!
+      Farewell, O life, farewell my high resolves and proud conviction of
+      almighty fame. My days, my short unprofitable days, melt into the past;
+      and death, with which I struggle, horrible death, arrests me in this
+      wilderness. O my sister, could thy voice but murmur in my ear one single
+      sigh of love; could thine eye with its soft radiance but an instant blend
+      with my dim fading vision, the pang were nothing. Farewell, Miriam! my
+      heart is with thee by thy fountain&rsquo;s side. Fatal blast, bear her my dying
+      words, my blessing. And ye too, friends, whose too neglected love I think
+      of now, farewell! Farewell, my uncle; farewell, pleasant home, and
+      Hamadan&rsquo;s serene and shadowy bowers! Farewell, Jabaster, and the mighty
+      lore of which thou wert the priest and I the pupil! Thy talisman throbs on
+      my faithful heart. Green earth and golden sun, and all the beautiful and
+      glorious sights ye fondly lavish on unthinking man, farewell, farewell! I
+      die in the desert: &lsquo;tis bitter. No more, oh! never more for me the hopeful
+      day shall break, and the fresh breeze rise on its cheering wings of health
+      and joy. Heaven and earth, water and air, my chosen country and my antique
+      creed, farewell, farewell! And thou, too, city of my soul, I cannot name
+      thee, unseen Jerusalem&mdash;&mdash;&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Amid the roar of the wind, the bosom of the earth heaved and opened, swift
+      columns of sand sprang up to the lurid sky, and hurried towards their
+      victim. With the clang of universal chaos, impenetrable darkness descended
+      on the desert.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      <a name="link2HCH0005" id="link2HCH0005">
+      <!--  H2 anchor --> </a>
+    </p>
+    <div style="height: 4em;">
+      <br /><br /><br /><br />
+    </div>
+    <h2>
+      CHAPTER V.
+    </h2>
+<pre xml:space="preserve">
+     <i>Lord Honain Rescues Alroy</i>
+</pre>
+    <p>
+      NOW our dreary way is over, now the desert&rsquo;s toil is past. Soon the river
+      broadly flowing, through its green and palmy banks, to our wearied limbs
+      shall offer baths &lsquo;which caliphs cannot buy. Allah-illah, Allah-hu.
+      Allah-illah, Allah-hu.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Blessed the man who now may bear a relic from our Prophet&rsquo;s tomb; blessed
+      the man who now unfolds the treasures of a distant mart, jewels of the
+      dusky East, and silks of farthest Samarcand. Allah-illah, Allah-hu.
+      Allah-illah, Allah-hu.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Him the sacred mosque shall greet with a reverence grave and low; him the
+      busy Bezestein shall welcome with confiding smile. Holy merchant, now
+      receive the double triumph of thy toil. Allah-illah, Allah-hu.
+      Allah-illah, Allah-hu.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;The camel jibs, Abdallah! See, there is something in the track.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;By the holy stone,<a href="#linknote-16" name="linknoteref-16"
+       id="linknoteref-16">16</a> a dead man. Poor devil! One should never make a
+      pilgrimage on foot. I hate your humble piety. Prick the beast and he will
+      pass the corpse.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;The Prophet preaches charity, Abdallah. He has favoured my enterprise,
+      and I will practise his precept. See if he be utterly dead.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      It was the Mecca caravan returning to Bagdad. The pilgrims were within a
+      day&rsquo;s journey of the Euphrates, and welcomed their approach to fertile
+      earth with a triumphant chorus. Far as the eye could reach, the long line
+      of their straggling procession stretched across the wilderness, thousands
+      of camels in strings, laden with bales of merchandise, and each company
+      headed by an animal of superior size, leading with tinkling bells; groups
+      of horsemen, clusters of litters; all the pilgrims armed to their teeth,
+      the van formed by a strong division of Seljukian cavalry, and the rear
+      protected by a Kourdish clan, who guaranteed the security of the pious
+      travellers through their country.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Abdallah was the favourite slave of the charitable merchant Ali. In
+      obedience to his master&rsquo;s orders, he unwillingly descended from his camel,
+      and examined the body of the apparently lifeless Alroy.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;A Kourd, by his dress,&rsquo; exclaimed Abdallah, with a sneer; &lsquo;what does he
+      here?&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;It is not the face of a Kourd,&rsquo; replied Ali; &lsquo;perchance a pilgrim from
+      the mountains.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Whatever he be, he is dead,&rsquo; answered the slave: &lsquo;I doubt not an accursed
+      Giaour.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;God is great,&rsquo; exclaimed Ali; &lsquo;he breathes; the breast of his caftan
+      heaved.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;&lsquo;Twas the wind,&rsquo; said Abdallah.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;&lsquo;Twas the sigh of a human heart,&rsquo; answered Ali.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Several pilgrims who were on foot now gathered around the group.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;I am a Hakim,&rsquo;<a href="#linknote-17" name="linknoteref-17"
+       id="linknoteref-17">17</a> observed a dignified Armenian. &lsquo;I will feel his
+      pulse; &lsquo;tis dull, but it beats.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;There is but one God,&rsquo; exclaimed Ali.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;And Mahomed is his Prophet,&rsquo; responded Abdallah. &lsquo;You do not believe in
+      him, you Armenian infidel.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;I am a Hakim,&rsquo; replied the dignified Armenian. &lsquo;Although an infidel, God
+      has granted me skill to cure true believers. Worthy Ali, believe me, the
+      boy may yet live.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Hakim, you shall count your own dirhems if he breathe in my divan in
+      Bagdad,&rsquo; answered Ali; &lsquo;I have taken a fancy to the boy. God has sent him
+      to me. He shall carry my slippers.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Give me a camel, and I will save his life.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;We have none,&rsquo; said the servant.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Walk, Abdallah,&rsquo; said the master.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Is a true believer to walk to save the life of a Kourd? Master
+      slipper-bearer shall answer for this, if there be any sweetness in the
+      bastinado,&rsquo; murmured Abdallah.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      The Armenian bled Alroy; the blood flowed slowly but surely. The Prince of
+      the Captivity opened his eyes.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;There is but one God,&rsquo; exclaimed Ali.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;The evil eye fall on him!&rsquo; muttered Abdallah.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      The Armenian took a cordial from his vest, and poured it down his
+      patient&rsquo;s throat. The blood flowed more freely.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;He will live, worthy merchant,&rsquo; said the physician.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;And Mahomed is his Prophet,&rsquo; continued Ali.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;By the stone of Mecca, I believe it is a Jew,&rsquo; shouted Abdallah.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;The dog!&rsquo; exclaimed Ali.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Pah!&rsquo; said a negro slave, drawing back with disgust.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;He will die,&rsquo; said the Christian physician, not even binding up the vein.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;And be damned,&rsquo; said Abdallah, again jumping on his camel.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      The party rode on, the caravan proceeded. A Kourdish horseman galloped
+      forward. He curbed his steed as he passed Alroy bleeding to death.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;What accursed slave has wounded one of my clan?&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      The Kourd leaped off his horse, stripped off a slip of his blue shirt,
+      stanched the wound, and carried the unhappy Alroy to the rear.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      The desert ceased, the caravan entered upon a vast but fruitful plain. In
+      the extreme distance might be descried a long undulating line of
+      palm-trees. The vanguard gave a shout, shook their tall lances in the air,
+      and rattled their scimitars in rude chorus against their small round iron
+      shields. All eyes sparkled, all hands were raised, all voices sounded,
+      save those that were breathless from overpowering joy. After months
+      wandering in the sultry wilderness, they beheld the great Euphrates.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Broad and fresh, magnificent and serene, the mighty waters rolled through
+      the beautiful and fertile earth. A vital breeze rose from their bosom.
+      Every being responded to their genial influence. The sick were cured, the
+      desponding became sanguine, the healthy and light-hearted broke into
+      shouts of laughter, jumped from their camels, and embraced the fragrant
+      earth, or, wild in their renovated strength, galloped over the plain, and
+      threw their wanton jerreeds in the air,<a href="#linknote-18"
+       name="linknoteref-18" id="linknoteref-18">18</a> as if to show that
+      suffering and labour had not deprived them of that skill and strength,
+      without which it were vain again to enter the haunts of their less
+      adventurous brethren.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      The caravan halted on the banks of the broad river, glowing in the cool
+      sunset. The camp was pitched, the plain glittered with tents. The camels,
+      falling on their knees, crouched in groups, the merchandise piled up in
+      masses by their sides. The unharnessed horses rushed neighing about the
+      plain, tossing their glad heads, and rolling in the unaccustomed pasture.
+      Spreading their mats, and kneeling towards Mecca, the pilgrims performed
+      their evening orisons. Never was thanksgiving more sincere. They arose:
+      some rushed into the river, some lighted lamps, some pounded coffee.<a
+      href="#linknote-19" name="linknoteref-19" id="linknoteref-19">19</a>
+      Troops of smiling villagers arrived with fresh provisions, eager to prey
+      upon such light hearts and heavy purses. It was one of those occasions
+      when the accustomed gravity of the Orient disappears. Long through the
+      night the sounds of music and the shouts of laughter were heard on the
+      banks of that starry river; long through the night you might have listened
+      with enchantment to the wild tales of the storier, or gazed with
+      fascination on the wilder gestures of the dancing girls.<a
+      href="#linknote-20" name="linknoteref-20" id="linknoteref-20">20</a>
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      The great bazaar of Bagdad afforded an animated and sumptuous spectacle on
+      the day after the arrival of the caravan. All the rare and costly products
+      of the world were collected in that celebrated mart: the shawls of
+      Cachemire and the silks of Syria, the ivory, and plumes, and gold of
+      Afric, the jewels of Ind, the talismans of Egypt, the perfumes and
+      manuscripts of Persia, the spices and gums of Araby, beautiful horses,
+      more beautiful slaves, cloaks of sable, pelisses of ermine, armour alike
+      magnificent in ornament and temper, rare animals, still rarer birds, blue
+      apes in silver collars, white gazelles bound by a golden chain,
+      greyhounds, peacocks, paroquets. And everywhere strange, and busy, and
+      excited groups; men of all nations, creeds, and climes: the sumptuous and
+      haughty Turk, the graceful and subtle Arab, the Hebrew with his black cap
+      and anxious countenance; the Armenian Christian, with his dark flowing
+      robes, and mild demeanour, and serene visage. Here strutted the lively,
+      affected, and superfine Persian; and there the Circassian stalked with his
+      long hair and chain cuirass. The fair Georgian jostled the ebony form of
+      the merchant of Dongola or Sennaar.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Through the long, narrow, arched, and winding streets of the bazaar, lined
+      on each side with loaded stalls, all was bustle, bargaining, and barter. A
+      passenger approached, apparently of no common rank. Two pages preceded
+      him, beautiful Georgian boys, clothed in crimson cloth, and caps of the
+      same material, sitting tight to their heads, with long golden tassels. One
+      bore a blue velvet bag, and the other a clasped and richly bound volume.
+      Four footmen, armed, followed their master, who rode behind the pages on a
+      milk-white mule. He was a man of middle age, eminently handsome. His ample
+      robes concealed the only fault in his appearance, a figure which
+      indulgence had rendered somewhat too exuberant. His eyes were large, and
+      soft, and dark; his nose aquiline, but delicately moulded; his mouth
+      small, and beautifully proportioned; his lip full and red; his teeth
+      regular and dazzling white. His ebony beard flowed, but not at too great a
+      length, in graceful and natural curls, and was richly perfumed; a delicate
+      mustachio shaded his upper lip, but no whisker was permitted to screen the
+      form and shroud the lustre of his oval countenance and brilliant
+      complexion. Altogether, the animal perhaps predominated too much in the
+      expression of the stranger&rsquo;s countenance; but genius beamed from his
+      passionate eye, and craft lay concealed in that subtle lip. The dress of
+      the rider was sumptuous. His turban, formed by a scarlet Cachemire shawl,
+      was of great breadth, and concealing half of his white forehead, increased
+      by the contrast the radiant height of the other. His under-vest was of
+      white Damascus silk, stiff with silver embroidery, and confined by a
+      girdle formed by a Brusa scarf of gold stuff, and holding a dagger, whose
+      hilt appeared blazing with brilliants and rubies. His loose and exterior
+      robe was of crimson cloth. His white hands sparkled with rings, and his
+      ears glittered with pendulous gems.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Who is this?&rsquo; asked an Egyptian merchant, in a low whisper, of the dealer
+      whose stuffs he was examining.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;&lsquo;Tis the Lord Honain,&rsquo; replied the dealer. &lsquo;And who may he be?&rsquo; continued
+      the Egyptian. &lsquo;Is he the Caliph&rsquo;s son?&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;A much greater man; his physician.&rsquo; The white mule stopped at the very
+      stall where this conversation was taking place. The pages halted, and
+      stood on each side of their master, the footmen kept off the crowd.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Merchant,&rsquo; said Honain, with a gracious smile of condescension, and with
+      a voice musical as a flute, &lsquo;Merchant, did you obtain me my wish?&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;There is but one God,&rsquo; replied the dealer, who was the charitable Ali,
+      &lsquo;and Mahomed is his Prophet. I succeeded, please your highness, in seeing
+      at Aleppo the accursed Giaour, of whom I spoke, and behold, that which you
+      desired is here.&rsquo; So saying, Ali produced several Greek manuscripts, and
+      offered them to his visitor.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Hah!&rsquo; said Honain, with a sparkling eye, &lsquo;&lsquo;tis well; their cost?&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;The infidel would not part with them under five hundred dirhems,&rsquo; replied
+      Ali.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Ibrahim, see that this worthy merchant receive a thousand.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;As many thanks, my Lord Honain.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      The Caliph&rsquo;s physician bowed gracefully.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Advance, pages,&rsquo; continued Honain; &lsquo;why this stoppage? Ibrahim, see that
+      our way be cleared. What is all this?&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      A crowd of men advanced, pulling along a youth, who, almost exhausted,
+      still singly struggled with his ungenerous adversaries.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;The Cadi, the Cadi,&rsquo; cried the foremost of them, who was Abdallah, &lsquo;drag
+      him to the Cadi.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Noble lord,&rsquo; cried the youth, extricating himself by a sudden struggle
+      from the grasp of his captors, and seizing the robe of Honain, &lsquo;I am
+      innocent and injured. I pray thy help.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;The Cadi, the Cadi,&rsquo; exclaimed Abdallah; &lsquo;the knave has stolen my ring,
+      the ring given me by my faithful Fatima on our marriage-day, and which I
+      would not part with for my master&rsquo;s stores.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      The youth still clung to the robe of Honain, and, mute from exhaustion,
+      fixed upon him his beautiful and imploring eye.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Silence,&rsquo; proclaimed Honain, &lsquo;I will judge this cause.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;The Lord Honain, the Lord Honain, listen to the Lord Honain!&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Speak, thou brawler; of what hast thou to complain?&rsquo; said Honain to
+      Abdallah.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;May it please your highness,&rsquo; said Abdallah, in a whining voice, &lsquo;I am
+      the slave of your faithful servant, Ali: often have I had the honour of
+      waiting on your highness. This young knave here, a beggar, has robbed me,
+      while slumbering in a coffee-house, of a ring; I have my witnesses to
+      prove my slumbering. &lsquo;Tis a fine emerald, may it please your highness, and
+      doubly valuable to me as a love-token from my Fatima. No consideration in
+      the world could induce me to part with it; and so, being asleep, here are
+      three honest men who will prove the sleep, comes this little vagabond, may
+      it please your highness, who while he pretends to offer me my coffee,
+      takes him my finger, and slips off this precious ring, which he now wears
+      upon his beggarly paw, and will not restore to me without the bastinado.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Abdallah is a faithful slave, may it please your highness, and a Hadgee,&rsquo;
+      said Ali, his master.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;And what sayest thou, boy?&rsquo; inquired Honain.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;That this is a false knave, who lies as slaves ever will.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Pithy, and perhaps true,&rsquo; said Honain.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;You call me a slave, you young scoundrel?&rsquo; exclaimed Abdallah; &lsquo;shall I
+      tell you what you are? Why, your highness, do not listen to him a moment.
+      It is a shame to bring such a creature into your presence; for, by the
+      holy stone, and I am a Hadgee, I doubt little he is a Jew.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Honain grew somewhat pale, and bit his lip. He was perhaps annoyed that he
+      had interfered so publicly in behalf of so unpopular a character as a
+      Hebrew, but he was unwilling to desert one whom a moment before he had
+      resolved to befriend, and he inquired of the youth where he had obtained
+      the ring.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;The ring was given to me by my dearest friend when I first set out upon
+      an arduous pilgrimage not yet completed. There is but one person in the
+      world, except the donor, to whom I would part with it, and with that
+      person I am unacquainted. All this may seem improbable, but all this is
+      true. I have truth alone to support me. I am destitute and friendless; but
+      I am not a beggar, nor will any suffering induce me to become one.
+      Feeling, from various circumstances, utterly exhausted, I entered a
+      coffee-house and lay down, it may have been to die. I could not sleep,
+      although my eyes were shut, and nothing would have roused me from a
+      tremulous trance, which I thought was dying, but this plunderer here, who
+      would not wait until death had permitted him quietly to possess himself of
+      a jewel I value more than life.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Show me the jewel.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      The youth held up his hand to Honain, who felt his pulse, and then took
+      off the ring.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;O, my Fatima!&rsquo; exclaimed Abdallah.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Silence, sir!&rsquo; said Honain. &lsquo;Page, call a jeweller.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Honain examined the ring attentively. Whether he were near-sighted, or
+      whether the deceptive light of the covered bazaar prevented him from
+      examining it with ease, he certainly raised his hand to his brow, and for
+      some moments his countenance was invisible.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      The jeweller arrived, and, pressing his hand to his heart, bowed before
+      Honain.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Value this ring,&rsquo; said Honain, in a low voice.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      The jeweller took the ring, viewed it in all directions with a
+      scrutinising glance, held it to the light, pressed it to his tongue,
+      turned it over and over, and finally declared that he could not sell such
+      a ring under a thousand dirhems.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Whatever be the justice of the case,&rsquo; said Honain to Abdallah, &lsquo;art thou
+      ready to part with this ring for a thousand dirhems?&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Most certainly,&rsquo; said Abdallah. &lsquo;And thou, lad, if the decision be in thy
+      favour, wilt thou take for the ring double the worth at which the jeweller
+      prizes it?&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;My lord, I have spoken the truth. I cannot part with that ring for the
+      palace of the Caliph.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;The truth for once is triumphant,&rsquo; said Honain. &lsquo;Boy, the ring is thine;
+      and for thee, thou knave,&rsquo; turning to Abdallah, &lsquo;liar, thief, and
+      slanderer!&mdash;for thee the bastinado,<a href="#linknote-21"
+       name="linknoteref-21" id="linknoteref-21">21</a> which thou destinedst for
+      this innocent youth. Ibrahim, see that he receives five hundred. Young
+      pilgrim, thou art no longer destitute or friendless. Follow me to my
+      palace.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      The arched chamber was of great size and beautiful proportion. The
+      ceiling, encrusted with green fretwork, and studded with silver stars,
+      rested upon clustered columns of white and green marble. In the centre of
+      a variegated pavement of the same material, a fountain rose and fell into
+      a green porphyry basin, and by the side of the fountain, upon a couch of
+      silver, reposed Honain.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      He raised his eyes from the illuminated volume on which he had been long
+      intent; he clapped his hands, and a Nubian slave advanced, and, folding
+      his arms upon his breast, bowed in silence before his lord. &lsquo;How fares the
+      Hebrew boy, Analschar?&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Master, the fever has not returned. We gave him the potion; he slumbered
+      for many hours, and has now awakened, weak but well.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Let him rise and attend me.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      The Nubian disappeared.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;There is nothing stranger than sympathy,&rsquo; soliloquised the physician of
+      the Caliph, with a meditative air; &lsquo;all resolves itself into this
+      principle, and I confess this learned doctor treats it deeply and well. An
+      erudite spirit truly, and an eloquent pen; yet he refines too much. &lsquo;Tis
+      too scholastic. Observation will teach us more than dogma. Meditating upon
+      my passionate youth, I gathered wisdom. I have seen so much that I have
+      ceased to wonder. However we doubt, there is a mystery beyond our
+      penetration. And yet &lsquo;tis near our grasp. I sometimes deem a step, a
+      single step, would launch us into light. Here comes my patient. The rose
+      has left his cheek, and his deep brow is wan and melancholy. Yet &lsquo;tis a
+      glorious visage, Meditation&rsquo;s throne; and Passion lingers in that languid
+      eye. I know not why, a strong attraction draws me to this lone child.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Gentle stranger, how fares it with thee?&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Very well, my lord. I come to thank thee for all thy goodness. My only
+      thanks are words, and those too weak; and yet the orphan&rsquo;s blessing is a
+      treasure.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;You are an orphan, then&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;I have no parent but my father&rsquo;s God.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;And that God is&mdash;&mdash;&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;The God of Israel.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;So I deemed. He is a Deity we all must honour; if he be the great Creator
+      whom we all allow.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;He is what he is, and we are what we are, a fallen people, but faithful
+      still.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Fidelity is strength.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Thy words are truth, and strength must triumph.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;A prophecy!&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Many a prophet is little honoured, till the future proves his
+      inspiration.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;You are young and sanguine.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;So was my ancestor within the vale of Elah. But I speak unto a Moslem,
+      and this is foolishness.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;I have read something, and can take your drift. As for my faith, I
+      believe in truth, and wish all men to do the same. By-the-bye, might I
+      inquire the name of him who is the inmate of my house?&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;They call me David.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;David, you have a ring, an emerald cut with curious characters, Hebrew, I
+      believe.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;&lsquo;Tis here.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;A fine stone, and this inscription means&mdash;&mdash;&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;A simple legend, &ldquo;<i>Parted, but one</i>;&rdquo; the kind memorial of a
+      brother&rsquo;s love.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Your brother?&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;I never had a brother.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;I have a silly fancy for this ring: you hesitate. Search my palace, and
+      choose the treasure you deem its match.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Noble sir, the gem is little worth; but were it such might deck a
+      Caliph&rsquo;s brow, &lsquo;twere a poor recompense for all thy goodness. This ring is
+      a trust rather than a possession, and strange to say, although I cannot
+      offer it to thee who mayst command, as thou hast saved, the life of its
+      unhappy wearer, some stranger may cross my path to-morrow, and almost
+      claim it as his own.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;And that stranger is&mdash;&mdash;&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;The brother of the donor.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;The brother of Jabaster?&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Jabaster!&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Even so. I am that parted brother.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Great is the God of Israel! Take the ring. But what is this? the brother
+      of Jabaster a turbaned chieftain! a Moslem! Say, but say, that thou hast
+      not assumed their base belief; say, but say, that thou hast not become a
+      traitor to our covenant, and I will bless the fortunes of this hour.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;I am false to no God. Calm thyself, sweet youth. These are higher
+      questions than thy faint strength can master now. Another time we&rsquo;ll talk
+      of this, my boy; at present of my brother and thyself. He lives and
+      prospers?&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;He lives in faith; the pious ever prosper.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;A glorious dreamer! Though our moods are different, I ever loved him. And
+      thyself? Thou art not what thou seemest. Tell me all. Jabaster&rsquo;s friend
+      can be no common mind. Thy form has heralded thy fame. Trust me.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;I am Alroy.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;What! the Prince of our Captivity?&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Even so.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;The slayer of Alschiroch?&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Ay!&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;My sympathy was prophetic. I loved thee from the first. And what dost
+      thou here? A price is set upon thy head: thou knowest it?&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;For the first time; but I am neither astonished nor alarmed. I am upon
+      the Lord&rsquo;s business.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;What wouldst thou?&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Free his people.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;The pupil of Jabaster: I see it all. Another victim to his reveries. I&rsquo;ll
+      save this boy. David,&mdash;for thy name must not be sounded within this
+      city,&mdash;the sun is dying. Let us to the terrace, and seek the solace
+      of the twilight breeze.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;What is the hour, David?&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Near to midnight. I marvel if thy brother may read in the stars our happy
+      meeting.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Men read that which they wish. He is a learned Cabalist.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;But what we wish comes from above.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;So they say. We make our fortunes, and we call them Fate.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Yet the Voice sounded, the Daughter of the Voice that summoned Samuel.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;You have told me strange things; I have heard stranger solved.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;My faith is a rock.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;On which you may split.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Art thou a Sadducee?&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;I am a man who knows men.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;You are learned, but different from Jabaster.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;We are the same, though different. Day and Night are both portions of
+      Time.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;And thy portion is&mdash;&mdash;&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Truth.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;That is, light.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Yes; so dazzling that it sometimes seems dark.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Like thy meaning.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;You are young.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Is youth a defect?&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;No, the reverse. But we cannot eat the fruit while the tree is in
+      blossom.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;What fruit?&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Knowledge.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;I have studied.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;What?&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;All sacred things.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;How know you that they are sacred?&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;They come from God.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;So does everything. Is everything sacred?&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;They are the deep expression of his will.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;According to Jabaster. Ask the man who prays in yonder mosque, and he
+      will tell you that Jabaster&rsquo;s wrong.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;After all, thou art a Moslem?&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;No.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;What then?&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;I have told you, a man.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;But what dost thou worship?&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;What is worship?&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Adoration due from the creature to the Creator.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Which is he?&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Our God.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;The God of Israel?&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Even so.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;A frail minority, then, burn incense to him.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;We are the chosen people.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Chosen for scoffs, and scorns, and contumelies. Commend me to such
+      choice.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;We forgot Him, before He chastened us.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Why did we?&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Thou knowest the records of our holy race.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Yes, I know them; like all records, annals of blood.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Annals of victory, that will dawn again.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;If redemption be but another name for carnage, I envy no Messiah.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Art thou Jabaster&rsquo;s brother?&rsquo; &lsquo;So our mother was wont to say: a meek and
+      blessed woman.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Lord Honain, thou art rich, and wise, and powerful. Thy fellow-men speak
+      of thee only with praise or fear, and both are cheering. Thou hast quitted
+      our antique ark; why, no matter. We&rsquo;ll not discuss it. &lsquo;Tis something; if
+      a stranger, at least thou art not a renegade. The world goes well with
+      thee, my Lord Honain. But if, instead of bows and blessings, thou, like
+      thy brethren, wert greeted only with the cuff and curse; if thou didst
+      rise each morning only to feel existence to be dishonour, and to find
+      thyself marked out among surrounding men as something foul and fatal; if
+      it were thy lot, like theirs, at best to drag on a mean and dull career,
+      hopeless and aimless, or with no other hope or aim but that which is
+      degrading, and all this, too, with a keen sense of thy intrinsic worth,
+      and a deep conviction of superior race; why, then, perchance, Honain might
+      even discover &lsquo;twere worth a struggle to be free and honoured.&rsquo; &lsquo;I pray
+      your pardon, sir; I thought you were Jabaster&rsquo;s pupil, a dreaming student.
+      I see you have a deep ambition.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;I am a prince; and I fain would be a prince without my fetters.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Listen to me, Alroy,&rsquo; said Honain in a low voice, and he placed his arm
+      around him, &lsquo;I am your friend. Our acquaintance is very brief: no matter,
+      I love you; I rescued you in injury, I tended you in sickness, even now
+      your life is in my power, I would protect it with my own. You cannot doubt
+      me. Our affections are not under our own control; and mine are yours. The
+      sympathy between us is entire. You see me, you see what I am; a Hebrew,
+      though unknown; one of that despised, rejected, persecuted people, of whom
+      you are the chief. I too would be free and honoured. Freedom and honour
+      are mine, but I was my own messiah. I quitted in good time our desperate
+      cause, but I gave it a trial. Ask Jabaster how I fought. Youth could be my
+      only excuse for such indiscretion. I left this country; I studied and
+      resided among the Greeks. I returned from Constantinople, with all their
+      learning, some of their craft. No one knew me. I assumed their turban, and
+      I am the Lord Honain. Take my experience, child, and save yourself much
+      sorrow. Turn your late adventure to good account. No one can recognise you
+      here. I will introduce you amongst the highest as my child by some fair
+      Greek. The world is before you. You may fight, you may love, you may
+      revel. War, and Women, and luxury are all at your command. With your
+      person and talents you may be grand vizir. Clear your head of nonsense. In
+      the present disordered state of the empire, you may even carve yourself
+      out a kingdom, infinitely more delightful than the barren land of milk and
+      honey. I have seen it, child; a rocky wilderness, where I would not let my
+      courser graze.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      He bent down, and fixed his eyes upon his companion with a scrutinising
+      glance. The moonlight fell upon the resolved visage of the Prince of the
+      Captivity.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Honain,&rsquo; he replied, pressing his hand, &lsquo;I thank thee. Thou knowest not
+      me, but still I thank thee.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;You are resolved, then, on destruction.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;On glory, eternal glory.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Is it possible to succeed?&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Is it possible to fail?&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;You are mad.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;I am a believer.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Enough. You have yet one chance. My brother has saddled your enterprise
+      with a condition, and an impossible one. Gain the sceptre of Solomon, and
+      I will agree to be your subject. You will waste a year in this frolic. You
+      are young, and can afford it. I trust you will experience nothing worse
+      than a loss of time, which is, however, valuable. My duty will be, after
+      all your sufferings, to send you forth on your adventures in good
+      condition, and to provide you means for a less toilsome pilgrimage than
+      has hitherto been your lot. Trust me, you will return to Bagdad to accept
+      my offers. At present, the dews are descending, and we will return to our
+      divan, and take some coffee.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Some few days after this conversation on the terrace, as Alroy was
+      reclining in a bower, in the beautiful garden of his host, meditating on
+      the future, some one touched him on the back. He looked up. It was Honain.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Follow me,&rsquo; said the brother of Jabaster.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      The Prince rose, and followed him in silence. They entered the house, and,
+      passing through the saloon already described, they proceeded down a long
+      gallery, which terminated in an arched flight of broad steps leading to
+      the river. A boat was fastened to the end of the stairs, floating on the
+      blue line of the Tigris, bright in the sun.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Honain now gave to Alroy a velvet bag, which he requested him to carry,
+      and then they descended the steps and entered the covered boat; and,
+      without any directions to the rower, they were soon skimming over the
+      water. By the sound of passing vessels, and the occasional shouts of the
+      boatmen, Alroy, although he could observe nothing, was conscious that for
+      some time their course lay through a principal thoroughfare of the city;
+      but by degrees the sounds became less frequent, and in time entirely died
+      away, and all that caught his ear was the regular and monotonous stroke of
+      their own oar.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      At length, after the lapse of nearly an hour from their entrance, the boat
+      stopped, and was moored against a quay. The curtains were withdrawn, and
+      Honain and his companion debarked.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      A low but extensive building, painted in white and gold arabesque, and
+      irregular but picturesque in form, with many small domes, and tall thin
+      towers, rose amid groves of cypress on the bank of the broad and silent
+      river. The rapid stream had carried them far from the city, which was
+      visible but distant. Around was no habitation, no human being. The
+      opposite bank was occupied by enclosed gardens. Not even a boat passed.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Honain, beckoning to Alroy to accompany him, but still silent, advanced to
+      a small portal, and knocked. It was instantly opened by a single Nubian,
+      who bowed reverently as the visitors passed him. They proceeded along a
+      low and gloomy passage, covered with arches of fretwork, until they
+      arrived at a door of tortoise-shell and mother-of-pearl.<a
+      href="#linknote-22" name="linknoteref-22" id="linknoteref-22">22</a> Here
+      Honain, who was in advance, turned round to Alroy, and said, &lsquo;Whatever
+      happen, and whoever may address you, as you value your life and mine, do
+      not speak.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      The door opened, and they found themselves in a vast and gorgeous hall.
+      Pillars of many-coloured marbles rose from a red and blue pavement of the
+      same material, and supported a vaulted, circular, and highly-embossed roof
+      of purple, scarlet, and gold.<a href="#linknote-23" name="linknoteref-23"
+       id="linknoteref-23">23</a> Around a fountain, which rose fifty feet in
+      height from an immense basin of lapis-lazuli, and reclining on small
+      yellow Barbary mats, was a group of Nubian eunuchs, dressed in rich habits
+      of scarlet and gold,<a href="#linknote-24" name="linknoteref-24"
+       id="linknoteref-24">24</a> and armed with ivory battle-axes, the white
+      handles worked in precious arabesque finely contrasting with the blue and
+      brilliant blades.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      The commander of the eunuch-guard rose on seeing Honain, and pressing his
+      hand to his head, mouth, and heart, saluted him. The physician of the
+      Caliph, motioning Alroy to remain, advanced some paces in front of him,
+      and entered into a whispering conversation with the eunuch. After a few
+      minutes, this officer resumed his seat, and Honain, beckoning to Alroy to
+      rejoin him, crossed the hall.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Passing through an open arch, they entered a quadrangular court of roses,<a
+      href="#linknote-25" name="linknoteref-25" id="linknoteref-25">25</a> each
+      bed of flowers surrounded by a stream of sparkling water, and floating
+      like an enchanted islet upon a fairy ocean. The sound of the water and the
+      sweetness of the flowers blended together, and produced a lulling
+      sensation, which nothing but his strong and strange curiosity might have
+      enabled Alroy to resist. Proceeding along a cloister of light airy
+      workmanship which connected the hall with the remainder of the buildings,
+      they stood before a lofty and sumptuous portal.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      It was a monolith gate, thirty feet in height, formed of one block of
+      green and red jasper, and cut into the fanciful undulating arch of the
+      Saracens. The consummate artist had seized the advantage afforded to him
+      by the ruddy veins of the precious stone, and had formed them in bold
+      relief into two vast and sinuous serpents, which shot forth their crested
+      heads and glittering eyes at Honain and his companion.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      The physician of the Caliph, taking his dagger from his girdle, struck the
+      head of one of the serpents thrice. The massy portal opened with a whirl
+      and a roar, and before them stood an Abyssinian giant,<a
+      href="#linknote-26" name="linknoteref-26" id="linknoteref-26">26</a>
+      holding in his leash a roaring lion.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Hush, Haroun!&rsquo; said Honain to the animal, raising at the same time his
+      arm; and the beast crouched in silence. &lsquo;Worthy Morgargon, I bring you a
+      remembrance.&rsquo; The Abyssinian showed his tusks, larger and whiter than the
+      lion&rsquo;s, as he grinningly received the tribute of the courtly Honain; and
+      he uttered a few uncouth sounds, but he could not speak, for he was a
+      mute.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      The jasper portal introduced the companions to a long and lofty and arched
+      chamber, lighted by high windows of stained glass, hung with tapestry of
+      silk and silver, covered with prodigious carpets, and surrounded by
+      immense couches. And thus through similar chambers they proceeded, in some
+      of which were signs of recent habitation, until they arrived at another
+      quadrangle nearly filled by a most singular fountain which rose from a
+      basin of gold encrusted with pearls, and which was surrounded by figures
+      of every rare quadruped<a href="#linknote-27" name="linknoteref-27"
+       id="linknoteref-27">27</a> in the most costly materials. Here a golden
+      tiger, with flaming eyes of ruby and flowing stripes of opal, stole, after
+      some bloody banquet, to the refreshing brink; a camelopard raised its
+      slender neck of silver from the centre of a group of every inhabitant of
+      the forest; and brilliant bands of monkeys, glittering with precious
+      stones, rested, in every variety of fantastic posture, on the margin of
+      the basin.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      The fountain itself was a tree of gold and silver<a href="#linknote-28"
+       name="linknoteref-28" id="linknoteref-28">28</a> spreading into
+      innumerable branches, covered with every variety of curious birds, their
+      plumage appropriately imitated by the corresponding tints of precious
+      stones, which warbled in beautiful melody as they poured forth from their
+      bills the musical and refreshing element.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      It was with difficulty that Alroy could refrain from an admiring
+      exclamation, but Honain, ever quick, turned to him, with his finger
+      pressed on his mouth, and quitting the quadrangle, they entered the
+      gardens.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Lofty terraces, dark masses of cypress, winding walks of acacia, in the
+      distance an interminable paradise, and here and there a glittering
+      pavilion and bright kiosk! Its appearance on the river had not prepared
+      Alroy for the extent of the palace itself. It seemed infinite, and it was
+      evident that he had only viewed a small portion of it. While they were
+      moving on, there suddenly rose a sound of trumpets. The sound grew nearer
+      and nearer, louder and louder: soon was heard the tramp of an approaching
+      troop. Honain drew Alroy aside. A procession appeared advancing from a
+      dark grove of cypress. Four hundred men led as many white bloodhounds with
+      collars of gold and rubies.<a href="#linknote-29" name="linknoteref-29"
+       id="linknoteref-29">29</a> Then came one hundred men, each with a hooded
+      hawk; then six horsemen in rich dresses; after them a single horseman,
+      mounted on a steed, marked on its forehead with a star.<a
+      href="#linknote-30" name="linknoteref-30" id="linknoteref-30">30</a> The
+      rider was middle-aged, handsome, and dignified. He was plainly dressed,
+      but the staff of his hunting-spear was entirely of diamonds and the blade
+      of gold.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      He was followed by a company of Nubian eunuchs, with their scarlet dresses
+      and ivory battle-axes, and the procession closed.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;The Caliph,&rsquo; whispered Honain, when they had passed, placing at the same
+      time his finger on his lip to prevent any inquiry. This was the first
+      intimation that had reached Alroy of what he had already suspected, that
+      he was a visitor to the palace of the Commander of the Faithful.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      The companions turned down a wild and winding walk, which, after some
+      time, brought them to a small and gently sloping lawn, surrounded by
+      cedar-trees of great size. Upon the lawn was a kiosk, a long and
+      many-windowed building, covered with blinds, and further screened by an
+      overhanging roof. The kiosk was built of white and green marble, the
+      ascent to it was by a flight of steps the length of the building,
+      alternately of white and green marble, and nearly covered with rose-trees.
+      Honain went up these steps alone, and entered the kiosk. After a few
+      minutes he looked out from the blinds and beckoned to Alroy. David
+      advanced, but Honain, fearful of some indiscretion, met him, and said to
+      him in a low whisper between his teeth, &lsquo;Remember you are deaf, a mute,
+      and a eunuch.&rsquo; Alroy could scarcely refrain from smiling, and the Prince
+      of the Captivity and the physician of the Caliph entered the kiosk
+      together. Two women, veiled, and two eunuchs of the guard, received them
+      in an antechamber. And then they passed into a room which ran nearly the
+      whole length of the kiosk, opening on one side to the gardens, and on the
+      other supported by an ivory wall, with niches painted in green fresco, and
+      in each niche a rose-tree. Each niche, also, was covered with an almost
+      invisible golden grate, which confined a nightingale, and made him
+      constant to the rose he loved. At the foot of each niche was a fountain,
+      but, instead of water, each basin was replenished with the purest
+      quicksilver.<a href="#linknote-31" name="linknoteref-31"
+       id="linknoteref-31">31</a> The roof of the kiosk was of mother-of-pearl
+      inlaid with tortoise-shell; the pavement, a mosaic of rare marbles and
+      precious stones, representing the most delicious fruits and the most
+      beautiful flowers. Over this pavement, a Georgian page flung at intervals
+      refreshing perfumes. At the end of this elegant chamber was a divan of
+      light green silk, embroidered with pearls, and covered with cushions of
+      white satin and gold. Upon one of these cushions, in the middle of the
+      divan, sat a lady, her eyes fixed in abstraction upon a volume of Persian
+      poetry lying on her knees, one hand playing with a rosary of pearls and
+      emeralds,<a href="#linknote-32" name="linknoteref-32" id="linknoteref-32">32</a>
+      and the other holding a long gold chain, which imprisoned a white gazelle.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      The lady looked up as Honain and his companion entered. She was very
+      young, as youthful as Alroy. Her long light brown hair, drawn off a high
+      white forehead covered with blue veins, fell braided with pearls over each
+      shoulder. Her eyes were large and deeply blue; her nose small, but high
+      and aquiline. The fairness of her face was dazzling, and, when she looked
+      up and greeted Honain, her lustrous cheeks broke into dimples, the more
+      fascinating from their contrast with the general expression of her
+      countenance, which was haughty and derisive. The lady was dressed in a
+      robe of crimson silk girded round her waist by a green shawl, from which
+      peeped forth the diamond hilt of a small poniard.<a href="#linknote-33"
+       name="linknoteref-33" id="linknoteref-33">33</a> Her round white arms
+      looked infinitely small, as they occasionally flashed forth from their
+      large loose hanging sleeves. One was covered with jewels, and the right
+      arm was quite bare.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Honain advanced, and, bending, kissed the lady&rsquo;s proffered hand. Alroy
+      fell into the background.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;They told me that the Rose of the World drooped this morning,&rsquo; said the
+      physician, bending again as he smiled, &lsquo;and her slave hastened at her
+      command to tend her.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;It was a south wind. The wind has changed, and the Rose of the World is
+      better,&rsquo; replied the lady laughing.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Honain touched her pulse.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Irregular,&rsquo; said the physician.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Like myself,&rsquo; said the lady. &lsquo;Is that a new slave?&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;A recent purchase, and a great bargain. He is good-looking, has the
+      advantage of being deaf and dumb, and is harmless in every respect.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;&lsquo;Tis a pity,&rsquo; replied the lady; &lsquo;it seems that all good-looking people
+      are born to be useless. I, for instance.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Yet rumour whispers the reverse,&rsquo; remarked the physician.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;How so?&rsquo; inquired the lady.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;The young King of Karasmé.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Poh! I have made up my mind to detest him. A barbarian!&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;A hero!&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Have you ever seen him?&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;I have.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Handsome?&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;An archangel.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;And sumptuous?&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Is he not a conqueror? All the plunder of the world will be yours.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;I am tired of magnificence. I built this kiosk to forget it.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;It is not in the least degree splendid,&rsquo; said Honain, looking round with
+      a smile.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;No,&rsquo; answered the lady, with a self-satisfied air: &lsquo;here, at least, one
+      can forget one has the misfortune to be a princess.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;It is certainly a great misfortune,&rsquo; said the physician.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;And yet it must be the only tolerable lot,&rsquo; replied the lady.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Assuredly,&rsquo; replied Honain.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;For our unhappy sex, at least.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Very unhappy.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;If I were only a man!&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;What a hero you would be!&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;I should like to live in endless confusion.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;I have not the least doubt of it.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Have you got me the books?&rsquo; eagerly inquired the Princess.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;My slave bears them,&rsquo; replied Honain.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Let me see them directly.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Honain took the bag from Alroy, and unfolded its contents; the very
+      volumes of Greek romances which Ali, the merchant, had obtained for him.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;I am tired of poetry,&rsquo; said the Princess, glancing over the costly
+      volumes, and tossing them away; &lsquo;I long to see the world.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;You would soon be tired of that,&rsquo; replied the physician.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;I suppose common people are never tired.&rsquo; said the Princess.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Except with labour;&rsquo; said the physician; &lsquo;care keeps them alive.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;What is care?&rsquo; asked the Princess, with a smile.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;It is a god,&rsquo; replied the physician, &lsquo;invisible, but omnipotent. It
+      steals the bloom from the cheek and lightness from the pulse; it takes
+      away the appetite, and turns the hair grey.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;It is no true divinity, then,&rsquo; replied the Princess, &lsquo;but an idol we make
+      ourselves. I am a sincere Moslem, and will not worship it. Tell me some
+      news, Honain.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;The young King of Karasmé&mdash;&mdash;&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Again! the barbarian! You are in his pay. I&rsquo;ll none of him. To leave one
+      prison, and to be shut up in another,&mdash;why do you remind me of it?
+      No, my dear Hakim, if I marry at all, I will marry to be free.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;An impossibility,&rsquo; said Honain.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;My mother was free till she was a queen and a slave. I intend to end as
+      she began. You know what she was.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Honain knew well, but he was too politic not to affect ignorance.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;The daughter of a bandit,&rsquo; continued the Princess, &lsquo;who fought by the
+      side of her father. That is existence! I must be a robber. &lsquo;Tis in the
+      blood. I want my fate foretold, Honain. You are an astrologer; do it.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;I have already cast your nativity. Your star is à comet.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;That augurs well; brilliant confusion and erratic splendour. I wish I
+      were a star,&rsquo; added the Princess in a deep rich voice, and with a pensive
+      air; &lsquo;a star in the clear blue sky, beautiful and free. Honain, Honain,
+      the gazelle has broken her chain, and is eating my roses.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Alroy rushed forward and seized the graceful truant. Honain shot him an
+      anxious look; the Princess received the chain from the hand of Alroy, and
+      cast at him a scrutinising glance.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;What splendid eyes the poor beast has got!&rsquo; exclaimed the Princess.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;The gazelle?&rsquo; inquired the physician.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;No, your slave,&rsquo; replied the Princess. &lsquo;Why, he blushes. Were he not deaf
+      as well as dumb, I could almost believe he understood me.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;He is modest,&rsquo; replied Honain, rather alarmed; &lsquo;and is frightened at the
+      liberty he has taken.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;I like modesty,&rsquo; said the Princess; &lsquo;it is interesting. I am modest; you
+      think so?&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Certainly,&rsquo; said Honain.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;And interesting?&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Very.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;I detest an interesting person. After all, there is nothing like plain
+      dulness.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Nothing,&rsquo; said Honain.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;The day flows on so serenely in such society.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;It does,&rsquo; said Honain.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;No confusion; no scenes.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;None.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;I make it a rule only to have ugly slaves.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;You are quite right.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Honain, will you ever contradict me? You know very well I have the
+      handsomest slaves in the world.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Every one knows it.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;And, do you know, I have taken a great fancy to your new purchase, who,
+      according to your account, is eminently qualified for the post. Why, do
+      you not agree with me?&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Why, yes; I doubt not your Highness would find him eminently qualified,
+      and certainly few things would give me greater pleasure than offering him
+      for your acceptance; but I got into such disgrace by that late affair of
+      the Circassian, that&mdash;&mdash;&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Oh! leave it to me,&rsquo; said the Princess.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Certainly,&rsquo; said the physician, turning the conversation; &lsquo;and when the
+      young King of Karasmé arrives at Bagdad, you can offer him to his majesty
+      as a present.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Delightful! and the king is really handsome and young as well as brave;
+      but has he any taste?&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;You have enough for both.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;If he would but make war against the Greeks!&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Why so violent against the poor Greeks?&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;You know they are Giaours. Besides, they might beat him, and then I
+      should have the pleasure of being taken prisoner.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Delightful!&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Charming! to see Constantinople, and marry the Emperor.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Marry the Emperor!&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;To be sure. Of course he would fall in love with me.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Of course.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;And then, and then, I might conquer Paris!&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Paris!&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;You have been at Paris?&rsquo;<a href="#linknote-34" name="linknoteref-34"
+       id="linknoteref-34">34</a>
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Yes.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;The men are shut up there,&rsquo; said the Princess with a smile, &lsquo;are they
+      not? and the women do what they like?&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;You will always do what you like,&rsquo; said Honain, rising.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;You are going?&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;My visits must not be too long.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Farewell, dear Honain!&rsquo; said the Princess, with a melancholy air. &lsquo;You
+      are the only person who has an idea in all Bagdad, and you leave me. A
+      miserable lot is mine, to feel everything, and be nothing. These books and
+      flowers, these sweet birds, and this fair gazelle: ah! poets may feign as
+      they please, but how cheerfully would I resign all these elegant
+      consolations of a captive life for one hour of freedom! I wrote some
+      verses on myself yesterday; take them, and get them blazoned for me by the
+      finest scribe in the city; letters of silver on a violet ground with a
+      fine flowing border; I leave the design to you. Adieu! Come hither, mute.&rsquo;
+      Alroy advanced to her beckon, and knelt. &lsquo;There, take that rosary for thy
+      master&rsquo;s sake, and those dark eyes of thine.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      The companions withdrew, and reached their boat in silence. It was sunset.
+      The musical and sonorous voice of the Muezzin resounded from the
+      innumerable minarets of the splendid city. Honain threw back the curtains
+      of the barque. Bagdad rose before them in huge masses of sumptuous
+      dwellings, seated amid groves and gardens. An infinite population,
+      summoned by the invigorating twilight, poured forth in all directions. The
+      glowing river was covered with sparkling caiques, the glittering terraces
+      with showy groups. Splendour, and power, and luxury, and beauty were
+      arrayed before them in their most captivating forms, and the heart of
+      Alroy responded to their magnificence. &lsquo;A glorious vision!&rsquo; said the
+      Prince of the Captivity.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Very different from Hamadan,&rsquo; said the physician of the Caliph.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;To-day I have seen wonders,&rsquo; said Alroy.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;The world is opening to you,&rsquo; said Honain.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Alroy did not reply; but after some minutes he said, in a hesitating
+      voice, &lsquo;Who was that lady?&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;The Princess Schirene,&rsquo; replied Honain, &lsquo;the favourite daughter of the
+      Caliph. Her mother was a Georgian and a Giaour.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      The moonlight fell upon the figure of Alroy lying on a couch; his face was
+      hidden by his arm. He was motionless, but did not sleep.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      He rose and paced the chamber with agitated steps; sometimes he stopped,
+      and gazed on the pavement, fixed in abstraction. He advanced to the
+      window, and cooled his feverish brow in the midnight air.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      An hour passed away, and the young Prince of the Captivity remained fixed
+      in the same position. Suddenly he turned to a tripod of porphyry, and,
+      seizing a rosary of jewels, pressed it to his lips.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;The Spirit of my dreams, she comes at last; the form for which I have
+      sighed and wept; the form which rose upon my radiant vision when I shut my
+      eyes against the jarring shadows of this gloomy world.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Schirene! Schirene! here in this solitude I pour to thee the passion long
+      stored up: the passion of my life, no common life, a life full of deep
+      feeling and creative thought. O beautiful! O more than beautiful! for thou
+      to me art as a dream unbroken: why art thou not mine? why lose a moment in
+      our glorious lives, and balk our destiny of half its bliss?
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Fool, fool, hast thou forgotten? The rapture of a prisoner in his cell,
+      whose wild fancy for a moment belies his fetters! The daughter of the
+      Caliph and a Jew!
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Give me my fathers&rsquo; sceptre.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;A plague on talismans! Oh! I need no inspiration but her memory, no magic
+      but her name. By heavens! I will enter this glorious city a conqueror, or
+      die.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Why, what is Life? for meditation mingles ever with my passion: why, what
+      is Life? Throw accidents to the dogs, and tear off the painted mask of
+      false society! Here am I a hero; with a mind that can devise all things,
+      and a heart of superhuman daring, with youth, with vigour, with a glorious
+      lineage, with a form that has made full many a lovely maiden of our tribe
+      droop her fair head by Hamadan&rsquo;s sweet fount, and I am&mdash;nothing!
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Out on Society! &lsquo;twas not made for me. I&rsquo;ll form my own, and be the deity
+      I sometimes feel.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;We make our fortunes, and we call them Fate. Thou saidst well, Honain.
+      Most subtle Sadducee! The saintly blood flowed in my fathers&rsquo; veins, and
+      they did nothing; but I have an arm formed to wield a sceptre, and I will
+      win one.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;I cannot doubt my triumph. Triumph is a part of my existence. I am born
+      for glory, as a tree is born to bear its fruit, or to expand its flowers.
+      The deed is done. &lsquo;Tis thought of, and &lsquo;tis done. I will confront the
+      greatest of my diademed ancestors, and in his tomb. Mighty Solomon! he
+      wedded Pharaoh&rsquo;s daughter. Hah! what a future dawns upon my hope. An omen,
+      a choice omen!
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Heaven and earth are mingling to form my fortunes. My mournful youth,
+      which I have so often cursed, I hail thee: thou wert a glorious
+      preparation; and when feeling no sympathy with the life around me, I
+      deemed myself a fool, I find that I was a most peculiar being. By heavens,
+      I am joyful; for the first time in my life I am joyful. I could laugh, and
+      fight, and drink. I am new-born; I am another being; I am mad!
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;O Time, great Time! the world belies thy fame. It calls thee swift.
+      Methinks thou art wondrous slow. Fly on, great Time, and on thy coming
+      wings bear me my sceptre!
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;All is to be. It is a lowering thought. My fancy, like a bright and
+      wearied bird, will sometimes flag and fall, and then I am lost. The young
+      King of Karasmé, a youthful hero! Would he had been Alschiroch! My heart
+      is sick even at the very name. Alas! my trials have not yet begun.
+      Jabaster warned me: good, sincere Jabaster! His talisman presses on my
+      frantic heart, and seems to warn me. I am in danger. Braggart to stand
+      here, filling the careless air with idle words, while all is
+      unaccomplished. I grow dull. The young King of Karasmé! Why, what am I
+      compared to this same prince? Nothing, but in my thoughts. In the full
+      bazaar, they would not deem me worthy even to hold his stirrup or his
+      slipper&mdash;&mdash; Oh! this contest, this constant, bitter,
+      never-ending contest between my fortune and my fancy! Why do I exist? or,
+      if existing, why am I not recognised as I would be?
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Sweet voice, that in Jabaster&rsquo;s distant cave de-scendedst from thy holy
+      home above, and whispered consolation, breathe again! Again breathe thy
+      still summons to my lonely ear, and chase away the thoughts that hover
+      round me; thoughts dark and doubtful, like fell birds of prey hovering
+      around a hero in expectation of his fall, and gloating on their triumph
+      over the brave. There is something fatal in these crowded cities. Faith
+      flourishes in solitude.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      He threw himself upon the couch, and, leaning down his head, seemed lost
+      in meditation. He started up, and, seizing his tablets, wrote upon them
+      these words:
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Honain, I have been the whole night like David in the wilderness of Ziph;
+      but, by the aid of the Lord, I have conquered. I fly from this dangerous
+      city upon his business, which I have too much neglected. Attempt not to
+      discover me, and accept my gratitude.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      <a name="link2HCH0006" id="link2HCH0006">
+      <!--  H2 anchor --> </a>
+    </p>
+    <div style="height: 4em;">
+      <br /><br /><br /><br />
+    </div>
+    <h2>
+      CHAPTER VI.
+    </h2>
+<pre xml:space="preserve">
+     <i>The Learned Rabbi Zimri.</i>
+</pre>
+    <p>
+      A SCORCHING sun, a blue and burning sky, on every side lofty ranges of
+      black and barren mountains, dark ravines, deep caverns, unfathomable
+      gorges! A solitary being moved in the distance. Faint and toiling, a
+      pilgrim slowly clambered up the steep and stony track.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      The sultry hours moved on; the pilgrim at length gained the summit of the
+      mountain, a small and rugged table-land, strewn with huge masses of loose
+      and heated, rock. All around was desolation: no spring, no herbage; the
+      bird and the insect were alike mute. Still it was the summit: no loftier
+      peaks frowned in the distance; the pilgrim stopped, and breathed with more
+      facility, and a faint smile played over his languid and solemn
+      countenance.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      He rested a few minutes; he took from his wallet some locusts and wild
+      honey, and a small skin of water. His meal was short as well as simple. An
+      ardent desire to reach his place of destination before nightfall urged him
+      to proceed. He soon passed over the table-land, and commenced the descent
+      of the mountain. A straggling olive-tree occasionally appeared, and then a
+      group, and soon the groups swelled into a grove. His way wound through the
+      grateful and unaccustomed shade. He emerged from the grove, and found that
+      he had proceeded down more than half the side of the mountain. It ended
+      precipitously in a dark and narrow ravine, formed on the other side by an
+      opposite mountain, the lofty steep of which was crested by a city gently
+      rising on a gradual slope.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Nothing could be conceived more barren, wild, and terrible than the
+      surrounding scenery, unillumined by a single trace of culture. The city
+      stood like the last gladiator in an amphitheatre of desolation.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      It was surrounded by a lofty turreted wall, of an architecture to which
+      the pilgrim was unaccustomed: gates with drawbridge and portcullis, square
+      towers, and loopholes for the archer. Sentinels, clothed in steel and
+      shining in the sunset, paced, at regular intervals, the cautious wall, and
+      on a lofty tower a standard waved, a snowy standard, with a red, red
+      cross!
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      The Prince of the Captivity at length beheld the lost capital of his
+      fathers.<a href="#linknote-35" name="linknoteref-35" id="linknoteref-35">35</a>
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      A few months back, and such a spectacle would have called forth all the
+      latent passion of Alroy; but time and suffering, and sharp experience, had
+      already somewhat curbed the fiery spirit of the Hebrew Prince. He gazed
+      upon Jerusalem, he beheld the City of David garrisoned by the puissant
+      warriors of Christendom, and threatened by the innumerable armies of the
+      Crescent. The two great divisions of the world seemed contending for a
+      prize, which he, a lonely wanderer, had crossed the desert to rescue.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      If his faith restrained him from doubting the possibility of his
+      enterprise, he was at least deeply conscious that the world was a very
+      different existence from what he had fancied amid the gardens of Hamadan
+      and the rocks of Caucasus, and that if his purpose could be accomplished,
+      it could only be effected by one means. Calm, perhaps somewhat depressed,
+      but full of pious humiliation, and not deserted by holy hope, he descended
+      into the Valley of Jehoshaphat, and so, slaking his thirst at Siloah, and
+      mounting the opposite height, David Alroy entered Jerusalem by the gate of
+      Zion.<a href="#linknote-36" name="linknoteref-36" id="linknoteref-36">36</a>
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      He had been instructed that the quarter allotted to his people was near
+      this entrance. He inquired the direction of the sentinel, who did not
+      condescend to answer him. An old man, in shabby robes, who was passing,
+      beckoned to him.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;What want you, friend?&rsquo; inquired Alroy.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;You were asking for the quarter of our people. You must be à stranger,
+      indeed, in Jerusalem, to suppose that a Frank would speak to a Jew. You
+      were lucky to get neither kicked nor cursed.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Kicked and cursed! Why, these dogs&mdash;&mdash;&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Hush! hush! for the love of God,&rsquo; said his new companion, much alarmed.
+      &lsquo;Have you lent money to their captain that you speak thus? In Jerusalem
+      our people speak only in a whisper.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;No matter: the cure is not by words. Where is our quarter?&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Was the like ever seen! Why, he speaks as if he were a Frank. I save him
+      from having his head broken by a gauntlet, and&mdash;&mdash;&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;My friend, I am tired. Our quarter?&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Whom may you want?&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;The Chief Rabbi.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;You bear letters to him?&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;What is that to you?&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Hush! hush! You do not know what Jerusalem is, young man. You must not
+      think of going on in this way. Where do you come from?&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Bagdad.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Bagdad! Jerusalem is not Bagdad. A Turk is a brute, but a Christian is a
+      demon.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;But our quarter, our quarter?&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Hush! you want the Chief Rabbi?&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Ay! ay!&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Rabbi Zimri?&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;It may be so. I neither know nor care.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Neither knows nor cares! This will never do; you must not go on in this
+      way at Jerusalem. You must not think of it.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Fellow, I see thou art a miserable prattler. Show me our quarter, and I
+      will pay thee well, or be off.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Be off! Art thou a Hebrew? to say &ldquo;be off&rdquo; to any one. You come from
+      Bagdad! I tell you what, go back to Bagdad. You will never do for
+      Jerusalem.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Your grizzled beard protects you. Old fool, I am a pilgrim just arrived,
+      wearied beyond expression, and you keep me here listening to your flat
+      talk!&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Flat talk! Why! what would you?&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Lead me to the Rabbi Zimri, if that be his name.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;If that be his name! Why, every one knows Rabbi Zimri, the Chief Rabbi of
+      Jerusalem, the successor of Aaron. We have our temple yet, say what they
+      like. A very learned doctor is Rabbi Zimri.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Wretched driveller. I am ashamed to lose my patience with such a dotard.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Driveller! dotard! Why, who are you?&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;One you cannot comprehend. Without another word, lead me to your chief.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Chief! you have not far to go. I know no one of the nation who holds his
+      head higher than I do here, and they call me Zimri.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;What, the Chief Rabbi, that very learned doctor?&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;No less; I thought you had heard of him.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Let us forget the past, good Zimri. When great men play the incognito,
+      they must sometimes hear rough phrases. It is the Caliph&rsquo;s lot as well as
+      yours. I am glad to make the acquaintance of so great a doctor. Though
+      young, and roughly habited, I have seen the world a little, and may offer
+      next Sabbath in the synagogue more dirhems than you would perhaps suppose.
+      Good and learned Zimri, I would be your guest.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;A very worshipful young man! And he speaks low and soft now! But it was
+      lucky I was at hand. Good, what&rsquo;s your name?&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;David.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;A very honest name, good David. It was lucky I was at hand when you spoke
+      to the sentinel, though. A Jew speak to a Frank, and a sentinel too! Hah!
+      hah! hah! that is good. How Rabbi Maimon will laugh! Faith it was very
+      lucky, now, was not it?&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Indeed, most fortunate.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Well that is candid! Here! this way. &lsquo;Tis not far. We number few, sir, of
+      our brethren here, but a better time will come, a better time will come.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;I think so. This is your door?&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;An humble one. Jerusalem is not Bagdad, but you are welcome.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;King Pirgandicus<a href="#linknote-37" name="linknoteref-37"
+       id="linknoteref-37">37</a> entered them,&rsquo; said Rabbi Maimon, &lsquo;but no one
+      since.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;And when did he live?&rsquo; inquired Alroy. &lsquo;His reign is recorded in the
+      Talmud,&rsquo; answered Rabbi Zimri, &lsquo;but in the Talmud there are no dates.&rsquo; &lsquo;A
+      long while ago?&rsquo; asked Alroy. &lsquo;Since the Captivity,&rsquo; answered Rabbi
+      Maimon. &lsquo;I doubt that,&rsquo; said Rabbi Zimri, &lsquo;or why should he be called
+      king?&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Was he of the house of David?&rsquo; said Alroy.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Without doubt,&rsquo; said Rabbi Maimon; &lsquo;he was one of our greatest kings, and
+      conquered Julius Caesar.&lsquo;<a href="#linknote-38" name="linknoteref-38"
+       id="linknoteref-38">38</a>
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;His kingdom was in the northernmost parts of Africa,&rsquo; said Rabbi Zimri,
+      &lsquo;and exists to this day, if we could but find it.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Ay, truly,&rsquo; added Rabbi Maimon, &lsquo;the sceptre has never departed out of
+      Judah; and he rode always upon a white elephant.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Covered with cloth of gold,&rsquo; added Rabbi Zimri. &lsquo;And he visited the Tombs
+      of the Kings?&rsquo;<a href="#linknote-39" name="linknoteref-39"
+       id="linknoteref-39">39</a> inquired Alroy.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Without doubt,&rsquo; said Rabbi Maimon. &lsquo;The whole account is in the Talmud.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;And no one can now find them?&rsquo; &lsquo;No one,&rsquo; replied Rabbi Zimri: &lsquo;but,
+      according to that learned doctor, Moses Hallevy, they are in a valley in
+      the mountains of Lebanon, which was sealed up by the Archangel Michael.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;The illustrious Doctor Abarbanel, of Babylon,&rsquo; said Rabbi Maimon, &lsquo;gives
+      one hundred and twenty reasons in his commentary on the Gemara to prove
+      that they sunk under the earth at the taking of the Temple.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;No one reasons like Abarbanel of Babylon,&rsquo; said Rabbi Zimri.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;The great Rabbi Akiba, of Pundebita, has answered them all,&rsquo; said Rabbi
+      Maimon, &lsquo;and holds that they were taken up to heaven.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;And which is right?&rsquo; inquired Rabbi Zimri.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Neither,&rsquo; said Rabbi Maimon.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;One hundred and twenty reasons are strong proof,&rsquo; said Rabbi Zimri.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;The most learned and illustrious Doctor Aaron Mendola, of Granada,&rsquo; said
+      Rabbi Maimon, &lsquo;has shown that we must look for the Tombs of the Kings in
+      the south of Spain.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;All that Mendola writes is worth attention,&rsquo; said Rabbi Zimri.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Rabbi Hillel,<a href="#linknote-40" name="linknoteref-40"
+       id="linknoteref-40">40</a> of Samaria, is worth two Mendolas any day,&rsquo;
+      said Rabbi Maimon.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;&lsquo;Tis a most learned doctor,&rsquo; said Rabbi Zimri; &lsquo;and what thinks he?&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Hillel proves that there are two Tombs of the Kings,&rsquo; said Rabbi Maimon,
+      &lsquo;and that neither of them are the right ones.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;What a learned doctor!&rsquo; exclaimed Rabbi Zimri.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;And very satisfactory,&rsquo; remarked Alroy.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;These are high subjects,&rsquo; continued Maimon, his blear eyes twinkling with
+      complacency. &lsquo;Your guest, Rabbi Zimri, must read the treatise of the
+      learned Shimei, of Damascus, on &ldquo;Effecting Impossibilities.&rdquo;&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;That is a work!&rsquo; exclaimed Zimri.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;I never slept for three nights after reading that work,&rsquo; said Rabbi
+      Maimon. &lsquo;It contains twelve thousand five hundred and thirty-seven
+      quotations from the Pentateuch, and not a single original observation.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;There were giants in those days,&rsquo; said Rabbi Zimri; &lsquo;we are children
+      now.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;The first chapter makes equal sense, read backward or forward,&rsquo; continued
+      Rabbi Maimon. &lsquo;Ichabod!&rsquo; exclaimed Rabbi Zimri. &lsquo;And the initial letter of
+      every section is a cabalistical type of a king of Judah.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;The temple will yet be built,&rsquo; said Rabbi Zimri. &lsquo;Ay, ay! that is
+      learning!&rsquo; exclaimed Rabbi Maimon; &lsquo;but what is the great treatise on
+      &ldquo;Effecting Impossibilities&rdquo; to that profound, admirable, and&mdash;&mdash;&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Holy Rabbi!&rsquo; said a youthful reader of the synagogue, who now entered,
+      &lsquo;the hour is at hand.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;You don&rsquo;t say so! Learned Miamon, I must to the synagogue. I could sit
+      here all day listening to you. Come, David, the people await us.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Zimri and Alroy quitted the house, and proceeded along the narrow hilly
+      streets to the chief temple of the Hebrews.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;It grieves the venerable Maimon much that he cannot join us,&rsquo; said Rabbi
+      Zimri. &lsquo;You have doubtless heard of him at Bagdad; a most learned doctor.&rsquo;
+      Alroy bowed in silence.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;He bears his years well. You would hardly believe that he was my master.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;I perceive that you inherit much of his erudition.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;You are kind. If he have breathed one year, Rabbi Maimon will be a
+      hundred and ten next Passover.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;I doubt it not.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;When he is gathered to his fathers, a great light will be extinguished in
+      Israel. You wanted to know something about the Tombs of the Kings; I told
+      you he was your man. How full he was! His mind, sir, is an egg.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;A somewhat ancient one. I fear his guidance will hardly bring me the
+      enviable fortune of King Pirgandicus.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Between ourselves, good David, talking of King Pirgandicus, I cannot help
+      fancying that the learned Maimon made a slight mistake. I hold Pirgandicus
+      was only a prince. It was after the Captivity, and I know no authority for
+      any of our rulers since the destruction assuming a higher title. Clearly a
+      prince, eh? But, though I would whisper it to no one but you, I think our
+      worthy friend grows a little old. We should remember his years, sir. A
+      hundred and ten next Passover. &lsquo;Tis a great burden.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Ay! with his learning added, a very fearful burden indeed!&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;You have been a week in Jerusalem, and have not yet visited our
+      synagogue. It is not of cedar and ivory, but it is still a temple. This
+      way. It is only a week that you have been here? Why, you look another man!
+      I shall never forget our first meeting: you did not know me. That was
+      good, eh? And when I told you I was the chief Rabbi Zimri, how you
+      changed! You have quite regained your appetite. Ah! &lsquo;tis pleasant to mix
+      once more with our own people. To the left. So! we must descend a little.
+      We hold our meetings in an ancient cemetery. You have a finer temple, I
+      warrant me, in Bagdad. Jerusalem is not Bagdad. But this has its
+      conveniences. &lsquo;Tis safe, and we are not very rich, nor wish to seem so.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      A long passage brought them to a number of small, square, low chambers<a
+      href="#linknote-41" name="linknoteref-41" id="linknoteref-41">41</a>
+      leading into each other. They were lighted by brass lamps, placed at
+      intervals in vacant niches, that once held corpses, and which were now
+      soiled by the smoky flame. Between two and three hundred individuals were
+      assembled in these chambers, at first scarcely distinguishable by those
+      who descended from the broad daylight; but by degrees the eyesight became
+      accustomed to the dim and vaporous atmosphere, and Al-roy recognised in
+      the final and more illumined chamber a high cedar cabinet, the type of the
+      ark, and which held the sacred vessels and the sanctified copy of the law.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Standing in lines, with their heads mystically covered,<a
+      href="#linknote-42" name="linknoteref-42" id="linknoteref-42">42</a> the
+      forlorn remnant of Israel, captives in their ancient city, avowed, in
+      spite of all their sufferings, their fidelity to their God, and,
+      notwithstanding all the bitterness of hope delayed, their faith in the
+      fulfilment of his promises. Their simple service was completed, their
+      prayers were read, their responses made, their law exhibited, and their
+      charitable offerings announced by their high priest. After the service,
+      the venerable Zimri, opening a volume of the Talmud, and fortified by the
+      opinions of all those illustrious and learned doctors, the heroes of his
+      erudite conversations with the aged Maimon, expounded the law to the
+      congregation of the people.<a href="#linknote-43" name="linknoteref-43"
+       id="linknoteref-43">43</a>
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;It is written,&rsquo; said the Rabbi, &lsquo;&ldquo;Thou shalt have none other God but me.&rdquo;
+       Now know ye what our father Abraham said when Nimrod ordered him to
+      worship fire? &ldquo;Why not water,&rdquo; answered Abraham, &ldquo;which can put out fire?
+      why not clouds, which can pour forth water? why not the winds, which can
+      produce clouds? why not God, which can create winds?&rdquo;&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      A murmur of approbation sounded throughout the congregation.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Eliezer,&rsquo; said Zimri, addressing himself to a young Rabbi, &lsquo;it is
+      written, that he took a rib from Adam when he was asleep. Is God then a
+      robber?&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      The young Rabbi looked puzzled, and cast his eyes on the ground. The
+      congregation was perplexed and a little alarmed.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Is there no answer?&rsquo; said Zimri.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Rabbi,&rsquo; said a stranger, a tall, swarthy African pilgrim, standing in a
+      corner, and enveloped in a red mantle, over which a lamp threw a
+      flickering light; &lsquo;Rabbi, some robbers broke into my house last night, and
+      stole an earthen pipkin, but they left a golden vase in its stead.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;It is well said; it is well said,&rsquo; exclaimed the congregation. The
+      applause was loud.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Learned Zimri,&rsquo; continued the African, &lsquo;it is written in the Gemara, that
+      there was a youth in Jerusalem who fell in love with a beautiful damsel,
+      and she scorned him. And the youth was so stricken with his passion that
+      he could not speak; but when he beheld her, he looked at her imploringly,
+      and she laughed. And one day the youth, not knowing what to do with
+      himself, went out into the desert; and towards night he returned home, but
+      the gates of the city were shut. And he went down into the valley of
+      Jehoshaphat, and entered the tomb of Absalom and slept;<a
+      href="#linknote-44" name="linknoteref-44" id="linknoteref-44">44</a> and
+      he dreamed a dream; and next morning he came into the city smiling. And
+      the maiden met him, and she said, &ldquo;Is that thou; art thou a laugher?&rdquo; and
+      he answered, &ldquo;Behold, yesterday being disconsolate, I went out of the city
+      into the desert, and I returned home, and the gates of the city were shut,
+      and I went down into the valley of Jehoshaphat, and I entered the tomb of
+      Absalom, and I slept, and I dreamed a dream, and ever since then I have
+      laughed.&rdquo; And the damsel said, &ldquo;Tell me thy dream.&rdquo; And he answered and
+      said, &ldquo;I may not tell my dream only to my wife, for it regards her
+      honour.&rdquo; And the maiden grew sad and curious, and said, &ldquo;I am thy wife,
+      tell me thy dream.&rdquo; And straightway they went and were married and ever
+      after they both laughed. Now, learned Zimri, what means this tale, an idle
+      jest for a master of the law, yet it is written by the greatest doctor of
+      the Captivity?&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;It passeth my comprehension,&rsquo; said the chief Rabbi.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Rabbi Eliezer was silent; the congregation groaned.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Now hear the interpretation,&rsquo; said the African. &lsquo;The youth is our people,
+      and the damsel is our lost Sion, and the tomb of Absalom proves that
+      salvation can only come from the house of David. Dost thou hear this,
+      young man?&rsquo; said the African, coming forward and laying his hand on Alroy.
+      &lsquo;I speak to thee, because I have observed a deep attention in thy
+      conduct.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      The Prince of the Captivity started, and shot a glance at the dark visage
+      before him, but the glance read nothing. The upper part of the countenance
+      of the African was half concealed by masses of dark matted hair, and the
+      lower by his uncouth robes. A flashing eye was its only characteristic,
+      which darted forth like lightning out of a black cloud.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Is my attention the only reason that induces you to address me?&rsquo; inquired
+      Alroy.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Whoever gave all his reasons?&rsquo; replied the African, with a laughing
+      sneer.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;I seek not to learn them. Suffice it, stranger, that how much soever you
+      may mean, as much I can understand.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;&lsquo;Tis well. Learned Zimri, is this thy pupil? I congratulate thee. I will
+      match him against the hopeful Eliezer.&rsquo; So saying, the lofty African
+      stalked out of the chamber. The assembly also broke up. Alroy would
+      willingly have immediately followed the African, and held some further and
+      more private conversation with him; but some minutes elapsed, owing to the
+      officious attentions of Zimri, before he could escape; and, when he did,
+      his search after the stranger was vain. He inquired among the
+      congregation, but none knew the African. He was no man&rsquo;s guest and no
+      man&rsquo;s debtor, and apparently had never before been seen.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      The trumpet was sounding to close the gates, as Alroy passed the Zion
+      entrance. The temptation was irresistible. He rushed out, and ran for more
+      than one hundred yards without looking back, and when he did, he had the
+      satisfaction of ascertaining that he was fairly shut out for the night.
+      The sun had set, still the Mount of Olives was flushed with the reflection
+      of his dying beams, but Jehoshaphat at its feet was in deep shadow.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      He wandered among the mountains for some time, beholding Jerusalem from a
+      hundred different points of view, and watching the single planets and
+      clustering constellations that gradually burst into beauty, or gathered
+      into light. At length, somewhat exhausted, he descended into the vale. The
+      scanty rill of Siloah<a href="#linknote-45" name="linknoteref-45"
+       id="linknoteref-45">45</a> looked like a thread of silver winding in the
+      moonlight. Some houseless wretches were slumbering under the arch of its
+      fountain. Several isolated tombs of considerable size<a href="#linknote-46"
+       name="linknoteref-46" id="linknoteref-46">46</a> rose at the base of
+      Olivet, and the largest of these Alroy entered. Proceeding through a
+      narrow passage, he entered a small square chamber. On each side was an
+      empty sarcophagus of granite, one with its lid broken. Between these the
+      Prince of the Captivity laid his robe, and, wearied by his ramble, soon
+      soundly slept.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      After some hours he woke. He fancied that he had been wakened by the sound
+      of voices. The chamber was not quite dark. A straggling moonbeam fought
+      its way through an open fretwork pattern in the top of the tomb, and just
+      revealed the dim interior. Suddenly a voice spoke, a strange and singular
+      voice.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Brother, brother, the sounds of the night begin.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Another voice answered,
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Brother, brother, I hear them, too.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;The woman in labour!&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;The thief at his craft!&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;The sentinel&rsquo;s challenge!&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;The murderer&rsquo;s step!&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Oh! the merry sounds of the night!&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Brother, brother, let us come forth and wander about the world.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;We have seen all things. I&rsquo;ll lie here and listen to the baying hound.
+      &lsquo;Tis music for a tomb.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Choice and rare. You are idle. I like to sport in the starry air. Our
+      hours are few, they should be fair.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;What shall we see, Heaven or Earth?&rsquo; &lsquo;Hell for me, &lsquo;tis more amusing.&rsquo;
+      &lsquo;As for me, I am sick of Hades.&rsquo; &lsquo;Let us visit Solomon!&rsquo; &lsquo;In his unknown
+      metropolis?&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;That will be rare.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;But where, oh! where?&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Even a spirit cannot tell. But they say, but they say, I dare not whisper
+      what they say.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Who told you?&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;No one. I overheard an Afrite whispering to a female Ghoul he wanted to
+      seduce.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Hah! hah! hah! hah! choice pair, choice pair! We are more ethereal.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;She was a beauty in her way. Her eyes were luminous, though somewhat
+      dank, and her cheek tinged with carnation caught from infant blood.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Oh! gay; oh! gay; what said they?&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;He was a deserter without leave from Solomon&rsquo;s body-guard. The trull
+      wriggled the secret out.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Tell me, kind brother.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;I&rsquo;ll show, not tell.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;I pr&rsquo;ythee tell me.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Well, then, well. In Genthesma&rsquo;s gloomy cave there is a river none has
+      reached, and you must sail, and you must sail&mdash;&mdash; Brother!&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Ay.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Methinks I smell something too earthly.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;What&rsquo;s that?&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;The breath of man.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Scent more fatal than the morning air! Away, away!&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      In the range of mountains that lead from Olivet to the river Jordan is the
+      great cavern of Genthesma, a mighty excavation formed by the combined and
+      immemorial work of Nature and of Art; for on the high basaltic columns are
+      cut strange characters and unearthly forms,<a href="#linknote-47"
+       name="linknoteref-47" id="linknoteref-47">47</a> and in many places the
+      natural ornaments have been completed by the hands of the
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      sculptor into symmetrical entablatures and fanciful capitals, the work,
+      they say, of captive Dives and conquered Afrites for the great king.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      It was midnight; the cold full moon showered it brilliancy upon this
+      narrow valley, shut in on all sides by black and barren mountains. A
+      single being stood at the entrance of the cave.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      It was Alroy. Desperate and determined, after listening to the spirits in
+      the tomb, he resolved to penetrate the mysteries of Genthesma. He took
+      from his girdle a flint and steel, with which he lighted a torch and then
+      he entered.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      The cavern narrowed as he cautiously advanced, and soon he found himself
+      at the head of an evidently artificial gallery. A crowd of bats rushed
+      forward and extinguished his torch <a href="#linknote-48"
+       name="linknoteref-48" id="linknoteref-48">48</a> He leant down to relight
+      it and in so doing observed that he had trod upon an artificial pavement.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      The gallery was of great extent, with a gradual declination <a
+      href="#linknote-49" name="linknoteref-49" id="linknoteref-49">49</a> Being
+      in a straight line with the mouth of the cavern, the moonlit scene was
+      long visible, but Alroy, on looking round, now perceived that the exterior
+      was shut out by the eminence that he had left behind him. The sides of the
+      gallery were covered with strange and sculptured forms.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      The Prince of the Captivity proceeded along this gallery for nearly two
+      hours. A distant murmur of falling water, which might have been
+      distinguished nearly from the first, increased in sound as he advanced,
+      and now, from the loud roar and dash at hand, he felt that he was on the
+      brink of some cataract. It as very dark. His heart trembled. He felt his
+      footing ere he ventured to advance. The spray suddenly leaped forward and
+      extinguished his torch.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      His eminent danger filled him with terror, and he receded some paces, but
+      in vain endeavoured to reillumine his torch, which was soaked with water.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      His courage deserted him. Energy and exertion seemed hopeless. He was
+      about to deliver himself up to despair, when and expanding lustre
+      attracted his attention in the opposing gloom.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      A small and bright red cloud seemed sailing towards him. It opened,
+      discharged from its bosom as silvery star, and dissolved again into
+      darkness. But the star remained, the silvery star, and threw a long line
+      of tremulous light upon the vast and raging rapid, which now, fleet and
+      foaming, revealed itself on all sides to the eye of Alroy.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      The beautiful interposition in his favour re-animated the adventurous
+      pilgrim. A dark shadow in the foreground, breaking the line of light shed
+      by the star upon the waters, attracted his attention. He advanced,
+      regained his former footing, and more nearly examined it. It was a boat,
+      and in the boat, mute and immovable, sat one of those vast, singular, and
+      hidden forms which eh had observed sculptured on the walls of the gallery.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      David Alry, committing his fortunes to the God of Israel, leapt into the
+      boat.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      And at the same moment the Afrite, for it was one of those dread beings,<a
+      href="#linknote-50" name="linknoteref-50" id="linknoteref-50">50</a>
+      raised the oars, and the barque moved. The falling waters suddenly parted
+      in the long line of the star&rsquo;s reflection, and the barque glided through
+      their high and severed masses.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      In this wise they proceeded for a few minutes, until they entered a
+      beautiful and moonlit lake. In the distance was mountainous country. Alroy
+      examined his companion with a feeling of curiosity not
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      unmixed with terror. It was remarkable that Alroy could never succeed in
+      any way in attracting his notice. The Afrite seemed totally unconscious of
+      the presence of his passenger. At length the boat reached the opposite
+      shore of the lake, and the Prince of the Captivity debarked.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      He debarked at the head of an avenue of colossal lions of red granite,<a
+      href="#linknote-51" name="linknoteref-51" id="linknoteref-51">51</a>
+      extending far as the eye could reach, and ascending the side of the
+      mountain, which was cut into a flight of magnificent steps. The easy
+      ascent was in consequence soon accomplished, and Alroy, proceeding along
+      the avenue of lions, soon gained the summit of the mountain.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      To his infinite astonishment he beheld Jerusalem. That strongly-marked
+      locality could not be mistaken: at his feet were Jehoshaphat, Kedron,
+      Siloah; he stood upon Olivet; before him was Zion. But in all other
+      respects, how different was the landscape from the one that he had gazed
+      upon a few days back, for the first time! The surrounding hills sparkled
+      with vineyards, and glowed with summer palaces, and voluptuous pavilions,
+      and glorious gardens of pleasure. The city, extending all over Mount Sion,
+      was encompassed with a wall of white marble, with battlements of gold; a
+      gorgeous mass of gates and pillars, and gardened terraces; lofty piles of
+      rarest materials, cedar, and ivory, and precious stones; and costly
+      columns of the richest workmanship and the most fanciful orders, capitals
+      of the lotus and the palm, and flowing friezes of the olive and the vine.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      And in the front a mighty Temple rose, with inspiration in its very form;
+      a Temple so vast, so sumptuous, that there needed no priest to tell us
+      that no human hand planned that sublime magnificence!
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;God of my fathers!&rsquo; said Alroy, &lsquo;I am a poor, weak thing, and my life has
+      been a life of dreams and visions, and I have sometimes thought my brain
+      lacked a sufficient master; where am I? Do I sleep or live? Am I a
+      slumberer or a ghost? This trial is too much.&rsquo; He sank down, and hid his
+      face in his hands: his over-exerted mind appeared to desert him: he wept.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Many minutes elapsed before Alroy grew composed. His wild bursts of
+      weeping sank into sobs, and the sobs died off into sighs. And at length,
+      calm from exhaustion, he again looked up, and lo! the glorious city was no
+      more! Before him was a moon-lit plain, over which the avenue of lions
+      still advanced, and appeared to terminate only in the mountainous
+      distance.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      This limit the Prince of the Captivity at length reached, and stood before
+      a stupendous portal, cut out of the solid rock, four hundred feet in
+      height, and supported by clusters of colossal Caryatides.<a
+      href="#linknote-52" name="linknoteref-52" id="linknoteref-52">52</a> Upon
+      the portal were engraven some Hebrew characters, which upon examination
+      proved to be the same as those upon the talisman of Jabaster. And so,
+      taking from his bosom that all-precious and long-cherished deposit, David
+      Alroy, in obedience to his instructions, pressed the signet against the
+      gigantic portal.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      The portal opened with a crash of thunder louder than an earthquake. Pale,
+      panting, and staggering, the Prince of the Captivity entered an
+      illimitable hall, illumined by pendulous balls of glowing metal. On each
+      side of the hall, sitting on golden thrones, was ranged a line of kings,
+      and, as the pilgrim entered, the monarchs rose, and took off their
+      diadems, and waved them thrice, and thrice repeated, in solemn chorus,
+      &lsquo;All hail, Alroy! Hail to thee, brother king! Thy crown awaits thee!&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      The Prince of the Captivity stood trembling, with his eyes fixed upon the
+      ground, and leaning breathless against a column. And when at length he had
+      a little recovered himself, and dared again to look up, he found that the
+      monarchs were re-seated; and, from their still and vacant visages,
+      apparently unconscious of his presence. And this emboldened him, and so,
+      staring alternately at each side of the hall, but with a firm, perhaps
+      desperate step, Alroy advanced.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      And he came to two thrones which were set apart from the others in the
+      middle of the hall. On one was seated a noble figure, far above the common
+      stature, with arms folded and downcast eyes. His feet rested upon a broken
+      sword and a shivered sceptre, which told that he was a monarch, in spite
+      of his discrowned head.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      And on the opposite throne was a venerable personage, with a long flowing
+      beard, and dressed in white raiment. His countenance was beautiful,
+      although ancient. Age had stolen on without its imperfections, and time
+      had only invested it with a sweet dignity and solemn grace. The
+      countenance of the king was upraised with a seraphic gaze, and, as he thus
+      looked up on high, with eyes full of love, and thanksgiving, and praise,
+      his consecrated fingers seemed to touch the trembling wires of a golden
+      harp.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      And further on, and far above the rest, upon a throne that stretched
+      across the hall, a most imperial presence straightway flashed upon the
+      startled vision of Alroy. Fifty steps of ivory, and each step guarded by
+      golden lions,<a href="#linknote-53" name="linknoteref-53"
+       id="linknoteref-53">53</a> led to a throne of jasper. A dazzling light
+      blazed forth from the glittering diadem and radiant countenance of him who
+      sat upon the throne, one beautiful as a woman, but with the majesty of a
+      god. And in one hand he held a seal, and in the other a sceptre.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      And when Alroy had reached the foot of the throne, he stopped, and his
+      heart misgave him. And he prayed for some minutes in silent devotion, and,
+      without daring to look up, he mounted the first step of the throne, and
+      the second, and the third, and so on, with slow and faltering feet, until
+      he reached the forty-ninth step.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      The Prince of the Captivity raised his eyes. He stood before the monarch
+      face to face. In vain Alroy attempted to attract his attention, or to fix
+      his gaze. The large dark eyes, full of supernatural lustre, appeared
+      capable of piercing all things, and illuminating all things, but they
+      flashed on without shedding a ray upon Alroy.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Pale as a spectre, the pilgrim, whose pilgrimage seemed now on the point
+      of completion, stood cold and trembling before the object of all his
+      desires and all his labours. But he thought of his country, his people,
+      and his God; and, while his noiseless lips breathed the name of Jehovah,
+      solemnly he put forth his arm, and with a gentle firmness grasped the
+      unresisting sceptre of his great ancestor.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      And, as he seized it, the whole scene vanished from his sight!
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Hours or years might have passed away, so far as the sufferer was
+      concerned, when Alroy again returned to self-consciousness. His eyes
+      slowly opened, he cast around a vacant stare, he was lying in the cavern
+      of Genthesma. The moon had set, but the morn had not broken. A single star
+      glittered over the brow of the black mountains. He faintly moved his
+      limbs; he would have raised his hand to his bewildered brain, but found
+      that it grasped a sceptre. The memory of the past returned to him. He
+      tried to rise, and found that he was reposing in the arms of a human
+      being. He turned his head; he met the anxious gaze of Jabaster!
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      <a name="link2HCH0007" id="link2HCH0007">
+      <!--  H2 anchor --> </a>
+    </p>
+    <div style="height: 4em;">
+      <br /><br /><br /><br />
+    </div>
+    <h2>
+      CHAPTER VII.
+    </h2>
+<pre xml:space="preserve">
+     <i>Conquest of the Seljuks</i>
+</pre>
+    <p>
+      YOUR face is troubled, uncle.&rsquo; &lsquo;So is my mind.&rsquo; &lsquo;All may go well.&rsquo;
+      &lsquo;Miriam, we have seen the best. Prepare yourself for sorrow, gentle girl.
+      I care not for myself, for I am old, and age makes heroes of us all. I
+      have endured, and can endure more. As we approach our limit, it would
+      appear that our minds grow callous. I have seen my wealth, raised with the
+      labours of a thoughtful life, vanish in a morn: my people, a fragile
+      remnant, nevertheless a people, dispersed, or what is worse. I have wept
+      for them, although no tear of selfish grief has tinged this withered
+      cheek. And, were I but alone, ay! there&rsquo;s the pang. The solace of my days
+      is now my sorrow.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Weep not for me, dear uncle. Rather let us pray that our God will not
+      forsake us.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;We know not when we are well. Our hours stole tranquilly along, and then
+      we murmured. Prospering, we murmured, and now we are rightly stricken. The
+      legend of the past is Israel&rsquo;s bane. The past is a dream; and, in the
+      waking present, we should discard the enervating shadow. Why should we be
+      free? We murmured against captivity. This <i>is</i> captivity: this damp,
+      dim cell, where we are brought to die.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;O! youth, rash youth, thy being is destruction. But yesterday a child, it
+      seems but yesterday I nursed him in these arms, a thoughtless child, and
+      now our house has fallen by his deeds. I will not think of it; &lsquo;twill make
+      me mad.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Uncle, dearest uncle, we have lived together, and we will die together,
+      and both in love; but, I pray you, speak no harsh word of David.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Shall I praise him?&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Say nothing. What he has done, if done in grief, has been done all in
+      honour. Would you that he had spared Alschiroch?&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Never! I would have struck him myself. Brave boy, he did his duty; and I,
+      I, Miriam, thy uncle, at whom they wink behind his back and call him
+      niggard, was I wanting in that hour of trial? Was my treasure spared to
+      save my people? Did I shrink from all the toil and trouble of that time? A
+      trying time, my Miriam, but compared with this, the building of the Temple&mdash;&mdash;&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;You were then what you have ever been, the best and wisest. And since our
+      fathers&rsquo; God did not forsake us, even in that wilderness of wildest woe, I
+      offer gratitude in present faith, and pay him for past mercies by my
+      prayers for more.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Well, well, life must end. The hour approaches when we must meet our
+      rulers and mock trial; precious justice that begins in threats and ends in
+      torture. You are silent, Miriam.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;I am speaking to my God.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;What is that noise? A figure moves behind the dusky grate. Our gaoler.
+      No, no, it is Caleb! Faithful child, I fear you have perilled much.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;I enter with authority, my lord, and bear good tidings.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;He smiles! Is&rsquo;t possible? Speak on, speak on!&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Alroy has captured the harem of our Governor, as they journeyed from
+      Bagdad to this city, guarded by his choicest troops. And he has sent to
+      offer that they shall be exchanged for you and for your household. And
+      Hassan has answered that his women shall owe their freedom to nothing but
+      his sword. But, in the meantime, it is agreed between him and the
+      messenger of your nephew, that both companies of prisoners shall be
+      treated with all becoming courtesy. You, therefore, are remanded to your
+      palace, and the trumpet is now sounding before the great mosque to summon
+      all the host against Alroy, whom Hassan has vowed to bring to Hamadan dead
+      or alive.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;The harem of the Governor, guarded too by his choicest troops! &lsquo;Tis a
+      great deed. He did remember us. Faithful boy! The harem of the Governor!
+      his choicest troops! &lsquo;Tis a very great deed. Me-thinks the Lord is with
+      him. He has his great father&rsquo;s heart. Only think of David, a child! I
+      nursed him, often. Caleb! Can this be David, our David, a child, a girl?
+      Yet he struck Alschiroch! Miriam! where is she? Worthy Caleb, look to your
+      mistress; she has fallen. Quite gone! Fetch water. &lsquo;Tis not very pure, but
+      we shall be in our palace soon. The harem of the Governor! I can&rsquo;t believe
+      it. Sprinkle, sprinkle. David take them prisoners! Why, when they pass, we
+      are obliged to turn our heads, and dare not look. More water: I&rsquo;ll rub her
+      hand. &lsquo;Tis warmer! Her eyes open! Miriam, choice news, my child! The harem
+      of the Governor! I&rsquo;ll not believe it!
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Once more within our walls, Caleb. Life is a miracle. I feel young again.
+      This is home; and yet I am a prisoner. You said the host were assembling;
+      he can have no chance. Think you, Caleb, he has any chance? I hope he will
+      die. I would not have him taken. I fear their tortures. We will die too;
+      we will all die. Now I am out of that dungeon, me-thinks I could even
+      fight. Is it true that he has joined with robbers?&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;I saw the messenger, and learnt that he first repaired to some bandits in
+      the ruins in the desert. He had become acquainted with them in his
+      pilgrimage. They say their leader is one of our people.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;I am glad of that. He can eat with him. I would not have him eat unclean
+      things with the Ishmaelites.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Lord, sir! our people gather to him from all quarters. &lsquo;Tis said that
+      Jabaster, the great Cabalist, has joined him from the mountains with ten
+      thousand men.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;The great Jabaster! then there is some chance. I know Jabaster well. He
+      is too wise to join a desperate cause. Art sure about Jabaster? &lsquo;Tis a
+      great name, a very potent spirit. I have heard such things of that
+      Jabaster, sir, would make you stare like Saul before the spirit! Only
+      think of our David, Caleb, making all this noise! I am full of hope. I
+      feel not like a prisoner. He beat the harem guard, and, now he has got
+      Jabaster, he will beat them all.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;The messenger told me he captured the harem, only to free his uncle and
+      his sister.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;He ever loved me; I have done my duty to him; I think I have. Jabaster!
+      why, man, the name is a spell I There are men at Bagdad who will get up in
+      the night to join Jabaster. I hope David will follow his counsels in all
+      things. I would I had seen his servant, I could have sent him a message.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Lord, sir! the Prince Alroy has no great need of counsellors, I can tell
+      you. &lsquo;Tis said he bears the sceptre of great Solomon, which he himself
+      obtained in the unknown tombs of Palestine.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;The sceptre of Solomon! could I but believe it! &lsquo;Tis an age of wonders!
+      Where are we? Call for Miriam, I&rsquo;ll tell her this. Only think of David, a
+      mere child, our David with the sceptre of Solomon! and Jabaster too! I
+      have great faith. The Lord confound his enemies!&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Gentle Rachel, I fear I trouble you; sweet Beruna, I thank you for your
+      zeal. I am better now; the shock was great. These are strange tidings,
+      maidens.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Yes, dear lady! who would have thought of your brother turning out a
+      Captain?&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;I am sure I always thought he was the quietest person in the world,&rsquo; said
+      Beruna, &lsquo;though he did kill Alschiroch.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;One could never get a word out of him,&rsquo; said Rachel.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;He was always moping alone,&rsquo; said Beruna.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;And when one spoke to him he always turned away,&rsquo; said Leah.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Or blushed,&rsquo; added Imra.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Well, for my part,&rsquo; said the beautiful Bathsheba, &lsquo;I always thought
+      Prince David was a genius. He had such beautiful eyes!&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;I hope he will conquer Hassan,&rsquo; said Rachel.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;So do I,&rsquo; said Beruna.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;I wonder what he has done with the harem,&rsquo; said Leah.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;I don&rsquo;t think he will dare to speak to them,&rsquo; said Imra.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;You are very much mistaken,&rsquo; said Bathsheba.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Hark!&rsquo; said Miriam.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;&lsquo;Tis Hassan,&rsquo; said Bathsheba; &lsquo;may he never return!&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      The wild drum of the Seljuks sounded, then a flourish of their fierce
+      trumpets, and soon the tramp of horse. Behind the blinds of their chamber,
+      Miriam and her maidens beheld the magnificent troop of tur-baned horsemen,
+      who, glittering with splendid armour and bright shawls, and proudly
+      bounding on their fiery steeds, now went forth to crush and conquer the
+      only hope of Israel. Upon an Arab, darker than night, rode the superb
+      Hassan, and, as he passed the dwelling of his late prisoners, whether from
+      the exulting anticipation of coming triumph, or from a soft suspicion
+      that, behind that lattice, bright eyes and brilliant faces were gazing on
+      his state, the haughty but handsome Seljuk flourished his scimitar over
+      his head, as he threw his managed steed into attitudes that displayed the
+      skill of its rider.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;He is handsomer than Alschiroch,&rsquo; said Rachel.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;What a shawl!&rsquo; said Beruna.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;His scimitar was like lightning,&rsquo; said Leah.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;And his steed like thunder,&rsquo; said Imra.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;The evil eye fall on him!&rsquo; said Bathsheba.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Lord,&rsquo; exclaimed Miriam, &lsquo;remember David and all his afflictions!&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      The deserted city of the wilderness presented a very different appearance
+      from that which met the astonished gaze of Alroy, when he first beheld its
+      noble turrets, and wandered in its silent streets of palaces.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Without the gates was pitched a numerous camp of those low black tents
+      common among the Kourds and Turkmans; the principal street was full of
+      busy groups engaged in all the preparations of warfare, and all the
+      bustling expedients of an irregular and adventurous life; steeds were
+      stalled in ruined chambers, and tall camels raised their still visages
+      among the clustering columns, or crouched in kneeling tranquillity amid
+      fallen statues and prostrate obelisks.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Two months had scarcely elapsed since Alroy and Jabaster had sought
+      Scherirah in his haunt, and announced to him their sacred mission. The
+      callous heart of him, whose &lsquo;mother was a Jewess,&rsquo; had yielded to their
+      inspired annunciations. He embraced their cause with all the fervour of
+      conversion, and his motley band were not long sceptical of a creed which,
+      while it assuredly offered danger and adventure, held out the prospects of
+      wealth and even empire. From the city of the wilderness the new Messiah
+      sent forth his messengers to the neighbouring cities, to announce his
+      advent to his brethren in captivity. The Hebrews, a proud and stiff-necked
+      race, ever prone to rebellion, received the announcement of their
+      favourite prince with transport. The descendant of David, and the slayer
+      of Alschiroch, had double claims upon their confidence and allegiance, and
+      the flower of the Hebrew youth in the neighbouring cities of the Caliphate
+      repaired in crowds to pay their homage to the recovered sceptre of
+      Solomon.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      The affair was at first treated by the government with contempt, and the
+      sultan of the Seljuks contented himself with setting a price upon the head
+      of the murderer of his brother; but, when several cities had been placed
+      under contribution, and more than one Moslem caravan stopped, and
+      plundered in the name of the God of Abraham, of Isaac, and of Jacob,
+      orders were despatched from Bagdad to the new governor of Hamadan, Hassan
+      Subah, to suppress the robbers, or the rebels, and to send David Alroy
+      dead or alive to the capital.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      The Hebrew malcontents were well apprised by their less adventurous but
+      still sympathising brethren of everything that took place at the
+      head-quarters of the enemy. Spies arrived on the same day at the city of
+      the wilderness, who informed Alroy that his uncle was thrown into a
+      dungeon at Hamadan, and that a body of chosen troops were about to escort
+      a royal harem from Bagdad into Persia.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Alroy attacked the escort in person, utterly discomfited them, and
+      captured their charge. It proved to be the harem of the Governor of
+      Hamadan, and if for a moment the too sanguine fancy of the captor
+      experienced a passing pang of disappointment, the prize at least obtained,
+      as we have seen, the freedom and security of his dear though distant
+      friends. This exploit precipitated the expedition which was preparing at
+      Hamadan for his destruction. The enraged Hassan Subah started from his
+      divan, seized his scimitar, and without waiting for the auxiliaries he had
+      summoned from the neighbouring chieftains, called to horse, and at the
+      head of two thousand of the splendid Seljuk cavalry, hurried to vindicate
+      his love and satiate his revenge.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Within the amphitheatre which he first entered as a prisoner, Alroy sat in
+      council. On his right was Jabaster, Scherirah on his left. A youth, little
+      his senior, but tall as a palm-tree, and strong as a young lion, was the
+      fourth captain. In the distance, some standing, some reclining, were about
+      fifty men completely armed.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Are the people numbered, Abner?&rsquo; inquired Alroy of the youth.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Even so; three hundred effective horsemen, and two thousand footmen; but
+      the footmen lack arms.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;The Lord will send them in good time,&rsquo; said Jabaster; &lsquo;meanwhile let them
+      continue to make javelins.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Trust in the Lord,&rsquo; murmured Scherirah, bending his head, with his eyes
+      fixed on the ground.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      A loud shout was heard throughout the city. Alroy started from his carpet.
+      The messenger had returned. Pale and haggard, covered with sweat and sand,
+      the faithful envoy was borne into the amphitheatre almost upon the
+      shoulders of the people. In vain the guard endeavoured to stem the passage
+      of the multitude. They clambered up the tiers of arches, they filled the
+      void and crumbling seats of the antique circus, they supported themselves
+      upon each other&rsquo;s shoulders, they clung to the capitals of the lofty
+      columns. The whole multitude had assembled to hear the intelligence; the
+      scene recalled the ancient purpose of the building, and Alroy and his
+      fellow-warriors seemed like the gladiators of some old spectacle.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Speak,&rsquo; said Alroy, &lsquo;speak the worst. No news can be bitter to those whom
+      the Lord will avenge.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Ruler of Israel! thus saith Hassan Subah,&rsquo; answered the messenger: &lsquo;My
+      harem shall owe their freedom to nothing but my sword. I treat not with
+      rebels, but I war not with age or woman; and between Bostenay and his
+      household on one side, and the prisoners of thy master on the other, let
+      there be peace. Go, tell Alroy, I will seal it in his best blood. And lo!
+      thy uncle and thy sister are again in their palace.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Alroy placed his hand for a moment to his eyes, and then instantly
+      resuming his self-possession, he enquired as to the movements of the
+      enemy.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;I have crossed the desert on a swift dromedary<a href="#linknote-54"
+       name="linknoteref-54" id="linknoteref-54">54</a> lent to me by Shelomi of
+      the Gate, whose heart is with our cause. I have not tarried, neither have
+      I slept. Ere to-morrow&rsquo;s sunset the Philistines will be here, led by
+      Hassan Subah himself. The Lord of Hosts be with us! Since we conquered
+      Canaan, Israel hath not struggled with such a power!&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      A murmur ran through the assembly. Men exchanged enquiring glances, and
+      involuntarily pressed each other&rsquo;s arms.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;The trial has come,&rsquo; said a middle-aged Hebrew, who had fought twenty
+      years ago with Jabaster.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Let me die for the Ark!&rsquo; said a young enthusiast of the band of Abner.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;I thought we should get into a scrape,&rsquo; whispered Kisloch the Kourd to
+      Calidas the Indian. &lsquo;What could have ever induced us to give up robbing in
+      a quiet manner?&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;And turn Jews!&rsquo; said the Guebre, with a sneer.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Look at Scherirah,&rsquo; said the Negro, grinning. &lsquo;If he is not kissing the
+      sceptre of Solomon!&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;I wish to heaven he had only hung Alroy the first time he met him,&rsquo; said
+      Calidas.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Sons of the Covenant!&rsquo; exclaimed Alroy, &lsquo;the Lord hath delivered them
+      into our hands. To-morrow eve we march to Hamadan!&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      A cheer followed this exclamation.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;It is written,&rsquo; said Jabaster, opening a volume, &lsquo;&ldquo;Lo! I will defend this
+      city, to save it, for mine own sake, and for my servant David&rsquo;s sake.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;&ldquo;And it came to pass that night that the angel of the Lord went out, and
+      smote in the camp of the Assyrians, an hundred four score and five
+      thousand; and when they arose early in the morning, behold! they were all
+      dead corpses.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Now, as I was gazing upon the stars this morn, and reading the celestial
+      alphabet known to the true Cabalist,<a href="#linknote-55"
+       name="linknoteref-55" id="linknoteref-55">55</a> behold! the star of the
+      house of David and seven other stars moved, and met together, and formed
+      into a circle. And the word they formed was a mystery to me; but lo! I
+      have opened the book, and each star is the initial letter of each line of
+      the Targum that I have now read to you. Therefore the fate of Sennacherib
+      is the fate of Hassan Subah!&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;<i>&ldquo;Trust in him at all times, ye people; pour out your heart before
+      him.&rdquo; god is a refuge for us. Selah!</i>&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      At this moment a female form appeared on the very top of the amphitheatre,
+      upon the slight remains of the upper most tier of which a solitary arch
+      alone was left. The chorus instantly died away, every tongue was silent,
+      every eye fixed. Hushed, mute, and immovable, even Kisloch and his
+      companions were appalled as they gazed upon Esther the Prophetess.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Her eminent position, her imposing action, the flashing of her immense
+      eyes, her beautiful but awful countenance, her black hair, that hung
+      almost to her knees, and the white light of the moon, just rising over the
+      opposite side of the amphitheatre, and which threw a silvery flash upon
+      her form, and seemed to invest her with some miraculous emanation, while
+      all beneath her was in deep gloom,-these circumstances combined to render
+      her an object of universal interest and attention, while in a powerful but
+      high voice she thus addressed them:
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;They come, they come! But will they go? Lo! hear ye this, O house of
+      Jacob, which are called by the name of Israel, and are come forth out of
+      the waters of Judah! I hear their drum in the desert, and the voice of
+      their trumpets is like the wind of eve, but a decree hath gone forth, and
+      it says, that a mortal shall be more precious than fine gold, yea, a man
+      than the rich ore of Ophir.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;They come, they come! But will they go? I see the flash of their
+      scimitars, I mark the prancing of their cruel steeds; but a decree hath
+      gone forth, and it says, a gleaning shall be left among them, as in the
+      shaking of the olive-tree; two or three berries on the top of the
+      uppermost bough; four or five on the straggling branches.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;They come, they come! But will they go? Lo! a decree hath gone forth, and
+      it says, Hamadan shall be to thee for a spoil, and desolation shall fall
+      upon Babylon. And there shall the wild beasts of the desert lodge, and
+      howling monsters shall fill their houses, and there shall the daughters of
+      the ostrich dwell, and there shall the screech-owl pitch her tent, and
+      there shall the night-raven lay her eggs, and there shall the satyrs hold
+      their revels. And wolves shall howl to one another in their palaces, and
+      dragons in their voluptuous pavilions. Her time is near at hand; her days
+      shall not be prolonged; the reed and the lotus shall wither in her rivers;
+      and the meadows by her canals shall be as the sands of the desert. For, is
+      it a light thing that the Lord should send his servant to raise up the
+      tribes of Jacob, and to restore the preserved of Israel? Sing, O heavens,
+      and be joyful, O earth, and break forth into singing, O mountains, for the
+      Lord hath comforted his people, and will have mercy upon his afflicted!&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      She ceased; she descended the precipitous side of the amphitheatre with
+      rapid steps, vaulting from tier to tier, and bounding with wonderful
+      agility from one mass of ruin to another. At length she reached the level;
+      and then, foaming and panting, she rushed to Alroy, threw herself upon the
+      ground, embraced his feet, and wiped off the dust from his sandals with
+      her hair.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      The assembly broke into long and loud acclamations of supernatural
+      confidence and sanguine enthusiasm. They beheld their Messiah wave his
+      miraculous sceptre. They thought of Hassan Subah and his Seljuks only as
+      of victims, and of to-morrow only as of a day which was to commence a new
+      era of triumph, freedom, and empire!
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Hassan Subah after five days&rsquo; forced marches pitched his sumptuous
+      pavilion in that beautiful Oasis, which had afforded such delightful
+      refreshment to Alroy when a solitary pilgrim. Around for nearly a mile,
+      were the tents of his warriors, and of the numerous caravan that had
+      accompanied him, laden with water and provisions for his troops. Here,
+      while he reposed, he also sought information as to the position of his
+      enemy.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      A party of observation, which he had immediately despatched, returned
+      almost instantly with a small caravan that had been recently plundered by
+      the robbers. The merchant, a venerable and pious Moslem, was ushered into
+      the presence of the Governor of Hamadan.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;From the robbers&rsquo; haunt?&rsquo; enquired Hassan.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Unfortunately so,&rsquo; answered the merchant.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Is it far?&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;A day&rsquo;s journey.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;And you quitted it?&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Yesterday morn.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;What is their force?&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      The merchant hesitated.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Do they not make prisoners?&rsquo; enquired the Governor, casting a
+      scrutinising glance at his companion.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Holy Prophet! what a miserable wretch am I!&rsquo; exclaimed the venerable
+      merchant, bursting into tears. &lsquo;A faithful subject of the Caliph, I am
+      obliged to serve rebels, a devout Moslem, I am forced to aid Jews! Order
+      me to be hanged at once, my lord,&rsquo; continued the unfortunate merchant,
+      wringing his hands. &lsquo;Order me to be hanged at once. I have lived long
+      enough.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;What is all this?&rsquo; enquired Hassan; &lsquo;speak, friend, without fear.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;I am a faithful subject of the Caliph,&rsquo; answered the merchant; &lsquo;I am a
+      devout Moslem, but I have lost ten thousand dirhems.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;I am sorry for you, sir; I also have lost something, but my losses are
+      nothing to you, nor yours to me.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Accursed be the hour when these dogs tempted me! Tell me, is it sin to
+      break faith with a Jew?&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;On the contrary, I could find you many reverend Mollahs, who will tell
+      you that such a breach is the highest virtue. Come! come, I see how it is:
+      you have received your freedom on condition of not betraying your merciful
+      plunderers. Promises exacted by terror are the bugbears of fools. Speak,
+      man, all you know. Where are they? What is their force? Are we supposed to
+      be at hand?&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;I am a faithful subject of the Caliph, and I am bound to serve him,&rsquo;
+      replied the merchant; &lsquo;I am a devout Moslem, and &lsquo;tis my duty to destroy
+      all Giaours, but I am also a man, and I must look after my own interest.
+      Noble Governor, the long and the short is, these scoundrels have robbed me
+      of ten thousand dirhems, as my slaves will tell you: at least, goods to
+      that amount. No one can prove that they be worth less. It is true that I
+      include in that calculation the fifty per cent. I was to make on my shawls
+      at Hamadan, but still to me it is as good as ten thousand dirhems. Ask my
+      slaves if such an assortment of shawls was ever yet beheld.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;To the point, to the point. The robbers?&rsquo; &lsquo;I am at the point. The shawls
+      is the point. For when I talked of the shawls and the heaviness of my
+      loss, you must know that the captain of the robbers&mdash;&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Alroy?&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;A fierce young gentleman, I do not know how they call him: said the
+      captain to me, &ldquo;Merchant, you look gloomy.&rdquo; &ldquo;Gloomy,&rdquo; I said, &ldquo;you would
+      look gloomy if you were a prisoner, and had lost ten thousand dirhems.&rdquo;
+       &ldquo;What, is this trash worth ten thousand dirhems?&rdquo; said he. &ldquo;With the fifty
+      per cent. I was to make at Hamadan.&rdquo; &ldquo;Fifty per cent.,&rdquo; said he; &ldquo;you are
+      an old knave.&rdquo; &ldquo;Knave! I should like to hear any one call me knave at
+      Bagdad.&rdquo; &ldquo;Well, knave or not, you may get out of this scrape.&rdquo; &ldquo;How?&rdquo; &ldquo;Why
+      you are a respectable-looking man,&rdquo; said he, &ldquo;and are a good Moslem into
+      the bargain, I warrant.&rdquo; &ldquo;That I am,&rdquo; said I, &ldquo;although you be a Jew: but
+      how the faith is to serve me here I am sure I don&rsquo;t know, unless the angel
+      Gabriel, as in the fifty-fifth verse of the twenty-seventh chapter of the
+      Koran&mdash;&mdash;&ldquo;&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Tush, tush!&rsquo; exclaimed Hassan; &lsquo;to the point.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;I always am at the point, only you put me out. However, to make it as
+      short as possible, the captain knows all about your coming, and is
+      frightened out of his wits, although he did talk big; I could easily see
+      that. And he let me go, you see, with some of my slaves, and gave me an
+      order for five thousand dirhems on one Bostenay, of Hamadan (perhaps you
+      know him; is he a good man?), on condition that I would fall in with you,
+      and, Mohammed forgive me, tell you a lie!&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;A lie!&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Yes, a lie; but these Jewish dogs do not understand what a truly
+      religious man is, and when I began to tell the lie, I was soon put out.
+      Now, noble Hassan, if a promise to a Jew be not binding on a true
+      believer, and you will see me straight with the five thousand dirhems, I
+      will betray everything at once.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Be easy about the five thousand dirhems, good man, and tell me all.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;You will see me paid?&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;My honour upon it.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;&lsquo;Tis well! Know then, the infamous dogs are very weak, and terrified at
+      the news of your progress: one, whom I think they call Jabaster, has
+      departed with the great majority of the people into the interior of the
+      desert, about seven hundred strong. I heard so; but mind, I do not know
+      it. The young man, whom you call Alroy, being wounded in a recent
+      conflict, could not depart with them, but remains among the ruins with
+      some female prisoners, some treasure, and about a hundred companions
+      hidden in sepulchres. He gave me my freedom on condition that I should
+      fall in with you, and assure you that the dogs, full five thousand strong,
+      had given you the go-by in the night, and marched towards Hamadan. They
+      wanted me to frighten you; it was a lie, and I could not tell it. And now
+      you know the plain truth; and if it be a sin to break faith with an
+      infidel, you are responsible for it, as well as for the five thousand
+      dirhems, which, by-the-bye, ought to have been ten.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Where is your order?&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;&lsquo;Tis here,&rsquo; said the merchant, drawing it from his vest, &lsquo;a very
+      business-like document, drawn upon one Bostenay, whom they described as
+      very rich, and who is here enjoined to pay me five thousand dirhems, if,
+      in consequence of my information, Hassan Subah, that is yourself, return
+      forthwith to Hamadan without attacking them.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Old Bostenay&rsquo;s head shall answer for this.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;I am glad of it. But were I you, I would make him pay me first.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Merchant,&rsquo; said Hassan, &lsquo;have you any objection to pay another visit to
+      your friend Alroy?&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Allah forbid!&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;In my company?&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;That makes a difference.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Be our guide. The dirhems shall be doubled.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;That will make up for the fifty per cent. I hardly like it; but in your
+      company that makes a difference. Lose no time. If you push on, Alroy must
+      be captured. Now or never! The Jewish dogs, to rifle a true believer!&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Oglu,&rsquo; said Hassan to one of his officers. &lsquo;To horse! You need not strike
+      the tents. Can we reach the city by sunset, merchant?&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;An hour before, if you be off at once.&rsquo; &lsquo;Sound the drums. To horse! to
+      horse!&rsquo; The Seljuks halted before the walls of the deserted city. Their
+      commander ordered a detachment to enter and reconnoitre. They returned and
+      reported its apparent desolation. Hassan Subah, then directing that a
+      guard should surround the walls to prevent any of the enemy from escaping,
+      passed with his warriors through the vast portal into the silent street.
+      The still magnificence of the strange and splendid scene influenced the
+      temper even of this ferocious cavalry. They gazed around them with awe and
+      admiration. The fierceness of their visages was softened, the ardour of
+      their impulse stilled. A supernatural feeling of repose stole over their
+      senses. No one brandished his scimitar, the fiery courser seemed as
+      subdued as his lord, and no sound was heard but the melancholy, mechanical
+      tramp of the disciplined march, unrelieved by martial music, inviolate by
+      oath or jest, and unbroken even by the ostentatious caracoling of any
+      showy steed.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      It was sunset; the star of eve glittered over the white Ionian fane that
+      rose serene and delicate in the flashing and purple sky.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;This way, my lord!&rsquo; said the merchant guide, turning round to Hassan
+      Subah, who, surrounded by his officers, led the van. The whole of the
+      great way of the city was filled with the Seljukian warriors. Their ebon
+      steeds, their snowy turbans, adorned with plumes of the black eagle and
+      the red heron, their dazzling shawls, the blaze of their armour in the
+      sunset, and the long undulating perspective of beautiful forms and
+      brilliant colours, this regiment of heroes in a street of palaces. War had
+      seldom afforded a more imposing or more picturesque spectacle.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;This way, my lord!&rsquo; said the merchant, pointing to the narrow turning
+      that, at the foot of the temple, led through ruined streets to the
+      amphitheatre.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Halt!&rsquo; exclaimed a wild shrill voice. Each warrior suddenly arrested his
+      horse.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Who spoke?&rsquo; exclaimed Hassan Subah.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;I!&rsquo; answered a voice. A female form stood in the portico of the temple,
+      with uplifted arms.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;And who art thou?&rsquo; enquired Hassan Subah, not a little disconcerted.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Thine evil genius, Seljuk!&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Hassan Subah, pale as his ivory battle-axe, did not answer; every man
+      within hearing shuddered; still the dread woman remained immovable within
+      the porch of the temple.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Woman, witch, or goddess,&rsquo; at length exclaimed Hassan Subah, &lsquo;what
+      wouldst thou here?&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Seljuk! behold this star. &lsquo;Tis a single drop of light, yet who even of
+      thy wild band can look upon it without awe? And yet thou worse than
+      Sisera, thou comest to combat against those for whom even &ldquo;the stars in
+      their courses fought.&rdquo;&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;A Jewish witch!&rsquo; exclaimed the Seljuk.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;A Jewish witch! Be it so; behold, then, my spell falls upon thee, and
+      that spell is Destruction.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Awake, awake, Deborah: awake, awake, utter a song; arise, Barak, and lead
+      thy captivity captive, thou son of Abinoam!&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Immediately the sky appeared to darken, a cloud of arrows and javelins
+      broke from all sides upon the çlevoted Seljuks: immense masses of stone
+      and marble were hurled from all directions, horses were stabbed by spears
+      impelled by invisible hands, and riders fell to the ground without a
+      struggle, and were trampled upon by their disordered and affrighted
+      brethren.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;We are betrayed,&rsquo; exclaimed Hassan Subah, hurling a javelin at the
+      merchant, but the merchant was gone. The Seljuks raised their famous war
+      cry.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Oglu, regain the desert,&rsquo; ordered the chieftain.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      But no sooner had the guard without the walls heard the war cry of their
+      companions, than, alarmed, for their safety, they rushed to their
+      assistance. The retreating forces of Subah, each instant diminishing as
+      they retreated, were baffled in their project by the very eagerness of
+      their auxiliaries. The unwilling contention of the two parties increased
+      the confusion; and when the Seljuks, recently arrived, having at length
+      formed into some order, had regained the gate, they found to their dismay
+      that the portal was barricadoed and garrisoned by the enemy. Uninspired by
+      the presence of their commander, who was in the rear, the puzzled soldiers
+      were seized with a panic, and spurring their horses, dispersed in all
+      directions of the city. In vain Hassan Subah endeavoured to restore order.
+      The moment was past. Dashing with about thirty men to an open ground,
+      which his quick eye had observed in his progress down the street, and
+      dealing destruction with every blow, the dreaded Governor of Hamadan, like
+      a true soldier, awaited an inevitable fate, not wholly despairing that
+      some chance might yet turn up to extricate him from his forlorn situation.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      And now, as it were by enchantment, wild armed men seemed to arise from
+      every part of the city. From every mass of ruin, from every crumbling
+      temple and mouldering mansion, from every catacomb and cellar, from behind
+      every column and every obelisk, upstarted some desperate warrior with a
+      bloody weapon. The massacre of the Seljuks was universal. The horsemen
+      dashed wildly about the ruined streets, pursued by crowds of footmen;
+      sometimes, formed in small companies, the Seljuks charged and fought
+      desperately; but, however stout might be their resistance to the open foe,
+      it was impossible to withstand their secret enemies. They had no place of
+      refuge, no power of gaining even a moment&rsquo;s breathing time. If they
+      retreated to a wall it instantly bristled with spears; if they endeavoured
+      to form, in a court, they sank under the falling masses which were
+      showered upon them. Strange shouts of denunciation blended with the harsh
+      braying of horns, and the clang and clash of cymbals and tambours sounded
+      in every quarter of the city.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;If we could only mount the walls, Ibrahim, and leap into the desert!&rsquo;
+      exclaimed Hassan Subah to one of his few remaining comrades; &lsquo;&lsquo;tis our
+      only chance. We die here like dogs! Could I but meet Alroy!&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Three of the Seljuks dashed swiftly across the open ground in front,
+      followed by several Hebrew horsemen.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Smite all, Abner. Spare none, remember Amalek,&rsquo; exclaimed their youthful
+      leader, waving his bloody scimitar.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;They are down; one, two, there goes the third. My javelin has done for
+      him.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Your horse bleeds freely. Where&rsquo;s Jabaster?&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;At the gates; my arm aches with slaughter. The Lord hath delivered them
+      into our hands. Could I but meet their chieftain!&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Turn, bloodhound, he is here,&rsquo; exclaimed Hassan Subah.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Away, Abner, this affair is mine.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Prince, you have already slain your thousands.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;And Abner his tens of thousands. Is it so? This business is for me only.
+      Come on, Turk.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Art thou Alroy?&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;The same.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;The slayer of Alschiroch?&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Even so.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;A rebel and a murderer.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;What you please. Look to yourself.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      The Hebrew Prince flung a javelin at the Seljuk. It glanced from the
+      breastplate; but Hassan Subah staggered in his seat. Recovering, he
+      charged Alroy with great force. Their scimitars crossed, and the blade of
+      Hassan shivered.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;He who sold me that blade told me it was charmed, and could be broken
+      only by a caliph,&rsquo; said Hassan Subah. &lsquo;He was a liar.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;As it may be,&rsquo; said Alroy, and he cut the Seljuk to the ground. Abner had
+      dispersed his comrades. Alroy leaped from his fainting steed, and,
+      mounting the ebon courser of his late enemy, dashed again into the
+      thickest of the fight.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      The shades of night descended, the clamour gradually decreased, the
+      struggle died away. A few unhappy Moslemin who had quitted their saddles
+      and sought concealment among the ruins, were occasionally hunted out, and
+      brought forward and massacred. Long ere midnight the last of the Seljuks
+      had expired.<a href="#linknote-56" name="linknoteref-56"
+       id="linknoteref-56">56</a>
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      The moon shed a broad light upon the street of palaces crowded with the
+      accumulated slain and the living victors. Fires were lit, torches
+      illumined, the conquerors prepared the eager meal as they sang hymns of
+      praise and thanksgiving.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      A procession approached. Esther the prophetess, clashing her cymbals,
+      danced before the Messiah of Israel, who leant upon his victorious
+      scimitar, surrounded by Jabaster, Abner, Scherirah, and his chosen
+      chieftains. Who could now doubt the validity of his mission? The wide and
+      silent desert rang with the acclamations of his enthusiastic votaries.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Heavily the anxious hours crept on in the Jewish quarter of Hamadan. Again
+      and again the venerable Bostenay discussed the chances of success with the
+      sympathising but desponding elders. Miriam was buried in constant prayer.
+      Their most sanguine hopes did not extend beyond the escape of their
+      Prince.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      A fortnight had elapsed, and no news had been received of the progress of
+      the expedition, when suddenly, towards sunset, a sentinel on a watch-tower
+      announced the appearance of an armed force in the distance. The walls were
+      instantly lined with the anxious inhabitants, the streets and squares
+      filled with curious crowds. Exultation sat on the triumphant brow of the
+      Moslemin; a cold tremor stole over the fluttering heart of the Hebrew.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;There is but one God,&rsquo; said the captain of the gate.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;And Mahomed is His prophet,&rsquo; responded a sentinel.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;To-morrow we will cut off the noses of all these Jewish dogs.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;The sceptre has departed,&rsquo; exclaimed the despairing Bostenay.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Lord, remember David!&rsquo; whispered Miriam, as she threw herself upon the
+      court of the palace, and buried her face in ashes.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      The Mollahs in solemn procession advanced to the ramparts, to shed their
+      benediction on the victorious Hassan Subah. The Muezzin ascended the
+      minarets to watch the setting sun, and proclaim the power of Allah with
+      renewed enthusiasm.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;I wonder if Alroy be dead or alive,&rsquo; said the captain of the gate.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;If he be alive, he will be impaled,&rsquo; responded a sentinel.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;If dead, the carcass will be given to the dogs,&rsquo; rejoined the captain;
+      &lsquo;that is the practice.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Bostenay will be hung,&rsquo; said the sentinel.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;And his niece, too,&rsquo; answered the captain.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Hem!&rsquo; said the sentinel. &lsquo;Hassan Subah loves a black eye.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;I hope a true Moslem will not touch a Jewess,&rsquo; exclaimed an indignant
+      black eunuch.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;They approach. What a dust!&rsquo; said the captain of the gate.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;I see Hassan Subah!&rsquo; said the sentinel.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;So do I,&rsquo; said the eunuch, &lsquo;I know his black horse.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;I wonder how many dirhems old Bostenay is worth,&rsquo; said the captain.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Immense!&rsquo; said the sentinel.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;No plunder, I suppose?&rsquo; said the eunuch.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;We shall see,&rsquo; said the captain; &lsquo;at any rate, I owe a thousand to old
+      Shelomi. We need not pay now, you know.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Certainly not,&rsquo; said the black eunuch. &lsquo;The rebels.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      A body of horsemen dashed forward. Their leader in advance reined in his
+      fiery charger beneath the walls.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;In the name of the Prophet, who is that?&rsquo; exclaimed the captain of the
+      gate, a little confused.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;I never saw him before,&rsquo; said the sentinel, &lsquo;although he is in the Seljuk
+      dress. &lsquo;Tis some one from Bagdad, I guess.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      A trumpet sounded.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Who keeps the gate?&rsquo; called out the warrior.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;I am the captain of the gate,&rsquo; answered our friend.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Open it, then, to the King of Israel.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;To whom?&rsquo; enquired the astonished captain.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;To King David. The Lord hath delivered Hassan Subah and his host into our
+      hands, and of all the proud Seljuks none remaineth. Open thy gates, I say,
+      and lose no time. I am Jabaster, a lieutenant of the Lord; this scimitar
+      is my commission. Open thy gates, and thou and thy people shall have that
+      mercy which they have never shown; but if thou delayest one instant, thus
+      saith the King our master, &ldquo;I will burst open your portal, and smite, and
+      utterly destroy all that you have, and spare them not; but slay both man
+      and woman, infant and suckling, ox and sheep, camel and ass.&rdquo;&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Call forth the venerable Lord Bostenay,&rsquo; said the captain of the gate,
+      with chattering teeth. &lsquo;He will intercede for us.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;And the gentle Lady Miriam,&rsquo; said the sentinel. &lsquo;She is ever charitable.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;I will head the procession,&rsquo; said the black eunuch; &lsquo;I am accustomed to
+      women.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      The procession of Mollahs shuffled back to their college with profane
+      precipitation; the sun set, and the astounded Muezzin stood with their
+      mouths open, and quite forgot to announce the power of their Deity, and
+      the validity of their Prophet. The people all called out for the venerable
+      Lord Bostenay and the gentle Lady Miriam, and ran in crowds to see who
+      could first kiss the hem of their garments.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      The principal gate of Hamadan opened into the square of the great mosque.
+      Here the whole population of the city appeared assembled. The gates were
+      thrown open; Jabaster and his companions mounted guard. The short twilight
+      died away, the shades of night descended. The minarets were illumined,<a
+      href="#linknote-57" name="linknoteref-57" id="linknoteref-57">57</a> the
+      houses hung with garlands, the ramparts covered with tapestry and carpets.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      A clang of drums, trumpets, and cymbals announced the arrival of the
+      Hebrew army. The people shouted, the troops without responded with a long
+      cheer of triumph. Amid the blaze of torches, a youth waving his scimitar,
+      upon a coal-black steed, bounded into the city, at the head of his guards,
+      the people fell upon their knees, and shouted &lsquo;Long live Alroy!&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      A venerable man, leading a beauteous maiden with downcast eyes, advanced.
+      They headed a deputation of the chief inhabitants of the city. They came
+      to solicit mercy and protection. At the sight of them, the youthful
+      warrior leaped from his horse, flung away his scimitar, and clasping the
+      maiden in his arms, exclaimed, &lsquo;Miriam, my sister, this, this indeed is
+      triumph!&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Drink,&rsquo; said Kisloch the Kourd to Calidas the Indian; &lsquo;you forget,
+      comrade, we are no longer Moslemin.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Wine, methinks, has a peculiarly pleasant flavour in a golden cup,&rsquo; said
+      the Guebre. &lsquo;I got this little trifle to-day in the Bazaar,&rsquo; he added,
+      holding up a magnificent vase studded with gems.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;I thought plunder was forbidden,&rsquo; grinned the Negro.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;So it is,&rsquo; replied the Guebre; &lsquo;but we may purchase what we please, upon
+      credit.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Well, for my part, I am a moderate man,&rsquo; exclaimed Calidas the Indian,
+      &lsquo;and would not injure even these accursed dogs of Turks. I have not cut my
+      host&rsquo;s throat, but only turned him into my porter, and content myself with
+      his harem, his baths, his fine horses, and other little trifles.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;What quarters we are in! There is nothing like a true Messiah!&rsquo; exclaimed
+      Kisloch, devoutly.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Nothing,&rsquo; said Calidas; &lsquo;though to speak truth, I did not much believe in
+      the efficacy of Solomon&rsquo;s sceptre, till his Majesty clove the head of the
+      valiant Seljuk with it.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;But now there&rsquo;s no doubt of it,&rsquo; said the Guebre.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;We should indeed be infidels if we doubted now,&rsquo; replied the Indian.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;How lucky,&rsquo; grinned the Negro, &lsquo;as I had no religion before, that I have
+      now fixed upon the right one!&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Most fortunate!&rsquo; said the Guebre. &lsquo;What shall we do to amuse ourselves
+      to-night?&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Let us go to the coffee-houses and make the Turks drink wine,&rsquo; said
+      Calidas the Indian.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;What say you to burning down a mosque?&rsquo; said Kisloch the Kourd.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;I had great fun with some Dervishes this morning,&rsquo; said the Guebre. &lsquo;I
+      met one asking alms with a wire run through his cheek,<a
+      href="#linknote-58" name="linknoteref-58" id="linknoteref-58">58</a> so I
+      caught another, bored his nose, and tied them both together!&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Hah! hah! hah!&rsquo; burst the Negro.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Asia resounded with the insurrection of the Jews, and the massacre of the
+      Seljuks. Crowds of Hebrews, from the rich cities of Persia and the
+      populous settlements on the Tigris and the Euphrates, hourly poured into
+      Hamadan.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      The irritated Moslemin persecuted the brethren of the successful rebel,
+      and this impolicy precipitated their flight. The wealth of Bagdad flowed
+      into the Hebrew capital. Seated on the divan of Hassan Subah, and wielding
+      the sceptre of Solomon, the King of Israel received the homage of his
+      devoted subjects, and despatched his envoys to Syria and to Egypt. The
+      well-stored magazines and arsenals of Hamadan soon converted the pilgrims
+      into warriors. The city was unable to accommodate the increased and
+      increasing population. An extensive camp, under the command of Abner, was
+      formed without the walls, where the troops were daily disciplined, and
+      where they were prepared for greater exploits than a skirmish in a desert.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Within a month after the surrender of Hamadan, the congregation of the
+      people assembled in the square of the great mosque, now converted into a
+      synagogue. The multitude was disposed in ordered ranks, and the terrace of
+      every house was crowded. In the centre of the square was an altar of cedar
+      and brass, and on each side stood a company of priests guarding the
+      victims, one young bullock, and two rams without blemish.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Amid the flourish of trumpets, the gates of the synagogue opened, and
+      displayed to the wondering eyes of the Hebrews a vast and variegated
+      pavilion planted in the court. The holy remnant, no longer forlorn, beheld
+      that tabernacle of which they had so long dreamed, once more shining in
+      the sun, with its purple and scarlet hangings, its curtains of rare skins,
+      and its furniture of silver and gold.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      A procession of priests advanced, bearing, with staves of cedar, run
+      through rings of gold, a gorgeous ark, the work of the most cunning
+      artificers of Persia. Night and day had they laboured, under the direction
+      of Jabaster, to produce this wondrous spectacle. Once more the children of
+      Israel beheld the cherubim. They burst into a triumphant hymn of
+      thanksgiving, and many drew their swords, and cried aloud to be led
+      against the Canaanites.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      From the mysterious curtains of the tabernacle, Alroy came forward,
+      leading Jabaster. They approached the altar. And Alroy took robes from the
+      surrounding priests, and put them upon Jabaster, and a girdle, and a
+      breastplate of jewels. And Alroy took a mitre, and placed it upon the head
+      of Jabaster, and upon the mitre he placed a crown; and pouring oil upon
+      his head, the pupil anointed the master High Priest of Israel.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      The victims were slain, the sin-offering burnt. Amid clouds of incense,
+      bursts of music, and the shouts of a devoted people; amid odour, and
+      melody, and enthusiasm, Alroy mounted his charger, and at the head of
+      twenty thousand men, departed to conquer Media.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      The extensive and important province of Aderbijan, of which Hamadan was
+      the capital, was formed of the ancient Media. Its fate was decided by one
+      battle. On the plain of Nehauend, Alroy met the hastily-raised levies of
+      the Atabek of Kermanshah, and entirely routed them. In the course of a
+      month, every city of the province had acknowledged the supremacy of the
+      new Hebrew monarch, and, leaving Abner to complete the conquest of
+      Louristan, Alroy entered Persia.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      The incredible and irresistible progress of Alroy roused Togrul, the
+      Turkish Sultan of Persia, from the luxurious indolence of the palaces of
+      Nishapur. He summoned his emirs to meet him at the imperial city of Rhey,
+      and crush, by one overwhelming effort, the insolent rebel.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Religion, valour, and genius, alike inspired the arms of Alroy, but he
+      was, doubtless, not a little assisted by the strong national sympathy of
+      his singular and scattered people, which ever ensured him prompt
+      information of all the movements of his enemy. Without any preparation, he
+      found agents in every court, and camp, and cabinet; and, by their
+      assistance, he anticipated the designs of his adversaries, and turned even
+      their ingenuity to their confusion. The imperial city of Rhey was
+      surprised in the night, sacked, and burnt to the ground. The scared and
+      baffled emirs who escaped, flew to the Sultan Togrul, tearing their
+      beards, and prophesying the approaching termination of the world. The
+      palaces of Nishapur resounded with the imprecations of their master, who,
+      cursing the Jewish dogs, and vowing a pilgrimage to Mecca, placed himself
+      at the head of a motley multitude of warriors, and rushed upon the plains
+      of Irak, to exterminate Alroy.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      The Persian force exceeded the Hebrew at least five times in number.
+      Besides a large division of Seljuks, the Caucasus had poured forth its
+      strange inhabitants to swell the ranks of the Faithful. The wild tribes of
+      the Bactiari were even enlisted, with their fatal bows, and the savage
+      Turkmans, tempted by the sultan&rsquo;s gold, for a moment yielded their
+      liberty, and shook their tall lances in his ranks.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      But what is a wild Bactiari, and what is a savage Turkman, and what even a
+      disciplined and imperious Seljuk, to the warriors of the God of Abraham,
+      of Isaac, and of Jacob? At the first onset, Alroy succeeded in dividing
+      the extended centre of Togrul, and separating the greater part of the
+      Turks from their less disciplined comrades. At the head of his Median
+      cavalry, the Messiah charged and utterly routed the warriors of the
+      Caucasus. The wild tribes of the Bactiari discharged their arrows and
+      fled, and the savage Turkmans plundered the baggage of their own
+      commander.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      The Turks themselves fought desperately; but, deserted by their allies,
+      and surrounded by an inspired foe, their efforts were unavailing, and
+      their slaughter terrible. Togrul was slain while heading a desperate and
+      fruitless charge, and, after his fall, the battle resembled a massacre
+      rather than a combat. The plain was glotted with Seljuk gore. No quarter
+      was given or asked. Twenty thousand chosen troops fell on the side of the
+      Turks; the rest dispersed and gained the mountains. Leaving Scherirah to
+      restore order, Alroy the next morning pushed on to Nishapur at the head of
+      three thousand horsemen, and summoned the city ere the inhabitants were
+      apprised of the defeat and death of their sultan. The capital of Persia
+      escaped the fate of Rhey by an inglorious treaty and a lavish tribute. The
+      treasures of the Chosroes and the Gasnevides were despatched to Hamadan,
+      on which city day dawned, only to bring intelligence of a victory or a
+      conquest.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      While Alroy dictated peace on his own terms in the palaces of Nishapur,
+      Abner, having reduced Louristan, crossed the mountains, and entered Persia
+      with the reinforcements he had received from Jabaster. Leaving the
+      government and garrisoning of his new conquests to this valiant captain,
+      Alroy, at the head of the conquerors of Persia, in consequence of
+      intelligence received from Hamadan, returned by forced marches to that
+      city.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Leaving the army within a day&rsquo;s march of the capital, Alroy, accompanied
+      only by his staff, entered Hamadan in the evening, and, immediately
+      repairing to the citadel, summoned Jabaster to council. The night was
+      passed by the king and the high priest in deep consultation. The next
+      morning, a decree apprised the inhabitants of the return of their monarch,
+      of the creation of the new &lsquo;Kingdom of the Medes and Persians,&rsquo; of which
+      Hamadan was declared the capital, and Abner the viceroy, and of the
+      intended and immediate invasion of Syria, and re-conquest of the Land of
+      Promise.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      The plan of this expedition had been long matured, and the preparations to
+      effect it were considerably advanced. Jabaster had not been idle during
+      the absence of his pupil. One hundred thousand warriors were now assembled<a
+      href="#linknote-59" name="linknoteref-59" id="linknoteref-59">59</a> at
+      the capital of the kingdom of the Medes and Persians; of these the greater
+      part were Hebrews, but many Arabs, wearied of the Turkish yoke, and many
+      gallant adventurers from the Caspian, easily converted from a vague
+      idolatry to a religion of conquest, swelled the ranks of the army of the
+      Lord of Hosts.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      The plain of Hamadan was covered with tents, the streets were filled with
+      passing troops, the bazaars loaded with military stores; long caravans of
+      camels laden with supplies every day arrived from the neighbouring towns;
+      each instant some high-capped Tatar with despatches<a href="#linknote-60"
+       name="linknoteref-60" id="linknoteref-60">60</a> rushed into the city and
+      galloped his steed up the steep of the citadel. The clang of arms, the
+      prance of horses, the flourish of warlike music, resounded from all
+      quarters. The business and the treasure of the world seemed, as it were in
+      an instant, to have become concentrated in Hamadan. Every man had some
+      great object; gold glittered in every hand. All great impulses were
+      stirring; all the causes of human energy were in lively action. Every eye
+      sparkled, every foot trod firm and fast. Each man acted as if the
+      universal fate depended upon his exertions; as if the universal will
+      sympathised with his particular desire. A vast population influenced by a
+      high degree of excitement is the most sublime of spectacles.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      The commander of the Faithful raised the standard of the Prophet on the
+      banks of the Tigris. It was the secret intelligence of this intended event
+      that had recalled Alroy so suddenly from Persia. The latent enthusiasm of
+      the Moslemin was excited by the rare and mystic ceremony, and its effects
+      were anticipated by previous and judicious preparations. The Seljuks of
+      Bagdad alone amounted to fifty thousand men; the Sultan of Syria
+      contributed the warriors who had conquered the Arabian princes of Damascus
+      and Aleppo; while the ancient provinces of Asia Minor, which formed the
+      rich and powerful kingdom of Seljukian Roum, poured forth a myriad of that
+      matchless cavalry, which had so often baffled the armies of the Cæsars.
+      Never had so imposing a force been collected on the banks of the Tigris
+      since the reign of Haroun Alraschid. Each day some warlike Atabek, at the
+      head of his armed train, poured into the capital of the caliphs,<a
+      href="#linknote-61" name="linknoteref-61" id="linknoteref-61">61</a> or
+      pitched his pavilion on the banks of the river; each day the proud emir of
+      some remote principality astonished or affrighted the luxurious
+      Babylonians by the strange or uncouth warriors that had gathered round his
+      standard in the deserts of Arabia, or on the shores of the Euxine. For the
+      space of twenty miles, the banks of the river were, on either side, far as
+      the eye could reach, covered with the variegated pavilions, the glittering
+      standards, the flowing streamers and twinkling pennons of the mighty host,
+      of which Malek, the Grand Sultan of the Seljuks, and Governor of the
+      Caliph&rsquo;s palace, was chief commander.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Such was the power assembled on the plains of Asia to arrest the progress
+      of the Hebrew Prince, and to prevent the conquest of the memorable land
+      promised to the faith of his fathers, and forfeited by their infidelity.
+      Before the walls of Hamadan, Alroy reviewed the army of Israel, sixty
+      thousand heavy-armed footmen, thirty thousand archers and light troops,
+      and twenty thousand cavalry. Besides these, there had been formed a body
+      of ten thousand picked horsemen, styled the &lsquo;Sacred Guard,&rsquo; all of whom
+      had served in the Persian campaign. In their centre, shrouded in a case of
+      wrought gold, studded with carbuncles, and carried on a lusty lance of
+      cedar, a giant&mdash;for the height of Elnebar exceeded that of common men
+      by three feet&mdash;bore the sceptre of Solomon. The Sacred Guard was
+      commanded by Asriel, the brother of Abner.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      The army was formed into three divisions. All marched in solemn order
+      before the throne of Alroy, raised upon the ramparts, and drooped their
+      standards and lances as they passed their heroic leader. Bostenay, and
+      Miriam, and the whole population of the city witnessed the inspiring
+      spectacle from the walls. That same eve, Scherirah, at the head of forty
+      thousand men, pushed on towards Bagdad, by Kermanshah; and Jabaster, who
+      commanded in his holy robes, and who had vowed not to lay aside his sword
+      until the rebuilding of the temple, conducted his division over the
+      victorious plain of Nehauend. They were to concentrate at the pass of
+      Kerrund, which conducted into the province of Bagdad, and await the
+      arrival of the king.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      At the dawn of day, the royal division and the Sacred Guard, the whole
+      under the command of Asriel, quitted the capital. Alroy still lingered,
+      and for some hours the warriors of his staff might have been observed
+      lounging about the citadel, or practising their skill in throwing the
+      jerreed as they exercised their impatient chargers before the gates.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      The king was with the Lady Miriam, walking in the garden of their uncle.
+      One arm was wound round her delicate waist, and with the other he clasped
+      her soft and graceful hand. The heavy tears burst from her downcast eyes,
+      and stole along her pale and pensive cheek. They walked in silence, the
+      brother and the sister, before the purity of whose surpassing love even
+      ambition vanished. He opened the lattice gate. They entered into the
+      valley small and green; before them was the marble fountain with its
+      columns and cupola, and in the distance the charger of Alroy and his
+      single attendant.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      They stopped, and Alroy gathered flowers, and placed them in the hair of
+      Miriam. He would have softened the bitterness of parting with a smile.
+      Gently he relaxed his embracing arm, almost insensibly he dropped her
+      quivering hand.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Sister of my soul,&rsquo; he whispered, &lsquo;when we last parted here, I was a
+      fugitive, and now I quit you a conqueror.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      She turned, she threw herself upon his neck, and buried her face in his
+      breast.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;My Miriam, we shall meet at Bagdad.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      He beckoned to her distant maidens; they advanced, he delivered Miriam
+      into their arms. He pressed her hand to his lips, and, rushing to his
+      horse, mounted and disappeared.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      A body of irregular cavalry feebly defended the pass of Kerrund. It was
+      carried, with slight loss, by the vanguard of Scherirah, and the fugitives
+      prepared the host of the caliph for the approach of the Hebrew army.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Upon the plain of the Tigris the enemy formed into battle array. The
+      centre was commanded by Malek, the Grand Sultan of the Seljuks himself;
+      the right wing, headed by the Sultan of Syria, was protected by the river;
+      and the left, under the Sultan of Roum, was posted upon the advantageous
+      position of some irregular and rising ground. Thus proud in the number,
+      valour, discipline, and disposition of his forces, Malek awaited the
+      conqueror of Persia.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      The glittering columns of the Hebrews might even now be perceived defiling
+      from the mountains, and forming at the extremity of the plain. Before
+      nightfall the camp of the invaders was pitched within hearing of that of
+      Malek. The moving lights in the respective tents might plainly be
+      distinguished; and ever and anon the flourish of hostile music fell with
+      an ominous sound upon the ears of the opposed foe-men. A few miles only
+      separated those mighty hosts. Upon to-morrow depended, perhaps, the
+      fortunes of ages. How awful is the eve of battle!
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Alroy, attended by a few chieftains, personally visited the tents of the
+      soldiery, promising them on the morrow a triumph, before which the
+      victories of Nehauend and Nishapur would sink into insignificance. Their
+      fiery and excited visages proved at once their courage and their faith.
+      The sceptre of Solomon was paraded throughout the camp in solemn
+      procession. On the summit of a huge tumulus, perhaps the sepulchre of some
+      classic hero, Esther, the prophetess, surrounded by the chief zealots of
+      the host, poured forth her exciting inspirations. It was a grand picture,
+      that beautiful wild girl, the groups of stern, devoted warriors, the red
+      flame of the watch-fires mixing with the silver shadows of the moon as
+      they illumined the variegated turbans and gleaming armour of her votaries!
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      In the pavilion of Alroy, Jabaster consulted with his pupil on the conduct
+      of the morrow.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;This is a different scene from the cavern of the Caucasus,&rsquo; said Alroy,
+      as the high priest rose to retire.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;It has one great resemblance, sire; the God of our fathers is with us.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Ay! the Lord of Hosts. Moses was a great man. There is no career except
+      conquest.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;You muse.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Of the past. The present is prepared. Too much thought will mar it.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;The past is for wisdom, the present for action, but for joy the future.
+      The feeling that the building of the temple is at hand, that the Lord&rsquo;s
+      anointed will once again live in the house of David, absorbs my spirit;
+      and, when I muse over our coming glory, in my fond ecstasy I almost lose
+      the gravity that doth beseem my sacred office.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Jerusalem; I have seen it. How many hours to dawn?&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Some three.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;&lsquo;Tis strange I could sleep. I remember, on the eve of battle I was ever
+      anxious. How is this, Jabaster?&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Your faith, sire, is profound.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Yes, I have no fear. My destiny is not complete. Good night, Jabaster.
+      See, Asriel, valiant priest. Pharez!&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;My lord!&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Rouse me at the second watch. Good night, boy.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Good night, my lord.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Pharez! Be sure you rouse me at the second watch. Think you it wants
+      three hours to dawn?&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;About three hours, my lord.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Well! at the second watch, remember; good night.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;It is the second watch, my lord.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;So soon! Have I slept? I feel fresh as an eagle. Call Scherirah, boy.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;&lsquo;Tis strange I never dream now. Before my flight my sleep was ever
+      troubled. Say what they like, man is made for action. My life is now
+      harmonious, and sleep has now become what nature willed it, a solace, not
+      a contest. Before, it was a struggle of dark passions and bright dreams,
+      in whose creative fancy and fair vision my soul sought refuge from the
+      dreary bale of daily reality.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;I will withdraw the curtains of my tent. O most majestic vision! And have
+      I raised this host? Over the wide plain, far as my eye can range, their
+      snowy tents studding the purple landscape, embattled legions gather round
+      their flags to struggle for my fate. It is the agony of Asia.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;A year ago, upon this very spot, I laid me down to die, an unknown thing,
+      or known and recognised only to be despised, and now the sultans of the
+      world come forth to meet me. I have no fear. My destiny is not complete.
+      And whither tends it? Let that power decide which hitherto has fashioned
+      all my course.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Jerusalem, Jerusalem! ever harping on Jerusalem. With all his lore, he is
+      a narrow-minded zealot whose dreaming memory would fondly make a future
+      like the past. O Bagdad, Bagdad, within thy glittering halls, there is a
+      charm worth all his Cabala!
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Hah! Scherirah! The dawn is near at hand, the stars are still shining.
+      The air is very pleasant. Tomorrow will be a great day, Scherirah, for
+      Israel and for you. You lead the attack. A moment in my tent, my brave
+      Scherirah!&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      The dawn broke; a strong column of the Hebrews, commanded by Scherirah,
+      poured down upon the centre of the army of the caliph. Another column,
+      commanded by Jabaster, attacked the left wing, headed by the Sultan of
+      Roum. No sooner had Alroy perceived that the onset of Scherirah had
+      succeeded in penetrating the centre of the Turks, than he placed himself
+      at the head of the Sacred Guard, and by an irresistible charge completed
+      their disorder and confusion. The division of the Sultan of Syria, and a
+      great part of the centre, were entirely routed and driven into the river,
+      and the remainder of the division of Malek was effectually separated from
+      his left wing.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      But while to Alroy the victory seemed already decided, a far different
+      fate awaited the division of Jabaster. The Sultan of Roum, posted in an
+      extremely advantageous position, and commanding troops accustomed to the
+      discipline of the Romans of Constantinople, received the onset of Jabaster
+      without yielding, and not only repelled his attack, but finally made a
+      charge which completely disordered and dispersed the column of the
+      Hebrews. In vain Jabaster endeavoured to rally his troops, in vain he
+      performed prodigies of valour, in vain he himself struck down the
+      standard-bearer of the sultan, and once even penetrated to the pavilion of
+      the monarch. His division was fairly routed. The eagerness of the Sultan
+      of Roum to effect the annihilation of his antagonists prevented him from
+      observing the forlorn condition of the Turkish centre. Had he, after
+      routing the division of Jabaster, only attacked Alroy in the rear, the
+      fortune of the day might have been widely different. As it was, the eagle
+      eye of Alroy soon detected his inadvertence, and profited by his
+      indiscretion. Leaving Ithamar to keep the centre in check, he charged the
+      Sultan of Roum with the Sacred Guard, and afforded Jabaster an opportunity
+      of rallying some part of his forces. The Sultan of Roum, perceiving that
+      the day was lost by the ill-conduct of his colleagues, withdrew his
+      troops, retreated in haste, but in good order to Bagdad, carried off the
+      caliph, his harem, and some of his treasure, and effected his escape into
+      Syria. In the meantime the discomfiture of the remaining Turkish army was
+      complete. The Tigris was dyed with their blood, and the towns through
+      which the river flowed were apprised of the triumph of Alroy by the
+      floating corpses of his enemies. Thirty thousand Turks were slain in
+      battle: among them the Sultans of Bagdad and Syria, and a vast number of
+      atabeks, emirs, and chieftains. A whole division, finding themselves
+      surrounded, surrendered on terms, and delivered up their arms. The camps
+      and treasures of the three sultans were alike captured, and the troops
+      that escaped so completely dispersed, that they did not attempt to rally,
+      but, disbanded and desperate, prowled over and plundered the adjoining
+      provinces. The loss of the division of Jabaster was also severe, but the
+      rest of the army suffered little. Alroy himself was slightly wounded. The
+      battle lasted barely three hours. Its results were immense. David Alroy
+      was now master of the East.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      The plain was covered with the corpses of men and horses, arms and
+      standards, and prostrate tents. Returning from the pursuit of the Sultan
+      of Roum, Alroy ordered the trumpets to sound to arms, and, covered with
+      gore and dust, dismounted from his charger, and stood before the pavilion
+      of Malek, leaning on his bloody scimitar, and surrounded by his victorious
+      generals.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Ah, Jabaster!&rsquo; said the conqueror, giving his hand to the pontiff, &lsquo;&lsquo;twas
+      well your troops had such a leader. No one but you could have rallied
+      them.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      You must drill your lads a little before they again meet the Cappadocian
+      cavalry. Brave Scherirah, we shall not forget our charge. Asriel, tell the
+      guard, from me, that the victory of the Tigris was owing to their
+      scimitars. Ithamar, what are our freshest troops?&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;The legion of Aderbijan, sire.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;How strong can they muster?&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;It counts twelve thousand men: we might collect two-thirds.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Valiant Ithamar, take the Aderbijans and a division of the guards, push
+      on towards Bagdad, and summon the city. If his Sultanship of Roum offer
+      battle, take up a position, and he shall quickly have his desire. For the
+      present, after these hasty marches and sharp fighting, the troops must
+      rest. I think he will not tarry. Summon the city, and say that if any
+      resistance be offered, I will make it as desolate as old Babylon. Treat
+      with no armed force. Where is the soldier that saved me a cracked skull;
+      his name Benaiah?&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;I wait your bidding, sire.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;You&rsquo;re a captain. Join the division of Ithamar, and win fresh laurels ere
+      we meet again. Gentle Asriel, let your brother know our fortune.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Sire, several Tartars have already been despatched to Hamadan.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;&lsquo;Tis well. Send another with these tablets to the Lady Miriam. Despatch
+      the pavilion of Malek as a trophy for the town. Elnebar, Goliath of the
+      Hebrews, you bore our sacred standard like a hero! How fares the
+      prophetess? I saw her charging in our ranks, waving a sabre with her snowy
+      arm, her long, dark hair streaming like a storm, from which her eyes
+      flashed lightning.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;The king bleeds,&rsquo; said Jabaster.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Slightly. It will do me service. I am somewhat feverish. A kingdom for a
+      draught of water! And now for our wounded friends. Asriel, do you marshal
+      the camp. It is the Sabbath eve.<a href="#linknote-62"
+       name="linknoteref-62" id="linknoteref-62">62</a> Time presses.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      The dead were plundered, and thrown into the river, the encampment of the
+      Hebrews completed. Alroy, with his principal officers, visited the
+      wounded, and praised the valiant. The bustle which always succeeds a
+      victory was increased in the present instance by the anxiety of the army
+      to observe with grateful strictness the impending Sabbath.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      When the sun set, the Sabbath was to commence. The undulating horizon
+      rendered it difficult to ascertain the precise moment of the setting. The
+      crimson orb sunk behind the purple mountains, the sky was flushed with a
+      rich and rosy glow. Then might be perceived the zealots, proud in their
+      Talmudical lore, holding a skein of white silk in their hands, and
+      announcing the approach of the Sabbath by their observation of its
+      shifting tints. While the skein was yet golden, the forge of the armourer
+      still sounded, the fire of the cook still blazed, still the cavalry led
+      their steeds to the river, and still the busy footmen braced up their
+      tents and hammered at their palisades. The skein of silk became rosy, the
+      armourer worked with renewed energy, the cook puffed with increased zeal,
+      the horsemen scampered from the river, the footmen cast an anxious glance
+      at the fading twilight.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      The skein of silk became blue; a dim, dull, sepulchral, leaden tinge fell
+      over its purity. The hum of gnats arose, the bat flew in circling whirls
+      over the tents, horns sounded from all quarters, the sun had set, the
+      Sabbath had commenced. &lsquo;The forge was mute, the fire extinguished, the
+      prance of horses and the bustle of men in a moment ceased. A deep, a
+      sudden, an all-pervading stillness dropped over that mighty host. It was
+      night; the sacred lamp of the Sabbath sparkled in every tent of the camp,
+      which vied in silence and in brilliancy with the mute and glowing heavens.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Morn came; the warriors assembled around the altar and the sacrifice. The
+      high priest and his attendant Levites proclaimed the unity and the
+      omnipotence of the God of Israel, and the sympathetic responses of his
+      conquering and chosen people reechoed over the plain. They retired again
+      to their tents, to listen to the expounding of the law; even the distance
+      of a Sabbath walk was not to exceed that space which lies between
+      Jerusalem and the Mourft of Olives. This was the distance between the
+      temple and the tabernacle; it had been nicely measured, and every Hebrew
+      who ventured forth from the camp this day might be observed counting the
+      steps of a Sabbath-day&rsquo;s journey. At length the sun again set, and on a
+      sudden fires blazed, voices sounded, men stirred, in the same enchanted
+      and instantaneous manner that had characterised the stillness of the
+      preceding eve. Shouts of laughter, bursts of music, announced the
+      festivity of the coming night; supplies poured in from all the
+      neighbouring villages, and soon the pious conquerors commemorated their
+      late triumph in a round of banqueting.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      On the morrow, a Tatar arrived from Ithamar, informing Alroy that the
+      Sultan of Roum had retreated into Syria, that Bagdad was undefended, but
+      that he had acceded to the request of the inhabitants that a deputation
+      should wait upon Alroy before the troops entered the city, and had granted
+      a safe conduct for their passage.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      On the morrow, messengers announced the approach of the deputation. All
+      the troops were under arms. Alroy directed that the suppliants should be
+      conducted through the whole camp before they arrived at the royal
+      pavilion, on each side of which the Sacred Guard was mustered in array.
+      The curtains of his tent withdrawn displayed the conqueror himself, seated
+      on a sumptuous divan. On his right hand stood Jabaster in his priestly
+      robes, on his left Scherirah. Behind him, the giant Elnebar supported the
+      sacred sceptre. A crowd of chieftains was ranged on each side of the
+      pavilion.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Cymbals sounded, muffled kettle-drums, and the faint flourish of trumpets;
+      the commencement of the procession might be detected in the long
+      perspective of the tented avenue. First came a company of beauteous
+      youths, walking two by two, and strewing flowers; then a band of musicians
+      in flowing robes of cloth of gold, plaintively sounding their silver
+      trumpets. After these followed slaves of all climes, bearing a tribute of
+      the most rare and costly productions of their countries: Negroes with
+      tusks and teeth of the elephant, plumes of ostrich feathers, and caskets
+      of gold dust; Syrians with rich armour; Persians with vases of atar-gul,
+      and Indians with panniers of pearls of Ormuz, and soft shawls of
+      Cachemire. Encircled by his children, each of whom held alternately a
+      white or fawn-coloured gazelle, an Arab clothed in his blue bornouz, led
+      by a thick cord of crimson silk a tall and tawny giraffe. Fifty stout men
+      succeeded two by two, carrying in company a silver shield laden with gold
+      coin, or chased goblets studded with gems.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      The clash of cymbals announced the presence of the robes of honour,<a
+      href="#linknote-63" name="linknoteref-63" id="linknoteref-63">63</a>
+      culled from the wardrobe of the commander of the Faithful; the silk of
+      Aleppo and the brocade of Damascus, lined with the furs of the sable and
+      the ermine, down from the breast of the swan, and the skins of white
+      foxes.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      After these followed two grey dromedaries, with furniture of silver, and
+      many caparisoned horses, each led by a groom in rich attire. The last of
+      these was a snow-white steed, upon whose front was the likeness of a ruby
+      star, a courser of the sacred stud of Solomon, and crossed only by the
+      descendants of the Prophet.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      The muffled kettle-drums heralded the company of black eunuchs, with their
+      scarlet vests and ivory battle-axes. They surrounded and shrouded from the
+      vulgar gaze fourteen beautiful Circassian girls, whose brilliant visages
+      and perfect forms were otherwise concealed by their long veils and ample
+      drapery.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      The gorgeous procession, as they approached the conqueror, bowed humbly to
+      Alroy, and formed in order on each side of the broad avenue. The
+      deputation appeared; twelve of the principal citizens of Bagdad, with
+      folded arms, and downcast eyes, and disordered raiment. Meekly and mutely
+      each touched the earth with his hand, and kissed it in token of
+      submission, and then, moving aside, made way for the chief envoy and
+      orator of the company, Honain!
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Humbly, but gracefully, the physician of the caliph bowed before the
+      conqueror of the East. His appearance and demeanour afforded a contrast to
+      the aspect of his brother envoys; not less calm or contented his
+      countenance, not less sumptuous or studied his attire, than when he first
+      rescued Alroy in the bazaar of Bagdad from the grip of the false Abdallah.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      He spoke, and every sound was hushed before the music of his voice.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Conqueror of the world, that destiny with which it is in vain to struggle
+      has placed our lives and fortunes in your power. Your slaves offer for
+      your approbation specimens of their riches; not as tribute, for all is
+      yours; but to show you the products of security and peace, and to induce
+      you to believe that mercy may be a policy as profitable to the conqueror
+      as to the conquered; that it may be better to preserve than to destroy;
+      and wiser to enjoy than to extirpate.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Fate ordained that we should be born the slaves of the caliph; that same
+      fate has delivered his sceptre into your hands. We offer you the same
+      devotion that we yielded to him, and we entreat the same protection which
+      he granted to us.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Whatever may be your decision, we must bow to your decree with the
+      humility that recognises superior force. Yet we are not without hope. We
+      cannot forget that it is our good fortune not to be addressing a barbarous
+      chieftain, unable to sympathise with the claims of civilisation, the
+      creations of art, and the finer impulses of humanity. We acknowledge your
+      irresistible power, but we dare to hope everything from a prince whose
+      genius all acknowledge and admire, who has spared some portion of his
+      youth from the cares of government and the pursuits of arms to the
+      ennobling claims of learning, whose morality has been moulded by a pure
+      and sublime faith, and who draws his lineage from a sacred and celebrated
+      race, the unrivalled antiquity of which even the Prophet acknowledges.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      He ceased: a buzz of approbation sounded throughout the pavilion, which
+      was hushed instantly as the lips of the conqueror moved.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Noble emir,&rsquo; replied Alroy, &lsquo;return to Bagdad, and tell your
+      fellow-subjects that the King of Israel grants protection to their
+      persons, and security to their property.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;And for their faith?&rsquo; enquired the envoy, in a lower voice.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Toleration,&rsquo; replied Alroy, turning to Jabaster.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Until further regulations,&rsquo; added the high priest.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Emir,&rsquo; said Alroy, &lsquo;the person of the caliph will be respected.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;May it please your highness,&rsquo; replied Honain, &lsquo;the Sultan of Roum has
+      retired with our late ruler.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;And his harem?&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;And his harem.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;It was needless. We war not with women.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Men, as well as women, must acknowledge the gracious mercy of your
+      highness.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Benomi,&rsquo; said Alroy, addressing himself to a young officer of the guard,
+      &lsquo;command the guard of honour that will attend this noble emir on his
+      return. We soldiers deal only in iron, sir, and cannot vie with the
+      magnificence of Bagdad, yet wear this dagger for the donor&rsquo;s sake:&rsquo; and
+      Alroy held out to Honain a poniard flaming with gems.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      The Envoy of Bagdad advanced, took the dagger, pressed it to his lips, and
+      placed it in his vest.<a href="#linknote-64" name="linknoteref-64"
+       id="linknoteref-64">64</a>
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Scherirah,&rsquo; continued Alroy, &lsquo;this noble emir is your charge. See that a
+      choice pavilion of the host be for his use, and that his train complain
+      not of the rough customs of our camp.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;May it please your highness,&rsquo; replied Honain, &lsquo;I have fulfilled my
+      office, and, with your gracious permission, would at once return. I have
+      business only less urgent than the present, because it concerns myself.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;As you will, noble emir. Benomi, to your post. Farewell, sir.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      The deputation advanced, bowed, and retired. Alroy turned to Jabaster.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;No common person that, Jabaster?&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;A very gracious Turk, sire.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Think you he is a Turk?&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;By his dress.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;It may be so. Asriel, break up the camp. We&rsquo;ll march at once to Bagdad.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      The chiefs dispersed to make the necessary arrangements for the march. The
+      news that the army was immediately to advance to Bagdad soon circulated
+      throughout the camp, and excited the most lively enthusiasm. Every hand
+      was at work, striking the tents, preparing the arms and horses. Alroy
+      retired to his pavilion. The curtains were drawn. He was alone, and
+      plunged in profound meditation.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Alroy!&rsquo; a voice sounded.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      He started, and looked up. Before him stood Esther the prophetess.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Esther! is it thou?&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Alroy! enter not into Babylon.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Indeed.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;As I live, the Lord hath spoken it. Enter not into Babylon.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Not enjoy my fairest conquest, maiden?&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Enter not into Babylon.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;What affrights thee?&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Enter not into Babylon.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;I shall surely change the fortunes of my life without a cause.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;The Lord hath spoken. Is not that a cause?&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;I am the Lord&rsquo;s anointed. His warning has not reached me.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Now it reaches thee. Doth the king despise the prophetess of the Lord? It
+      is the sin of Ahab.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Despise thee! Despise the mouth that is the herald of my victories!
+      &lsquo;Twere rank blasphemy. Prophesy triumph, Esther, and Alroy will never
+      doubt thy inspiration.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;He doubts it now. I see he doubts it now. O my king, I say again, enter
+      not into Babylon.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Beauteous maiden, those eyes flash lightning. Who can behold their wild
+      and liquid glance, and doubt that Esther is inspired! Be calm, sweet girl,
+      some dream disturbs thy fancy.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Alroy, Alroy, enter not into Babylon!&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;I have no fear, I bear a charmed life.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Ah me! he will not listen.&rsquo; All is lost!&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;All is gained, my beautiful.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;I would we were upon the Holy Mount, and gazing on the stars of sacred
+      Zion.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Esther,&rsquo; said Alroy, advancing, and gently taking her hand, &lsquo;the capital
+      of the East will soon unfold its marvels to thy sight. Prepare thyself for
+      wonders. Girl, we are no longer in the desert. Forget thy fitful fancies.
+      Come, choose a husband from my generals, child, and I will give a kingdom
+      for thy dower. I would gladly see a crown upon that imperial brow. It well
+      deserves one.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      The prophetess turned her dark eyes full upon Alroy. What passed in her
+      mind was neither evident nor expressed. She gazed intently upon the calm
+      and inscrutable countenance of the conqueror, then flung away his hand,
+      and rushed out of the pavilion.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      <a name="link2HCH0008" id="link2HCH0008">
+      <!--  H2 anchor --> </a>
+    </p>
+    <div style="height: 4em;">
+      <br /><br /><br /><br />
+    </div>
+    <h2>
+      CHAPTER VIII.
+    </h2>
+<pre xml:space="preserve">
+     <i>Bagdad and the Princess</i>
+</pre>
+    <p>
+      THE waving of banners, the flourish of trumpets, the neighing of steeds,
+      and the glitter of spears! On the distant horizon they gleam like the
+      morning, when the gloom of the night shivers bright into day. Hark! the
+      tramp of the foemen, like the tide of the ocean, flows onward and onward,
+      and conquers the shore. From the brow of the mountain, like the rush of a
+      river, the column defiling melts into the plain.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Warriors of Judah! holy men that battle for the Lord! The land wherein
+      your fathers wept, and touched their plaintive psalteries; the haughty
+      city where your sires bewailed their cold and distant hearths; your steeds
+      are prancing on its plain, and you shall fill its palaces. Warriors of
+      Judah! holy men that battle for the Lord!
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      March, onward march, ye valiant tribes, the hour has come, the hour has
+      come! All the promises of ages, all the signs of sacred sages, meet in
+      this ravishing hour. Where is now the oppressor&rsquo;s chariot, where your
+      tyrant&rsquo;s purple robe? The horse and the rider are both overthrown, the
+      horse and the rider are both overthrown!
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Rise, Rachel, from thy wilderness, arise, and weep no more. No more thy
+      lonely palm-tree&rsquo;s shade need shroud thy secret sorrowing. The Lord hath
+      heard the widow&rsquo;s sigh, the Lord hath stilled the widow&rsquo;s tear. Be
+      comforted, be comforted, thy children live again!
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Yes! yes! upon the bounding plain fleet Asriel glances like a star, and
+      stout Scherirah shakes his spear by stern Jabaster&rsquo;s scimitar. And He is
+      there, the chosen one, hymned by prophetic harps, whose life is like the
+      morning dew on Zion&rsquo;s holy hill: the chosen one, the chosen one, that
+      leads his race to victory; warriors of Judah! holy men that battle for the
+      Lord!
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      They come, they come, they come!
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      The ramparts of the city were crowded with the inhabitants, the river
+      sparkled with ten thousand boats, the bazaars were shut, the streets lined
+      with the populace, and the terrace of every house covered with spectators.
+      In the morning, Ithamar had entered with his division and garrisoned the
+      city. And now the vanguard of the Hebrew army, after having been long
+      distinguished in the distance, approached the walls. A large body of
+      cavalry dashed forward at full speed from the main force. Upon a
+      milk-white charger, and followed by a glittering train of warriors, amid
+      the shouts of the vast multitude, Alroy galloped up to the gates.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      He was received by Ithamar and the members of the deputation, but Honain
+      was not there. Accompanied by his staff and a strong detachment of the
+      Sacred Guard, Alroy was conducted through the principal thoroughfares of
+      the city, until he arrived at the chief entrance of the serail, or palace,
+      of the caliph. The vast portal conducted him into a large quadrangular
+      court, where he dismounted, and where he was welcomed by the captain of
+      the eunuch guard. Accompanied by his principal generals and his immediate
+      attendants, Alroy was then ushered through a suite of apartments which
+      reminded him of his visit with Honain, until he arrived at the grand
+      council-chamber of the caliphs.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      The conqueror threw himself upon the gorgeous divan of the commander of
+      the Faithful.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;An easy seat after a long march,&rsquo; said Alroy, as he touched with his lips
+      the coffee, which the chief of the eunuchs presented to him in a cup of
+      transparent pink porcelain, studded with pearls.<a href="#linknote-65"
+       name="linknoteref-65" id="linknoteref-65">65</a> &lsquo;Itha-mar, now for your
+      report. What is the temper of the city? Where is his Sultanship of Roum?&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;The city, sire, is calm, and I believe content. The sultan and the caliph
+      are still hovering on the borders of the province.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;So I supposed. Scherirah will settle that. Let the troops be encamped
+      without the walls, the garrison, ten thousand strong, must be changed
+      monthly. Ithamar, you are governor of the city: Asriel commands the
+      forces. Worthy Jabaster, draw up a report of the civil affairs of the
+      capital. Your quarters are the College of the Dervishes. Brave Scherirah,
+      I cannot afford you a long rest. In three days you must have crossed the
+      river with your division. It will be quick work. I foresee that they will
+      not fight. Meet me all here in council by to-morrow&rsquo;s noon. Farewell.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      The chieftains retired, the high priest lingered.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Were it not an intrusion, sire, I would fain entreat a moment&rsquo;s
+      audience.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;My own Jabaster, you have but to speak.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Sire, I would speak of Abidan, as valiant a warrior as any in the host.
+      It grieves me much, that by some fatality, his services seem ever
+      overlooked.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Abidan! I know him well, a valiant man, but a dreamer, a dreamer.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;A dreamer, sire! Believe me, a true son of Israel, and one whose faith is
+      deep.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Good Jabaster, we are all true sons of Israel. Yet let me have men about
+      me who see no visions in a mid-day sun. We must beware of dreamers.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Dreams are the oracles of God.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;When God sends them. Very true, Jabaster. But this Abidan and the company
+      with whom he consorts are filled with high-flown notions, caught from old
+      traditions, which, if acted on, would render government impracticable; in
+      a word, they are dangerous men.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;The very flower of Israel! Some one has poisoned your sacred ear against
+      them.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;No one, worthy Jabaster. I have no counsellor except yourself. They may
+      be the flower of Israel, but they are not the fruit. Good warriors, bad
+      subjects: excellent means, by which we may accomplish greater ends. I&rsquo;ll
+      have no dreamers in authority. I must have practical men about me,
+      practical men. See how Abner, Asriel, Ithamar, Medad, see how these
+      conform to what surrounds them, yet invincible captains, invincible
+      captains. But then they are practical men, Jabaster; they have eyes and
+      use them. They know the difference of times and seasons. But this Abidan,
+      he has no other thought but the rebuilding of the temple: a narrow-souled
+      bigot, who would sacrifice the essence to the form. The rising temple soon
+      would fall again with such constructors. Why, sir, what think you, this
+      same Abidan preached in the camp against my entry into what the quaint
+      fanatic chooses to call &ldquo;Babylon,&rdquo; because he had seen what he calls a
+      vision.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;There was a time your Majesty thought not so ill of visions.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Am I Abidan, sir? Are other men to mould their conduct or their thoughts
+      by me? In this world I stand alone, a being of a different order from
+      yourselves, incomprehensible even to you. Let this matter cease. I&rsquo;ll hear
+      no more and have heard too much. To-morrow at council.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      The high priest withdrew in silence.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;He is gone; at length I am alone. I cannot bear the presence of these
+      men, except in action. Their words, even their looks, disturb the still
+      creation of my brooding thought. I am once more alone, and loneliness hath
+      been the cradle of my empire. Now I do feel inspired. There needs no
+      mummery now to work a marvel.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;The sceptre of Solomon! It may be so. What then? Here&rsquo;s now the sceptre
+      of Alroy. What&rsquo;s that without his mind? The legend said that none should
+      free our people but he who bore the sceptre of great Solomon. The legend
+      knew that none could gain that sceptre, but with a mind to whose supreme
+      volition the fortunes of the world would bow like fate. I gained it; I
+      confronted the spectre monarchs in their sepulchre; and the same hand that
+      grasped their shadowy rule hath seized the diadem of the mighty caliphs by
+      the broad rushing of their imperial river.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;The world is mine: and shall I yield the prize, the universal and heroic
+      prize, to realise the dull tradition of some dreaming priest, and
+      consecrate a legend? He conquered Asia, and he built the temple. Are these
+      my annals? Shall this quick blaze of empire sink to a glimmering and a
+      twilight sway over some petty province, the decent patriarch of a pastoral
+      horde? Is the Lord of Hosts so slight a God, that we must place a barrier
+      to His sovereignty, and fix the boundaries of Omnipotence between the
+      Jordan and the Lebanon? It is not thus written; and were it so, I&rsquo;ll pit
+      my inspiration against the prescience of my ancestors. I also am a
+      prophet, and Bagdad shall be my Zion. The daughter of the Voice! Well, I
+      am clearly summoned. I am the Lord&rsquo;s servant, not Jabaster&rsquo;s. Let me make
+      His worship universal as His power; and where&rsquo;s the priest shall dare
+      impugn my faith, because His altars smoke on other hills than those of
+      Judah?
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;I must see Honain. That man has a great mind. He alone can comprehend my
+      purpose. Universal empire must not be founded on sectarian prejudices and
+      exclusive rights. Jabaster would massacre the Moslemin like Amalek; the
+      Moslemin, the vast majority, and most valuable portion, of my subjects. He
+      would depopulate my empire, that it might not be said that Ishmael shared
+      the heritage of Israel. Fanatic! I&rsquo;ll send him to conquer Judah. We must
+      conciliate. Something must be done to bind the conquered to our conquering
+      fortunes. That bold Sultan of Roum: I wish Abner had opposed him. To run
+      off with the harem! I have half a mind to place myself at the head of the
+      pursuing force, and&mdash;&mdash; Passion and policy alike combine: and
+      yet Honain is the man; I might send him on a mission. Could we make terms?
+      I detest treaties. My fancy flies from all other topics. I must see him.
+      Could I but tell him all I think! This door, whither leads it? Hah!
+      methinks I do remember yon glittering gallery! No one in attendance. The
+      discipline of our palace is somewhat lax. My warriors are no courtiers.
+      What an admirable marshal of the palace Honain would make! Silence
+      everywhere. So! &lsquo;tis well. These saloons I have clearly passed through
+      before. Could I but reach the private portal by the river side, unseen or
+      undetected! &lsquo;Tis not impossible. Here are many dresses. I will disguise
+      myself. Trusty scimitar, thou hast done thy duty, rest awhile. &lsquo;Tis lucky
+      I am beardless. I shall make a capital eunuch. So! a handsome robe. One
+      dagger for a pinch, slippers powdered with pearls,<a href="#linknote-66"
+       name="linknoteref-66" id="linknoteref-66">66</a>a caftan of cloth of gold,
+      a Cachemire girdle, and a pelisse of sables. One glance at the mirror.
+      Good! I begin to look like the conqueror of the world!&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      It was twilight: a small and solitary boat, with a single rower, glided
+      along the Tigris, and stopped at the archway of a house that descended
+      into the river. It stopped, the boatman withdrew the curtains, and his
+      single passenger disembarked, and ascended the stairs of the archway.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      The stranger reached the landing-place, and unfastening a golden grate,
+      proceeded along a gallery, and entered a beautiful saloon of white and
+      green marble, opening into gardens. No one was in the apartment; the
+      stranger threw himself upon a silver couch, placed at the side of a
+      fountain that rose from the centre of the chamber and fell into a porphyry
+      basin. A soft whisper roused the stranger from his reverie, a soft whisper
+      that faintly uttered the word &lsquo;Honain.&rsquo; The stranger looked up, a figure,
+      enveloped in a veil, that touched the ground, advanced from the gardens.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Honain!&rsquo; said the advancing figure, throwing off the veil. &lsquo;Honain! Ah!
+      the beautiful mute returned!&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      A woman more lovely than the rosy morn, beheld an unexpected guest. They
+      stood, the lady and the stranger, gazing on each other in silence. A man,
+      with a light, entered the extremity of the hall. Carefully he closed the
+      portal, slowly he advanced, with a subdued step; he approached the lady
+      and the stranger.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Alroy!&rsquo; said the astonished Honain, the light fell from his hand.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Alroy!&rsquo; exclaimed the lady, with a bewildered air: she turned pale, and
+      leant against a column.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Daughter of the caliph!&rsquo; said the leader of Israel; and he advanced, and
+      fell upon his knee, and stole her passive hand. &lsquo;I am indeed that Alroy to
+      whom destiny has delivered the empire of thy sire; but the Princess
+      Schirene can have nothing to fear from one who values above all his
+      victories this memorial of her goodwill;&rsquo; and he took from his breast a
+      rosary of pearls and emeralds, and, rising slowly, left it in her
+      trembling hand.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      The princess turned and hid her face in her arm, which reclined against
+      the column.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;My kind Honain,&rsquo; said Alroy, &lsquo;you thought me forgetful of the past; you
+      thought me ungrateful. My presence here proves that I am not so. I come to
+      enquire all your wishes. I come to gratify and to fulfil them, if that be
+      in my power.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Sire,&rsquo; replied Honain, who had recovered from the emotion in which he
+      rarely indulged, and from the surprise which seldom entrapped him, &lsquo;Sire,
+      my wishes are slight. You see before you the daughter of my master. An
+      interview, for which I fear I shall not easily gain that lady&rsquo;s pardon,
+      has made you somewhat acquainted with her situation and her sentiments.
+      The Princess Schirene seized the opportunity of the late convulsions to
+      escape from a mode of life long repugnant to all her feelings, and from a
+      destiny at which she trembled. I was her only counsellor, and she may feel
+      assured, a faithful, although perhaps an indiscreet one. The irresistible
+      solicitation of the inhabitants that I should become their deputy to their
+      conqueror prevented us from escaping as we had intended. Since then, from
+      the movement of the troops, I have deemed it more prudent that we should
+      remain at present here, although I have circulated the intelligence of my
+      departure. In the kiosk of my garden, the princess is now a willing
+      prisoner. At twilight she steals forth for the poor relaxation of my
+      society, to listen to the intelligence which I acquire during the day in
+      disguise. The history, sire, is short and simple. We are in your power:
+      but instead of deprecating your interference, I now solicit your
+      protection.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Dear Honain, &lsquo;tis needless. The Princess Schirene has only to express a
+      wish that it may be fulfilled. I came to speak with you on weighty
+      matters, Honain, but I retire, for I am an intruder now. Tomorrow, if it
+      please you, at this hour, and in this disguise, I will again repair
+      hither. In the meantime, this lady may perchance express to you her
+      wishes, and you will bear them to me. If an escort to any country, if any
+      palace or province for her rule and residence&mdash;&mdash; But I will not
+      offer to one who should command. Lady! farewell. Pardon the past!
+      Tomorrow, good Honain! prythee let us meet. Good even!&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;The royal brow was clouded,&rsquo; said Ithamar to Asriel, as, departing from
+      the council, they entered their magnificent barque.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;With thought; he has so much upon his mind, &lsquo;tis wondrous how he bears
+      himself.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;I have seen him gay on the eve of battle, and lively though calm, with
+      weightier matters than now oppress him. His brow was clouded, but not,
+      me-thinks, with <i>thought</i>; one might rather say with <i>temper</i>.
+      Mark you, how he rated Jabaster?&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Roundly! The stern priest writhed under it; and as he signed the
+      ordinance, shivered his reed in rage. I never saw a man more pale.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Or more silent. He looked like an embodied storm. I tell you what,
+      Asriel, that stern priest loves not us.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Have you just discovered that secret, Ithamar? We are not of his school.
+      Nor, in good faith, is our ruler. I am glad to see the king is so staunch
+      about Abidan. Were he in council he would support Jabaster.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Oh! his mere tool. What think you of Scherirah?&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;I would not trust him. As long as there is fighting, he will meddle with
+      nothing else; but, mark my words, Ithamar: in quiet times he will support
+      the priest.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Medad will have a place in council. He is with us.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Heart and soul. I would your brother were here, Asriel: he alone could
+      balance Jabaster. Alroy loves your brother like himself. Is it true that
+      he marries the Lady Miriam?&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;So the king wishes. &lsquo;Twill be a fine match for Abner.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;The world is all before us. I wonder who will be viceroy of Syria.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;When we conquer it. Not Scherirah. Mark my words, Ithamar: he never will
+      have a government. You or I perchance. For my own part, I would rather
+      remain as I am.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Yours is a good post; the best.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;With the command of the city. It should go with the guard.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Well, then, help me in getting Syria, and you can ask for my command.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Agreed. Jabaster will have it that, in a Hebrew monarchy, the chief
+      priest is in fact the grand vizir.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Alroy will be his own minister.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;I am not so sure of that. He may choose to command the Syrian expedition
+      in person; he must leave some head at Bagdad. Jabaster is no general.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Oh! none at all. Alroy will be glad to leave him at home. The Sultan of
+      Roum may not be always so merciful.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Hah! hah! that was an escape!&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;By heavens! I thought it was all over. You made a fine charge.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;I shall never forget it. I nearly ran over Jabaster.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Would that you had!&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      It is the tender twilight hour when maidens in their lonely bower sigh
+      softer than the eve! The languid rose her head upraises, and listens to
+      the nightingale, while his wild and thrilling praises from his trembling
+      bosom gush: the languid rose her head upraises, and listens with a blush.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      In the clear and rosy air, sparkling with a single star, the sharp and
+      spiry cypress-tree rises like a gloomy thought, amid the flow of revelry.
+      A singing bird, a single star, a solemn tree, an odorous flower, are
+      dangerous in the tender hour, when maidens in their twilight bower sigh
+      softer than the eve!
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      The daughter of the caliph comes forth to breathe the air: her lute her
+      only company. She sits her down by a fountain&rsquo;s side, and gazes on the
+      waterfall. Her cheek reclines upon her arm, like fruit upon a graceful
+      bough. Very pensive is the face of that bright and beauteous lady. She
+      starts; a warm voluptuous lip presses her soft and idle hand. It is her
+      own gazelle. With his large and lustrous eyes, more eloquent than many a
+      tongue, the fond attendant mutely asks the cause of all her
+      thoughtfulness.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Ah! bright gazelle! Ah! bright gazelle!&rsquo; the princess cried, the princess
+      cried; &lsquo;thy lips are softer than the swan, thy lips are softer than the
+      swan; but his breathed passion when they pressed, my bright gazelle! my
+      bright gazelle!
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Ah! bright gazelle! Ah! bright gazelle!&rsquo; the princess cried, the princess
+      cried; &lsquo;thine eyes are like the stars of night, thine eyes are like the
+      stars of night; but his glanced passion when they gazed, my bright
+      gazelle! my bright gazelle!&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      She seized her lute, she wildly threw her fingers o&rsquo;er its thrilling
+      strings, and, gazing on the rosy sky, to borrow all its poetry, thus, thus
+      she sang&mdash;thus, thus she sang:
+    </p>
+<pre xml:space="preserve">
+     He rose in beauty like the morn
+     That brightens in bur Syrian skies;
+     Dark passion glittered in his eyes,
+     And Empire sparkled in his form!
+
+     My soul! thou art the dusky earth,
+     On which his sunlight fell;
+     The dusky earth, that dim no longer,
+     Now breathes with light, now beams with love!
+
+     He rose in beauty, like the morn
+     That brightens in our Syrian skies;
+     Dark passion glittered in his eyes,
+     And Empire sparkled in his form!
+</pre>
+    <p>
+      <a name="linkimage-0006" id="linkimage-0006">
+      <!-- IMG --></a>
+    </p>
+    <div class="fig" style="width:80%;">
+      <img src="images/alroy_frontis_174.jpg" alt="Page174 " width="100%" /><br />
+    </div>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Once more, once more! Ah! sing that strain once more!&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      The princess started and looked round. Before her stood Alroy. She rose,
+      she would have retired; but, advancing, the conqueror stole her hand.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Fair princess,&rsquo; said Alroy, &lsquo;let it not be said that my presence banished
+      at once beauty and music.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Sire, I doubt not that Honain awaits you. Let me summon him.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Lady, it is not with Honain that I would speak.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      He seated himself by her side. His countenance was pale, his heart
+      trembled.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;This garden,&rsquo; at length he observed in a low voice, &lsquo;this garden, a
+      brief, brief space has glided away since first I wandered within its
+      beauteous limits, and yet those days seem like the distant memory of
+      another life.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;It is another life,&rsquo; said the princess. &lsquo;Ourselves, the world, all forms
+      and usages, all feelings and all habits, verily they have changed, as if
+      we had breathed within another sphere.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;&lsquo;Tis a great change.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Since first you visited my bright kiosk. Pretty bauble! I pray it may be
+      spared.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;It is sacred, like yourself.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;You are a courteous conqueror.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;I am no conqueror, fair Schirene, but a slave more lowly than when I
+      first bowed humbly in your presence.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;And bore away a token not forgotten. Your rosary is here.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Let me claim it. It has been my consolation in much peril, beauteous
+      lady. On the eve of battle I wound it round my heart.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      She held forth the rosary, and turned away her head. Her hand remained in
+      his; he pressed it to his lips. His right arm retained her hand; he wound
+      the other round her waist, as he fell upon his knee.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;O beautiful! O more than beautiful! for thou to me art like a dream
+      unbroken,&rsquo; exclaimed the young leader of Israel, &lsquo;let me, let me breathe
+      my adoration. I offer thee not empire: I offer thee not wealth; I offer
+      thee not all the boundless gratification of magnificent fancy,&mdash;these
+      may be thine, but all these thou hast proved; but, if the passionate
+      affections of a spirit which never has yielded to the power of woman or
+      the might of man, if the deep devotion of the soul of Alroy, be deemed an
+      offering meet for the shrine of thy surpassing loveliness, I worship thee,
+      Schirene. I worship thee, I worship thee!
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Since I first gazed upon thee, since thy beauty first rose upon my
+      presence like a star bright with my destiny, in the still sanctuary of my
+      secret love, thy idol has ever rested. Then, then, I was a thing whose
+      very touch thy creed might count a contumely. I have avenged the insults
+      of long centuries in the best blood of Asia; I have returned, in glory and
+      in pride, to claim my ancient sceptre; but sweeter far than vengeance,
+      sweeter far than the quick gathering of my sacred tribes, the rush of
+      triumph and the blaze of empire, is this brief moment of adoring love,
+      wherein I pour the passion of my life!
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;O my soul, my life, my very being! thou art silent, but thy silence is
+      sweeter than others&rsquo; speech. Yield, yield thee, dear Schirene, yield to
+      thy suppliant! Thy faith, thy father&rsquo;s faith, thy native customs, these,
+      these shall be respected, beauteous lady! Pharaoh&rsquo;s daughter yielded her
+      dusky beauty to my great ancestor. Thy face is like the bright inspiring
+      day! Let it not be said that the daughter of the Nile shared Israel&rsquo;s
+      crown, the daughter of the Tigris spurned our sceptre. I am not Solomon,
+      but I am one that, were Schirene the partner of my throne, would make his
+      glowing annals read like a wearisome and misty tale to our surpassing
+      lustre!&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      He ceased, the princess turned her hitherto hidden countenance, and bowed
+      it on his heart. &lsquo;O Alroy!&rsquo; she exclaimed, &lsquo;I have no creed, no country,
+      no life, but thee!&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;The king is late to-day.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Is it true, Asriel, there is an express from Hamadan?&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Of no moment, Ithamar. I have private letters from Abner. All is quiet.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;&lsquo;Tis much past the hour. When do you depart, Scherirah?&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;The troops are ready. I wait orders. This morning&rsquo;s council will
+      perchance decide.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;This morning&rsquo;s council is devoted to the settlement of the civil affairs
+      of the capital,&rsquo; remarked Jabaster.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Indeed!&rsquo; said Asriel. &lsquo;Is your report prepared, Jabaster?&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;&lsquo;Tis here,&rsquo; replied the high priest. &lsquo;The Hebrew legislator requires but
+      little musing to shape his order. He has a model which time cannot
+      destroy, nor thought improve.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Ithamar and Asriel exchanged significant glances. Scherirah looked solemn.
+      There was a pause, which was broken by Asriel.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;&lsquo;Tis a noble city, this Bagdad. I have not yet visited your quarters,
+      Jabaster. You are well placed.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;As it may be. I hope we shall not tarry here long. The great point is
+      still not achieved.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;How far is it to the holy city?&rsquo; enquired Scherirah.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;A month&rsquo;s march,&rsquo; replied Jabaster.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;And when you get there?&rsquo; enquired Ithamar.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;You may fight with the Franks,&rsquo; replied Asriel.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Jabaster, how large is Jerusalem?&rsquo; enquired Ithamar. &lsquo;Is it true, as I
+      have sometimes heard, that it is not bigger than the serail here, gardens
+      and all?&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Its glory hath departed,&rsquo; replied the high priest; &lsquo;the bricks have
+      fallen, but we will rebuild with marble; and Zion, that is now without the
+      Christian walls, shall yet sparkle, as in the olden time, with palaces and
+      pavilions.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      A flourish of trumpets, the portals flew open, and Alroy entered, leaning
+      on the arm of the Envoy of Bagdad.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Valiant leaders,&rsquo; said Alroy to the astonished chieftains, &lsquo;in this noble
+      stranger, you see one like yourselves entrusted with my unbounded
+      confidence. Jabaster, behold thy brother!&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Honain! art <i>thou</i> Honain?&rsquo; exclaimed the pontiff starting from his
+      seat. &lsquo;I have a thousand messengers after thee.&rsquo; With a countenance
+      alternately pallid with surprise and burning with affection, Jabaster
+      embraced his brother, and, overpowered with emotion, hid his face on his
+      shoulder.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Sire,&rsquo; at length exclaimed the high priest, in a low and tremulous voice,
+      &lsquo;I must pray your pardon that for an instant in this character I have
+      indulged in any other thoughts than those that may concern your welfare.
+      Tis past: and you, who know all, will forgive me.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;All that respects Jabaster must concern my welfare. He is the pillar of
+      my empire;&rsquo; and holding forth his hand, Alroy placed the high priest on
+      his right. &lsquo;Scherirah, you depart this eve.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      The rough captain bowed in silence.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;What is this?&rsquo; continued Alroy, as Jabaster offered him a scroll. &lsquo;Ah!
+      your report. &ldquo;Order of the Tribes,&rdquo; &ldquo;Service of the Lévites,&rdquo; &ldquo;Princes of
+      the People,&rdquo; &ldquo;Elders of Israel!&rdquo; The day may come when this may be
+      effected. At present, Jabaster, we must be moderate, and content ourselves
+      with arrangements which may ensure that order shall be maintained,
+      property respected, and justice administered. Is it true that a gang has
+      rifled a mosque?&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Sire! of that I would speak. They are no plunderers, but men, perhaps too
+      zealous, who have read and who have remembered that &ldquo;Ye shall utterly
+      destroy all the places wherein the nations which ye shall possess, served
+      their gods upon the high mountains, and upon the hill, and under every
+      green tree. And ye shall overthrow their altars, and&mdash;&mdash;&ldquo;&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Jabaster, is this a synagogue? Come I to a council of valiant statesmen
+      or dreaming Rabbis? For a thousand years we have been quoting the laws we
+      dared not practise. Is it with such aid that we captured Nishapur and
+      crossed the Tigris? Valiant, wise Jabaster, thou art worthy of better
+      things, and capable of all. I entreat thee, urge such matters for the last
+      time. Are these fellows in custody?&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;They were in custody. I have freed them.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Freed them! Hang them! Hang them in the most public grove. Is this the
+      way to make the Moslem a duteous subject? Jabaster! Israel honours thee;
+      and I, its chief, know that one more true, more valiant, or more learned,
+      crowds not around our standard; but I see, the caverns of the Caucasus are
+      not a school for empire.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Sire, I had humbly deemed the school for empire was the law of Moses.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Ay! adapted to these times.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Can aught divine be changed?&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Am I as tall as Adam? If man, the crown, the rose of all this fair
+      creation, the most divine of all divine inventions, if Time have altered
+      even this choicest of all godlike works, why shall it spare a law made but
+      to rule his conduct? Good Jabaster, we must establish the throne of
+      Israel, that is my mission, and for the means, no matter how, or where.
+      Asriel, what news of Medad?&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;All is quiet between the Tigris and Euphrates. It would be better to
+      recall his division, which has been much harassed. I thought of relieving
+      him by Abidan.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;I think so, too. We may as well keep Abidan out of the city. If the truth
+      were known, I&rsquo;ll wager some of his company plundered the mosque. We must
+      issue a proclamation on that subject. My good Jabaster, we&rsquo;ll talk over
+      these matters alone. At present I will leave you with your brother.
+      Scherirah, sup with me to-night; before you quit Asriel, come with me to
+      my cabinet.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;I must see the king!&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Holy priest, his highness has retired. It is impossible.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;I must see the king. Worthy Pharez, I take all peril on myself.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Indeed his highness&rsquo; orders are imperative. You cannot see him.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Knowest thou who I am?&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;One whom all pious Hebrews reverence.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;I say I must see the king.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Indeed, indeed, holy Jabaster, it cannot be.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Shall Israel perish for a menial&rsquo;s place? Go to; I <i>will</i> see him.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Nay! if you <i>will</i>, I&rsquo;ll struggle for my duty.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Touch not the Lord&rsquo;s anointed. Dog, you shall suffer for this!&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      So saying, Jabaster threw aside Pharez, and, with the attendant clinging
+      to his robes, rushed into the royal chamber.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;What is all this?&rsquo; exclaimed Alroy, starting from the divan. &lsquo;Jabaster!
+      Pharez, withdraw! How now, is Bagdad in insurrection?&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Worse, much worse, Israel soon will be.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Ay!&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;My fatal brother has told me all, nor would I sleep, until I lifted up my
+      voice to save thee.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Am I in danger?&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;In the wilderness, when the broad desert quivered beneath thy trembling
+      feet, and the dark heavens poured down their burning torrents, thou wert
+      less so. In that hour of death, One guarded thee, who never forgets His
+      fond and faithful offspring, and now, when He has brought thee out of the
+      house of bondage; now, when thy fortunes, like a noble cedar, swell in the
+      air and shadow all the land; thou, the very leader of His people, His
+      chosen one, for whom He hath worked such marvels, thy heart is turned from
+      thy fathers&rsquo; God, and hankers after strange abominations.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Through the broad arch that led into the gardens of the serail, the
+      moonlight fell upon the tall figure and the upraised arm of the priest;
+      Alroy stood with folded arms at some distance, watching Jabaster as he
+      spoke, with a calm but searching glance. Suddenly he advanced with a quick
+      step, and, placing his hand upon Jabaster&rsquo;s arm, said, in a low, enquiring
+      tone, &lsquo;You are speaking of this marriage?&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Of that which ruined Solomon.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Listen to me, Jabaster,&rsquo; said Alroy, interrupting him, in a calm but
+      peremptory tone, &lsquo;I cannot forget that I am speaking to my master, as well
+      as to my friend. The Lord, who knoweth all things, hath deemed me worthy
+      of His mission. My fitness for this high and holy office was not admitted
+      without proof. A lineage, which none else could offer, mystic studies
+      shared by few, a mind that dared encounter all things, and a frame that
+      could endure most, these were my claims. But no more of this. I have
+      passed the great ordeal; the Lord of Hosts hath found me not unworthy of
+      His charge; I have established His ancient people; His altars blaze with
+      sacrifices; His priests are honoured, bear witness thou, Jabaster, His
+      omnipotent unity is declared. What wouldst thou more?&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;All!&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Then Moses knew you well. It is a stiff-necked people.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Sire, bear with me. If I speak in heat, I speak in zeal. You ask me what
+      I wish: my answer is, a national existence, which we have not. You ask me
+      what I wish: my answer is, the Land of Promise. You ask me what I wish: my
+      answer is, Jerusalem. You ask me what I wish: my answer is, the Temple,
+      all we have forfeited, all we have yearned after, all for which we have
+      fought, our beauteous country, our holy creed, our simple manners, and our
+      ancient customs.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Manners change with time and circumstances; customs may be observed
+      everywhere. The ephod on thy breast proves our faith; and, for a country,
+      is the Tigris less than Siloah, or the Euphrates inferior to the Jordan?&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Alas! alas! there was a glorious prime when Israel stood aloof from other
+      nations, a fair and holy thing that God had hallowed. We were then a
+      chosen family, a most peculiar people, set apart for God&rsquo;s entire
+      enjoyment. All about us was solemn, deep, and holy. We shunned the
+      stranger as an unclean thing that must defile our solitary sanctity, and,
+      keeping to ourselves and to our God, our lives flowed on in one great
+      solemn tide of deep religion, making the meanest of our multitude feel
+      greater than the kings of other lands. It was a glorious time: I thought
+      it had returned; but I awake from this, as other dreams.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;We must leave off dreaming, good Jabaster, we must act. Were I, by any
+      chance, to fall into one of those reveries, with which I have often lost
+      the golden hours at Hamadan, or in our old cave, I should hear, some fine
+      morning, his Sultanship of Roum rattling at my gates.&rsquo; Alroy smiled as he
+      spoke; he would willingly have introduced a lighter tone into the
+      dialogue, but the solemn countenance of the priest was not sympathetic
+      with his levity.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;My heart is full, and yet I cannot speak: the memory of the past
+      overpowers my thought. I had vainly deemed that my voice, inspired by the
+      soul of truth, might yet preserve him; and now I stand here in his
+      presence, silent and trembling, like a guilty thing. O, my prince! my
+      pupil!&rsquo; said the priest, advancing, falling on his knee, and seizing the
+      robe of Alroy, &lsquo;by thy sacred lineage; by the sweet memory of thy ardent
+      youth, and our united studies, by all thy zealous thoughts, and solemn
+      musings, and glorious aspirations after fame; by all thy sufferings, and
+      by all thy triumphs, and chiefly by the name of that great God, who hath
+      elected thee his favoured child; by all the marvels of thy mighty mission,
+      I do adjure thee! Arise, Alroy, arise and rouse thyself. The lure that
+      snared thy fathers may trap thee, this Delilah may shear thy mystic locks.
+      Spirits like thee act not by halves. Once fall out from the straight
+      course before thee, and, though thou deemest &lsquo;tis but to saunter &lsquo;mid the
+      summer trees, soon thou wilt find thyself in the dark depths of some
+      infernal forest, where none may rescue thee!&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;What if I do inherit the eager blood of my great ancestor, at least I
+      hold his sceptre. Shall aught of earthly power prevail against the
+      supernatural sway of Heaven and Hades?&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Sire, sire, the legend that came from Sinai is full of high instruction.
+      But shape thy conduct by its oracles, and all were well. It says our
+      people can be established only by him who rules them with the rod of
+      Solomon. Sire, when the Lord offered his pleasure to that mighty king,
+      thou knowest his deep discretion. Riches and length of days, empire and
+      vengeance, these were not the choice of one to whom all accidents were
+      proffered. The legend bears an inward spirit, as well as an outward
+      meaning. The capture of the prize was a wise test of thy imperial fitness.
+      Thou hast his sceptre, but, without his wisdom, &lsquo;tis but a staff of
+      cedar.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Hah! Art thou there? I am glad to see Jabaster politic. Hear me, my
+      friend. What my feelings be unto this royal lady, but little matters. Let
+      them pass, and let us view this question by the light wherein you have
+      placed it, the flame of policy and not of passion. I am no traitor to the
+      God of Israel, in whose name I have conquered, and in whose name I shall
+      rule; but thou art a learned doctor, thou canst inform us. I have heard no
+      mandate to yield my glorious empire for my meanest province. I am Lord of
+      Asia, so would I have my long posterity. Our people are but a remnant, a
+      feeble fraction of the teeming millions that own my sway. What I hold I
+      can defend; but my children may not inherit the spirit of their sire. The
+      Moslemin will recognise their rule with readier hearts, when they remember
+      that a daughter of their caliphs gave them life. You see I too am politic,
+      my good Jabaster!&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;The policy of the son of Kareah<a href="#linknote-67"
+       name="linknoteref-67" id="linknoteref-67">67</a>, &lsquo;twas fatal. He
+      preferred Egypt to Judah, and he suffered. Sire, the Lord hath blessed
+      Judah: it is His land. He would have it filled by His peculiar people, so
+      that His worship might ever flourish. For this He has, by many curious
+      rites and customs, marked us out from all other nations, so that we
+      cannot, at the same time, mingle with them and yet be true to Him. We must
+      exist alone. To preserve that loneliness is the great end and essence of
+      our law. What have we to do with Bagdad, or its people, where every
+      instant we must witness some violation of our statutes? Can we pray with
+      them? Can we eat with them? Alike in the highest duties, and the lowest
+      occupations of existence, we cannot mingle. From the altar of our God to
+      our domestic boards, we are alike separated from them. Sire, you may be
+      King of Bagdad, but you cannot, at the same time, be a Jew.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;I am what I am. I worship the Lord of Hosts. Perhaps, in His mercy, He
+      will accept the days of Nishapur and the Tigris as a compensation for some
+      slight relaxation in the ritual of the baker and the bath.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;And mark my words: it was by the ritual of the baker and the bath that
+      Alroy rose, and without it he will fall. The genius of the people, which
+      he shared, raised him; and that genius has been formed by the law of
+      Moses. Based on that law, he might indeed have handed down an empire to
+      his long posterity; and now, though the tree of his fortunes seems
+      springing up by the water-side, fed by a thousand springs, and its
+      branches covered with dew, there is a gangrene in the sap, and to-morrow
+      he may shrink like a shrivelled gourd. Alas! alas! for Israel! We have
+      long fed on mallows; but to lose the vintage in the very day of fruition,
+      &lsquo;tis very bitter. Ah! when I raised thy exhausted form in the cavern of
+      Genthesma, and the star of David beamed brightly in the glowing heavens
+      upon thy high fulfilment, who could have dreamed of a night like this?
+      Farewell, sire.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Stop, Jabaster! earliest, dearest friend, prythee, prythee stop!&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      The priest slowly turned, the prince hesitated.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Part not in anger, good Jabaster.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;In sorrow, sire, only in sorrow; but deep and terrible.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Israel is Lord of Asia, my Jabaster. Why should we fear?&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Solomon built Tadmor in the wilderness, and his fleet brought gold from
+      Ophir; and yet Alroy was born a slave.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;But did not die one. The sultans of the world have fallen before me. I
+      have no fear. Nay, do not go. At least you will give some credence to the
+      stars, my learned Cabalist. See, my planet shines as brightly as my
+      fortunes.&rsquo; Alroy withdrew the curtain, and with Jabaster stepped out upon
+      the terrace. A beautiful star glittered on high. As they gazed, its colour
+      changed, and a blood-red meteor burst from its circle, and fell into
+      space. The conqueror and the priest looked at each other at the same time.
+      Their countenances were pale, enquiring, and agitated.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Sire,&rsquo; said Jabaster, &lsquo;march to Judah.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;It portends war,&rsquo; replied Alroy, endeavouring to recover himself.
+      &lsquo;Perchance some troubles in Persia.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Troubles at home, no other. The danger is nigh. Look to thyself.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      A wild scream was heard in the gardens. It sounded thrice.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;What is this?&rsquo; exclaimed Alroy, really agitated. &lsquo;Rouse the guard,
+      Jabaster, search the gardens.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;&lsquo;Tis useless and may do harm. It was a spirit that shrieked.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;What said it?&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;<i>Mené, Mené, Tekel, Upharsin!</i>&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;The old story, the priest against the king,&rsquo; said Honain to Alroy, when
+      at his morrow&rsquo;s interview, he had listened to the events of the preceding
+      night. &lsquo;My pious brother wishes to lead you back to the Theocracy, and is
+      fearful that, if he prays at Bagdad instead of Zion, he may chance to
+      become only the head of an inferior sect, instead of revelling in the
+      universal tithes of a whole nation. As for the meteor, Scherirah must have
+      crossed the river about the same time, and the Sultan of Roum may explain
+      the bloody portent. For the shriek, as I really have no acquaintance with
+      spirits, I must leave the miraculous communication to the favoured ears
+      and initiated intelligences of your highness and my brother. It seems that
+      it differed from &ldquo;the Daughter of the Voice&rdquo; in more respects than one,
+      since it was not only extremely noisy, but, as it would appear, quite
+      unintelligible except to the individual who had an interest in the
+      interpretation, an ingenious one, I confess. When I enter upon my
+      functions as your highness&rsquo;s chamberlain, I will at least guarantee that
+      your slumbers shall not be disturbed either by spirits or more unwelcome
+      visitors.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Enter upon them at once, good Honain. How fares my Persian rose to-day,
+      my sweet Schirene?&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Feeding on your image in your absence. She spares no word to me, I do
+      assure your highness.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Nay, nay, we know you are a general favourite with the sex, Honain.
+      I&rsquo;faith I&rsquo;m jealous.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;I would your highness had cause,&rsquo; said Honain, demurely.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      The approaching marriage between the King of the Hebrews and the Princess
+      of Bagdad was published throughout Asia. Preparations were made on the
+      plain of the Tigris for the great rejoicing. Whole forests were felled to
+      provide materials for the buildings and fuel for the banqueting. All the
+      governors of provinces and cities, all the chief officers and nobility of
+      both nations, were specially invited, and daily arrived in state at
+      Bagdad. Among them the Viceroy of the Medes and Persians, and his recent
+      bride, the Princess Miriam, were conspicuous, followed by a train of
+      nearly ten thousand persons.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      A throne, ascended by one hundred steps covered with crimson cloth, and
+      crowned by a golden canopy, was raised in the middle of the plain; on each
+      side was a throne less elevated, but equally gorgeous. In the front of
+      these thrones an immense circus was described, formed by one hundred
+      chartaks or amphitheatres, ample room for the admittance of the multitude
+      being left between the buildings. These chartaks were covered with bright
+      brocades and showy carpets; on each was hoisted a brilliant banner. In
+      some of them were bands of choice musicians, in others companies of
+      jugglers, buffoons, and storiers. Five chartaks on each side of the
+      thrones were allotted for the convenience of the court; the rest were
+      filled by the different trades of the city. In one the fruiterers had
+      formed a beautiful garden, glowing with pomegranates and gourds and
+      watermelons, oranges, almonds, and pistachio-nuts; in another the butchers
+      exhibited their meats carved in fanciful shapes, and the skins of animals
+      formed into ludicrous figures. Here assembled the furriers, all dressed in
+      masquerade, like leopards, lions, tigers and foxes; and in another booth
+      mustered the upholsterers, proud of a camel made of wood, and reeds, and
+      cord, and painted linen, a camel which walked about as if alive, though
+      ever and anon a curtain drawn aside discovered to the marvelling multitude
+      the workman within, performing in his own piece. Further on might be
+      perceived the cotton manufacturers, whose chartak was full of birds of all
+      shapes and plumage, formed nevertheless of their curious plant; and, in
+      the centre rose a lofty minaret, constructed of the same material, with
+      the help of reeds, although every one imagined it to be built with bricks
+      and mortar. It was covered with embroidered work, and on the top was
+      placed a stork, so cunningly devised that the children pelted it with
+      pistachio-nuts. The saddlers showed their skill in two litters, open at
+      top, each carried on a dromedary, and in each a beautiful woman, who
+      diverted the spectators with light balls of gilt leather, throwing them up
+      both with their hands and feet. Nor were the mat-makers backward in the
+      proof of their dexterity, since, instead of a common banner, they
+      exhibited a large standard of reeds worked with two lines of writing in
+      Kufic, proclaiming the happy names of Alroy and Schirene.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      But indeed in every chartak might be seen some wondrous specimens of the
+      wealth of Bagdad, and of the ingenuity of its unrivalled artisans.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Around this mighty circus, on every side for the space of many miles, the
+      plain was studded with innumerable pavilions. At measured intervals were
+      tables furnished with every species of provision, and attended by
+      appointed servants; flagons of wine and jars of sherbets, mingled with
+      infinite baskets of delicious fruits and trays of refreshing
+      confectionery. Although open to all comers, so great and rapid was the
+      supply, that these banqueting tables seemed ever laden; and that the joys
+      of the people might be complete, they were allowed to pursue whatever
+      pleasures they thought fit without any restraint, by proclamation, in
+      these terms.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;<i>This is the time of feasting, pleasure, and rejoicing. Let no person
+      reprimand or complain of another: let not the rich insult the poor, or the
+      strong the weak: let no one ask another, &ldquo;why have you done this </i>?&rdquo;&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Millions of people were collected in this Paradise. They rejoiced, they
+      feasted, they frolicked, they danced, they sang. They listened to the
+      tales of the Arabian story-teller, at once enchanted and enchanting, or
+      melted to the strain of the Persian poet as he painted the moon-lit
+      forehead of his heroine and the wasting and shadowy form of his love-sick
+      hero; they beheld with amazement the feats of the juggler of the Ganges,
+      or giggled at the practised wit and the practical buffoonery of the Syrian
+      mime. And the most delighted could still spare a fascinating glance to the
+      inviting gestures and the voluptuous grace of the dancing girls of Egypt.<a
+      href="#linknote-68" name="linknoteref-68" id="linknoteref-68">68</a>
+      Everywhere reigned melody and merriment, rarity and beauty. For once
+      mankind forgot their cares, and delivered themselves up to infinite
+      enjoyment.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;I grow courteous,&rsquo; said Kisloch the Kourd, assisting a party into one of
+      the shows.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;And I humane,&rsquo; said Calidas the Indian. &lsquo;Fellow, how dare you violate the
+      proclamation, by thrashing that child?&rsquo; He turned to one of the stewards
+      of the table, who was belabouring the unfortunate driver of a camel which
+      had stumbled and in its fall had shivered its burden, two panniers of
+      porcelain.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Mind your own business, fellow,&rsquo; replied the steward, &lsquo;and be thankful
+      that for once in your life you can dine.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Is this the way to speak to an officer?&rsquo; said Calidas the Indian; &lsquo;I have
+      half a mind to cut your tongue out.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Never mind, little fellow,&rsquo; said the Guebre, &lsquo;here is a dirhem for you.
+      Run away and be merry.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;A miracle!&rsquo; grinned the Negro; &lsquo;he giveth alms.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;And you are witty,&rsquo; rejoined the Guebre. &lsquo;&lsquo;Tis a wondrous day.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;What shall we do?&rsquo; said Kisloch.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Let us dine,&rsquo; proposed the Negro.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Ay! under this plane-tree,&rsquo; said Calidas. &lsquo;&lsquo;Tis pleasant to be alone. I
+      hate everybody but ourselves.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Here stop, you rascal,&rsquo; said the Guebre. &lsquo;What&rsquo;s your name?&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;I am a Hadgee,&rsquo; said our old friend Abdallah, the servant of the
+      charitable merchant Ali, and who was this day one of the officiating
+      stewards.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Are you a Jew, you scoundrel?&rsquo; said the Guebre, &lsquo;that is the only thing
+      worth being. Bring some wine, you accursed Giaour!&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Instantly,&rsquo; said Kisloch, &lsquo;and a pilau.&rsquo; &lsquo;And a gazelle stuffed with
+      almonds,&rsquo; said Calidas. &lsquo;And some sugar-plums,&rsquo; said the Negro. &lsquo;Quick,
+      you infernal Gentile, or I&rsquo;ll send this javelin in your back,&rsquo; hallooed
+      the Guebre.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      The servile Abdallah hastened away, and soon bustled back, bearing two
+      flagons of wine, and followed by four servants, each with a tray covered
+      with dainties.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Where are you going, you accursed scoundrels?&rsquo; grumbled Kisloch; &lsquo;wait
+      upon the true believers.&rsquo; &lsquo;We shall be more free alone,&rsquo; whispered
+      Calidas. &lsquo;Away, then, dogs,&rsquo; growled Kisloch. Abdallah and his attendants
+      hurried off, but were soon summoned back.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Why did you not bring Schiraz wine?&rsquo; asked Calidas, with an eye of fire.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;The pilau is overdone,&rsquo; thundered Kisloch. &lsquo;You have brought a lamb
+      stuffed with pistachio-nuts, instead of a gazelle with almonds,&rsquo; said the
+      Guebre.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Not half sugar-plums enough,&rsquo; said the Negro. &lsquo;Everything is wrong,&rsquo; said
+      Kisloch. &lsquo;Go, and get us a kabob.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      In time, however, even this unmanageable crew were satisfied; and, seated
+      under their plane-tree, and stuffing themselves with all the dainties of
+      the East, they became more amiable as their appetites decreased. &lsquo;A
+      bumper, Calidas, and a song,&rsquo; said Kisloch. &lsquo;&lsquo;Tis rare stuff,&rsquo; said the
+      Guebre; &lsquo;come, Cally, it should inspire you.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Here goes, then; mind the chorus.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+<pre xml:space="preserve">
+     Drink, drink, deeply drink,
+     Never feel, and never think;
+     What&rsquo;s love? what&rsquo;s fame? a sigh, a smile.
+     Friendship? but a hollow wile.
+     If you&rsquo;ve any thought or woe,
+     Drown them in the goblet&rsquo;s flow.
+     Yes! dash them in this brimming cup;
+     Dash them in, and drink them up.
+     Drink, drink, deeply drink,
+     Never feel, and never think.
+</pre>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Hark, the trumpets! The King and Queen! &lsquo;The procession is coming. Let&rsquo;s
+      away.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Again! they must be near. Hurry, hurry, for good places.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Break all the cups and dishes. Come along!&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      The multitude from all quarters hurried to the great circus, amid the
+      clash of ten thousand cymbals and the blast of innumerable trumpets. In
+      the distance, issuing from the gates of Bagdad, might be discerned a
+      brilliant crowd, the advance company of the bridal procession.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      There came five hundred maidens crowned with flowers, and beauteous as the
+      buds that girt their hair. Their flowing robes were whiter than the swan,
+      and each within her hand a palm-branch held. Followed these a band of
+      bright musicians, clothed in golden robes, and sounding silver trumpets.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Then five hundred youths, brilliant as stars, clad in jackets of white-fox
+      skin, and alternately bearing baskets of fruit or flowers.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Followed these a band of bright musicians, clothed in silver robes, and
+      sounding golden trumpets.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Six choice steeds, sumptuously caparisoned, each led by an Arab groom.<a
+      href="#linknote-69" name="linknoteref-69" id="linknoteref-69">69</a>
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      The household of Medad, in robes of crimson, lined with sable.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      The standard of Medad.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Medad, on a coal-black Arab, followed by three hundred officers of his
+      division, all mounted on steeds of pure race.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Slaves, bearing the bridal present of Medad; six Damascus sabres of
+      unrivalled temper.<a href="#linknote-70" name="linknoteref-70"
+       id="linknoteref-70">70</a>
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Twelve choice steeds, sumptuously caparisoned, each led by an Anatolian
+      groom.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      The household of Ithamar, in robes of violet, lined with ermine.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      The standard of Ithamar.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Ithamar, on a snow-white Anatolian charger, followed by six hundred
+      officers of his division, all mounted on steeds of pure race.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Slaves bearing the marriage present of Ithamar; a golden vase of rubies
+      borne on a violet throne.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      One hundred Negroes, their noses bored, and hung with rings of brilliants,
+      playing upon wind instruments and kettle-drums.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      The standard of the City of Bagdad.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      The deputation from the citizens of Bagdad.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Two hundred mules, with caparisons of satin, embroidered with gold, and
+      adorned with small golden bells. These bore the sumptuous wardrobe,
+      presented by the city to their princess. Each mule was attended by a girl,
+      dressed like a Péri, with starry wings, and a man, masked as a hideous
+      Dive.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      The standard of Egypt.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      The deputation from the Hebrews of Egypt, mounted on dromedaries, with
+      silver furniture.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Fifty slaves, bearing their present to the princess, with golden cords, a
+      mighty bath of jasper, beautifully carved, the sarcophagus of some ancient
+      temple, and purchased for an immense sum.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      The standard of Syria.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      The deputation from the Hebrews of the Holy Land, headed by Rabbi Zimri
+      himself, each carrying in his hand his offering to the nuptial pair, a
+      precious vase, containing earth from the Mount of Zion.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      The standard of Hamadan.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      The deputation from the citizens of Hamadan, headed by the venerable
+      Bostenay himself, whose sumptuous charger was led by Caleb.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      The present of the city of Hamadan to David Al-roy, offered at his own
+      suggestion; the cup in which the Prince of the Captivity carried his
+      tribute, now borne full of sand.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Fifty choice steeds, sumptuously caparisoned, each led by a Median or
+      Persian groom.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      The household of Abner and Miriam, in number twelve hundred, clad in chain
+      armour of ivory and gold.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      The standard of the Medes and Persians.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Two white elephants, with golden litters, bearing the Viceroy and his
+      Princess.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      The offering of Abner to Alroy; twelve elephants of state, with furniture
+      embroidered with jewels, each tended by an Indian clad in chain armour of
+      ivory and gold.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      The offering of Miriam to Schirene; fifty plants of roses from Rocnabad;<a
+      href="#linknote-71" name="linknoteref-71" id="linknoteref-71">71</a> a
+      white shawl of Cachemire fifty feet in length, which folded into the
+      handle of a fan; fifty screens, each made of a feather of the roc;<a
+      href="#linknote-72" name="linknoteref-72" id="linknoteref-72">72</a> and
+      fifty vases of crystal full of exquisite perfumes, and each sealed with a
+      talisman of precious stones.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      After these followed the eunuch guard.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Then came the band of the serail, consisting of three hundred dwarfs,
+      hideous indeed to behold, but the most complete musicians in the world.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      The steeds of Solomon, in number one hundred, each with a natural star
+      upon its front, uncaparisoned, and led only by a bridle of diamonds.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      The household of Alroy and Schirene. Foremost, the Lord Honain riding upon
+      a chestnut charger, shod with silver; the dress of the rider, pink with
+      silver stars. From his rosy turban depended a tremulous aigrette of
+      brilliants,<a href="#linknote-73" name="linknoteref-73" id="linknoteref-73">73</a>
+      blazing with a thousand shifting tints.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Two hundred pages followed him; and then servants of both sexes,
+      gorgeously habited, amounting to nearly two thousand, carrying rich vases,
+      magnificent caskets, and costly robes. The treasurer and two hundred of
+      his underlings came next, showering golden dirhems on all sides.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      The sceptre of Solomon borne by Asriel himself.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      A magnificent and lofty car, formed of blue enamel with golden wheels, and
+      axletrees of turquoises and brilliants, and drawn by twelve snow-white and
+      sacred horses, four abreast; in the car Alroy and Schirene.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Five thousand of the Sacred Guard closed the procession.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Amid the exclamations of the people, this gorgeous procession crossed the
+      plain, and moved around the mighty circus. The conqueror and his bride
+      ascended their throne; its steps were covered by the youths and maidens.
+      On the throne upon their right sat the venerable Bostenay; on the left,
+      the gallant Viceroy and his Princess. The chartaks on each side were
+      crowded with the court.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      The deputations made their offerings, the chiefs and captains paid their
+      homage, the trades of the city moved before the throne in order, and
+      exhibited their various ingenuity. Thrice was the proclamation made, amid
+      the sound of trumpets, and then began the games.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      A thousand horsemen dashed into the arena and threw the jerreed. They
+      galloped at full speed; they arrested their fiery charges in mid course,
+      and flung their long javelins at the minute but sparkling target, the
+      imitative form of a rare and brilliant bird. The conquerors received their
+      prizes from the hand of the princess herself, bright shawls, and jewelled
+      daggers, and rosaries of gems. Sometimes the trumpets announced a prize
+      from the vice-queen, sometimes from the venerable Bostenay, sometimes from
+      the victorious generals, or the loyal deputations, sometimes from the
+      united trades, sometimes from the City of Bagdad, sometimes from the City
+      of Hamadan. The hours flew away in gorgeous and ceaseless variety.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;I would we were alone, my own Schirene,&rsquo; said Alroy to his bride.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;I would so too; and yet I love to see all Asia prostrate at the feet of
+      Alroy.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Will the sun never set? Give me thy hand to play with.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Hush! See, Miriam smiles.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Lovest thou my sister, my own Schirene?&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;None dearer but thyself.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Talk not of my sister, but ourselves. Thinkest thou the sun is nearer
+      setting, love?&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;I cannot see; thine eyes they dazzle me, they are so brilliant, sweet!&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Oh, my soul! I could pour out my passion on thy breast.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Thou art very serious.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Love is ever so.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Nay, sweet! It makes me wild and fanciful. Now I could do such things,
+      but what I know not. I would we had wings, and then we would fly away.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;See, I must salute this victor in the games. Must I unloose thy hand!
+      Dear hand, farewell! Think of me while I speak, my precious life. &lsquo;Tis
+      done. Give back thy hand, or else methinks I shall die. What&rsquo;s this?&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      A horseman, in no holiday dress, but covered with dust, rushed into the
+      circus, bearing in his hand a tall lance, on which was fixed a scroll. The
+      marshals of the games endeavoured to prevent his advance, but he would not
+      be stayed. His message was to the king alone. A rumour of news from the
+      army circulated throughout the crowd. And news from the army it was.
+      Another victory! Scherirah had defeated the Sultan of Roum, who was now a
+      suppliant for peace and alliance. Sooth to say, the intelligence had
+      arrived at dawn of day, but the courtly Honain had contrived that it
+      should be communicated at a later and more effective moment.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      There scarcely needed this additional excitement to this glorious day. But
+      the people cheered, the golden dirhems were scattered with renewed
+      profusion, and the intelligence was received by all parties as a solemn
+      ratification by Jehovah, or by Allah, of the morning ceremony.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      The sun set, the court rose, and returned in the same pomp to the serail.
+      The twilight died away, a beacon fired on a distant eminence announced the
+      entrance of Alroy and Schirene into the nuptial chamber, and suddenly, as
+      by magic, the mighty city, every mosque, and minaret, and tower, and
+      terrace, and the universal plain, and the numberless pavilions, and the
+      immense circus, and the vast and winding river, blazed with light. From
+      every spot a lamp, a torch, a lantern, tinted with every hue, burst forth;
+      enormous cressets of silver radiancy beamed on the top of each chartak,
+      and huge bonfires of ruddy flame started up along the whole horizon.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      For seven days and seven nights this unparalleled scene of rejoicing,
+      though ever various, never ceased. Long, long was remembered the bridal
+      feast of the Hebrew prince and the caliph&rsquo;s daughter; long, long did the
+      peasantry on the plains of Tigris sit down by the side of that starry
+      river, and tell the wondrous tale to their marvelling posterity.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Now what a glorious man was David Alroy, lord of the mightiest empire in
+      the world, and wedded to the most beautiful princess, surrounded by a
+      prosperous and obedient people, guarded by invincible armies, one on whom
+      Earth showered all its fortune, and Heaven all its favour; and all by the
+      power of his own genius!
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      <a name="link2HCH0009" id="link2HCH0009">
+      <!--  H2 anchor --> </a>
+    </p>
+    <div style="height: 4em;">
+      <br /><br /><br /><br />
+    </div>
+    <h2>
+      CHAPTER IX.
+    </h2>
+<pre xml:space="preserve">
+     <i>The Death of Jabaster</i>
+</pre>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;TWAS midnight, and the storm still raged; &lsquo;mid the roar of the thunder
+      and the shrieks of the wind, the floods of forky lightning each instant
+      revealed the broad and billowy breast of the troubled Tigris. Jabaster
+      stood gazing upon the wild scene from the gallery of his palace. His
+      countenance was solemn, but disquieted.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;I would that he were here!&rsquo; exclaimed the high priest. &lsquo;Yet why should I
+      desire his presence, who heralds only gloom? Yet in his absence am I gay?
+      I am nothing. This Bagdad weighs upon me like a cloak of lead: my spirit
+      is dull and broken.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;They say Alroy gives a grand banquet in the serail to-night, and toasts
+      his harlot &lsquo;mid the thunderbolts. Is there no hand to write upon the wall?
+      He is found wanting, he is weighed, and is indeed found wanting. The
+      parting of his kingdom soon will come, and then, I could weep, oh! I could
+      weep, and down these stern and seldom yielding cheeks pour the wild
+      anguish of my desperate woe. So young, so great, so favoured! But one more
+      step a God, and now a foul Belshazzar!
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Was it for this his gentle youth was passed in musing solitude and mystic
+      studies? Was it for this the holy messenger summoned his most religious
+      spirit? Was it for this he crossed the fiery desert, and communed with his
+      fathers in their tombs? Is this the end of all his victories and all his
+      vast achievements? To banquet with a wanton!
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;A year ago, this very night, it was the eve of battle, I stood within his
+      tent to wait his final word. He mused awhile, and then he said, &ldquo;Good
+      night, Jabaster!&rdquo; I believed myself the nearest to his heart, as he has
+      ever been nearest to mine, but that&rsquo;s all over. He never says, &ldquo;Good
+      night, Jabaster,&rdquo; now. Why, what&rsquo;s all this? Methinks I am a child.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;The Lord&rsquo;s anointed is a prisoner now in the light grating of a bright
+      kiosk, and never gazes on the world he conquered. Egypt and Syria, even
+      farthest Ind, send forth their messengers to greet Alroy, the great, the
+      proud, the invincible. And where is he? In a soft Paradise of girls and
+      eunuchs, crowned with flowers, listening to melting lays, and the wild
+      trilling of the amorous lute. He spares no hours to council; all is left
+      to his prime favourites, of whom the leader is that juggling fiend I
+      sometime called my brother.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Why rest I here? Whither should I fly? Methinks my presence is still a
+      link to decency. Should I tear off the ephod, I scarcely fancy &lsquo;twould
+      blaze upon another&rsquo;s breast. He goes not to the sacrifice; they say he
+      keeps no fast, observes no ritual, and that their festive fantasies will
+      not be balked, even by the Sabbath. I have not seen him thrice since the
+      marriage. Honain has told her I did oppose it, and she bears to me a
+      hatred that only women feel. Our strong passions break into a thousand
+      purposes: women have one. Their love is dangerous, but their hate is
+      fatal.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;See! a boat bounding on the waters. On such a night, but one would dare
+      to venture.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Now visible, now in darkness, a single lantern at the prow, Jabaster
+      watched with some anxiety the slight bark buffeting the waves. A flash of
+      lightning illumined the whole river, and tipped with a spectral light even
+      the distant piles of building. The boat and the toiling figure of the
+      single rower were distinctly perceptible. Now all again was darkness; the
+      wind suddenly subsided; in a few minutes the plash of the oars was
+      audible, and the boat apparently stopped beneath the palace.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      There was a knocking at the private portal.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Who knocks?&rsquo; enquired Jabaster.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;A friend to Israel.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Abidan, by his voice. Art thou alone?&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;The prophetess is with me; only she.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;A moment. I&rsquo;ll open the gate. Draw the boat within the arch.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Jabaster descended from the gallery, and in a few moments returned with
+      two visitors: the youthful prophetess Esther, and her companion, a man
+      short in stature, but with a powerful and well-knit frame. His countenance
+      was melancholy, and, with harshness in the lower part, not without a
+      degree of pensive beauty in the broad clear brow and sunken eyes, unusual
+      in Oriental visages.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;A rough night,&rsquo; said Jabaster.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;To those who fear it,&rsquo; replied Abidan. &lsquo;The sun has brought so little joy
+      to me, I care not for the storm.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;What news?&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Woe! woe! woe!&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Thy usual note, my sister. Will the day never come when we may change
+      it?&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Woe! woe! woe! unutterable woe!&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Abidan, how fares it?&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Very well.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Indeed!&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;As it may turn out.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;You are brief.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Bitter.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Have you been to court, that you have learnt to be so wary in your words,
+      my friend?&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;I know not what may happen. In time we may all become courtiers, though I
+      fear, Jabaster, we have done too much to be rewarded. I gave him my blood,
+      and you something more, and now we are at Bagdad. &lsquo;Tis a fine city. I wish
+      to Heaven the shower of Sodom would rain upon its terraces.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;I know thou hast something terrible to tell. I know it by that gloomy
+      brow of thine, that lowers like the tempest. Speak out, man, I can bear
+      the worst, for which I am prepared.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Take it, then. Alroy has proclaimed himself Caliph. Abner is made Sultan
+      of Persia; Asriel, Ithamar, Medad, and the chief captains, Vizirs, Honain
+      their chief. Four Moslem nobles are sworn into the council. The Princess
+      goes to mosque in state next Friday; &lsquo;tis said thy pupil doth accompany
+      her.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;I&rsquo;ll not believe it! By the God of Sinai, I&rsquo;ll not believe it! Were my
+      own eye the accursed witness of the deed, I&rsquo;d not believe it. Go to
+      mosque! They play with thee, my good Abidan, they play with thee.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;As it may be. Tis a rumour, but rumours herald deeds. The rest of my
+      intelligence is true. I had it from my kinsman, stout Zalmunna. He left
+      the banquet.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Shall I go to him? Methinks one single word, To mosque! only a rumour and
+      a false one. I&rsquo;ll never believe it; no, no, no, never, never! Is he not
+      the Lord&rsquo;s anointed? The ineffable curse upon this daughter ot the
+      Moabite! No marvel that it thunders! By heavens, I&rsquo;ll go and beard him in
+      his orgies!&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;You know your power better than Abidan. You bearded him before his
+      marriage, yet&mdash;&mdash;&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;He married. Tis true. Honain, their chief. And I kept his ring! Honain is
+      my brother. Have I ne&rsquo;er a dagger to cut the bond of brotherhood?&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;We have all daggers, Jabaster, if we knew but how to use them.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;&lsquo;Tis strange, we met after twenty years of severance. You were not in the
+      chamber, Abidan. &lsquo;Twas at council. We met after twenty years of severance.
+      He is my brother. &lsquo;Tis strange, I say: I felt that man shrink from my
+      embrace.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Honain is a philosopher, and believes in sympathy. &lsquo;Twould appear there
+      was none between you. His system, then, absolves you from all ties.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;You are sure the rest of the intelligence is true? I&rsquo;ll not believe the
+      mosque, the rest is bad enough.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Zalmunna left the banquet. Hassan Subah&rsquo;s brother sat above him.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Subah&rsquo;s brother! &lsquo;Tis all over, then. Is he of the council?&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Ay, and others.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Where now is Israel?&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;She should be in her tents.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Woe! woe! unutterable woe!&rsquo; exclaimed the prophetess, who, standing
+      motionless at the back of the chamber, seemed inattentive to their
+      conversation.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Jabaster paced the gallery with agitated steps. Suddenly he stopped, and,
+      walking up to Abidan, seized his arm, and looked him sternly in the face.
+      &lsquo;I know thy thoughts, Abidan,&rsquo; exclaimed the priest; &lsquo;but it cannot be. I
+      have dismissed, henceforth and for ever I have dismissed all feeling from
+      my mind; now I have no brother, no friend, no pupil, and, I fear, no
+      Saviour. Israel is all in all to me. I have no other life. &lsquo;Tis not
+      compunction, then, that stays my arm. My heart&rsquo;s as hard as thine.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Why stays it then?&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Because with him we fall. He is the last of all his sacred line. There is
+      no other hand to grasp our sceptre.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;<i>Our</i> sceptre! what sceptre?&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;The sceptre of our kings.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Kings!&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Ay, why dost thou look so dark?&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;How looked the prophet when the stiff-necked populace forsooth must have
+      a king! Did he smile? Did he shout, and clap his hands, and cry, God save
+      his Majesty! O, Jabaster! honoured, rare Jabaster! thou second Samuel of
+      our lightheaded people! there was a time when Israel had no king except
+      their God. Were we viler then? Did kings conquer Canaan? Who was Moses,
+      who was Aaron, who was mighty Joshua? Was the sword of Gideon a kingly
+      sword? Did the locks of Samson shade royal temples? Would a king have kept
+      his awful covenant like solemn Jephtha? Royal words are light as air,
+      when, to maintain them, you injure any other than a subject.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Kings! why, what&rsquo;s a king? Why should one man break the equal sanctity of
+      our chosen race? Is their blood purer than our own? We are all the seed of
+      Abraham. Who was Saul, and who was David? I never heard that they were a
+      different breed from our fathers. Grant them devout, which they were not;
+      and brave and wise, which other men were; have their posterity a patent
+      for all virtues? No, Jabaster! thou ne&rsquo;er didst err, but when thou
+      placedst a crown upon this haughty stripling. What he did, a thousand
+      might have done. &lsquo;Twas thy mind inspired the deed. And now he is a king;
+      and now Jabaster, the very soul of Israel, who should be our Judge and
+      leader, Jabaster trembles in disgrace, while our unhallowed Sanhedrim is
+      filled with Ammonites!&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Abidan, thou hast touched me to the quick; thou hast stirred up thoughts
+      that ever and anon, like strong and fatal vapours, have risen from the
+      dark abyss of thought, and I have quelled them.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Let them rise, I say; let them drown the beams of that all-scorching sun
+      we suffer under, that drinks all vegetation up, and makes us languish with
+      a dull exhaustion!&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Joy! joy! unutterable joy!&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Hark! the prophetess has changed her note; and yet she hears us not. The
+      spirit of the Lord is truly with her. Come, Jabaster, I see thy heart is
+      opening to thy people&rsquo;s sufferings; thy people, my Jabaster, for art not
+      thou our Judge? At least, thou shalt be.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Can we call back the Theocracy? Is&rsquo;t possible?&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;But say the word, and it is done, Jabaster. Nay, stare not. Dost thou
+      think there are no true hearts in Israel? Dost thou suppose thy children
+      have beheld, without a thought, the foul insults poured on thee; thee,
+      their priest, their adored high priest, one who recalls the best days of
+      the past, the days of their great Judges? But one word, one single
+      movement of that mitred head, and&mdash;&mdash; But I speak unto a mind
+      that feels more than I can express. Be silent, tongue, thou art a babbling
+      counsellor. Jabaster&rsquo;s patriot soul needs not the idle schooling of a
+      child. If he be silent, &lsquo;tis that his wisdom deems that the hour is not
+      ripe, but when her leader speaks, Israel will not be slack.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;The Moslemin in council! We know what must come next. Our national
+      existence is in its last agony. Methinks the time is very ripe, Abidan.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Why, so we think, great sir; and say the word, and twenty thousand spears
+      will guard the Ark. I&rsquo;ll answer for my men. Stout Scherirah looks grimly
+      on the Moabites. A word from thee, and the whole Syrian army will join our
+      banner, the Lion of Judah, that shall be our flag. The tyrant and his
+      satraps, let them die, and then the rest must join us. We&rsquo;ll proclaim the
+      covenant, and, leaving Babylon to a bloody fate, march on to Zion!&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Zion, his youthful dream, Zion!&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;You muse!&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;King or no king, he is the Lord&rsquo;s anointed. Shall this hand, that poured
+      the oil on his hallowed head, wash out the balmy signet with his blood?
+      Must I slay him? Shall this kid be seethed even in its mother&rsquo;s milk?&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;His voice is low, and yet his face is troubled. How now, sir?&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;What art thou? Ah! Abidan, trusty, stanch Abidan! You see, Abidan, I was
+      thinking, my good Abidan, all this may be the frenzy of a revel.
+      Tomorrow&rsquo;s dawn may summon cooler counsels. The tattle of the table, it is
+      sacred. Let us forget it; let us pass it over. The Lord may turn his
+      heart. Who knows, who knows, Abidan!&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Noble sir, a moment since your mind was like your faith, firm and
+      resolved, and now&mdash;&mdash;&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;School me not, school me not, good Abidan. There is that within my mind
+      you cannot fathom; some secret sorrows which are all my own. Leave me,
+      good friend, leave me awhile. When Israel calls me I shall not be wanting.
+      Be sure of that, Abidan, be sure of that. Nay, do not go; the night is
+      very rough, and the fair prophetess should not again stem the swelling
+      river. I&rsquo;ll to my closet, and will soon return.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Jabaster quitted the gallery, and entered a small apartment. Several large
+      volumes, unclasped and open, were lying on various parts of the divan.
+      Before them stood his brazen cabalistic table. He closed the chamber with
+      a cautious air. He advanced into the centre of the apartment. He lifted up
+      his hands to heaven, and clasped them with an expression almost of agony.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Is it come to this?&rsquo; he muttered in a tone of deep oppression. &lsquo;Is it
+      come to this? What is&rsquo;t I have heard? what done? Down, tempting devil,
+      down! O life! O glory! O my country, my chosen people, and my sacred
+      creed! why do we live, why act? Why have we feeling for aught that&rsquo;s
+      famous, or for aught that&rsquo;s holy? Let me die! let, let me die! The torture
+      of existence is too great.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      He flung himself upon the couch; he buried his awful countenance in his
+      robes. His mighty heart was convulsed with passion. There did he lie, that
+      great and solemn man, prostrate and woe-begone.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;The noisy banquet lingers in my ear; I love to be alone.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;With me?&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Thou art myself; I have no other life.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Sweet bird! It is now a caliph.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;I am what thou wiliest, soul of my sweet existence! Pomp and dominion,
+      fame and victory, seem now but flawed and dimly-shaded gems compared with
+      thy bright smile!&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;My plaintive nightingale, shall we hunt to-day?&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Alas! my rose, I would rather lie upon this lazy couch, and gaze upon thy
+      beauty!&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Or sail upon the cool and azure lake, in some bright barque, like to a
+      sea-nymph&rsquo;s shell, and followed by the swans?&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;There is no lake so blue as thy deep eye; there is no swan so white as
+      thy round arm!&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Or shall we launch our falcons in the air, and bring the golden pheasant
+      to our feet?&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;I am the golden pheasant at thy feet; why wouldst thou richer prey?&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Rememberest thou thy earliest visit to this dear kiosk, my gentle mute?
+      There thou stoodst with folded arms and looks demure as day, and ever and
+      anon with those dark eyes stealing a glance which made my cheek quite
+      pale. Methinks I see thee even yet, shy bird. Dost know, I was so foolish
+      when it quitted me, dost know I cried?&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Ah, no! thou didst not cry?&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Indeed, I think I did.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Tell me again, my own Schirene, indeed didst cry?&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Indeed I did, my soul!&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;I would those tears were in some crystal vase, I&rsquo;d give a province for
+      the costly urn.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      She threw her arms around his neck and covered his face with kisses.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Sunset sounded from the minarets. They arose and wandered together in the
+      surrounding paradise. The sky was tinted with a pale violet flush, a
+      single star floating by the side of the white moon, that beamed with a dim
+      lustre, soft and shapely as a pearl.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Beautiful!&rsquo; exclaimed the pensive Schirene, as she gazed upon the star.
+      &lsquo;O, my Alroy, why cannot we ever live alone, and ever in a paradise?&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;I am wearied of empire,&rsquo; replied Alroy with a smile, &lsquo;let us fly!&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Is there no island, with all that can make life charming, and yet
+      impervious to man? How little do we require! Ah! if these gardens, instead
+      of being surrounded by hateful Bagdad, were only encompassed by some
+      beautiful ocean!&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;My heart, we live in a paradise, and are seldom disturbed, thanks to
+      Honain!&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;But the very consciousness that there are any other persons existing
+      besides ourselves is to me painful. Every one who even thinks of you seems
+      to rob me of a part of your being. Besides, I am weary of pomp and
+      palaces. I should like to live in a sparry grot, and sleep upon a couch of
+      sweet leaves!&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      This interesting discussion was disturbed by a dwarf, who, in addition to
+      being very small and very ugly, was dumb. He bowed before the Princess;
+      and then had recourse to a great deal of pantomimic action, by which she
+      discovered that it was dinnertime. No other person could have ventured to
+      disturb the royal pair, but this little being was a privileged favourite.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      So Alroy and Schirene entered the serail. An immense cresset-lamp, fed
+      with perfumed oil, threw a soft light round the sumptuous chamber. At the
+      end stood a row of eunuchs in scarlet dresses, and each holding a tall
+      silver staff. The Caliph and the Sultana threw themselves upon a couch
+      covered with a hundred cushions; on one side stood a group consisting of
+      the captain of the guard and other officers of the household, on the
+      other, of beautiful female slaves magnificently attired.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      The line of domestics at the end of the apartment opened, and a body of
+      slaves advanced, carrying trays of ivory and gold, and ebony and silver,
+      covered with the choicest dainties, curiously prepared. These were in turn
+      offered to the Caliph and the Sultana by their surrounding attendants. The
+      Princess accepted a spoon made of a single pearl, the long, thin golden
+      handle of which was studded with rubies, and condescended to partake of
+      some saffron soup, of which she was fond. Afterwards she regaled herself
+      with the breast of a cygnet, stuffed with almonds, and stewed with violets
+      and cream. Having now a little satisfied her appetite, and wishing to show
+      a mark of her favour to a particular individual, she ordered the captain
+      of the guard instantly to send him the whole of the next course<a
+      href="#linknote-74" name="linknoteref-74" id="linknoteref-74">74</a> with
+      her compliments. Her attention was then engaged with a dish of those
+      delicate ortolans that feed upon the vine-leaves of Schiraz, and with
+      which the Governor of Nishapur took especial care that she should be well
+      provided. Tearing the delicate birds to pieces with her still more
+      delicate fingers, she insisted upon feeding Alroy, who of course yielded
+      to her solicitations. In the meantime, they refreshed themselves with
+      their favourite sherbet of pomegranates, and the golden wine of Mount
+      Lebanon.<a href="#linknote-75" name="linknoteref-75" id="linknoteref-75">75</a>
+      The Caliph, who could eat no more ortolans, although fed by such delicate
+      fingers, was at length obliged to call for &lsquo;rice,&rsquo; which was synonymous to
+      commanding the banquet to disappear. The attendants now brought to each
+      basins of gold, and ewers of rock crystal filled with rose water, with
+      towels of that rare Egyptian linen which can be made only of the cotton
+      that grows upon the banks of the Nile. While they amused themselves with
+      eating sugar-plums, and drinking coffee flavoured with cinnamon, the
+      female slaves danced before them in the most graceful attitudes to the
+      melody of invisible musicians.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;My enchanting Schirene,&rsquo; said the Caliph, &lsquo;I have dined, thanks to your
+      attention, very well. These slaves of yours dance admirably, and are
+      exceedingly beautiful. Your music, too, is beyond all praise; but, for my
+      own part, I would rather be quite alone, and listening to one of your
+      songs.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;I have written a new one to-day. You shall hear it.&rsquo; So saying, she
+      clapped her little white hands, and all the attendants immediately
+      withdrew.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;The stars are stealing forth, and so will I. Sorry sight! to view
+      Jabaster, with a stealthy step, skulk like a thing dishonoured! Oh! may
+      the purpose consecrate the deed! the die is cast.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      So saying, the High Priest, muffled up in his robe, emerged from his
+      palace into the busy streets. It is at night that the vitality of Oriental
+      life is most impressive. The narrow winding streets, crowded with a
+      population breathing the now sufferable air, the illuminated
+      coffee-houses, the groups of gay yet sober revellers, the music, and the
+      dancing, and the animated recitals of the poet and the story-teller, all
+      combine to invest the starry hours with a beguiling and even fascinating
+      character of enjoyment and adventure.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      It was the night after the visit of Abidan and the prophetess. Jabaster
+      had agreed to meet Abidan in the square of the great mosque two hours
+      after sunset, and thither he now repaired.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;I am somewhat before my time,&rsquo; he said, as he entered the great square,
+      over which the rising moon threw a full flood of light. A few dark shadows
+      of human beings alone moved in the distance. The world was in the streets
+      and coffee-houses. &lsquo;I am somewhat before my time,&rsquo; said Jabaster.
+      &lsquo;Conspirators are watchful. I am anxious for the meeting, and yet I dread
+      it. Since he broke this business, I have never slept. My mind is a chaos.
+      I will not think. If &lsquo;tis to be done, let it be done at once. I am more
+      tempted to sheathe this dagger in Jabaster&rsquo;s breast than in Alroy&rsquo;s. If
+      life or empire were the paltry stake, I would end a life that now can
+      bring no joy, and yield authority that hath no charm; but Israel, Israel,
+      thou for whom I have endured so much, let me forget Jabaster had a mother!
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;But for this thought that links me with my God, and leads my temper to a
+      higher state, how vain and sad, how wearisome and void, were this said
+      world they think of! But for this thought, I could sit down and die. Yea!
+      my great heart could crack, worn out, worn out; my mighty passions, with
+      their fierce but flickering flame, sink down and die; and the strong brain
+      that ever hath urged my course, and pricked me onward with perpetual
+      thought, desert the rudder it so long hath held, like some baffled pilot
+      in blank discomfiture, in the far centre of an unknown sea.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Study and toil, anxiety and sorrow, mighty action, perchance Time, and
+      disappointment, which is worse than all, have done their work, and not in
+      vain. I am no longer the same Jabaster that gazed upon the stars of
+      Caucasus. Methinks even they look dimmer than of yore. The glory of my
+      life is fading. My leaves are sear, tinged, but not tainted. I am still
+      the same in one respect; I have not left my God, in deed or thought. Ah!
+      who art thou?&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;A friend to Israel.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;I am glad that Israel hath a friend. Noble Abi-dan, I have well
+      considered all that hath passed between us. Sooth to say, you touched upon
+      a string I&rsquo;ve played before, but kept it for my loneliness; a jarring
+      tune, indeed a jarring tune, but so it is, and being so, let me at once
+      unto your friends, Abi-dan.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Noble Jabaster, thou art what I deemed thee.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Abidan, they say the consciousness of doing justly is the best basis of a
+      happy mind.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Even so.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;And thou believest it?&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Without doubt.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;We are doing very justly?&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;&lsquo;Tis a weak word for such a holy purpose.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;I am most wretched!&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      The High Priest and his companion entered the house of Abidan. Jabaster
+      addressed the already assembled guests.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Brave Scherirah, it joys me to find thee here. In Israel&rsquo;s cause when was
+      Scherirah wanting? Stout Zalmunna, we have not seen enough of each other:
+      the blame is mine. Gentle prophetess, thy blessing!
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Good friends, why we meet here is known to all. Little did we dream of
+      such a meeting when we crossed the Tigris. But that is nothing. We come to
+      act, and not to argue. Our great minds, they are resolved: our solemn
+      purpose requires no demonstration. If there be one among us who would have
+      Israel a slave to Ishmael, who would lose all we have prayed for, all we
+      have fought for, all we have won, and all for which we are prepared to
+      die, if there be one among us who would have the Ark polluted, and
+      Jehovah&rsquo;s altar stained with a Gentile sacrifice, if there be one among us
+      who does not sigh for Zion, who would not yield his breath to build the
+      Temple and gain the heritage his fathers lost, why, let him go! There is
+      none such among us: then stay, and free your country!&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;We are prepared, great Jabaster; we are prepared, all, all!&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;I know it; you are like myself. Necessity hath taught decision. Now for
+      our plans. Speak, Zalmunna.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Noble Jabaster, I see much difficulty. Alroy no longer quits his palace.
+      Our entrance unwatched is, you well know, impossible. What say you,
+      Scherirah?&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;I doubt not of my men, but war against Alroy is, to say nought of danger,
+      of doubtful issue.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;I am prepared to die, but not to fail,&rsquo; said Abidan. &lsquo;We must be certain.
+      Open war I fear. The mass of the army will side with their leaders, and
+      they are with the tyrant. Let us do the deed, and they must join us.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Is it impossible to gain his presence to some sacrifice in honour of some
+      by-gone victory; what think ye?&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;I doubt much, Jabaster. At this moment he little wishes to sanction our
+      national ceremonies with his royal person. The woman assuredly will stay
+      him. And, even if he come, success is difficult, and therefore doubtful.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Noble warriors, list to a woman&rsquo;s voice,&rsquo; exclaimed the prophetess,
+      coming forward. &lsquo;&lsquo;Tis weak, but with such instruments, even the
+      aspirations of a child, the Lord will commune with his chosen people.
+      There is a secret way by which I can gain the gardens of the palace.
+      To-morrow night, just as the moon is in her midnight bower, behold the
+      accursed pile shall blaze. Let Abidan&rsquo;s troops be all prepared, and at the
+      moment when the flames first ascend, march to the Seraglio gate as if with
+      aid. The affrighted guard will offer no opposition. While the troops
+      secure the portals, you yourselves, Zalmunna, Abidan, and Jabaster, rush
+      to the royal chamber and do the deed. In the meantime, let brave
+      Scherirah, with his whole division, surround the palace, as if unconscious
+      of the mighty work. Then come you forward, show, if it need, with tears,
+      the fated body to the soldiery, and announce the Theocracy.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;It is the Lord who speaks,&rsquo; said Abidan, who was doubtless prepared for
+      the proposition. &lsquo;He has delivered them into our hands.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;A bold plan,&rsquo; said Jabaster, musing, &lsquo;and yet I like it. &lsquo;Tis quick, and
+      that is something. I think &lsquo;tis sure.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;It cannot fail,&rsquo; exclaimed Zalmunna, &lsquo;for if the flame ascend not, still
+      we are but where we were.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;I am for it,&rsquo; said Scherirah.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Well, then,&rsquo; said Jabaster, &lsquo;so let it be. Tomorrow&rsquo;s eve will see us
+      here again prepared. Good night.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Good night, holy Priest. How seem the stars, Jabaster?&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Very troubled; so have they been some days. What they portend I know
+      not.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Health to Israel.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Let us hope so. Good night, sweet friends.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Good night, holy Jabaster. Thou art our cornerstone.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Israel hath no other hope but in Jabaster.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;My Lord,&rsquo; said Abidan, &lsquo;remain, I pray, one moment.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;What is&rsquo;t? I fain would go.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Alroy must die, my Lord, but dost thou think a single death will seal the
+      covenant?&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;The woman?&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Ay! the woman! I was not thinking of the woman. Asriel, Ithamar, Medad?&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Valiant soldiers! doubt not we shall find them useful instruments. I do
+      not fear such loose companions. They follow their leaders, like other
+      things born to obey. Having no head themselves, they must follow us who
+      have.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;I think so too. There is no other man who might be dangerous?&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Zalmunna and Scherirah cast their eyes upon the ground. There was a dead
+      silence, broken by the prophetess.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;A judgment hath gone forth against Honain!&rsquo; &lsquo;Nay! he is Lord Jabaster&rsquo;s
+      brother,&rsquo; said Abidan.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;It is enough to save a more inveterate foe to Israel, if such there be.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;I have no brother, Sir. The man you speak of I will not slay, since there
+      are others who may do that deed. And so again, good night.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      It was the dead of night, a single lamp burned in the chamber, which
+      opened into an arched gallery that descended by a flight of steps into the
+      gardens of the Serail.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      A female figure ascended the flight with slow and cautious steps. She
+      paused on the gallery, she looked around, one foot was in the chamber.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      She entered. She entered a chamber of small dimensions, but richly
+      adorned. In the farthest corner was a couch of ivory, hung with a gauzy
+      curtain of silver tissue, which, without impeding respiration, protected
+      the slumberer from the fell insects of an Oriental night. Leaning against
+      an ottoman was a large brazen shield of ancient fashion, and near it some
+      helmets and curious weapons.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;An irresistible impulse hath carried me into this chamber!&rsquo; exclaimed the
+      prophetess. &lsquo;The light haunted me like a spectre; and wheresoever I moved,
+      it seemed to summon me.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;A couch and a slumberer!&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      She approached the object, she softly withdrew the curtain. Pale and
+      panting, she rushed back, yet with a light step. She beheld Alroy!
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      For a moment she leant against the wall, overpowered by her emotions.
+      Again she advanced, and gazed on her unconscious victim.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Can the guilty sleep like the innocent? Who would deem this gentle
+      slumberer had betrayed the highest trust that ever Heaven vouchsafed to
+      favoured man? He looks not like a tyrant and a traitor: calm his brow, and
+      mild his placid breath! His long dark hair, dark as the raven&rsquo;s wing, hath
+      broken from its fillet, and courses, like a wild and stormy night, over
+      his pale and moon-lit brow. His cheek is delicate, and yet repose hath
+      brought a flush; and on his lip there seems some word of love, that will
+      not quit it. It is the same Alroy that blessed our vision when, like the
+      fresh and glittering star of morn, he rose up in the desert, and bringing
+      joy to others, brought to me only&mdash;&mdash;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Oh! hush my heart, and let thy secret lie hid in the charnel-house of
+      crushed affections. Hard is the lot of woman: to love and to conceal is
+      our sharp doom! O bitter life! O most unnatural lot! Man made society, and
+      made us slaves. And so we droop and die, or else take refuge in idle
+      fantasies, to which we bring the fervour that is meant for nobler ends.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Beauteous hero! whether I bear thee most hatred or most love I cannot
+      tell. Die thou must; yet I feel I should die with thee. Oh! that to-night
+      could lead at the same time unto our marriage bed and funeral pyre. Must
+      that white bosom bleed? and must those delicate limbs be hacked and
+      handled by these bloody butchers? Is that justice? They lie, the traitors,
+      when they call thee false to our God. Thou art thyself a god, and I could
+      worship thee! See those beauteous lips; they move. Hark to the music!&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Schirene, Schirene!&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;There wanted but that word to summon back my senses. Fool! whither is thy
+      fancy wandering? I will not wait for tardy justice. I will do the deed
+      myself. Shall I not kill my Sisera?&rsquo; She seized a dagger from the ottoman,
+      a rare and highly-tempered blade. Up she raised it in the air, and dashed
+      it to his heart with superhuman force. It struck against the talisman
+      which Jabaster had given to Alroy, and which, from a lingering
+      superstition, he still wore; it struck, and shivered into a thousand
+      pieces. The Caliph sprang from his couch; his eyes met the prophetess,
+      standing over him in black despair, with the hilt of the dagger in her
+      hand.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;What is all this? Schirene! Who art thou? Esther!&rsquo; He jumped from the
+      couch, called to Pharez, and seized her by both hands. &lsquo;Speak!&rsquo; he
+      continued. &lsquo;Art thou Esther? What dost thou here?&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      She broke into a wild laugh; she wrestled with his grasp, and pulled him
+      towards the gallery. He beheld the chief tower of the Serail in flames.
+      Joining her hands together, grasping them both in one of his, and dragging
+      her towards the ottoman, he seized a helmet and flung it upon the mighty
+      shield. It sounded like a gong. Pharez started from his slumbers, and
+      rushed into the chamber.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Pharez! Treason! treason! Send instant orders that the palace gates be
+      opened on no pretence whatever. Go, fly! See the captain himself. Summon
+      the household. Order all to arms. Speed, for our lives!&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      The whole palace was now roused. Alroy delivered Esther, exhausted, and
+      apparently senseless, to a guard of eunuchs. Slaves and attendants poured
+      in from all directions. Soon arrived Schirene, with dishevelled hair and
+      hurried robes, attended by a hundred maidens, each bearing a torch.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;My soul, what ails thee?&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Nothing, sweetest; all will soon be well,&rsquo; replied Alroy, picking up, and
+      examining the fragments of the shivered dagger, which he had just
+      discovered.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;My life has been attempted; the palace is in flames; I suspect the city
+      is in insurrection. Look to your mistress, maidens!&rsquo; Schirene fell into
+      their arms. &lsquo;I will soon be back.&rsquo; So saying, he hurried to the grand
+      court.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Several thousand persons, for the population of the Serail and its
+      liberties was very considerable, were assembled in the grand court;
+      eunuchs, women, pages, slaves, and servants, and a few soldiers; all in
+      confusion and alarm, fire raging within, and mysterious and terrible
+      outcries without. A cry of &lsquo;The Caliph! the Caliph!&rsquo; announced the arrival
+      of Alroy, and produced a degree of comparative silence.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Where is the captain of the guard?&rsquo; he exclaimed. &lsquo;That&rsquo;s well. Open the
+      gates to none. Who will leap the wall and bear a message to Asriel? You?
+      That&rsquo;s well too. To-morrow you shall yourself command. Where&rsquo;s Mesrour?
+      Take the eunuch guard and the company of gardeners,<a href="#linknote-76"
+       name="linknoteref-76" id="linknoteref-76">76</a>and suppress the flames at
+      all cost. Pull down the intervening buildings. Abidan&rsquo;s troop arrived with
+      succour, eh! I doubt it not. I expected them. Open to none. They force an
+      entrance, eh! I thought so. So that javelin has killed a traitor. Feed me
+      with arms. I&rsquo;ll keep the gate. Send again to Asriel. Where&rsquo;s Pharez?&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;By your side, my lord.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Run to the Queen, my faithful Pharez, and tell her that all&rsquo;s well. I
+      wish it were! Didst ever hear a din so awful? Methinks all the tambours
+      and cymbals of the city are in full chorus. Foul play, I guess. Oh! for
+      Asriel! Has Pharez returned?&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;I am by your side, my lord.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;How&rsquo;s the Queen?&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;She would gladly join your side.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;No, no! Keep the gates there. Who says they are making fires before them?
+      Tis true. We must sally, if the worst come to the worst, and die at least
+      like soldiers. O Asriel! Asriel!&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;May it please your Highness, the troops are pouring in from all
+      quarters.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;&lsquo;Tis Asriel.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;No, your Highness, &lsquo;tis not the guard. Methinks they are Scherirah&rsquo;s
+      men.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Hum! What it all is, I know not; but very foul play I do not doubt.
+      Where&rsquo;s Honain?&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;With the Queen, Sire.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;&lsquo;Tis well. What&rsquo;s that shout?&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Here&rsquo;s the messenger from Asriel. Make way! way!&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Well! how is&rsquo;t, Sir?&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Please your Highness, I could not reach the guard.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Could not reach the guard! God of my fathers! who should let thee?&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Sire, I was taken prisoner.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Prisoner! By the thunder of Sinai, are we at war? Who made thee
+      prisoner?&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Sire, they have proclaimed thy death.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Who?&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;The council of the Elders. So I heard. Abidan, Zalmunna&mdash;&mdash;&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Rebels and dogs! Who else?&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;The High Priest.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Hah! Is it there? Pharez, fetch me some drink. Is it true Scherirah has
+      joined them?&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;His force surrounds the Serail. No aid can reach us without cutting
+      through his ranks.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Oh! that I were there with my good guard! Are we to die here like rats,
+      fairly murdered? Cowardly knaves! Hold out, hold out, my men! &lsquo;Tis sharp
+      work, but some of us will smile at this hereafter. Who stands by Alroy
+      to-night bravely and truly, shall have his heart&rsquo;s content to-morrow. Fear
+      not: I was not born to die in a civic broil. I bear a charmed life. So to
+      it.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Go to the Caliph, good Honain, I pray thee, go. I can support myself, he
+      needs thy counsel. Bid him not expose his precious life. The wicked men!
+      Asriel must soon be here. What sayest thou?&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;There is no fear. Their plans are ill-devised. I have long expected this
+      stormy night, and feel even now more anxious than alarmed.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;&lsquo;Tis at me they aim; it is I whom they hate. The High Priest, too! Ay,
+      ay! Thy proud brother, good Honain, I have ever felt he would not rest
+      until he drove me from this throne, my right; or washed my hated name from
+      out our annals in my life&rsquo;s blood. Wicked, wicked Jabaster! He frowned
+      upon me from the first, Honain. Is he indeed thy brother?&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;I care not to remember. He aims at something further than thy life; but
+      Time will teach us more than all our thoughts.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      The fortifications of the Serail resisted all the efforts of the rebels.
+      Scherirah remained in his quarters, with his troops under arms, and
+      recalled the small force that he had originally sent out as much to watch
+      the course of events as to assist Abidan. Asriel and Ithamar poured down
+      their columns in the rear of that chieftain, and by dawn a division of the
+      guard had crossed the river, the care of which had been entrusted to
+      Scherirah, and had thrown themselves into the palace. Alroy sallied forth
+      at the head of these fresh troops. His presence decided a result which was
+      perhaps never doubtful. The division of Abidan fought with the desperation
+      that became their fortunes. The carnage was dreadful, but their
+      discomfiture complete. They no longer acted in masses, or with any general
+      system. They thought only of self-preservation, or of selling their lives
+      at the dearest cost. Some dispersed, some escaped. Others entrenched
+      themselves in houses, others fortified the bazaar. All the horrors of war
+      in the streets were now experienced. The houses were in flames, the
+      thoroughfares flowed with blood.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      At the head of a band of faithful followers, Abidan proved himself, by his
+      courage and resources, worthy of success. At length, he was alone, or
+      surrounded only by his enemies. With his back against a building in a
+      narrow street, where the number of his opponents only embarrassed them,
+      the three foremost of his foes fell before his irresistible scimitar. The
+      barricaded door yielded to the pressure of the multitude. Abidan rushed up
+      the narrow stairs, and, gaining a landing-place, turned suddenly round,
+      and cleaved the skull of his nearest pursuer. He hurled the mighty body at
+      his followers, and, retarding their advance, himself dashed onward, and
+      gained the terrace of the mansion. Three soldiers of the guard followed
+      him as he bounded from terrace to terrace. One, armed with a javelin,
+      hurled it at the chieftain. The weapon slightly wounded Abidan, who,
+      drawing it from his arm, sent it back to the heart of its owner. The two
+      other soldiers, armed only with swords, gained upon him. He arrived at the
+      last terrace in the cluster of buildings. He stood at bay on the brink of
+      the precipice. He regained his breath. They approached him. He dodged them
+      in their course. Suddenly, with admirable skill, he flung his scimitar
+      edgewise at the legs of his farthest foe, who stopped short, roaring with
+      pain. The chieftain sprang at the foremost, and hurled him down into the
+      street below, where he was dashed to atoms. A trap-door offered itself to
+      the despairing eye of the rebel. He descended and found himself in a room
+      filled with women. They screamed, he rushed through them, and descending a
+      Staircase, entered a chamber tenanted by a bed-ridden old man. The ancient
+      invalid enquired the cause of the uproar, and died of fright before he
+      could receive an answer, at the sight of the awful being before him,
+      covered with streaming blood. Abidan secured the door, washed his
+      blood-stained face, and disguising himself in the dusty robes of the
+      deceased Armenian, sallied forth to watch the fray. The obscure street was
+      silent. The chieftain proceeded unmolested. At the corner he found a
+      soldier holding a charger for his captain. Abidan, unarmed, seized a
+      poniard from the soldier&rsquo;s belt, stabbed him to the heart, and vaulting on
+      the steed, galloped towards the river. No boat was to be found; he
+      breasted the stream upon the stout courser. He reached the opposite bank.
+      A company of camels were reposing by the side of a fountain. Alarm had
+      dispersed their drivers. He mounted the fleetest in appearance; he dashed
+      to the nearest gate of the city. The guard at the gate refused him a
+      passage. He concealed his agitation. A marriage procession, returning from
+      the country, arrived. He rushed into the centre of it, and overset the
+      bride in her gilded wagon. In the midst of the confusion, the shrieks, the
+      oaths, and the scuffle, he forced his way through the gate, scoured over
+      the country, and never stopped until he had gained the desert.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      The uproar died away. The shouts of warriors, the shrieks of women, the
+      wild clang of warfare, all were silent. The flames were extinguished, the
+      carnage ceased. The insurrection was suppressed, and order restored. The
+      city, all the houses of which were closed, was patrolled by the conquering
+      troops, and by sunset the conqueror himself, in his hall of state,
+      received the reports and the congratulations of his chieftains. The escape
+      of Abidan seemed counterbalanced by the capture of Jabaster. After
+      performing prodigies of valour, the High Priest had been overpowered, and
+      was now a prisoner in the Serail. The conduct of Scherirah was not too
+      curiously criticised; a commission was appointed to enquire into the
+      mysterious affair; and Alroy retired to the bath<a href="#linknote-77"
+       name="linknoteref-77" id="linknoteref-77">77</a> to refresh himself after
+      the fatigues of the victory which he could not consider a triumph.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      As he reposed upon his couch, melancholy and exhausted, Schirene was
+      announced. The Princess threw herself upon his neck and covered him with
+      embraces. His heart yielded to her fondness, his spirit became lighter,
+      his depression melted away.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;My ruby!&rsquo; said Schirene, and she spoke in a low smothered voice, her face
+      hidden and nestled in his breast. &lsquo;My ruby! dost thou love me?&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      He smiled in fondness as he pressed her to his heart.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;My ruby, thy pearl is so frightened, it dare not look upon thee. Wicked
+      men! &lsquo;tis I whom they hate, &lsquo;tis I whom they would destroy.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;There is no danger, sweet. &lsquo;Tis over now. Speak not, nay, do not think of
+      it.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Ah! wicked men! There is no joy on earth while such things live. Slay
+      Alroy, their mighty master, who, from vile slaves, hath made them princes!
+      Ungrateful churls! I am so alarmed, I ne&rsquo;er shall sleep again. What! slay
+      my innocent bird, my pretty bird, my very heart! I&rsquo;ll not believe it. It
+      is I whom they hate. I am sure they will kill me. You shall never leave
+      me, no, no, no, no! You shall not leave me, love, never, never! Didst hear
+      a noise? Methinks they are even here, ready to plunge their daggers in our
+      hearts, our soft, soft hearts! I think you love me, child; indeed, I think
+      you do!&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Take courage, heart! There is no fear, my soul; I cannot love thee more,
+      or else I would.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;All joy is gone! I ne&rsquo;er shall sleep again. O my soul! art thou indeed
+      alive? Do I indeed embrace my own Alroy, or is it all a wild and troubled
+      dream, and are my arms clasped round a shadowy ghost, myself a spectre in
+      a sepulchre? Wicked, wicked men! Can it indeed be true? What, slay Alroy!
+      my joy, my only life! Ah! woe is me; our bright felicity hath fled for
+      ever!&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Not so, sweet child; we are but as we were. A few quick hours, and all
+      will be as bright as if no storm had crossed our sunny days.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Hast seen Asriel? He says such fearful things!&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;How now?&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Ah me! I am desolate. I have no friend.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Schirene!&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;They will have my blood. I know they will have my blood.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Indeed, an idle fancy.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Idle! Ask Asriel, question Ithamar. Idle! &lsquo;tis written in their tablets,
+      their bloody scroll of rapine and of murder. Thy death led only to mine,
+      and, had they hoped my bird would but have yielded his gentle mate, they
+      would have spared him. Ay! ay! &lsquo;tis I whom they hate, &lsquo;tis I whom they
+      would destroy. This form, I fear it has lost its lustre, but still &lsquo;tis
+      thine, and once thou saidst thou lovedst it; this form was to have been
+      hacked and mangled; this ivory bosom was to have been ripped up and
+      tortured, and this warm blood, that flows alone for thee, that fell
+      Jabaster was to pour its tide upon the altar of his ancient vengeance. He
+      ever hated me!&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Jabaster! Schirene! Where are we, and what are we? Life, life, they lie,
+      that call thee Nature! Nature never sent these gusts of agony. Oh! my
+      heart will break. I drove him from my thought, and now she calls him up,
+      and now must I remember he is my-prisoner! God of heaven, God of my
+      fathers, is it come to this? Why did he not escape? Why must Abidan, a
+      common cut-throat, save his graceless life, and this great soul, this
+      stern and mighty being&mdash;&mdash; Ah me! I have lived long enough.
+      Would they had not failed, would&mdash;&mdash;&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Stop, stop, Alroy! I pray thee, love, be calm. I came to soothe thee, not
+      to raise thy passions. I did not say Jabaster willed thy death, though
+      Asriel says so; &lsquo;tis me he wars against; and if indeed Jabaster be a man
+      so near thy heart, if he indeed be one so necessary to thy prosperity, and
+      cannot live in decent order with thy slave that&rsquo;s here, I know my duty,
+      Sir. I would not have thy fortunes farred to save my single heart,
+      although I think &lsquo;twill break. I will go, I will die, and deem the hardest
+      accident of life but sheer prosperity if it profit thee.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;O Schirene! what wouldst thou? This, this is torture.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;To see thee safe and happy; nothing more.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;I am both, if thou art.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Care not for me, I am nothing.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Thou art all to me.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Calm thyself, my soul. It grieves me much that when I came to soothe I
+      have only galled thee. All&rsquo;s well, all&rsquo;s well. Say that Jabaster lives.
+      What then? He lives, and may he prove more duteous than before; that&rsquo;s
+      all.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;He lives, he is my prisoner, he awaits his doom. It must be given.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Yes, yes!&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Shall we pardon?&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;My lord will do that which it pleases him.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Nay, nay, Schirene, I pray thee be more kind. I am most wretched. Speak,
+      what wouldst thou?&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;If I must speak, I say at once, his life.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Ah me!&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;If our past loves have any charm, if the hope ot future joy, not less
+      supreme, be that which binds thee to this shadowy world, as it does me,
+      and does alone, I say his life, his very carnal life. He stands between us
+      and our loves, Alroy, and ever has done. There is no happiness if Jabaster
+      breathe; nor can I be the same Schirene to thee as I have been, if this
+      proud rebel live to spy my conduct.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Banish him, banish him!&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;To herd with rebels. Is this thy policy?&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;O Schirene! I love not this man, although me-thinks I should: yet didst
+      thou know but all!&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;I know too much, Alroy. From the first he has been to me a hateful
+      thought. Come, come, sweet bird, a boon, a boon unto thy own Schirene, who
+      was so frightened by these wicked men! I fear it has done more mischief
+      than thou deemest. Ay! robbed us of our hopes. It may be so. A boon, a
+      boon! It is not much I ask: a traitor&rsquo;s head. Come, give me thy signet
+      ring. It will not; nay, then, I&rsquo;ll take it. What, resist! I know thou oft
+      hast told me a kiss could vanquish all denial. There it is. Is&rsquo;t sweet?
+      Shalt have another, and another too. I&rsquo;ve got the ring! Farewell, my
+      lovely bird, I&rsquo;ll soon return to pillow in thy nest.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;She has got the ring! What&rsquo;s this? what&rsquo;s this? Schirene! art gone? Nay,
+      surely not. She jests. Jabaster! A traitor&rsquo;s head! What ho! there. Pharez,
+      Pharez!&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;My lord.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Passed the Queen that way?&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;She did, my lord.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;In tears?&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Nay! very joyful!&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Call Honain, quick as my thought. Honain! Honain! He waits without. I
+      have seen the best of life, that&rsquo;s very sure. My heart is cracking. She
+      surely jests! Hah! Honain. Pardon these distracted looks. Fly to the
+      Armoury! fly, fly!&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;For what, my lord?&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Ay! for what, for what! My brain it wanders. Thy brother, thy great
+      brother, the Queen, the Queen has stolen my signet ring, that is, I gave
+      it her. Fly, fly! or in a word, Jabaster is no more. He is gone. Pharez!
+      your arm; I swoon!&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;His Highness is sorely indisposed to-day.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;They say he swooned this morn.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Ay, in the bath.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;No, not in the bath. &lsquo;Twas when he heard of Jabaster&rsquo;s death.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;How died he, Sir?&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Self-strangled. His mighty heart could not endure disgrace, and thus he
+      ended all his glorious deeds.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;A great man!&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;We shall not soon see his match. The Queen had gained his pardon, and
+      herself flew to the Armoury to bear the news; alas! too late.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;These are strange times. Jabaster dead!&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;A very great event.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Who will be High Priest?&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;I doubt if the appointment will be filled up.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Sup you with the Lord Ithamar to-night?&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;I do.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;I also. We&rsquo;ll go together. The Queen had gained his pardon. Hum! &lsquo;tis
+      strange.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Passing so. They say Abidan has escaped?&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;I hear it. Shall we meet Medad to-night?&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;&lsquo;Tis likely.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      <a name="link2HCH0010" id="link2HCH0010">
+      <!--  H2 anchor --> </a>
+    </p>
+    <div style="height: 4em;">
+      <br /><br /><br /><br />
+    </div>
+    <h2>
+      CHAPTER X.
+    </h2>
+<pre xml:space="preserve">
+     <i>The Fall of Alroy</i>
+</pre>
+    <p>
+      SHE comes not yet! her cheerful form, not yet it sparkles in our mournful
+      sky. She comes not yet! the shadowy stars seem sad and lustreless without
+      their Queen. She comes not yet!&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;<i>WE ARE THE WATCHERS OF THE MOON,<a href="#linknote-78"
+       name="linknoteref-78" id="linknoteref-78">78</a> AND LIVE IN LONELINESS TO
+      HERALD LIGHT.</i>&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;She comes not yet! her sacred form, not yet it summons to our holy feast.
+      She comes not yet! our brethren far wait mute and motionless the saintly
+      beam. She comes not yet!&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;<i>WE ARE THE WATCHERS OF THE MOON, AND LIVE IN LONELINESS TO HERALD
+      LIGHT</i>.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;She comes, she comes! her beauteous form sails with soft splendour in the
+      glittering air. She comes, she comes! The beacons fire, and tell the
+      nation that the month begins! She comes, she comes!&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;<i>WE ARE THE WATCHERS OF THE MOON, TO TELL THE NATION THAT THE MONTH
+      BEGINS</i>.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Instantly the holy watchers fired the beacons on the mountain top, and
+      anon a thousand flames blazed round the land. From Caucasus to Lebanon, on
+      every peak a crown of light.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Sire! a Tatar has arrived from Hamadan, who will see none but thyself. I
+      have told him your Highness was engaged, and sent him to the Lord Honain;
+      but all denial is lost upon him. And as I thought perhaps the Lady Miriam&mdash;&mdash;&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;From Hamadan? You did well, Pharez. Admit him.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      The Tatar entered.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Well, Sir; good news, I hope!&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Sire, pardon me, the worst. I come from the Lord Abner, with orders to
+      see the Caliph, and none else.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Well, Sir, you see the Caliph. Your mission? What of the Viceroy?&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Sire, he bade me tell thee, that, the moment the beacon that announced
+      the Feast of the New Moon was fired on Caucasus, the dreaded monarch of
+      Karasmé, the great Alp Arslan, entered thy kingdom, and now overruns all
+      Persia.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Hah! and Abner?&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Is in the field, and prays for aid.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;He shall have it. This is indeed great news! When left you Hamadan?&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Night and day I have journeyed upon the swiftest dromedary. The third
+      morn sees me at Bagdad.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;You have done your duty. See this faithful courier be well tended,
+      Pharez. Summon the Lord Honain.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Alp Arslan! Hah! a very famous warrior. The moment the beacon was fired.
+      No sudden impulse then, but long matured. I like it not.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Sire,&rsquo; said Pharez, re-entering, &lsquo;a Tatar has arrived from the frontiers
+      of the province, who will see none but thyself. I have told him your
+      Highness was deeply busied, and as methinks he brings but the same news, I&mdash;&mdash;&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;&lsquo;Tis very likely; yet never <i>think</i>, good Pharez. I&rsquo;ll see the man.&rsquo;
+      The Tatar entered.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Well, Sir, how now! from whom?&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;From Mozul. The Governor bade me see the Caliph and none else, and tell
+      your Highness that the moment the beacon that announced the Feast of the
+      New Moon was fired on the mountains, the fell rebel Abidan raised the
+      standard of Judah in the province, and proclaimed war against your
+      Majesty.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;In any force?&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;The royal power keeps within their walls.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Sufficient answer. Part of the same movement. We shall have some trouble.
+      Hast summoned Honain?&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;I have, Sire.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Go, see this messenger be duly served, and, Pharez, come hither: let none
+      converse with them. You understand?&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Your Highness may assure yourself.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Abidan come to life. He shall not escape so well this time. I must see
+      Scherirah. I much suspect&mdash;&mdash;what&rsquo;s this? More news!&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      A third Tatar entered.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;May it please your Highness, this Tatar has arrived from the Syrian
+      frontier.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Mischief in the wind, I doubt not. Speak out, knave!&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Sire! pardon me; I bear but sad intelligence.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Out with the worst!&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;I come from the Lord Medad.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Well! has he rebelled? It seems a catching fever.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Ah! no, dread Sire, Lord Medad has no thought but for thy glory. Alas!
+      alas! he has now to guard it against fearful odds. Lord Medad bade me see
+      the Caliph and none else, and tell your Highness, that the moment the
+      beacon which announced the Feast of the New Moon was fired on Lebanon, the
+      Sultan of Roum and the old Arabian Caliph unfurled the standard of their
+      Prophet, in great array, and are now marching towards Bagdad.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;A clear conspiracy! Has Honain arrived? Summon a council of the Vizirs
+      instantly. The world is up against me. Well! I&rsquo;m sick of peace. They shall
+      not find me napping!&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;You see, my lords,&rsquo; said Alroy, ere the council broke up, &lsquo;we must attack
+      them singly. There can be no doubt of that. If they join, we must combat
+      at great odds. &lsquo;Tis in detail that we must route them. I will myself to
+      Persia. Ithamar must throw himself between the Sultan and Abidan, Medad
+      fall back on Ithamar. Scherirah must guard the capital. Honain, you are
+      Regent. And so farewell. I shall set off to-night. Courage, brave
+      companions. &lsquo;Tis a storm, but many a cedar survives the thunderbolt.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      The council broke up.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;My own Scherirah!&rsquo; said the Caliph, as they retired, &lsquo;stay awhile. I
+      would speak with you alone. Honain,&rsquo; continued Alroy, following the Grand
+      Vizir out of the chamber, and leaving Scherirah alone, &lsquo;Honain, I have not
+      yet interchanged a word with you in private. What think you of all this?&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Sire, I am prepared for the worst, but hope the best.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;&lsquo;Tis wise. If Abner could only keep that Karasmian in check! I am about
+      to speak with Scherirah alone. I do suspect him much.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;I&rsquo;ll answer for his treason.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Hah! I do suspect him. Therefore I give him no command. I would not have
+      him too near his old companion, eh? We will garrison the city with his
+      rebels.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Sire, these are not moments to be nice. Scherirah is a valiant captain, a
+      very valiant captain, but lend me thy signet ring, I pray thee, Sire.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Alroy turned pale.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;No, Sir, it has left me once, and never shall again. You have touched
+      upon a string that makes me sad. There is a burden on my conscience, why,
+      or what, I know not. I am innocent, you know I am innocent, Honain!&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;I&rsquo;ll answer for your Highness. He who has enough of the milk of human
+      kindness to spare a thing like Scherirah, when he stands in his way, may
+      well be credited for the nobler mercy that spared his better.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Ah me! there&rsquo;s madness in the thought. Why is he not here? Had I but
+      followed; tush! tush! Go see the Queen, and tell her all that has
+      happened. I&rsquo;ll to Scherirah.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      The Caliph returned.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Thy pardon, brave Scherirah; in these moments my friends will pardon
+      lapse of courtesy.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Your Highness is too considerate.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;You see, Scherirah, how the wind blows, brave heart. There&rsquo;s much to do,
+      no doubt. I am in sad want of some right trusty friend, on whose devoted
+      bosom I can pillow all my necessities. I was thinking of sending you
+      against this Arslan, but perhaps &lsquo;tis better that I should go myself.
+      These are moments one should not seem to shrink, and yet we know not how
+      affairs may run; no, we know not. The capital, the surrounding province:
+      one disaster and these false Moslemin may rise against us. I should stay
+      here, but if I leave Scherirah, I leave myself. I feel that deeply; &lsquo;tis a
+      consolation. It may be that I must fall back upon the city. Be prepared,
+      Scherirah. Let me fall back upon supporting friends. You have a great
+      trust. Oh! use it wisely! Worthily I am sure you must do.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Your Highness may rest assured I have no other thought but for your weal
+      and glory. Doubt not my devotion, Sire. I am not one of those
+      mealy-mouthed youths, full of their own deeds and lip-worship, Sire, but I
+      have a life devoted to your service, and ready at all times to peril all
+      things.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;I know that, Scherirah, I know it; I feel it deeply. What think you of
+      these movements?&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;They are not ill combined, and yet I doubt not your Majesty will prove
+      your fortunes most triumphant.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Think you the soldiery are in good cue?&rsquo; &lsquo;I&rsquo;ll answer for my own. They
+      are rough fellows, like myself, a little too blunt, perhaps, your
+      Highness. We are not holiday guards, but we know our duty, and we will do
+      it.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;That&rsquo;s well, that&rsquo;s all I want. I shall review the troops before I go.
+      Let a donative be distributed among them; and, &lsquo;by-the-bye, I have always
+      forgotten it, your legion should be called the Legion of Syria. We owe our
+      fairest province to their arms.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;I shall convey to them your Highness&rsquo; wish. Were it possible, &lsquo;twould add
+      to their devotion.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;I do not wish it. They are my very children. Sup at the Serail to-night,
+      Scherirah. We shall be very private. Yet let us drink together ere we
+      part. We are old friends, you know. Hast not forgotten our ruined city?&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Alroy entered the apartment of Schirene. &lsquo;My soul! thou knowest all?&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      She sprang forward and threw her arms around his neck.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Fear not, my life, we&rsquo;ll not disgrace our Queen. &lsquo;Twill be quick work.
+      Two-thirds of them have been beaten before, and for the new champion, our
+      laurels must not fade, and his blood shall nourish fresh ones.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Dearest, dearest Alroy, go not thyself, I pray thee. May not Asriel
+      conquer?&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;I hope so, in my company. For a time we part, a short one. &lsquo;Tis our first
+      parting: may it be our last!&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Oh! no, no, no: oh! say not we must part.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;The troops are under arms; to-morrow&rsquo;s dawn will hear my trumpet.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;I will not quit thee, no! I will not quit thee. What business has
+      Schirene without Alroy? Hast thou not often told me I am thy inspiration?
+      In the hour of danger shall I be wanting? Never! I will not quit thee; no,
+      I will not quit thee.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Thou art ever present in my thoughts, my soul. In the battle I shall
+      think of her for whom alone I conquer.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Nay, nay, I&rsquo;ll go, indeed I must, Alroy. I&rsquo;ll be no hindrance, trust me,
+      sweet boy, I will not. I&rsquo;ll have no train, no, not a single maid. Credit
+      me, I know how a true soldier&rsquo;s wife should bear herself. I&rsquo;ll watch thee
+      sleeping, and I&rsquo;ll tend thee wounded, and when thou goest forth to combat
+      I&rsquo;ll gird thy sabre round thy martial side, and whisper triumph with
+      victorious kisses.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;My own Schirene, there&rsquo;s victory in thine eyes. We&rsquo;ll beat them, girl.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Abidan, doubly false Abidan! would he were doubly hanged! Ere she died,
+      the fatal prophetess foretold this time, and gloated on his future
+      treachery.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Think not of him.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;And the Karasmian; think you he is very strong?&rsquo; &lsquo;Enough, love, for our
+      glory. He is a potent warrior: I trust that Abner will not rob us of our
+      intended victory.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;So you triumph, I care not by whose sword. Dost go indeed to-morrow?&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;At break of dawn. I pray thee stay, my sweet!&rsquo; &lsquo;Never! I will not quit
+      thee. I am quite prepared. At break of dawn? &lsquo;Tis near on midnight now.
+      I&rsquo;ll lay me down upon this couch awhile, and travel in my litter. Art sure
+      Alp Arslan is himself in the field?&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Quite sure, my sweet.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Confusion on his crown! We&rsquo;ll conquer. Goes Asriel with us?&rsquo; &lsquo;Ay!&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;That&rsquo;s well; at break of dawn. I&rsquo;m somewhat drowsy. Methinks I&rsquo;ll sleep
+      awhile.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Do, my best heart; I&rsquo;ll to my cabinet, and at break of dawn I&rsquo;ll wake
+      thee with a kiss.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      The Caliph repaired to his cabinet, where his secretaries were occupied in
+      writing. As he paced the chamber, he dictated to them the necessary
+      instructions.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Who is the officer on guard?&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Benaiah, Sire.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;I remember him. He saved me a broken skull upon the Tigris. This is for
+      him. The Queen accompanies us. She is his charge. These papers for the
+      Vizir. Let the troops be under arms by daybreak. This order of the day for
+      the Lord Asriel. Send this instantly to Hamadan. Is the Tatar despatched
+      to Medad? &lsquo;Tis well. You have done your duty. Now to rest. Pharez?&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;My lord.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;I shall not sleep to-night. Give me my drink. Go rest, good boy. I have
+      no wants. Good night.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Good night, my gracious lord!&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Let me ponder! I am alone. I am calm, and yet my spirit is not quick. I
+      am not what I was. Four-and-twenty hours ago who would have dreamed of
+      this? All at stake again! Once more in the field, and struggling at once
+      for empire and existence! I do lack the mighty spirit of my former days. I
+      am not what I was. I have little faith. All about me seems changed, and
+      dull, and grown mechanical. Where are those flashing eyes and conquering
+      visages that clustered round me on the battle eve, round me, the Lord&rsquo;s
+      anointed? I see none such. They are changed, as I am. Why! this Abidan was
+      a host, and now he fights against me. She spoke of the prophetess; I
+      remember that woman was the stirring trumpet of our ranks, and now where
+      is she? The victim of my justice! And where is he, the mightier far, the
+      friend, the counsellor, the constant guide, the master of my boyhood; the
+      firm, the fond, the faithful guardian of all my bright career; whose days
+      and nights were one unbroken study to make me glorious? Alas! I feel more
+      like a doomed and desperate renegade than a young hero on the eve of
+      battle, flushed with the memory of unbroken triumphs!
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Hah! what awful form art thou that risest from the dusky earth before me?
+      Thou shouldst be one I dare not name, yet will: the likeness of Jabaster.
+      Away! why frownest thou upon me? I did not slay thee. Do I live, or dream,
+      or what? I see him, ay! I see thee. I fear thee not, I fear nothing. I am
+      Alroy.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Speak, oh speak! I do conjure thee, mighty spectre, speak. By all the
+      memory of the past, although &lsquo;tis madness, I do conjure thee, let me hear
+      again the accents of my boyhood.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;<i>Alroy, Alroy, Alroy</i>!&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;I listen, as to the last trump.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;<i>Meet me on the plain of Nehauend.</i>&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;&lsquo;Tis gone! As it spoke it vanished. It was Jabaster! God of my fathers,
+      it was Jabaster! Life is growing too wild. My courage is broken! I could
+      lie down and die. It was Jabaster! The voice sounds in my ear like distant
+      thunder: &ldquo;<i>Meet me on the plain of Nehauend</i>.&rdquo; I&rsquo;ll not fail thee,
+      noble ghost, although I meet my doom. Jabaster! Have I seen Jabaster!
+      Indeed! indeed! Methinks I&rsquo;m mad. Hah! What&rsquo;s that?&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      An awful clap of thunder broke over the palace, followed by a strange
+      clashing sound that seemed to come from one of the chambers. The walls of
+      the Serail rocked.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;An earthquake!&rsquo; exclaimed Alroy. &lsquo;Would that the earth would open and
+      swallow all! Hah! Pharez, has it roused thee, too? Pharez, we live in
+      strange times.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Your Highness is very pale.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;And so art thou, lad! Wouldst have me merry? Pale! we may well be pale,
+      didst thou know all. Hah! that awful sound again! I cannot bear it,
+      Pharez, I cannot bear it. I have borne many things, but this I cannot.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;My lord, &lsquo;tis in the Armoury.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Run, see. No, I&rsquo;ll not be alone. Where&rsquo;s Benaiah? Let him go. Stay with
+      me, Pharez, stay with me. I pray thee stay, my child.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Pharez led the Caliph to a couch, on which Alroy lay pale and trembling.
+      In a few minutes he inquired whether Benaiah had returned.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Even now he comes, Sire.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Well, how is it?&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Sire! a most awful incident. As the thunder broke over the palace, the
+      sacred standard fell from its resting-place, and has shivered into a
+      thousand pieces. Strange to say, the sceptre of Solomon can neither be
+      found nor traced.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Say nothing of the past, as ye love me, lads. Let none enter the Armoury.
+      Leave me, Benaiah, leave me, Pharez.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      They retired. Alroy watched their departure with a glance of inexpressible
+      anguish. The moment that they had disappeared, he flew to the couch, and
+      throwing himself upon his knees, and, covering his face with his hands,
+      burst into passionate tears, and exclaimed, &lsquo;O! my God, I have deserted
+      thee, and now thou hast deserted me!&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Sleep crept over the senses of the exhausted and desperate Caliph. He
+      threw himself upon the divan, and was soon buried in profound repose. He
+      might have slept an hour; he awoke suddenly. From the cabinet in which he
+      slept, you entered a vast hall, through a lofty and spacious arch,
+      generally covered with drapery, which was now withdrawn. To the
+      astonishment of Alroy, this presence-chamber appeared at this moment to
+      blaze with light. He rose from his couch, he advanced; he perceived, with
+      feelings of curiosity and fear, that the hall was filled with beings,
+      terrible indeed to behold, but to his sight more terrible than strange. In
+      the colossal and mysterious forms that lined the walls of the mighty
+      chamber, and each of which held in its extended arm a streaming torch, he
+      recognised the awful Afrites. At the end of the hall, upon a sumptuous
+      throne, surrounded by priests and courtiers, there was seated a monarch,
+      on whom Alroy had before gazed, Solomon the Great! Alroy beheld him in
+      state and semblance the same Solomon, whose sceptre the Prince of the
+      Captivity had seized in the royal tombs of Judah.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      The strange assembly seemed perfectly unconscious of the presence of the
+      child of Earth, who, with a desperate courage, leant against a column of
+      the arch, and watched, with wonder, their mute and motionless society.
+      Nothing was said, nothing done. No one moved, no one, even by gesture,
+      seemed sensible of the presence of any other apparition save himself.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Suddenly there advanced from the bottom of the hall, near unto Alroy, a
+      procession. Pages and dancing girls, with eyes of fire and voluptuous
+      gestures, warriors with mighty arms, and venerable forms with ample robes
+      and flowing beards. And, as they passed, even with all the activity of
+      their gestures, they made no sound; neither did the musicians, whereof
+      there was a great band playing upon harps and psalteries, and timbrels and
+      cornets, break, in the slightest degree, the almighty silence.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      This great crowd poured on in beautiful order, the procession never
+      terminating, yet passing thrice round the hall, bowing to him that was
+      upon the throne, and ranging themselves in ranks before the Afrites.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      And there came in twelve forms, bearing a great seal: the stone green, and
+      the engraven characters of living flame, and the characters were those on
+      the talisman of Jabaster, which Alroy still wore next to his heart. And
+      the twelve forms placed the great seal before Solomon, and humbled
+      themselves, and the King bowed. At the same moment Alroy was sensible of a
+      pang next to his heart. He instantly put his hand to the suffering spot,
+      and lo! the talisman crumbled into dust.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      The procession ceased; a single form advanced. Recent experience alone
+      prevented Alroy from sinking before the spectre of Jabaster. Such was the
+      single form. It advanced, bearing the sceptre. It advanced, it knelt
+      before the throne, it offered the sceptre to the crowned and solemn
+      vision. And the form of Solomon extended its arm, and took the sceptre,
+      and instantly the mighty assembly vanished!
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Alroy advanced immediately into the chamber, but all was dark and silent.
+      A trumpet sounded. He recognised the note of his own soldiery. He groped
+      his way to a curtain, and, pulling it aside, beheld the first streak of
+      dawn.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Once more upon his charger, once more surrounded by his legions, once more
+      his senses dazzled and inflamed by the waving banners and the inspiring
+      trumpets, once more conscious of the power still at his command, and the
+      mighty stake for which he was about to play, Alroy in a great degree
+      recovered his usual spirit and self-possession. His energy returned with
+      his excited pulse, and the vastness of the impending danger seemed only to
+      stimulate the fertility of his genius.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      He pushed on by forced marches towards Media, at the head of fifty
+      thousand men. At the end of the second day&rsquo;s march, fresh couriers arrived
+      from Abner, informing him that, unable to resist the valiant and almost
+      innumerable host of the King of Karasmé, he had entirely evacuated Persia,
+      and had concentrated his forces in Louristan. Alroy, in consequence of
+      this information, despatched orders to Scherirah, to join him with his
+      division instantly, and leave the capital to its fate.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      They passed again the mountains of Kerrund, and joined Abner and the army
+      of Media, thirty thousand strong, on the river Abzah. Here Alroy rested
+      one night, to refresh his men, and on the ensuing morn pushed on to the
+      Persian frontier, unexpectedly attacked the advanced posts of Alp Arslan,
+      and beat them back with great loss into the province. But the force of the
+      King of Karasmé was so considerable, that the Caliph did not venture on a
+      general engagement, and therefore he fell back, and formed in battle array
+      upon the neighbouring plain of Nehauend, the theatre of one of his
+      earliest and most brilliant victories, where he awaited the
+      hourly-expected arrival of Scherirah.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      The King of Karasmé, who was desirous of bringing affairs to an issue, and
+      felt confident in his superior force, instantly advanced. In two or three
+      days at farthest, it was evident that a battle must be fought that would
+      decide the fate of the East.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      On the morn ensuing their arrival at Nehauend, while the Caliph was out
+      hunting, attended only by a few officers, he was suddenly attacked by an
+      ambushed band of Karasmians. Alroy and his companions defended themselves
+      with such desperation that they at length succeeded in beating off their
+      assailants, although triple their number. The leader of the Karasmians, as
+      he retreated, hurled a dart at the Caliph, which must have been fatal, had
+      not a young officer of the guard interposed his own breast, and received
+      the deadly wound. The party, in confusion, returned with all speed to the
+      camp, Alroy himself bearing the expiring victim of desperate loyalty and
+      military enthusiasm.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      The bleeding officer was borne to the royal pavilion, and placed upon the
+      imperial couch. The most skilful leech was summoned; he examined the
+      wound, but shook his head. The dying warrior was himself sensible of his
+      desperate condition. His agony could only be alleviated by withdrawing the
+      javelin, which would occasion his immediate decease. He desired to be left
+      alone with his Sovereign.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Sire!&rsquo; said the officer, &lsquo;I must die; and I die without a pang. To die in
+      your service, I have ever considered the most glorious end. Destiny has
+      awarded it to me;, and if I have not met my fate upon the field of battle,
+      it is some consolation that my death has preserved the most valuable of
+      lives. Sire! I have a sister.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Waste not thy strength, dear friend, in naming her. Rest assured I shall
+      ever deem thy relatives my own.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;I doubt it not. Would I had a thousand lives for such a master! I have a
+      burden on my conscience, Sire, nor can I die in peace unless I speak of
+      it.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Speak, speak freely. If thou hast injured any one, and the power or
+      wealth of Alroy can redeem thy oppressed spirit, he will not spare, he
+      will not spare, be assured of that.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Noble, noble master, I must be brief; for, although, while this javelin
+      rests within my body, I yet may live, the agony is great. Sire, the deed
+      of which I speak doth concern thee.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Ay!&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;I was on guard the day Jabaster died.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Powers of heaven! I am all ear. Speak on, speak on!&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;He died self-strangled, so they say?&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;So they ever told me.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Thou art innocent, thou art innocent! I thank my God, my King is
+      innocent!&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Rest assured of that, as there is hope in Israel. Tell me all.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;The Queen came with the signet ring. To such authority I yielded way. She
+      entered, and after her, the Lord Honain. I heard high words! I heard
+      Jabaster&rsquo;s voice. He struggled, yes! he struggled; but his mighty form,
+      wounded and fettered, could not long resist. Foul play, foul play, Sire!
+      What could I do against such adversaries? They left the chamber with a
+      stealthy step. Her eyes met mine. I never could forget that fell and
+      glittering visage.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Thou ne&rsquo;er hast spoken of this awful end?&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;To none but thee. And why I speak it now I cannot tell, save that it
+      seems some inspiration urges me; and methinks they who did this may do
+      even feller works, if such there be.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Thou hast robbed me of all peace and hope of peace; and yet I thank thee.
+      Now I know the worth of life. I have never loved to think of that sad day;
+      and yet, though I have sometimes dreamed of villainous work, the worst
+      were innocence to thy dread tale.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Tis told; and now I pray thee secure thy secret, by drawing from my
+      agonised frame this javelin.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Trusty heart, &lsquo;tis a sad office.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;I die with joy if thou performest it.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;&lsquo;Tis done.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;God save Alroy.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      While Alroy, plunged in thought, stood over the body of the officer, there
+      arose a flourish of triumphant music, and a eunuch, entering the pavilion,
+      announced the arrival of Schirene from Kerrund. Almost immediately
+      afterwards, the Princess descending from her litter, entered the tent;
+      Alroy tore off his robe, and threw it over the corpse.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;My own,&rsquo; exclaimed the Princess, as she ran up to the Caliph. &lsquo;I have
+      heard all. Be not alarmed for me. I dare look upon a corpse. You know I am
+      a soldier&rsquo;s bride. I am used to blood.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Alas!&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Why so pale? Thou dost not kiss me! Has this unhinged thee so? &lsquo;Tis a sad
+      deed; and yet tomorrow&rsquo;s dawn may light up thousands to as grim a fate.
+      Why? thou tremblest! Alas! kind soul! The single death of this fond,
+      faithful heart hath quite upset my love. Yet art thou used to battle. Why!
+      this is foolishness. Art not glad to see me? What, not one smile! And I
+      have come to fight for thee! I will be kissed!&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      She flung herself upon his neck. Alroy faintly returned her embrace, and
+      bore her to a couch. He clapped his hands, and two soldiers entered and
+      bore away the corpse.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;The pavilion, Schirene, is now fitter for thy presence. Rest thyself; I
+      shall soon return.&rsquo; Thus speaking, he quitted her.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      He quitted her; but her humbled look of sorrowful mortification pierced to
+      his heart. He thought of all her love and all her loveliness, he called to
+      mind all the marvellous story of their united fortunes. He felt that for
+      her and her alone he cared to live, that without her quick sympathy, even
+      success seemed unendurable. His judgment fluctuated in an eddy of passion
+      and reason. Passion conquered. He dismissed from his intelligence all
+      cognizance of good and evil; he determined, under all circumstances, to
+      cling ever to her; he tore from his mind all memory of the late
+      disclosure. He returned to the pavilion with a countenance beaming with
+      affection; he found her weeping, he folded her in his arms, he kissed her
+      with a thousand kisses, and whispered between each kiss his ardent love.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Twas midnight. Schirene reposed in the arms of Alroy. The Caliph, who was
+      restless and anxious for the arrival of Scherirah, was scarcely slumbering
+      when the sound of a voice thoroughly aroused him. He looked around; he
+      beheld the spectre of Jabaster. His hair stood on end, his limbs seemed to
+      loosen, a cold dew crept over his frame, as he gazed upon the awful form
+      within a yard of his couch. Unconsciously he disembarrassed his arms of
+      their fair burden, and, rising on the couch, leant forward.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;<i>Alroy, Alroy, Alroy</i>!&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;I am here.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;<i>To-morrow Israel is avenged!</i>&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Who is that?&rsquo; exclaimed the Princess, wakening.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      In a frenzy of fear, Alroy, quite forgetting the spectre, turned and
+      pressed his hand over her eyes. When he again looked round the apparition
+      was invisible.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;What wouldst thou, Alroy?&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Nothing, sweet! A soldier&rsquo;s wife must bear strange sights, yet I would
+      save you some. One of my men, forgetful you were here, burst into my tent
+      in such a guise as scarce would suit a female eye. I must away, my child.
+      I&rsquo;ll call thy slaves. One kiss! Farewell! but for a time.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;&ldquo;To-morrow Israel will be avenged.&rdquo; What! in Karasmian blood? I have no
+      faith. No matter. All is now beyond my influence. A rushing destiny
+      carries me onward. I cannot stem the course, nor guide the vessel. How
+      now! Who is the officer on guard?&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Benomi, Sire, thy servant.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Send to the Viceroy. Bid him meet me here. Who is this?&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;A courier from the Lord Scherirah, Sire, but just arrived. He passed last
+      night the Kerrund mountains, Sire, and will be with you by the break of
+      day.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Good news. Go fetch Abner. Haste! He&rsquo;ll find me here anon. I&rsquo;ll visit the
+      camp awhile. Well, my brave fellows, you have hither come to conquer again
+      with Alroy. You have fought before, I warrant, on the plain of Nehauend.
+      &lsquo;Tis a rich soil, and shall be richer with Karasmian gore.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;God save your Majesty! Our lives are thine.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Please you, my little ruler,&rsquo; said a single soldier, addressing Alroy;
+      &lsquo;pardon my bluntness, but I knew you before you were a Caliph.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Stout heart, I like thy freedom. Pr&rsquo;ythee say on.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;I was a-saying, I hope you will lead us in the charge to-morrow. Some say
+      you will not.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;They say falsely.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;I thought so. I&rsquo;ll ever answer for my little ruler, but then the Queen?&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Is a true soldier&rsquo;s wife, and lives in the camp.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;That&rsquo;s brave! There, I told you so, comrades; you would not believe me,
+      but I knew our little ruler before you did. I lived near the gate at
+      Hamadan, please your Highness: old Shelomi&rsquo;s son.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Give me thy hand; a real friend. What is&rsquo;t ye eat here, boys? Let me
+      taste your mess. I&rsquo;faith I would my cook could dress me such a pilau! Tis
+      admirable!&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      The soldiers gathered round their chieftain with eyes beaming with
+      adoration. &lsquo;Twas a fine picture, the hero in the centre, the various
+      groups around, some conversing with him, some cooking, some making coffee,
+      all offering him by word or deed some testimonial of their devotion, and
+      blending with that devotion the most perfect frankness.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;We shall beat them, lads!&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;There is no fear with you, you always conquer.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;I do my best, and so do you. A good general without good troops is little
+      worth.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;I&rsquo;faith that&rsquo;s true. One must have good troops. What think you of Alp
+      Arslan?&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;I think he may give us as much trouble as all our other enemies together,
+      and that&rsquo;s not much.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Brave, brave! God save Alroy!&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Benomi approached, and announced that the Viceroy was in attendance.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;I must quit you, my children,&rsquo; said Alroy. &lsquo;We&rsquo;ll sup once more together
+      when we have conquered.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;God save you, Sire; and we will confound your enemies.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Good night, my lads. Ere the dawn break we may have hot work.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;We are ready, we are ready. God save Alroy.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;They are in good cue, and yet &lsquo;twas a different spirit that inspired our
+      early days. That I strongly feel. These are men true to a leader who has
+      never failed them, and confident in a cause that leads to plunder. They
+      are but splendid mercenaries.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      No more. Oh! where are now the fighting men of Judah! Where are the men
+      who, when they drew their scimitars, joined in a conquering psalm of holy
+      triumph! Last eve of battle you would have thought the field a mighty
+      synagogue. Priests and altars, flaming sacrifices, and smoking censers,
+      groups of fiery zealots hanging with frenzy on prophetic lips, and sealing
+      with their blood and holiest vows a solemn covenant to conquer Canaan. All
+      is changed, as I am. How now, Abner? You are well muffled!&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Is it true Scherirah is at hand?&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;I doubt not all is right. Would that the dawn would break!&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;The enemy is advancing. Some of their columns are in sight. My scouts
+      have dodged them. They intend doubtless to form upon the plain.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;They are in sight, eh! Then we will attack them at once ere they are
+      formed. Rare, rare! We&rsquo;ll beat them yet. Courage, dear brother. Scherirah
+      will be here at dawn in good time, very good time: very, very good time.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;I like the thought&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;The men are in good heart. At break of dawn, charge with thirty thousand
+      cavalry upon their forming ranks. I&rsquo;ll take the right, Asriel the left. It
+      shall be a family affair, dear Abner. How is Miriam?&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;I heard this morn, quite well. She sends you her love and prayers. The
+      Queen is here?&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;She came this eve. Quite well.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;She must excuse all courtesy.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Say nothing. She is a soldier&rsquo;s wife. She loves thee well, dear Abner.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;I know that. I hope my sword may guard her children&rsquo;s throne.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Well, give thy orders. Instant battle, eh?&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Indeed I think so.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;I&rsquo;ll send couriers to hurry Scherirah. All looks well. Reserve the
+      guard.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Ay, ay! Farewell, dear Sire. When we meet again, I trust your enemies may
+      be your slaves!&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      At the first streak of dawn the Hebrew cavalry, with the exception of the
+      Guard, charged the advancing columns of the Karasmians with irresistible
+      force, and cut them in pieces. Alp Arslan rallied his troops, and at
+      length succeeded in forming his main body in good order. Alroy and Asriel
+      led on their divisions, and the battle now became general. It raged for
+      several hours, and was on both sides well maintained. The slaughter of the
+      Karasmians was great, but their stern character and superior numbers
+      counterbalanced for a time all the impetuosity of the Hebrews and all the
+      energy of their leaders. This day Alroy threw into the shade all his
+      former exploits. Twelve times he charged at the head of the Sacred Guard,
+      and more than once penetrated to the very pavilion of Alp Arslan.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      In vain he endeavoured singly, and hand to hand, to meet that famous
+      chieftain. Both monarchs fought in the ranks, and yet Fate decided that
+      their scimitars should never cross. Four hours before noon, it was evident
+      to Alroy, that, unless Scherirah arrived, he could not prevail against the
+      vast superiority of numbers. He was obliged early to call his reserve into
+      the field, and although the number of the slain on the side of Arslan
+      exceeded any in the former victories of the Hebrews, still the Karasmians
+      maintained an immense front, which was constantly supplied by fresh
+      troops. Confident in his numbers, and aware of the weakness of his
+      antagonists, Arslan contented himself with acting on the defensive, and
+      wearying his assailants by resisting their terrible and repeated charge.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      For a moment, Alroy at the head of the Sacred Guard had withdrawn from the
+      combat. Abner and Asriel still maintained the fight, and the Caliph was at
+      the same time preparing for new efforts, and watching with anxiety for the
+      arrival of Scherirah. In the fifth hour, from an eminence he marked with
+      exultation the advancing banners of his expected succours. Confident now
+      that the day was won, he announced the exhilarating intelligence to his
+      soldiers; and, while they were excited by the animating tidings, led them
+      once more to the charge. It was irresistible; Scherirah seemed to have
+      arrived only for the pursuit, only in time to complete the victory. What
+      then was the horror, the consternation of Alroy, when Benaiah, dashing up
+      to him, informed him that the long-expected succours consisted of the
+      united forces of Scherirah and Abidan, and had attacked him in the rear.
+      Human genius could afford no resource. The exhausted Hebrews, whose
+      energies had been tasked to the utmost, were surrounded. The Karasmians
+      made a general and simultaneous advance. In a few minutes the Hebrew army
+      was thrown into confusion. The stoutest warriors threw away their swords
+      in despair. Every one thought only of self-preservation. Even Abner fled
+      towards Hamadan. Asriel was slain. Alroy, finding it was all over, rushed
+      to his pavilion at the head of about three hundred of the guards, seized
+      the fainting Schirene, threw her before him on his saddle, and cutting his
+      way through all obstacles, dashed into the desert.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      For eight-and-forty hours they never stopped. Their band was soon reduced
+      one-third. On the morning of the third day they dismounted and refreshed
+      themselves at a well. Half only regained their saddles. Schirene never
+      spoke. On they rushed again, each hour losing some exhausted co-mate. At
+      length, on the fifth day, about eighty strong, they arrived at a grove of
+      palm-trees. Here they dismounted. And Alroy took Schirene in his arms, and
+      the shade seemed to revive her. She opened her eyes, and pressed his hand
+      and smiled. He gathered her some dates, and she drank some water.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Our toils will soon be over, sweetest,&rsquo; he whispered to her; &lsquo;I have lost
+      everything but thee.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Again they mounted, and, proceeding at a less rapid pace, they arrived
+      towards evening at the ruined city, whither Alroy all this time had been
+      directing his course. Dashing down the great street, they at length
+      entered the old amphitheatre. They dismounted. Alroy made a couch with
+      their united cloaks for Schirene. Some collected fuel, great store of
+      which was found, and kindled large fires. Others, while it was yet light,
+      chased the gazelles, and were sufficiently fortunate to provide their
+      banquet, or fetched water from the well known to their leader. In an
+      hour&rsquo;s time, clustering round their fires in groups, and sharing their
+      rude fare, you might have deemed them, instead of the discomfited and
+      luxurious guards of a mighty monarch, the accustomed tenants of this wild
+      abode.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Come, my lads,&rsquo; said Alroy, as he rubbed his hands over the ascending
+      flame, &lsquo;at any rate, this is better than the desert.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      After all his exertions, Alroy fell into profound and dreamless sleep.
+      When he awoke, the sun had been long up. Schirene was still slumbering. He
+      embraced her, and she opened her eyes and smiled.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;You are now a bandit&rsquo;s bride,&rsquo; he said. &lsquo;How like you our new life?&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Well! with thee.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Rest here, my sweetest: I must rouse our men, and see how fortune
+      speeds.&rsquo; So saying, and tripping lightly over many a sleeping form, he
+      touched Benaiah.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;So! my brave captain of the guard, still napping! Come! stir, stir.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Benaiah jumped up with a cheerful face. &lsquo;I am ever ready, Sire.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;I know it; but remember I am no more a king, only a co-mate. Away with
+      me, and let us form some order.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      The companions quitted the amphitheatre and reconnoitred the adjoining
+      buildings. They found many stores, the remains of old days, mats, tents,
+      and fuel, drinking-bowls, and other homely furniture. They fixed upon a
+      building for their stable, and others for the accommodation of their band.
+      They summoned their companions to the open place, the scene of Hassan
+      Subah&rsquo;s fate, where Alroy addressed them and explained to them his plans.
+      They were divided into companies; each man had his allotted duty. Some
+      were placed on guard at different parts; some were sent out to the chase,
+      or to collect dates from the Oasis; others led the horses to the
+      contiguous pasture, or remained to attend to their domestic arrangements.
+      The amphitheatre was cleared out. A rude but convenient pavilion was
+      formed for Schirene. They covered its ground with mats, and each emulated
+      the other in his endeavours to study her accommodation. Her kind words and
+      inspiring smiles animated at the same time their zeal and their invention.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      They soon became accustomed to their rough but adventurous life. Its
+      novelty pleased them, and the perpetual excitement of urgent necessity
+      left them no time to mourn over their terrible vicissitudes. While Alroy
+      lived, hope indeed never deserted their sanguine bosoms. And such was the
+      influence of his genius, that the most desponding felt that to be
+      discomfited with him, was preferable to conquest with another. They were a
+      faithful and devoted band, and merry faces were not wanting when at night
+      they assembled in the amphitheatre for their common meal.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      No sooner had Alroy completed his arrangements than he sent forth spies in
+      all directions to procure intelligence, and especially to communicate, if
+      possible, with Ithamar and Medad, provided that they still survived and
+      maintained themselves in any force.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      A fortnight passed away without the approach of any stranger; at the end
+      of which, there arrived four personages at their haunt, not very welcome
+      to their chief, who, however, concealed his chagrin at their appearance.
+      These were Kisloch the Kourd, and Calidas the Indian, and their
+      inseparable companions, the Guebre and the Negro.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Noble Captain,&rsquo; said Kisloch, &lsquo;we trust that you will permit us to enlist
+      in the band. This is not the first time we have served under your orders
+      in this spot. Old co-mates, i&rsquo;faith, who have seen the best and the worst.
+      We suspected where you might be found, although, thanks to the ever
+      felicitous invention of man, it is generally received that you died in
+      battle. I hope your Majesty is well,&rsquo; added Kisloch, bowing to Schirene.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;You are welcome, friends,&rsquo; replied Alroy; &lsquo;I know your worth. You have
+      seen, as you say, the best and the worst, and will, I trust, see better.
+      Died in battle, eh! that&rsquo;s good.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;&lsquo;Tis so received,&rsquo; said Calidas.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;And what news of our friends?&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Not over good, but strange.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;How so?&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Hamadan is taken.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;I am prepared; tell me all.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Old Bostenay and the Lady Miriam are borne prisoners to Bagdad.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Prisoners?&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;But so; all will be well with them, I trow. The Lord Honain is in high
+      favour with the conqueror, and will doubtless protect them.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Honain in favour?&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Even so. He made terms for the city, and right good ones.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Hah! he was ever dexterous. Well! if he save my sister, I care not for
+      his favour.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;There is no doubt. All may yet be well, Sir.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Let us act, not hope. Where&rsquo;s Abner?&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Dead.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;How?&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;In battle.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Art sure?&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;I saw him fall, and fought beside him.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;A soldier&rsquo;s death is all our fortune now. I am glad he was not captured.
+      Where&rsquo;s Medad, Ithamar?&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Fled into Egypt.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;We have no force whatever, then?&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;None but your guards here.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;They are strong enough to plunder a caravan. Honain, you say, in favour?&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Very high. He&rsquo;ll make good terms for us.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;This is strange news.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Very, but true.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Well! you are welcome! Share our fare; &lsquo;tis rough, and somewhat scanty;
+      but we have feasted, and may feast again. Fled into Egypt, eh?&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Ay! Sir.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Schirene, shouldst like to see the Nile?&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;I have heard of crocodiles.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      If the presence of Kisloch and his companions were not very pleasing to
+      Alroy, with the rest of the band they soon became great favourites. Their
+      local knowledge, and their experience of desert life, made them valuable
+      allies, and their boisterous jocularity and unceasing merriment were not
+      unwelcome in the present monotonous existence of the fugitives. As for
+      Alroy himself, he meditated an escape to Egypt. He determined to seize the
+      first opportunity of procuring some camels, and then, dispersing his band,
+      with the exception of Benaiah and a few faithful retainers, he trusted
+      that, disguised as merchants, they might succeed in crossing Syria, and
+      entering Africa by Palestine. With these plans and prospects, he became
+      each day more cheerful and more sanguine as to the future. He had in his
+      possession some valuable jewels, which he calculated upon disposing of at
+      Cairo for a sum sufficient for all his purposes; and having exhausted all
+      the passions of life while yet a youth, he looked forward to the tranquil
+      termination of his existence in some poetic solitude with his beautiful
+      companion.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      One evening, as they returned from the Oasis, Alroy guiding the camel that
+      bore Schirene, and ever and anon looking up in her inspiring face, her
+      sanguine spirit would have indulged in a delightful future.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Thus shall we pass the desert, sweet,&rsquo; said Schirene. &lsquo;Can this be toil?&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;There is no toil with love,&rsquo; replied Alroy.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;And we were made for love, and not for empire,&rsquo; rejoined Schirene.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;The past is a dream,&rsquo; said Alroy. &lsquo;So sages teach us; but, until we act,
+      their wisdom is but wind. I feel it now. Have we ever lived in aught but
+      deserts, and fed on aught but dates? Methinks &lsquo;tis very natural. But that
+      I am tempted by the security of distant lands, I could remain here a free
+      and happy outlaw. Time, custom, and necessity form our natures. When I
+      first met Scherirah in these ruins, I shrank with horror from degraded
+      man; and now I sigh to be his heir. We must not think!&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;No, love, we&rsquo;ll only hope,&rsquo; replied Schirene; and they passed through the
+      gates.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      The night was beautiful, the air was still warm and sweet. Schirene gazed
+      upon the luminous heavens. &lsquo;We thought not of these skies when we were at
+      Bagdad,&rsquo; she exclaimed; &lsquo;and yet, my life, what was the brightness of our
+      palaces compared to these? All is left to us that man should covet,
+      freedom, beauty, and youth. I do believe, ere long, Alroy, we shall look
+      back upon the wondrous past as on another and a lower world. Would that
+      this were Egypt! Tis my only wish.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;And it shall soon be gratified. All will soon be arranged. A few brief
+      days, and then Schirene will mount her camel for a longer ride than just
+      to gather dates. You&rsquo;ll make a sorry traveller, I fear!&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Not I; I&rsquo;ll tire you all.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      They reached the circus, and seated themselves round the blazing fire.
+      Seldom had Alroy, since his fall, appeared more cheerful. Schirene sang an
+      Arab air to the band, who joined in joyous chorus. It was late ere they
+      sought repose; and they retired to their rest, sanguine and contented.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      A few hours afterwards, at the break of dawn, Alroy was roused from his
+      slumbers by a rude pressure on his breast. He started; a ferocious soldier
+      was kneeling over him; he would have spurned him; he found his hand
+      manacled. He would have risen; his feet were bound. He looked round for
+      Schirene, and called her name; he was answered only by a shriek. The
+      amphitheatre was filled with Karasmian troops. His own men were surprised
+      and overpowered. Kisloch and the Guebre had been on guard. He was raised
+      from the ground, and flung upon a camel, which was instantly trotted out
+      of the circus. On every side he beheld a wild scene of disorder and
+      dismay. He was speechless from passion and despair. The camel was dragged
+      into the desert. A body of cavalry instantly surrounded it, and they set
+      off at a rapid pace. The whole seemed the work of an instant.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      How many days had passed Alroy knew not. He had taken no account of time.
+      Night and day were to him the same. He was in a stupor. But the sweetness
+      of the air and the greenness of the earth at length partially roused his
+      attention. He was just conscious that they had quitted the desert. Before
+      him was a noble river; he beheld the Euphrates from the very spot he had
+      first viewed it in his pilgrimage. The strong association of ideas called
+      back his memory. A tear stole down his cheek; the bitter drop stole to his
+      parched lips; he asked the nearest horseman for water. The guard gave him
+      a wetted sponge, with which he contrived with difficulty to wipe his lips,
+      and then he let it fall to the ground. The Karasmian struck him.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      They arrived at the river. The prisoner was taken from the camel and
+      placed in a covered boat. After some hours they stopped and disembarked at
+      a small village. Alroy was placed upon an ass with his back to its head.
+      His clothes were soiled and tattered. The children pelted him with mud. An
+      old woman, with a fanatic curse, placed a crown of paper on his brow. With
+      difficulty his brutal guards prevented their victim from being torn to
+      pieces. And in such fashion, towards noon of the fourteenth day, David
+      Alroy again entered Bagdad.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      The intelligence of the capture of Alroy spread through the agitated city.
+      The Moolahs bustled about as if they had received a fresh demonstration of
+      the authenticity of the prophetic mission. All the Dervishes began
+      begging. The men discussed affairs in the coffee-houses, and the women
+      chatted at the fountains.<a href="#linknote-79" name="linknoteref-79"
+       id="linknoteref-79">79</a>
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;They may say what they like, but I wish him well,&rsquo; said a fair Arab, as
+      she arranged her veil. &lsquo;He may be an impostor, but he was a very handsome
+      one.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;All the women are for him, that&rsquo;s the truth,&rsquo; responded a companion; &lsquo;but
+      then we can do him no good.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;We can tear their eyes out,&rsquo; said a third.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;And what do you think of Alp Arslan, truly?&rsquo; inquired a fourth.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;I wish he were a pitcher, and then I could break his neck,&rsquo; said a fifth.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Only think of the Princess!&rsquo; said a sixth.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Well! she has had a glorious time of it,&rsquo; said a seventh.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Nothing was too good for her,&rsquo; said an eighth.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;I like true love,&rsquo; said a ninth.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Well! I hope he will be too much for them all yet,&rsquo; said a tenth.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;I should not wonder,&rsquo; said an eleventh.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;He can&rsquo;t,&rsquo; said a twelfth, &lsquo;he has lost his sceptre.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;You don&rsquo;t say so?&rsquo; said a thirteenth.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;It is too true,&rsquo; said a fourteenth.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Do you think he was a wizard?&rsquo; said a fifteenth. &lsquo;I vow, if there be not
+      a fellow looking at us behind those trees.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Impudent scoundrel!&rsquo; said a sixteenth. &lsquo;I wish it were Alroy. Let us all
+      scream, and put down our veils.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      And the group ran away.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Two stout soldiers were playing chess<a href="#linknote-80"
+       name="linknoteref-80" id="linknoteref-80">80</a> in a coffee-house.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;May I slay my mother,&rsquo; said one, &lsquo;but I cannot make a move. I fought
+      under him at Nehauend; and though I took the amnesty, I have half a mind
+      now to seize my sword and stab the first Turk that enters.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;&lsquo;Twere but sheer justice,&rsquo; said his companion. &lsquo;By my father&rsquo;s blessing,
+      he was the man for a charge. They may say what they like, but compared
+      with him, Alp Arslan is a white-livered Giaour.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Here is confusion to him and to thy last move. There&rsquo;s the dirhem, I can
+      play no more. May I slay my mother, though, but I did not think he would
+      let himself be taken.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;By the blessing of my father, nor I; but then he was asleep.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;That makes a difference. He was betrayed.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;All brave men are. They say Kisloch and his set pocket their fifty
+      thousand by the job.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;May each dirhem prove a plague-spot!&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Amen! Dost remember Abner?&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;May I slay my mother if I ever forget him. He spoke to his men like so
+      many lambs. What has become of the Lady Miriam?&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;She is here.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;That will cut Alroy.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;He was ever fond of her. Dost remember she gained Adoram&rsquo;s life?&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Oh! she could do anything next to the Queen.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Before her, I say, before her. He has refused the Queen, he never refused
+      the Lady Miriam.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Because she asked less.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Dost know it seemed to me that things never went on so well after
+      Jabaster&rsquo;s death?&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;So say I. There was a something, eh?&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;A sort of a peculiar, as it were, kind of something, eh?&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;You have well described it. Every man felt the same. I have often
+      mentioned it to my comrades. Say what you like, said I, but slay my mother
+      if ever since the old man strangled himself, things did not seem, as it
+      were, in their natural propinquity. &lsquo;Twas the phrase I used.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;A choice one. Unless there is a natural propinquity, the best-arranged
+      matters will fall out. However, the ass sees farther than his rider, and
+      so it was with Alroy, the best commander I ever served under, all the
+      same.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Let us go forth and see how affairs run.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Ay, do. If we hear any one abuse Alroy, we&rsquo;ll cleave his skull.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;That will we. There are a good many of our stout fellows about; we might
+      do something yet.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Who knows?&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      A subterranean dungeon of the citadel of Bagdad held in its gloomy limits
+      the late lord of Asia. The captive did not sigh, or weep, or wail. He did
+      not speak. He did not even think. For several days he remained in a state
+      of stupor. On the morning of the fourth day, he almost unconsciously
+      partook of the wretched provision which his gaolers brought him. Their
+      torches, round which the bats whirled and flapped their wings, and
+      twinkled their small eyes, threw a ghastly glare over the nearer walls of
+      the dungeon, the extremity of which defied the vision of the prisoner;
+      and, when the gaolers retired, Alroy was in complete darkness.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      The image of the past came back to him. He tried in vain to penetrate the
+      surrounding gloom. His hands were manacled, his legs also were loaded with
+      chains. The notion that his life might perhaps have been cruelly spared in
+      order that he might linger on in this horrible state of conscious
+      annihilation filled him with frenzy. He would have dashed his fetters
+      against his brow, but the chain restrained him. He flung himself upon the
+      damp and rugged ground. His fall disturbed a thousand obscene things. He
+      heard the quick glide of a serpent, the creeping retreat of the clustering
+      scorpions, and the swift escape of the dashing rats. His mighty calamities
+      seemed slight when compared with these petty miseries. His great soul
+      could not support him under these noisome and degrading incidents. He
+      sprang, in disgust, upon his feet, and stood fearful of moving, lest every
+      step should introduce him to some new abomination. At length, exhausted
+      nature was unable any longer to sustain him. He groped his way to the rude
+      seat, cut in the rocky wall, which was his only accommodation. He put
+      forth his hand. It touched the slimy fur of some wild animal, that
+      instantly sprang away, its fiery eyes sparkling in the dark. Alroy
+      recoiled with a sensation of woe-begone dismay. His shaken nerves could
+      not sustain him under this base danger, and these foul and novel trials.
+      He could not refrain from an exclamation of despair; and, when he
+      remembered that he was now far beyond the reach of all human solace and
+      sympathy, even all human aid, for a moment his mind seemed to desert him;
+      and he wrung his hands in forlorn and almost idiotic woe. An awful thing
+      it is, the failure of the energies of a master-mind. He who places
+      implicit confidence in his genius will find himself some day utterly
+      defeated and deserted. &lsquo;Tis bitter! Every paltry hind seems but to breathe
+      to mock you. Slow, indeed, is such a mind to credit that the never-failing
+      resource can at least be wanting. But so it is. Like a dried-up fountain,
+      the perennial flow and bright fertility have ceased, and ceased for ever.
+      Then comes the madness of retrospection.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Draw a curtain! draw a curtain! and fling it over this agonising anatomy.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      The days of childhood, his sweet sister&rsquo;s voice and smiling love, their
+      innocent pastimes, and the kind solicitude of faithful servants, all the
+      soft detail of mild domestic life: these were the sights and memories that
+      flitted in wild play before the burning vision of Alroy, and rose upon his
+      tortured mind. Empire and glory, his sacred nation, his imperial bride;
+      these, these were nothing. Their worth had vanished with the creative soul
+      that called them into action. The pure sympathies of nature alone
+      remained, and all his thought and grief, all his intelligence, all his
+      emotion, were centred in his sister.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      It was the seventh morning. A guard entered at an unaccustomed hour, and,
+      sticking a torch into a niche in the wall, announced that a person was
+      without who had permission to speak to the prisoner. They were the first
+      human accents that had met the ear of Alroy during his captivity, which
+      seemed to him an age, a long dark period, that cancelled all things. He
+      shuddered at the harsh tones. He tried to answer, but his unaccustomed
+      lips refused their office. He raised his heavy arms, and endeavoured to
+      signify his consciousness of what had been uttered. Yet, indeed, he had
+      not listened to the message without emotion. He looked forward to the
+      grate with strange curiosity; and, as he looked, he trembled. The visitor
+      entered, muffled in a dark caftan. The guard disappeared; and the caftan
+      falling to the ground, revealed Honain.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;My beloved Alroy,&rsquo; said the brother of Jabaster; and he advanced, and
+      pressed him to his bosom. Had it been Miriam, Alroy might have at once
+      expired; but the presence of this worldly man called back his worldliness.
+      The revulsion of his feelings was wonderful. Pride, perhaps even hope,
+      came to his aid; all the associations seemed to counsel exertion; for a
+      moment he seemed the same Alroy.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;I rejoice to find at least thee safe, Honain.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;I also, if my security may lead to thine.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Still whispering hope!&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Despair is the conclusion of fools.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;O Honain! &lsquo;tis a great trial. I can play my part, and yet methinks &lsquo;twere
+      better we had not again met. How is Schirene?&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Thinking of thee.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Tis something that she can think. My mind has gone. Where&rsquo;s Miriam?&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Free.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;That&rsquo;s something. Thou hast done that. Good, good Honain, be kind to that
+      sweet child, if only for my sake. Thou art all she has left.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;She hath thee.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Her desolation.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Live and be her refuge.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;How&rsquo;s that? These walls! Escape? No, no; it is impossible.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;I do not deem it so.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Indeed! I&rsquo;ll do anything. Speak! Can we bribe? can we cleave their
+      skulls? can we&mdash;&mdash;&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Calm thyself, my friend. There is no need of bribes, no need of
+      bloodshed. We must make terms.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Terms! We might have made them on the plain of Nehauend. Terms! Terms
+      with a captive victim?&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Why victim?&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Is Arslan then so generous?&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;He is a beast, more savage than the boar that grinds its tusks within his
+      country&rsquo;s forests.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Why speakest thou then of hope?&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;I spoke of certainty. I did not mention hope.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Dear Honain, my brain is weak; but I can bear strange things, or else I
+      should not be here. I feel thy thoughtful friendship; but indeed there
+      need no winding words to tell my fate. Pr&rsquo;ythee speak out.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;In a word, thy life is safe.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;What! spared?&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;If it please thee.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Please me? Life is sweet. I feel its sweetness. I want but little.
+      Freedom and solitude are all I ask. My life spared! I&rsquo;ll not believe it.
+      Thou hast done this deed, thou mighty man, that masterest all souls. Thou
+      hast not forgotten me; thou hast not forgotten the days gone by, thou hast
+      not forgotten thine own Alroy! Who calls thee worldly is a slanderer. O
+      Honain! thou art too faithful!&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;I have no thought but for thy service, Prince.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Call me not Prince, call me thine own Alroy. My life spared! &lsquo;Tis
+      wonderful! When may I go? Let no one see me. Manage that, Honain. Thou
+      canst manage all things. I am for Egypt. Thou hast been to Egypt, hast
+      thou not, Honain?&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;A very wondrous land, &lsquo;twill please thee much.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;When may I go? Tell me when I may go. When may I quit this dark and
+      noisome cell? &lsquo;Tis worse than all their tortures, dear Honain. Air and
+      light, and I really think my spirit never would break, but this horrible
+      dungeon&mdash;&mdash; I scarce can look upon thy face, sweet friend. &lsquo;Tis
+      serious.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Wouldst thou have me gay?&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Yes! if we are free.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Alroy! thou art a great spirit, the greatest that I e&rsquo;er knew, have ever
+      read of. I never knew thy like, and never shall.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Tush, tush, sweet friend, I am a broken reed, but still I am free. This
+      is no time for courtly phrases. Let&rsquo;s go, and go at once.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;A moment, dear Alroy. I am no flatterer. What I said came from my heart,
+      and doth concern us much and instantly. I was saying thou hast no common
+      mind, Alroy; indeed thou hast a mind unlike all others. Listen, my Prince.
+      Thou hast read mankind deeply and truly. Few have seen more than thyself,
+      and none have so rare a spring of that intuitive knowledge of thy race,
+      which is a gem to which experience is but a jeweller, and without which no
+      action can befriend us.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Well, well!&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;A moment&rsquo;s calmness. Thou hast entered Bagdad in triumph, and thou hast
+      entered the same city with every contumely which the base spirit of our
+      race could cast upon its victim. &lsquo;Twas a great lesson.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;I feel it so.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;And teaches us how vile and valueless is the opinion of our fellow-men.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Alas! &lsquo;tis true.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;I am glad to see thee in this wholesome temper. &lsquo;Tis full of wisdom.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;The miserable are often wise.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;But to believe is nothing unless we act. Speculation should only sharpen
+      practice. The time hath come to prove thy lusty faith in this philosophy.
+      I told thee we could make terms. I have made them. To-morrow it was doomed
+      Alroy should die&mdash;and what a death! A death of infinite torture! Hast
+      ever seen a man impaled?&rsquo;<a href="#linknote-81" name="linknoteref-81"
+       id="linknoteref-81">81</a>
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Hah!&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;To view it is alone a doom.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;God of Heaven!&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;It is so horrible, that &lsquo;tis ever marked, that when this direful ceremony
+      occurs, the average deaths in cities greatly increase. &lsquo;Tis from the
+      turning of the blood in the spectators, who yet from some ungovernable
+      madness cannot refrain from hurrying to the scene. I speak with some
+      authority. I speak as a physician.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Speak no more, I cannot endure it.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;To-morrow this doom awaited thee. As for Schirene&mdash;&mdash;&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Not for her, oh! surely not for her?&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;No, they were merciful. She is a Caliph&rsquo;s daughter. &lsquo;Tis not forgotten.
+      The axe would close her life. Her fair neck would give slight trouble to
+      the headsman&rsquo;s art. But for thy sister, but for Miriam, she is a witch, a
+      Jewish witch! They would have burnt her alive!&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;I&rsquo;ll not believe it, no, no, I&rsquo;ll not believe it: damnable, bloody
+      demons! When I had power I spared all, all but&mdash;&mdash;ah, me! ah,
+      me! why did I live?&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Thou dost forget thyself; I speak of that which was to have been, not of
+      that which is to be. I have stepped in and communed with the conqueror. I
+      have made terms.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;What are they, what can they be?&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Easy. To a philosopher like Alroy an idle ceremony.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Be brief, be brief.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Thou seest thy career is a great scandal to the Moslemin. I mark their
+      weakness, and I have worked upon it. Thy mere defeat or death will not
+      blot out the stain upon their standard and their faith. The public mind is
+      wild with fantasies since Alroy rose. Men&rsquo;s opinions flit to and fro with
+      that fearful change that bodes no stable settlement of states. None know
+      what to cling to, or where to place their trust. Creeds are doubted,
+      authority disputed. They would gladly account for thy success by other
+      than human means, yet must deny thy mission. There also is the fame of a
+      fair and mighty Princess, a daughter of their Caliphs, which they would
+      gladly clear. I mark all this, observe and work upon it. So, could we
+      devise some means by which thy lingering followers could be for ever
+      silenced, this great scandal fairly erased, and the public frame brought
+      to a sounder and more tranquil pulse, why, they would concede much, much,
+      very much.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Thy meaning, not thy means, are evident.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;They are in thy power.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;In mine? &lsquo;Tis a deep riddle. Pr&rsquo;ythee solve it.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Thou wilt be summoned at to-morrow&rsquo;s noon before this Arslan. There in
+      the presence of the assembled people who are now with him as much as they
+      were with thee, thou wilt be accused of magic, and of intercourse with the
+      infernal powers. Plead guilty.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Well! is there more?&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Some trifle. They will then examine thee about the Princess. It is not
+      difficult to confess that Alroy won the Caliph&rsquo;s daughter by an
+      irresistible spell, and now &lsquo;tis broken.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;So, so. Is that all?&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;The chief. Thou canst then address some phrases to the Hebrew prisoners,
+      denying thy Divine mission, and so forth, to settle the public mind,
+      observe, upon this point for ever.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Ay, ay, and then&mdash;&mdash;?&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;No more, except for form. (Upon the completion of the conditions, mind,
+      you will be conveyed to what land you please, with such amount of treasure
+      as you choose.) There is no more, except, I say, for form, I would, if I
+      were you (&lsquo;twill be expected), I would just publicly affect to renounce
+      our faith, and bow before their Prophet.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Hah! Art thou there? Is this thy freedom? Get thee behind me, tempter!
+      Never, never, never! Not a jot, not a jot: I&rsquo;ll not yield a jot. Were my
+      doom one everlasting torture, I&rsquo;d spurn thy terms! Is this thy high
+      contempt of our poor kind, to outrage my God! to prove myself the vilest
+      of the vile, and baser than the basest? Rare philosophy! O Honain! would
+      we had never met!&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Or never parted. True. Had my word been taken, Alroy would ne&rsquo;er have
+      been betrayed.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;No more; I pray thee, sir, no more. Leave me.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Were this a palace, I would. Harsh words are softened by a friendly ear,
+      when spoken in affliction.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Say what they will, I am the Lord&rsquo;s anointed. As such I should have
+      lived, as such at least I&rsquo;ll die.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;And Miriam?&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;The Lord will not desert her: she ne&rsquo;er deserted Him.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Schirene?&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Schirene! why! for her sake alone I will die a hero. Shall it be said she
+      loved a craven slave, a base impostor, a vile renegade, a villainous
+      dealer in drugs and charms? Oh! no, no, no! if only for her sake, her
+      sweet, sweet sake, my end shall be like my great life. As the sun I rose,
+      like him I set. Still the world is warm with my bright fame, and my last
+      hour shall not disgrace my noon, stormy indeed, but glorious!&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Honain took the torch from the niche, and advanced to the grate. It was
+      not fastened: he drew it gently open, and led forward a veiled and female
+      figure. The veiled and female figure threw herself at the feet of Alroy,
+      who seemed lost to what was passing. A soft lip pressed his hand. He
+      started, his chains clanked.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Alroy!&rsquo; softly murmured the kneeling female.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;What voice is that?&rsquo; wildly exclaimed the Prince of the Captivity. &lsquo;It
+      falls upon my ear like long-forgotten music. I&rsquo;ll not believe it. No! I&rsquo;ll
+      not believe it. Art thou Schirene?&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;I am that wretched thing they called thy bride.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Oh! this indeed is torture! What impalement can equal this sharp moment?
+      Look not on me, let not our eyes meet! They have met before, like to the
+      confluence of two shining rivers blending in one great stream of rushing
+      light. Bear off that torch, sir. Let impenetrable darkness cover our
+      darker fortunes.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Alroy.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;She speaks again. Is she mad, as I am, that thus she plays with agony?&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Sire,&rsquo; said Honain advancing, and laying his hand gently on the arm of
+      the captive, &lsquo;I pray thee moderate this passion. Thou hast some faithful
+      friends here, who would fain commune in calmness for thy lasting welfare.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Welfare! He mocks me.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;I beseech, thee, Sire, be calm. If, indeed, I speak unto that great Alroy
+      whom all men fear and still may fear, I pray remember, &lsquo;tis not in palaces
+      or in the battle-field alone that the heroic soul can conquer and command.
+      Scenes like these are the great proof of a superior soul. While we live,
+      our body is a temple where our genius pours forth its godlike inspiration,
+      and while the altar is not overthrown, the deity may still work marvels.
+      Then rouse thyself, great Sire; bethink thee that, a Caliph or a captive,
+      there is no man within this breathing world like to Alroy. Shall such a
+      being fall without a struggle, like some poor felon, who has naught to
+      trust to but the dull shuffling accident of Chance? I, too, am a prophet,
+      and I feel thou still wilt conquer.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Give me my sceptre, then, give me the sceptre! I speak to the wrong
+      brother! It was not thou, it was not thou that gavest it me.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Gain it once more. The Lord deserted David for a time; still he pardoned
+      him, and still he died a king.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;A woman worked his fall.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;But thee a woman raises. This great Princess, has she not suffered too?
+      Yet her spirit is still unbroken. List to her counsel: it is deep and
+      fond.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;So was our love.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;And is, my Alroy!&rsquo; exclaimed the Princess. &lsquo;Be calm, I pray thee! For my
+      sake be calm; I am calm for thine. Thou hast listened to all Honain has
+      told thee, that wise man, my Alroy, who never erred.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Tis but a word he counsels, an empty word, a most unmeaning form. But
+      speak it, and thou art free, and Alroy and Schirene may blend again their
+      glorious careers and lives of sweet fruition. Dost thou not remember when,
+      walking in the garden of our joy, and palled with empire, how often hast
+      thou sighed for some sweet isle unknown to man, where thou mightst pass
+      thy days with no companion but my faithful self, and no adventures but our
+      constant loves? O my beloved, that life may still be thine! And dost thou
+      falter? Dost call thyself forlorn with such fidelity, and deem thyself a
+      wretch, when Paradise with all its beauteous gates but woos thy entrance?
+      Oh! no, no, no, no! thou hast forgot Schirene: I fear me much, thy
+      over-fond Schirene, who doats upon thy image in thy chains more than she
+      did when those sweet hands of thine were bound with gems and played with
+      her bright locks!&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;She speaks of another world. I do remember something. Who has sent this
+      music to a dungeon? My spirit softens with her melting words. My eyes are
+      moist. I weep! &lsquo;Tis pleasant. Sorrow is joy compared with my despair. I
+      never thought to shed a tear again. My brain is cooler.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Weep, weep, I pray thee weep; but let me kiss away thy tears, my soul!
+      Didst think thy Schirene had deserted thee? Ah! that was it that made my
+      bird so sad. It shall be free, and fly in a sweet sky, and feed on flowers
+      with its faithful mate. Ah me! I am once more happy with my boy. There was
+      no misery but thy absence, sweet! Methinks this dungeon is our bright
+      kiosk! Is that the sunbeam, or thy smile, my love, that makes the walls so
+      joyful?&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Did I smile? I&rsquo;ll not believe it.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Indeed you did. Ah! see he smiles again. Why this is freedom! There is no
+      such thing as sorrow. Tis a lie to frighten fools!&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Why, Honain, what&rsquo;s this? &lsquo;Twould seem I am really joyful. There&rsquo;s
+      inspiration in her very breath. I am another being. Nay! waste not kisses
+      on those ugly fetters.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Methinks they are gold.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      They were silent. Schirene drew Alroy to his rough seat, and gently
+      placing herself on his knees, threw her arms round his neck, and buried
+      her face in his breast. After a few minutes she raised her head, and
+      whispered in his ear in irresistible accents of sweet exultation, &lsquo;We
+      shall be free to-morrow!&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;To-morrow! is the trial so near?&rsquo; exclaimed the captive, with an agitated
+      voice and changing countenance. &lsquo;To-morrow!&rsquo; He threw Schirene aside
+      somewhat hastily, and sprang from his seat. &lsquo;To-morrow! would it were
+      over! To-morrow! Methinks there is within that single word the fate of
+      ages! Shall it be said to-morrow that Alroy&mdash;&mdash; Hah! what art
+      thou that risest now before me? Dread, mighty spirit, thou hast come in
+      time to save me from perdition. Take me to thy bosom, &lsquo;tis not stabbed.
+      They did not stab thee. Thou seest me here communing with thy murderers.
+      What then? I am innocent. Ask them, dread ghost, and call upon their
+      fiendish souls to say I am pure. They would make me dark as themselves,
+      but shall not.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Honain, Honain!&rsquo; exclaimed the Princess in a terrible whisper as she flew
+      to the Physician. &lsquo;He is wild again. Calm him, calm him. Mark! how he
+      stands with his extended arms, and fixed vacant eyes, muttering most awful
+      words! My spirit fails me. It is too fearful.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      The Physician advanced and stood by the side of Alroy, but in vain
+      attempted to catch his attention. He ventured to touch his arm. The Prince
+      started, turned round, and recognising him, exclaimed in a shrieking
+      voice, &lsquo;Off, fratricide!&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Honain recoiled, pale and quivering. Schirene sprang to his arm. &lsquo;What
+      said he, Honain? Thou dost not speak. I never saw thee pale before. Art
+      thou, too, mad?&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Would I were!&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;All men are growing wild. I am sure he said something. I pray thee tell
+      me what was it?&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Ask him.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;I dare not. Tell me, tell me, Honain!&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;That I dare not.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Was it a word?&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Ay! a word to wake the dead. Let us begone.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Without our end? Coward! I&rsquo;ll speak to him. My own Alroy,&rsquo; sweetly
+      whispered the Princess, as she advanced before him.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;What, has the fox left the tigress! Is&rsquo;t so, eh? Are there no judgments?
+      Are the innocent only haunted? I am innocent! I did not strangle thee! He
+      said rightly, &ldquo;Beware, beware! they who did this may do even feller
+      deeds.&rdquo; And here they are quick at their damned work. Thy body suffered,
+      great Jabaster, but me they would strangle body and soul!&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      The Princess shrieked, and fell into the arms of the advancing Honain, who
+      bore her out of the dungeon.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      After the fall of Hamadan, Bostenay and Miriam had been carried prisoners
+      to Bagdad. Through the interference of Honain, their imprisonment had been
+      exempted from the usual hardships, but they were still confined to their
+      chambers in the citadel. Hitherto all the endeavours of Miriam to visit
+      her brother had been fruitless. Honain was the only person to whom she
+      could apply for assistance, and he, in answer to her importunities, only
+      regretted his want of power to aid her. In vain had she attempted, by the
+      offer of some remaining jewels, to secure the co-operation of her guards,
+      with whom her loveliness and the softness of her manners had already
+      ingratiated her. She had not succeeded even in communicating with Alroy.
+      But after the unsuccessful mission of Honain to the dungeon, the late
+      Vizier visited the sister of the captive, and, breaking to her with
+      delicate skill the intelligence of the impending catastrophe, he announced
+      that he had at length succeeded in obtaining for her the desired
+      permission to visit her brother; and, while she shuddered at the proximity
+      of an event for which she had long attempted to prepare herself, Honain,
+      with some modifications, whispered the means by which he flattered himself
+      that it might yet be averted. Miriam listened to him in silence, nor could
+      he, with all his consummate art, succeed in extracting from her the
+      slightest indication of her own opinion as to their expediency. They
+      parted, Honain as sanguine as the wicked ever are.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      As Miriam dreaded, both for herself and for Alroy, the shock of an
+      unexpected meeting, she availed herself of the influence of Honain to send
+      Caleb to her brother, to prepare him for her presence, and to consult him
+      as to the desirable moment. Caleb found his late master lying exhausted on
+      the floor of his dungeon. At first he would not speak or even raise his
+      head, nor did he for a long time apparently recognise the faithful
+      retainer of his uncle. But at length he grew milder, and when he fully
+      comprehended who the messenger was, and the object of his mission, he at
+      first seemed altogether disinclined to see his sister, but in the end
+      postponed their meeting for the present, and, pleading great exhaustion,
+      fixed for that sad interview the first hour of dawn.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      The venerable Bostenay had scarcely ever spoken since the fall of his
+      nephew; indeed it was but too evident that his faculties, even if they had
+      not entirely deserted him, were at least greatly impaired. He never
+      quitted his couch; he took no notice of what occurred. He evinced no
+      curiosity, scarcely any feeling. If indeed he occasionally did mutter an
+      observation, it was generally of an irritable character, nor truly did he
+      appear satisfied if anyone approached him, save Miriam, from whom alone he
+      would accept the scanty viands which he ever appeared disinclined to
+      touch. But his devoted niece, amid all her harrowing affliction, could
+      ever spare to the protector of her youth a placid countenance, a watchful
+      eye, a gentle voice, and a ready hand. Her religion and her virtue, the
+      strength of her faith, and the inspiration of her innocence, supported
+      this pure and hapless lady amid all her undeserved and unparalleled
+      sorrows.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      It was long past midnight; the young widow of Abner reposed upon a couch
+      in a soft slumber. The amiable Beruna and the beautiful Bathsheba, the
+      curtains drawn, watched the progress of the night.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Shall I wake her?&rsquo; said the beautiful Bathsheba. &lsquo;Methinks the stars are
+      paler! She bade me rouse her long before the dawn.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Her sleep is too benign! Let us not wake her,&rsquo; replied the amiable
+      Beruna. &lsquo;We rouse her only to sorrow.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;May her dreams at least be happy;&rsquo; rejoined the beautiful Bathsheba. &lsquo;She
+      sleeps tranquilly, as a flower.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;The veil has fallen from her head,&rsquo; said the amiable Beruna. &lsquo;I will
+      replace it lightly on her brow. Is that well, my Bathsheba?&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;It is well, sweet Beruna. Her face shrouded by the shawl is like a pearl
+      in its shell. See! she moves!&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Bathsheba!&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;I am here, sweet lady.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Is it near dawn?&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Not yet, sweet lady; it is yet night. It is long past the noon of night,
+      sweet lady; methinks I scent the rising breath of morn; but still &lsquo;tis
+      night, and the young moon shines like a sickle in the heavenly field, amid
+      the starry harvest.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Beruna, gentle girl, give me thy arm. I&rsquo;ll rise.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      The maidens advanced, and gently raising their mistress, supported her to
+      the window.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Since our calamities,&rsquo; said Miriam, &lsquo;I have never enjoyed such tranquil
+      slumber. My dreams were slight, but soothing. I saw him, but he smiled.
+      Have I slept long, sweet girls? Ye are very watchful.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Dear lady, let me bring thy shawl. The air is fresh&mdash;&mdash;&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;But sweet; I thank thee, no. My brow is not so cool as to need a
+      covering. &lsquo;Tis a fair night!&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Miriam gazed upon the wide prospect of the moonlit capital. The elevated
+      position of the citadel afforded an extensive view of the mighty groups of
+      buildings-each in itself a city, broken only by some vast and hooded
+      cupola, the tall, slender, white minarets of the mosques, or the black and
+      spiral form of some lonely cypress&mdash;through which the rushing Tigris,
+      flooded with light, sent forth its broad and brilliant torrent. All was
+      silent; not a single boat floated on the fleet river, not a solitary voice
+      broke the stillness of slumbering millions. She gazed and, as she gazed,
+      she could not refrain from contrasting the present scene, which seemed the
+      sepulchre of all the passions of our race, with the unrivalled excitement
+      of that stirring spectacle which Bagdad exhibited on the celebration of
+      the marriage of Alroy. How different then, too, was her position from her
+      present, and how happy! The only sister of a devoted brother, the lord and
+      conqueror of Asia, the bride of his most victorious captain, one worthy of
+      all her virtues, and whose youthful valour had encircled her brow with a
+      diadem. To Miriam, exalted station had brought neither cares nor crimes.
+      It had, as it were, only rendered her charity universal, and her
+      benevolence omnipotent. She could not accuse herself, this blessed woman&mdash;she
+      could not accuse herself, even in this searching hour of self-knowledge&mdash;she
+      could not accuse herself, with all her meekness, and modesty, and
+      humility, of having for a moment forgotten her dependence on her God, or
+      her duty to her neighbour.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      But when her thoughts recurred to that being from whom they were indeed
+      scarcely ever absent; and when she remembered him, and all his life, and
+      all the thousand incidents of his youth, mysteries to the world, and known
+      only to her, but which were indeed the prescience of his fame, and thought
+      of all his surpassing qualities and all his sweet affection, his
+      unrivalled glory and his impending fate, the tears, in silent agony,
+      forced their way down her pale and pensive cheek. She bowed her head upon
+      Bathsheba&rsquo;s shoulder, and sweet Beruna pressed her quivering hand.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      The moon set, the stars grew white and ghastly, and vanished one by one.
+      Over the distant plain of the Tigris, the scene of the marriage pomp, the
+      dark purple horizon shivered into a rich streak of white and orange. The
+      solemn strain of the Muezzin sounded from the minarets. Some one knocked
+      at the door. It was Caleb.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;I am ready,&rsquo; said Miriam; and for a moment she covered her face with her
+      right hand. &lsquo;Think of me, sweet maidens; pray for me!&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Leaning on Caleb, and lighted by a gaoler, bearing torches, Miriam
+      descended the damp and broken stairs that led to the dungeon. She faltered
+      as she arrived at the grate. She stopped, and leant against the cold and
+      gloomy wall. The gaoler and Caleb preceded her. She heard the voice of
+      Alroy. It was firm and sweet. Its accents reassured her. Caleb came forth
+      with a torch, and held it to her feet; and, as he bent down, he said, &lsquo;My
+      lord bade me beg you to be of good heart, for he is.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      The gaoler, having stuck his torch in the niche, withdrew. Miriam desired
+      Caleb to stay without. Then, summoning up all her energies, she entered
+      the dreadful abode. Alroy was standing to receive her. The light fell full
+      upon his countenance. It smiled. Miriam could no longer restrain herself.
+      She ran forward, and pressed him to her heart.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;O, my best, my long beloved,&rsquo; whispered Alroy; &lsquo;such a meeting indeed
+      leads captivity captive!&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      But the sister could not speak. She leant her head upon his shoulder, and
+      closed her eyes, that she might not weep.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Courage, dear heart; courage, courage!&rsquo; whispered the captive. &lsquo;Indeed I
+      am happy!&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;My brother, my brother!&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Had we met yesterday, you would have found me perhaps a little vexed. But
+      to-day I am myself again. Since I crossed the Tigris, I know not that I
+      have felt such self-content. I have had sweet dreams, dear Miriam, full of
+      solace. And, more than dreams, the Lord has pardoned me, I truly think.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;O, my brother! your words are full of comfort; for, indeed, I too have
+      dreamed, and dreamed of consolation. My spirit, since our fall, has never
+      been more tranquil.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Indeed I am happy.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Say so again, my David; let me hear again these words of solace!&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Indeed, &lsquo;tis very true, my faithful friend. It is not spoken in kind
+      mockery to make you joyous. For know, last eve, whether the Lord repented
+      of his wrath, or whether some dreadful trials, of which I will not speak,
+      and wish not to remember, had made atonement for my manifold sins, but so
+      it was, that, about the time my angel Miriam sent her soothing message, a
+      feeling of repose came over me, such as I long have coveted. Anon, I fell
+      into a slumber, deep and sweet, and, instead of those wild and whirling
+      images that of late have darted from my brain when it should rest,
+      glimpses of empire and conspiracy, snatches of fierce wars and mocking
+      loves, I stood beside our native fountain&rsquo;s brink, and gathered flowers
+      with my earliest friend. As I placed the fragrant captives in your flowing
+      locks, there came Jabaster, that great, injured man, no longer stern and
+      awful, but with benignant looks, and full of love. And he said, &ldquo;David,
+      the Lord hath marked thy faithfulness, in spite of the darkness of thy
+      dungeon.&rdquo; So he vanished. He spoke, my sister, of some strange temptations
+      by heavenly aid withstood. No more of that. I awoke. And lo! I heard my
+      name still called. Full of my morning dream, I thought it was you, and I
+      answered, &ldquo;Dear sister, art thou here?&rdquo; But no one answered; and then,
+      reflecting, my memory recognised those thrilling tones that summoned Alroy
+      in Jabaster&rsquo;s cave.&rsquo; &lsquo;The Daughter of the Voice?&rsquo; &lsquo;Even that sacred
+      messenger. I am full of faith. The Lord hath pardoned me. Be sure of
+      that.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;I cannot doubt it, David. You have done great things for Israel; no one
+      in these latter days has risen like you. If you have fallen, you were
+      young, and strangely tempted.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Yet Israel, Israel! Did I not feel a worthier leader will yet arise, my
+      heart would crack. I have betrayed my country!&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Oh no, no, no! You have shown what we can do and shall do. Your memory
+      alone is inspiration. A great career, although baulked of its end, is
+      still a landmark of human energy. Failure, when sublime, is not without
+      its purpose. Great deeds are great legacies, and work with wondrous usury.
+      By what Man has done, we learn what Man can do; and gauge the power and
+      prospects of our race.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Alas! there is no one to guard my name. &lsquo;Twill be reviled; or worse,
+      &lsquo;twill be forgotten.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Never! the memory of great actions never dies. The sun of glory, though
+      awhile obscured, will shine at last. And so, sweet brother, perchance some
+      poet, in some distant age, within whose veins our sacred blood may flow,
+      his fancy fired with the national theme, may strike his harp to Alroy&rsquo;s
+      wild career, and consecrate a name too long forgotten?&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;May love make thee a prophetess!&rsquo; exclaimed Alroy, as he bent down his
+      head and embraced her. &lsquo;Do not tarry,&rsquo; he whispered. &lsquo;&lsquo;Tis better that we
+      should part in this firm mood.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      She sprang from him, she clasped her hands. &lsquo;We will not part,&rsquo; she
+      exclaimed, with energy; &lsquo;I will die with thee.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Blessed girl, be calm! Do not unman me.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;I am calm. See! I do not weep. Not a tear, not a tear. They are all in my
+      heart.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Go, go, my Miriam, angel of light. Tarry no longer; I pray thee go. I
+      would not think of the past. Let all my mind be centred in the present.
+      Thy presence calls back our bygone days, and softens me too much. My duty
+      to my uncle. Go, dear one, go!&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;And leave thee, leave thee to&mdash;&mdash;Oh! my David, thou hast seen,
+      thou hast heard&mdash;&mdash;Honain?&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;No more; let not that accursed name profane those holy lips. Raise not
+      the demon in me.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;I am silent. Yet &lsquo;tis madness! Oh! my brother, thou hast a fearful
+      trial.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;The God of Israel is my refuge. He saved our fathers in the fiery
+      furnace. He will save me.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;I am full of faith. I pray thee let me stay.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;I would be silent; I would be alone. I cannot speak, Miriam. I ask one
+      favour, the last and dearest, from her who has never had a thought but for
+      my wishes; blessed being, leave me.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;I go. O Alroy, farewell! Let me kiss you. Again, once more! Let me kneel
+      and bless you. Brother, beloved brother, great and glorious brother, I am
+      worthy of you: I will not weep. I am prouder in this dread moment of your
+      love than all your foes can be of their hard triumph!&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Beruna and Bathsheba received their mistress when she returned to her
+      chamber. They marked her desolate air. She was silent, pale, and cold.
+      They bore her to her couch, whereon she sat with a most listless and
+      unmeaning look; her quivering lips parted, her eyes fixed upon the ground
+      in vacant abstraction, and her arms languidly folded before her. Beruna
+      stole behind her, and supported her back with pillows, and Bathsheba,
+      unnoticed, wiped the slight foam from her mouth. Thus Miriam remained for
+      several hours, her faithful maidens in vain watching for any indication of
+      her self-consciousness.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Suddenly a trumpet sounded.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;What is that?&rsquo; exclaimed Miriam, in a shrill voice, and looking up with a
+      distracted glance.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Neither of them answered, since they were aware that it betokened the
+      going forth of Alroy to his trial.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Miriam remained in the same posture, and with the same expression of wild
+      inquiry. Another trumpet sounded, and after that a shout of the people.
+      Then she raised up her arms to heaven, and bowed her head, and died.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Has the second trumpet sounded?&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;To be sure: run, run for a good place. Where is Abdallah?&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Selling sherbet in the square. We shall find him. Has Alroy come forth?&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Yes! he goes the other way. We shall be too late. Only think of Abdallah
+      selling sherbet!&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Father, let me go?&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;You will be in the way; you are too young; you will see nothing. Little
+      boys should stay at home.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;No, they should not. I will go. You can put me on your shoulders.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Where is Ibrahim? Where is Ali? We must all keep together. We shall have
+      to fight for it. I wish Abdallah were here. Only think of his selling
+      sherbet!&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Keep straight forward. That is right. It is no use going that way. The
+      bazaar is shut. There is Fakreddin, there is Osman Effendi. He has got a
+      new page.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;So he has, I declare; and a very pretty boy too.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Father, will they impale Alroy alive?&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;I am sure I do not know. Never ask questions, my dear. Little boys never
+      should.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Yes, they should. I hope they will impale him alive. I shall be so
+      disappointed if they do not.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Keep to the left. Dash through the Butchers&rsquo; bazaar: that is open. All
+      right, all right. Did you push me, sir?&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Suppose I did push you, sir, what then, sir?&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Come along, don&rsquo;t quarrel. That is a Karasmian. They think they are to do
+      what they like. We are five to one, to be sure, but still there is nothing
+      like peace and quiet. I wish Abdallah were here with his stout shoulders.
+      Only think of his selling sherbet!&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      The Square of the Grand Mosque, the same spot where Jabaster met Abidan by
+      appointment, was the destined scene of the pretended trial of Alroy.
+      Thither by break of day the sight-loving thousands of the capital had
+      repaired. In the centre of the square, a large circle was described by a
+      crimson cord, and guarded by Karasmian soldiers. Around this the swelling
+      multitude pressed like the gathering waves of ocean, but, whenever the
+      tide set in with too great an impulse, the savage Karasmians appeased the
+      ungovernable element by raising their battle-axes, and brutally breaking
+      the crowns and belabouring the shoulders of their nearest victims. As the
+      morning advanced, the terraces of the surrounding houses, covered with
+      awnings, were crowded with spectators. All Bagdad was astir. Since the
+      marriage of Alroy, there had never been such a merry morn as the day of
+      his impalement.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      At one end of the circle was erected a magnificent throne. Half way
+      between the throne and the other end of the circle, but further back,
+      stood a company of negro eunuchs, hideous to behold, who, clothed in
+      white, and armed with various instruments of torture, surrounded the
+      enormous stakes, tall, thin, and sharp, that were prepared for the final
+      ceremony.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      The flourish of trumpets, the clash of cymbals, and the wild beat of the
+      tambour, announced the arrival of Alp Arslan from the Serail. An avenue to
+      the circle had been preserved through the multitude. The royal procession
+      might be traced as it wound through the populace, by the sparkling and
+      undulating line of plumes of honour, and the dazzling forms of the waving
+      streamers, on which were inscribed the names of Allah and the Prophet.
+      Suddenly, amid the bursts of music, and the shouts of the spectators, many
+      of whom on the terraces humbled themselves on their knees, Alp Arslan
+      mounted the throne, around which ranged themselves his chief captains, and
+      a deputation of the Mullahs, and Imams, and Cadis, and other principal
+      personages of the city.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      The King of Karasmé was tall in stature, and somewhat meagre in form. He
+      was fair, or rather sandy-coloured, with a red beard, and blue eyes, and a
+      flat nose. The moment he was seated, a trumpet was heard in the distance
+      from an opposite quarter, and it was soon understood throughout the
+      assembly that the great captive was about to appear.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      A band of Karasmian guards first entered the circle, and ranged themselves
+      round the cord, with their backs to the spectators. After them came fifty
+      of the principal Hebrew prisoners, with their hands bound behind them, but
+      evidently more for form than security. To these succeeded a small covered
+      wagon drawn by mules, and surrounded by guards, from which was led forth,
+      his legs relieved from their manacles, but his hands still in heavy
+      chains, David Alroy!
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      A universal buzz of blended sympathy, and wonder, and fear, and triumph
+      arose, throughout the whole assembly. Each man involuntarily stirred. The
+      vast populace moved to and fro in agitation. His garments soiled and
+      tattered, his head bare, and his long locks drawn off his forehead, pale
+      and thin, but still unsubdued, the late conqueror and Caliph of Bagdad
+      threw around a calm and imperial glance upon those who were but recently
+      his slaves.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      The trumpets again sounded, order was called, and a crier announced that
+      his Highness Alp Arslan, the mighty Sovereign of Karasmé, their Lord,
+      Protector, and King, and avenger of Allah and the Prophet, against all
+      rebellious and evil-minded Jews and Giaours, was about to speak. There was
+      a deep and universal silence, and then sounded a voice high as the eagle&rsquo;s
+      in a storm.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;David Alroy!&rsquo; said his conqueror, &lsquo;you are brought hither this day
+      neither for trial nor for judgment. Captured in arms against your rightful
+      sovereign, you are of course prepared, like other rebels, for your doom.
+      Such a crime alone deserves the most avenging punishments. What then do
+      you merit, who are loaded with a thousand infamies, who have blasphemed
+      Allah and the Prophet, and, by the practice of magic arts and the aid of
+      the infernal powers, have broken the peace of kingdoms, occasioned
+      infinite bloodshed, outraged all law, religion, and decency, misled the
+      minds of your deluded votaries, and especially by a direct compact with
+      Eblis, by horrible spells and infamous incantations, captivated the senses
+      of an illustrious Princess, heretofore famous for the practice of every
+      virtue, and a descendant of the Prophet himself.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Behold these stakes of palm-wood, sharper than a lance! The most terrible
+      retribution that human ingenuity has devised for the guilty awaits you.
+      But your crimes baffle all human vengeance. Look forward for your
+      satisfactory reward to those infernal powers by whose dark co-operation
+      you have occasioned such disasters. Your punishment is public, that all
+      men may know that the guilty never escape, and that, if your heart be
+      visited by the slightest degree of compunction for your numerous victims,
+      you may this day, by the frank confession of the irresistible means by
+      which you seduced them, exonerate your victims from the painful and
+      ignominious end with which, through your influence they are now
+      threatened. Mark, O assembled people, the infinite mercy of the Vicegerent
+      of Allah! He allows the wretched man to confess his infamy, and to save by
+      his confession, his unfortunate victims. I have said it. Glory to Allah!&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      And the people shouted, &lsquo;He has said it, he has said it! Glory to Allah!
+      He is great, he is great! and Mahomed is his prophet!&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Am I to speak?&rsquo; enquired Alroy, when the tumult had subsided. The melody
+      of his voice commanded universal attention.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Alp Arslan nodded his head in approbation.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;King of Karasmé! I stand here accused of many crimes. Now hear my
+      answers. &lsquo;Tis said I am a rebel. My answer is, I am a Prince as thou art,
+      of a sacred race, and far more ancient. I owe fealty to no one but to my
+      God, and if I have broken that I am yet to learn that Alp Arslan is the
+      avenger of His power. As for thy God and Prophet, I know not them, though
+      they acknowledge mine. &lsquo;Tis well understood in every polity, my people
+      stand apart from other nations, and ever will, in spite of suffering. So
+      much for blasphemy; I am true to a deep faith of ancient days, which even
+      the sacred writings of thy race still reverence. For the arts magical I
+      practised, and the communion with infernal powers &lsquo;tis said I held, know,
+      King, I raised the standard of my faith by the direct commandment of my
+      God, the great Creator of the universe. What need of magic, then? What
+      need of paltering with petty fiends, when backed by His omnipotence? My
+      magic was His inspiration. Need I prove why, with such aid, my people
+      crowded round me? The time will come when from out our ancient seed, a
+      worthier chief will rise, not to be quelled even by thee, Sire.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;For that unhappy Princess of whom something was said (with no great
+      mercy, as it seemed to me), that lady is my wife, my willing wife; the
+      daughter of a Caliph, still my wife, although your stakes may make her
+      soon a widow. I stand not here to account for female fancies. Believe me,
+      Sire, she gave her beauty to my raptured arms with no persuasions but such
+      as became a soldier and a king. It may seem strange to thee upon thy
+      throne that the flower of Asia should be plucked by one so vile as I am.
+      Remember, the accidents of Fortune are most strange. I was not always what
+      I am. We have met before. There was a day, and that too not long since,
+      when, but for the treachery of some knaves I mark here, Fortune seemed
+      half inclined to reverse our fates. Had I conquered, I trust I should have
+      shown more mercy.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      The King of Karasmé was the most passionate of men. He had made a speech
+      according to the advice and instructions of his councillors, who had
+      assured him that the tone he adopted would induce Alroy to confess all
+      that he required, and especially to vindicate the reputation of the
+      Princess Schirene, who had already contrived to persuade Alp Arslan that
+      she was the most injured of her sex. The King of Karasmé stamped thrice on
+      the platform of his throne, and exclaimed with great fire, &lsquo;By my beard,
+      ye have deceived me! The dog has confessed nothing!&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      All the councillors and chief captains, and the Mullahs, and the Imams,
+      and the Cadis, and the principal personages of the city were in
+      consternation. They immediately consulted together, and, after much
+      disputation, agreed that, before they proceeded to extremities, it was
+      expedient to prove what the prisoner would not confess. A venerable
+      Sheikh, clothed in flowing robes of green, with a long white beard, and a
+      turban like the tower of Babel, then rose. His sacred reputation procured
+      silence while he himself delivered a long prayer, supplicating Allah and
+      the Prophet to confound all blaspheming Jews and Giaours, and to pour
+      forth words of truth from the mouths of religious men. And then the
+      venerable Sheikh summoned all witnesses against David Alroy. Immediately
+      advanced Kisloch the Kourd, to whom, being placed in an eminent position,
+      the Cadi of Bagdad drawing forth a scroll from his velvet bag, read a
+      deposition, wherein the worthy Kisloch stated that he first became
+      acquainted with the prisoner, David Alroy, in some ruins in the desert,
+      the haunt of banditti, of whom Alroy was the chief; that he, Kisloch, was
+      a reputable merchant, and that his caravan had been plundered by these
+      robbers, and he himself captured; that, on the second night of his
+      imprisonment, Alroy appeared to him in the likeness of a lion, and on the
+      third, of a bull with fiery eyes; that he was in the habit of constantly
+      transforming himself; that he frequently raised spirits; that, at length,
+      on one terrible night, Eblis himself came in great procession, and
+      presented Alroy with the sceptre of Solomon Ben Daoud; and that the next
+      day Alroy raised his standard, and soon after massacred Hassan Subah and
+      his Seljuks, by the visible aid of many terrible demons.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Calidas the Indian, the Guebre, and the Negro, and a few congenial
+      spirits, were not eclipsed in the satisfactory character of their evidence
+      by the luminous testimony of Kisloch the Kourd. The irresistible career of
+      the Hebrew conqueror was undeniably accounted for, and the honour of
+      Moslem arms and the purity of Moslem faith were established in their
+      pristine glory and all their unsullied reputation. David Alroy was proved
+      to be a child of Eblis, a sorcerer, and a dealer in charms and magical
+      poisons. The people listened with horror and with indignation. They would
+      have burst through the guards and torn him in pieces, had not they been
+      afraid of the Karasmian battle-axes. So they consoled themselves with the
+      prospect of his approaching tortures.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      The Cadi of Bagdad bowed himself before the King of Karasmé, and whispered
+      at a respectful distance in the royal ear. The trumpets sounded, the
+      criers enjoined silence, and the royal lips again moved.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Hear, O ye people, and be wise. The chief Cadi is about to read the
+      deposition of the royal Princess Schirene, chief victim of the sorcerer.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      And the deposition was read, which stated that David Alroy possessed, and
+      wore next to his heart, a talisman, given him by Eblis, the virtue of
+      which was so great that, if once it were pressed to the heart of any
+      woman, she was no longer mistress of her will. Such had been the unhappy
+      fate of the daughter of the Commander of the Faithful.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Is it so written?&rsquo; enquired the captive.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;It is so written,&rsquo; replied the Cadi, &lsquo;and bears the imperial signature of
+      the Princess.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;It is a forgery.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      The King of Karasmé started from his throne, and in his rage nearly
+      descended its steps. His face was like scarlet, his beard was like a
+      flame. A favourite minister ventured gently to restrain the royal robe.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Kill the dog on the spot,&rsquo; muttered the King of Karasmé.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;The Princess is herself here,&rsquo; said the Cadi, &lsquo;to bear witness to the
+      spells of which she was a victim, but from which, by the power of Allah
+      and the Prophet, she is now released.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Alroy started!
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Advance, royal Princess,&rsquo; said the Cadi, &lsquo;and, if the deposition thou
+      hast heard be indeed true, condescend to hold up the imperial hand that
+      adorned it with thy signature.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      A band of eunuchs near the throne gave way; a female figure veiled to her
+      feet appeared. She held up her hand amid the breathless agitation of the
+      whole assembly; the ranks of the eunuchs again closed; a shriek was heard,
+      and the veiled figure disappeared.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;I am ready for thy tortures, King,&rsquo; said Alroy, in a tone of deep
+      depression. His firmness appeared to have deserted him. His eyes were cast
+      upon the ground. Apparently he was buried in profound thought, or had
+      delivered himself up to despair.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Prepare the stakes,&rsquo; said Alp Arslan.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      An involuntary, but universal, shudder might be distinguished through the
+      whole assembly.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      A slave advanced and offered Alroy a scroll. He recognised the Nubian who
+      belonged to Honain. His former minister informed him that he was at hand,
+      that the terms he offered in the dungeon might even yet be granted; that
+      if Alroy would, as he doubted not, as he entreated him, accept them, he
+      was to place the scroll in his bosom, but that if he were still
+      inexorable, still madly determined on a horrible and ignominious end, he
+      was to tear the scroll and throw it in to the arena. Instantly Alroy took
+      the scroll, and with great energy tore it into a thousand pieces. A puff
+      of wind carried the fragments far and wide. The mob fought for these last
+      memorials of David Alroy, and this little incident occasioned a great
+      confusion.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      In the meantime the negroes prepared the instruments of torture and of
+      death.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;The obstinacy of this Jewish dog makes me mad,&rsquo; said the King of Karasmé
+      to his courtiers. &lsquo;I will hold some parley with him before he dies.&rsquo; The
+      favourite minister entreated his sovereign to be content; but the royal
+      beard grew so red, and the royal eyes flashed forth such terrible sparks
+      of fire, that even the favourite minister at length gave way.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      The trumpet sounded, the criers called silence, and the voice of Alp
+      Arslan was again heard.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Thou dog, dost see what is preparing for thee? Dost know what awaits thee
+      in the halls of thy master Eblis? Can a Jew be influenced even by false
+      pride? Is not life sweet? Is it not better to be my slipper-bearer than to
+      be impaled?&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Magnanimous Alp Arslan,&rsquo; replied Alroy in a tone of undisguised contempt;
+      &lsquo;thinkest thou that any torture can be equal to the recollection that I
+      have been conquered by thee?&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;By my beard, he mocks me!&rsquo; exclaimed the Karasmian monarch, &lsquo;he defies
+      me! Touch not my robe. I will parley with him. Ye see no farther than a
+      hooded hawk, ye sons of a blind mother. This is a sorcerer; he hath yet
+      some master spell; he will yet save himself. He will fly into the air, or
+      sink into the earth. He laughs at our tortures.&rsquo; The King of Karasmé
+      precipitately descended the steps of his throne, followed by his favourite
+      minister, and his councillors, and chief captains, and the Cadis, and the
+      Mullahs, and the Imams, and the principal personages of the city.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Sorcerer!&rsquo; exclaimed Alp Arslan, &lsquo;insolent sorcerer! base son of a base
+      mother! dog of dogs! dost thou defy us? Does thy master Eblis whisper
+      hope? Dost thou laugh at our punishments? Wilt thou fly into the air? wilt
+      thou sink into the earth? eh, eh? Is it so, is it so?&rsquo; The breathless
+      monarch ceased, from the exhaustion of passion. He tore his beard out by
+      the roots, he stamped with uncontrollable rage.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Thou art wiser than thy councillors, royal Arslan; I do defy thee. My
+      master, although not Eblis, has not deserted me. I laugh at thy
+      punishments. Thy tortures I despise. I shall both sink into the earth and
+      mount into the air. Art thou answered?&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;By my beard,&rsquo; exclaimed the enraged Arslan, &lsquo;I am answered. Let Eblis
+      save thee if he can;&rsquo; and the King of Karasmé, the most famous master of
+      the sabre in Asia, drew his blade like lightning from its sheath, and took
+      off the head of Alroy at a stroke. It fell, and, as it fell, a smile of
+      triumphant derision seemed to play upon the dying features of the hero,
+      and to ask of his enemies, &lsquo;Where now are all your tortures?&rsquo;<a
+      href="#linknote-82" name="linknoteref-82" id="linknoteref-82">82</a>
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      <a name="link2H_NOTE" id="link2H_NOTE">
+      <!--  H2 anchor --> </a>
+    </p>
+    <div style="height: 4em;">
+      <br /><br /><br /><br />
+    </div>
+    <h2>
+      NOTES TO ALROY.
+    </h2>
+    <p>
+      <a name="linknote-1" id="linknote-1">
+      <!-- Note --></a>
+    </p>
+    <p class="foot">
+      1 (<a href="#linknoteref-1">return</a>)<br /> [ page 4.&mdash;<i>We shall
+      yet see an ass mount a ladder</i>.&mdash;Hebrew proverb.]
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      <a name="linknote-2" id="linknote-2">
+      <!-- Note --></a>
+    </p>
+    <p class="foot">
+      2 (<a href="#linknoteref-2">return</a>)<br /> [ page 12.&mdash;Our walls
+      are hung with flowers you love. It is the custom of the Hebrews in many of
+      their festivals, especially in the feast of the Tabernacle, to hang the
+      walls of their chambers with garlands of flowers.]
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      <a name="linknote-3" id="linknote-3">
+      <!-- Note --></a>
+    </p>
+    <p class="foot">
+      3 (<a href="#linknoteref-3">return</a>)<br /> [ page 13.&mdash;<i>The
+      traditionary tomb of Esther and Mordecai</i>. &lsquo;I accompanied the priest
+      through the town over much ruin and rubbish to an enclosed piece of
+      ground, rather more elevated than any in its immediate vicinity. In the
+      centre was the Jewish tomb-a square building of brick, of a mosque-like
+      form, with a rather elongated dome at the top. The door is in the ancient
+      sepulchral fashion of the country, very small, consisting of a single
+      stone of great thickness, and turning on its own pivots from one side. Its
+      key is always in possession of the eldest of the Jews resident at Hamadan.
+      Within the tomb are two sarcophagi, made of a very dark wood, carved with
+      great intricacy of pattern and richness of twisted ornament, with a line
+      of inscription in Hebrew,&rsquo; &amp;c.&mdash;<i>Sir R. K. Porter&rsquo;s Travels in
+      Persia, vol. ii. p. 107</i>.]
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      <a name="linknote-4" id="linknote-4">
+      <!-- Note --></a>
+    </p>
+    <p class="foot">
+      4 (<a href="#linknoteref-4">return</a>)<br /> [ page 16.&mdash;<i>A marble
+      fountain, the richly-carved cupola supported by twisted columns</i>. The
+      vast magnificence and elaborate fancy of the tombs and fountains is a
+      remarkable feature of Oriental architecture. The Eastern nations devote to
+      these structures the richest and the most durable materials. While the
+      palaces of Asiatic monarchs are in general built only of wood, painted in
+      fresco, the rarest marbles are dedicated to the sepulchre and the spring,
+      which are often richly gilt, and adorned even with precious stones.]
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      <a name="linknote-5" id="linknote-5">
+      <!-- Note --></a>
+    </p>
+    <p class="foot">
+      5 (<a href="#linknoteref-5">return</a>)<br /> [ page 17.&mdash;<i>The
+      chorus of our maidens.</i> It is still the custom for the women in the
+      East to repair at sunset in company to the fountain for their supply of
+      water. In Egypt, you may observe at twilight the women descending the
+      banks of the Nile in procession from every town and village. Their
+      graceful drapery, their long veils not concealing their flashing eyes, and
+      the classical forms of their vases, render this a most picturesque and
+      agreeable spectacle.]
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      <a name="linknote-6" id="linknote-6">
+      <!-- Note --></a>
+    </p>
+    <p class="foot">
+      6 (<a href="#linknoteref-6">return</a>)<br /> [ page 24.&mdash;I describe
+      the salty deserts of Persia, a locality which my tale required; but I have
+      ventured to introduce here, and in the subsequent pages, the principal
+      characteristics of the great Arabian deserts: the mirage, the simoom, the
+      gazelle, the oasis.]
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      <a name="linknote-7" id="linknote-7">
+      <!-- Note --></a>
+    </p>
+    <p class="foot">
+      7 (<a href="#linknoteref-7">return</a>)<br /> [ page 28.&mdash;<i>Jackals
+      and marten-cat.</i> At nightfall, especially in Asia Minor, the lonely
+      horseman will often meet the jackals on their evening prowl. Their moaning
+      is often heard during the night. I remember, when becalmed off Troy, the
+      most singular screams were heard at intervals throughout the night, from a
+      forest on the opposite shore, which a Greek sailor assured me proceeded
+      from a marten-cat, which had probably found the carcass of some horse.]
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      <a name="linknote-8" id="linknote-8">
+      <!-- Note --></a>
+    </p>
+    <p class="foot">
+      8 (<a href="#linknoteref-8">return</a>)<br /> [ page 30. Elburz, or
+      Elborus, the highest range of the Caucasus.]
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      <a name="linknote-9" id="linknote-9">
+      <!-- Note --></a>
+    </p>
+    <p class="foot">
+      9 (<a href="#linknoteref-9">return</a>)<br /> [ page 31.&mdash;<i>A
+      circular and brazen table, sculptured with strange characters and
+      mysterious figures; near it was a couch on which lay several volumes.</i>
+      A cabalistic table, perhaps a zodiac. The books were doubtless <i>Sepher
+      Happeliah</i>, the Book of Wonders; <i>Sepher Hakkaneh</i>, the Book of
+      the Pen; and <i>Sepher Habbahir</i>, the Book of Light. This last unfolds
+      the most sublime mysteries.]
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      <a name="linknote-10" id="linknote-10">
+      <!-- Note --></a>
+    </p>
+    <p class="foot">
+      10 (<a href="#linknoteref-10">return</a>)<br /> [ page 32.&mdash;<i>Answered
+      the Cabalist.</i> &lsquo;Simeon ben Jochai, who flourished in the second
+      century, and was a disciple of Akibha, is called by the Jews the Prince of
+      the Cabalists. After the suppression of the sedition in which his master
+      had been so unsuccessful, he concealed himself in a cave, where, according
+      to the Jewish historians, he received revelations, which he after-wards
+      delivered to his disciples, and which they carefully preserved in the book
+      called Sohar. His master, Akibha, who lived soon after the destruction of
+      Jerusalem, was the author of the famous book Jezirah, quoted by the Jews
+      as of Divine authority. When Akibha was far advanced in life, appeared the
+      famous impostor Barchochebas, who, under the character of the Messiah,
+      promised to deliver his countrymen from the power of the Emperor Adrian.
+      Akibha espoused his cause, and afforded him the protection and support of
+      his name, and an army of two hundred thousand men repaired to his
+      standard. The Romans at first slighted the insurrection; but when they
+      found the insurgents spread slaughter and rapine wherever they came, they
+      sent out a military force against them. At. first, the issue of the
+      contest was doubtful. The Messiah himself was not taken until the end of
+      four years.&rsquo;&mdash;Enfield, <i>Philosophy of the Jews</i>, vol. ii.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Two methods of instruction were in use among the Jews; the one public, or
+      <i>exoteric</i>; the other secret, or esoteric. The exoteric doctrine was
+      that which was openly taught the people from the law of Moses and the
+      traditions of the fathers. The esoteric was that which treated of the
+      mysteries of the Divine nature, and other sublime subjects, and was known
+      by the name of the Cabala. The latter was, after the manner of the
+      Pythagorean and Egyptian mysteries, taught only to certain persons, who
+      were bound, under the most solemn anathema, not to divulge it. Concerning
+      the miraculous origin and preservation of the Cabala, the Jews relate many
+      marvellous tales. They derive these mysteries from Adam, and assert that,
+      while the first man was in Paradise, the angel Rasiel brought him a book
+      from heaven, which contained the doctrines of heavenly wisdom, and that,
+      when Adam received this book, angels came down to him to learn its
+      contents, but that he refused to admit them to the knowledge of sacred
+      things entrusted to him alone; that, after the Fall, this book was taken
+      back into heaven; that, after many prayers and tears, God restored it to
+      Adam, from whom it passed to Seth. In the degenerate age before the flood
+      this book was lost, and the mysteries it contained almost forgotten; but
+      they were restored by special revelation to Abraham, who committed them to
+      writing in the book <i>Jezirah.&rsquo;&mdash;Vide Enfield, vol. ii. p. 219</i>.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;The Hebrew word <i>Cabala,&rsquo;</i> says Dom Calmet, &lsquo;signifies tradition,
+      and the Rabbins, who are named Cabalists, apply themselves principally to
+      the combination of certain words, numbers, and letters, by the means of
+      which they boasted they could reveal the future, and penetrate the sense
+      of the most difficult passages of Scripture. This science does not appear
+      to have any fixed principles, but depends upon certain ancient traditions,
+      whence its name Cabala. The Cabalists have a great number of names which
+      they style sacred, by means of which they raise spirits, and affect to
+      obtain supernatural intelligence.&rsquo;&mdash;See Calmet, Art. <i>Cabala</i>.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;We spake before,&rsquo; says Lightfoot, &lsquo;of the commonness of Magick among
+      them, one singular means whereby they kept their own in delusion, and
+      whereby they affronted ours. The general expectation of the nation of
+      Messias coming when he did had this double and contrary effect, that it
+      forwarded those that belonged to God to believe and receive the Gospel;
+      and those that did not, it gave encouragement to some to take upon them
+      they were Christ or some great prophet, and to others it gave some
+      persuasion to be deluded by them. These deceivers dealt most of them with
+      Magick, and that cheat ended not when Jerusalem ended, though one would
+      have thought that had been a fair term of not further expecting Messias;
+      but since the people were willing to be deceived by such expectation,
+      there rose up deluders still that were willing to deceive them.&rsquo;&mdash;Lightfoot,
+      vol. ii. p. 371.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      For many curious details of the Cabalistic Magic, Vide Basnage, vol. v. p.
+      384, &amp;c.]
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      <a name="linknote-11" id="linknote-11">
+      <!-- Note --></a>
+    </p>
+    <p class="foot">
+      11 (<a href="#linknoteref-11">return</a>)<br /> [ page 34.&mdash;<i>Read
+      the stars no longer</i>. &lsquo;The modern Jews,&rsquo; says Basnage, &lsquo;have a great
+      idea of the influence of the stars.&rsquo; Vol. iv. p. 454. But astrology was
+      most prevalent among the Babylonian Rabbins, of whom Jabaster was one.
+      Living in the ancient land of the Chaldeans, these sacred sages imbibed a
+      taste for the mystic lore of their predecessors. The stars moved, and
+      formed letters and lines, when consulted by any of the highly-initiated of
+      the Cabalists. This they styled the Celestial Alphabet.]
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      <a name="linknote-12" id="linknote-12">
+      <!-- Note --></a>
+    </p>
+    <p class="foot">
+      12 (<a href="#linknoteref-12">return</a>)<br /> [ page 38.&mdash;__The
+      Daughter of the Voice. &lsquo;Both the Talmudick and the latter Rabbins,&rsquo; says
+      Lightfoot, &lsquo;make frequent mention of <i>Bath Kol, or Filia Vocis</i>, or
+      an echoing voice which served under the Second Temple for their utmost
+      refuge of revelation. For when Urim and Thummim, the oracle, was ceased,
+      and prophecy was decayed and gone, they had, as they say, certain strange
+      and extraordinary voices upon certain extraordinary occasions, which were
+      their warnings and advertisements in some special matters. Infinite
+      instances of this might be adduced, if they might be believed. Now here it
+      may be questioned why they called it <i>Bath Kol, the daughter of a voice,</i>
+      and not a voice itself? If the strictness of the Hebrew word Bath be to be
+      stood upon, which always it is not, it may be answered, that it is called
+      The Daughter of a Voice in relation to the oracles of Urim and Thummim.
+      For whereas that was a voice given from off the mercy-seat, within the
+      vail, and this, upon the decay of that oracle, came as it were in its
+      place, it might not unfitly or improperly be called a <i>daughter</i>, or
+      successor of that voice.&rsquo;&mdash;Lightfoot, vol. i. pp. 485, 486. Consult
+      also the learned Doctor, vol. ii. pp. 128, 129: &lsquo;It was used for a
+      testimony from heaven, but was indeed performed by magic art.&lsquo;]
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      <a name="linknote-13" id="linknote-13">
+      <!-- Note --></a>
+    </p>
+    <p class="foot">
+      13 (<a href="#linknoteref-13">return</a>)<br /> [ page 44.&mdash;<i>The
+      walls and turrets of an extensive city</i>. In Persia, and the countries
+      of the Tigris and Euphrates, the traveller sometimes arrives at deserted
+      cities of great magnificence and antiquity. Such, for instance, is the
+      city of Anneh. I suppose Alroy to have entered one of the deserted
+      capitals of the Seleucidae. They are in general the haunt of bandits.]
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      <a name="linknote-14" id="linknote-14">
+      <!-- Note --></a>
+    </p>
+    <p class="foot">
+      14 (<a href="#linknoteref-14">return</a>)<br /> [ page 49.&mdash;<i>Punctured
+      his arm.</i> From a story told by an Arab.]
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      <a name="linknote-15" id="linknote-15">
+      <!-- Note --></a>
+    </p>
+    <p class="foot">
+      15 (<a href="#linknoteref-15">return</a>)<br /> [ page 52.&mdash;<i>The
+      pilgrim could no longer sustain himself.</i> An endeavor to paint the
+      simoom.]
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      <a name="linknote-16" id="linknote-16">
+      <!-- Note --></a>
+    </p>
+    <p class="foot">
+      16 (<a href="#linknoteref-16">return</a>)<br /> [ page 54.&mdash;<i>By the
+      holy stone.</i> The Caaba.&mdash;The Caaba is the same to the Mahomedan as
+      the Holy Sepulchre to the Christian. It is the most unseemly, but the most
+      sacred, part of the mosque at Mecca, and is a small, square stone
+      building.]
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      <a name="linknote-17" id="linknote-17">
+      <!-- Note --></a>
+    </p>
+    <p class="foot">
+      17 (<a href="#linknoteref-17">return</a>)<br /> [ page 56.&mdash;<i>I am a
+      Hakim;</i> i.e. Physician, an almost sacred character in the East. As all
+      Englishmen travel with medicine-chests, the Turks are not be wondered at
+      for considering us physicians.]
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      <a name="linknote-18" id="linknote-18">
+      <!-- Note --></a>
+    </p>
+    <p class="foot">
+      18 (<a href="#linknoteref-18">return</a>)<br /> [ page 57.&mdash;<i>Threw
+      their wanton jerreeds in the air</i>. The Persians are more famous for
+      throwing the jerreed than any other nation. A Persian gentleman, while
+      riding quietly by your side, will suddenly dash off at full gallop, then
+      suddenly check his horse, and take a long aim with his lance with
+      admirable precision. I should doubt, however, whether he could hurl a
+      lance a greater distance or with greater force and effect than a Nubian,
+      who will fix a mark at sixty yards with his javelin.]
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      <a name="linknote-19" id="linknote-19">
+      <!-- Note --></a>
+    </p>
+    <p class="foot">
+      19 (<a href="#linknoteref-19">return</a>)<br /> [ page 58.&mdash;<i>Some
+      pounded coffee.</i> The origin of the use of coffee is obscure; but there
+      is great reason to believe that it had not been introduced in the time of
+      Alroy. When we consider that the life of an Oriental at the present day
+      mainly consists in drinking coffee and smoking tobacco, we cannot refrain
+      from asking ourselves, &lsquo;What did he do before either of these
+      comparatively modern inventions was discovered?&rsquo; For a long time, I was
+      inclined to suspect that tobacco might have been in use in Asia before it
+      was introduced into Europe; but a passage in old Sandys, in which he
+      mentions the wretched tobacco smoke in Turkey, and accounts for it by that
+      country being supplied with &lsquo;the dregs of our markets,&rsquo; demonstrates that,
+      in his time, there was no native growth in Asia. Yet the choicest tobaccos
+      are now grown on the coast of Syria, the real Levant. But did the Asiatics
+      smoke any other plant or substance before tobacco? In Syria, at the
+      present day, they smoke a plant called <i>timbac</i>; the Chinese smoke
+      opium; the artificial preparations for the hookah are known to all
+      Indians. I believe, however, that these are all refinements, and for this
+      reason, that in the classic writers, who were as well acquainted with the
+      Oriental nations as ourselves, we find no allusion to the practice of
+      smoking. The anachronism of the pipe I have not therefore ventured to
+      commit, and that of coffee will, I trust, be pardoned.]
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      <a name="linknote-20" id="linknote-20">
+      <!-- Note --></a>
+    </p>
+    <p class="foot">
+      20 (<a href="#linknoteref-20">return</a>)<br /> [ page 58.&mdash;<i>Wilder
+      gestures of the dancing girls.</i> These dancing girls abound throughout
+      Asia. The most famous are the Almeh of Egypt, and the Nautch of India.
+      These last are a caste, the first only a profession.]
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      <a name="linknote-21" id="linknote-21">
+      <!-- Note --></a>
+    </p>
+    <p class="foot">
+      21 (<a href="#linknoteref-21">return</a>)<br /> [ page 64.&mdash;<i>For
+      thee the bastinado</i>. The bastinado is the common punishment of the
+      East, and an effective and dreaded one. It is administered on the soles of
+      the feet, the instrument a long cane or palm-branch. Public executions are
+      very-rare.]
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      <a name="linknote-22" id="linknote-22">
+      <!-- Note --></a>
+    </p>
+    <p class="foot">
+      22 (<a href="#linknoteref-22">return</a>)<br /> [ page 73.&mdash;<i>A door
+      of tortoise-shell and mother-of-pearl</i>. This elegant mode of inlay is
+      common in Oriental palaces, and may be observed also in Alhambra, at
+      Granada.]
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      <a name="linknote-23" id="linknote-23">
+      <!-- Note --></a>
+    </p>
+    <p class="foot">
+      23 (<a href="#linknoteref-23">return</a>)<br /> [ page 74.&mdash;<i>A
+      vaulted, circular, and highly embossed roof, of purple, scarlet, and gold.</i>
+      In the very first style of Saracenic architecture. See the Hall of the
+      Ambassadors in Alhambra, and many other chambers in that exquisite
+      creation.]
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      <a name="linknote-24" id="linknote-24">
+      <!-- Note --></a>
+    </p>
+    <p class="foot">
+      24 (<a href="#linknoteref-24">return</a>)<br /> [ page 74.&mdash;<i>Nubian
+      eunuchs dressed in rich habits of scarlet and gold.</i> Thus the guard of
+      Nubian eunuchs of the present Pacha of Egypt, Mehemet Ali, or rather
+      Caliph, a title which he wishes to assume. They ride upon white horses.]
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      <a name="linknote-25" id="linknote-25">
+      <!-- Note --></a>
+    </p>
+    <p class="foot">
+      25 (<a href="#linknoteref-25">return</a>)<br /> [ page 74.&mdash;<i>A
+      quadrangular court of roses.</i> So in Alhambra, &lsquo;The Court of Myrtles,&rsquo;
+      leading to the Court of Columns, wherein is the famous Fountain of Lions.]
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      <a name="linknote-26" id="linknote-26">
+      <!-- Note --></a>
+    </p>
+    <p class="foot">
+      26 (<a href="#linknoteref-26">return</a>)<br /> [ page 75.&mdash;<i>An
+      Abyssinian giant.</i> A giant is still a common appendage to an Oriental
+      court even at the present day. See a very amusing story in the picturesque
+      &lsquo;Persian Sketches&rsquo; of that famous elchee, Sir John Malcolm.]
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      <a name="linknote-27" id="linknote-27">
+      <!-- Note --></a>
+    </p>
+    <p class="foot">
+      27 (<a href="#linknoteref-27">return</a>)<br /> [ page 75.&mdash;<i>Surrounded
+      by figures of every rare quadruped.</i> &lsquo;The hall of audience,&rsquo; says
+      Gibbon, from Cardonne, speaking of the magnificence of the Saracens of
+      Cordova, &lsquo;was encrusted with gold and pearls, and a great basin in the
+      centre was surrounded with the curious and costly figures of birds and
+      quadrupeds.&rsquo;-<i>Decline and Fall</i>, vol. x. p. 39.]
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      <a name="linknote-28" id="linknote-28">
+      <!-- Note --></a>
+    </p>
+    <p class="foot">
+      28 (<a href="#linknoteref-28">return</a>)<br /> [ page 76.&mdash;<i>A tree
+      of gold and silver.</i> &lsquo;Among the other spectacles of rare and stupendous
+      luxury was a tree of gold and silver, spreading into eighteen large
+      branches, on which, and on the lesser boughs, sat a variety of birds made
+      of the same precious metals, as well as the leaves of the tree. While the
+      machinery effected spontaneous motions, the several birds warbled their
+      natural harmony.&rsquo;-<i>Gibbon,</i> vol. x. p. 38, from Abulfeda, describing
+      the court of the Caliphs of Bagdad in the decline of their power.]
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      <a name="linknote-29" id="linknote-29">
+      <!-- Note --></a>
+    </p>
+    <p class="foot">
+      29 (<a href="#linknoteref-29">return</a>)<br /> [ page 76.&mdash;<i>Four
+      hundred men led as many white bloodhounds, with collars of gold and rubies</i>.
+      I have somewhere read of an Indian or Persian monarch whose coursing was
+      conducted in this gorgeous style: if I remember right, it was Mahmoud the
+      Gaznevide.]
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      <a name="linknote-30" id="linknote-30">
+      <!-- Note --></a>
+    </p>
+    <p class="foot">
+      30 (<a href="#linknoteref-30">return</a>)<br /> [ page 76.&mdash;<i>A steed
+      marked on its forehead with a star.</i> The sacred steed of Solorhon.]
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      <a name="linknote-31" id="linknote-31">
+      <!-- Note --></a>
+    </p>
+    <p class="foot">
+      31 (<a href="#linknoteref-31">return</a>)<br /> [ page 78.&mdash;<i>Instead
+      of water, each basin was replenished with the purest quicksilver.</i> &lsquo;In
+      a lofty pavilion of the gardens, one of those basins and fountains so
+      delightful in a sultry climate, was replenished, not with water, but with
+      the purest quicksilver.&rsquo; &mdash;<i>Gibbon</i>, vol. x, from Cardonne.]
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      <a name="linknote-32" id="linknote-32">
+      <!-- Note --></a>
+    </p>
+    <p class="foot">
+      32 (<a href="#linknoteref-32">return</a>)<br /> [ page 78.-<i>Playing with
+      a rosary of pearls and emeralds</i>. Moslems of rank are never without the
+      rosary, sometimes of amber and rare woods, sometimes of jewels. The most
+      esteemed is of that peculiar substance called Mecca wood.]
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      <a name="linknote-33" id="linknote-33">
+      <!-- Note --></a>
+    </p>
+    <p class="foot">
+      33 (<a href="#linknoteref-33">return</a>)<br /> [ page 78.&mdash;<i>The
+      diamond hilt of a small poniard.</i> The insignia of a royal female.]
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      <a name="linknote-34" id="linknote-34">
+      <!-- Note --></a>
+    </p>
+    <p class="foot">
+      34 (<a href="#linknoteref-34">return</a>)<br /> [ page 83.&mdash;<i>You
+      have been at Paris</i>. Paris was known to the Orientals at this time as a
+      city of considerable luxury and importance. The Embassy from Haroun
+      Alraschid to Charlemagne, at an earlier date, is of course recollected.]
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      <a name="linknote-35" id="linknote-35">
+      <!-- Note --></a>
+    </p>
+    <p class="foot">
+      35 (<a href="#linknoteref-35">return</a>)<br /> [ page 90.&mdash;<i>At
+      length beheld the lost capital of his fathers.</i> The finest view of
+      Jerusalem is from the Mount of Olives. It is little altered since the
+      period when David Alroy is supposed to have gazed upon it, but it is
+      enriched by the splendid Mosque of Omar, built by the Moslem conquerors on
+      the supposed site of the temple, and which, with its gardens, and arcades,
+      and courts, and fountains, may fairly be described as the most imposing of
+      Moslem fanes. I endeavoured to enter it at the hazard of my life. I was
+      detected, and surrounded by a crowd of turbaned fanatics, and escaped with
+      difficulty; but I saw enough to feel that minute inspection would not
+      belie the general character I formed of it from the Mount of Olives. I
+      caught a glorious glimpse of splendid courts, and light aify gates of
+      Saracenic triumph, flights of noble steps, long arcades, and interior
+      gardens, where silver fountains spouted their tall streams amid the taller
+      cypresses.]
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      <a name="linknote-36" id="linknote-36">
+      <!-- Note --></a>
+    </p>
+    <p class="foot">
+      36 (<a href="#linknoteref-36">return</a>)<br /> [ page 91.&mdash;<i>Entered
+      Jerusalem by the gate of Zion</i>. The gate of Zion still remains, and
+      from it you descend into the valley of Siloah.]
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      <a name="linknote-37" id="linknote-37">
+      <!-- Note --></a>
+    </p>
+    <p class="foot">
+      37 (<a href="#linknoteref-37">return</a>)<br /> [ page 94.-<i> King
+      Pirgandicus.</i> According to a Talmudical story, however, of which I find
+      a note, this monarch was not a Hebrew but a Gentile, and a very wicked
+      one. He once invited eleven famous doctors of the holy nation to supper.
+      They were received in the most magnificent style, and were then invited,
+      under pain of death, either to eat pork, to accept a pagan mistress, or to
+      drink wine consecrated to idols. After long consultation, the doctors, in
+      great tribulation, agreed to save their heads by accepting the last
+      alternative, since the first and second were forbidden by Moses, and the
+      last only by the Rabbins. The King assented, the doctors drank the impure
+      wine, and, as it was exceedingly good, drank freely. The wine, as will
+      sometimes happen, created a terrible appetite; the table was covered with
+      dishes, and the doctors, heated by the grape, were not sufficiently
+      careful of what they partook. In short, the wicked King Pirgandicus
+      contrived that they should sup off pork, and being carried from the table
+      quite tipsy, each of the eleven had the mortification of finding himself
+      next morning in the arms of a pagan mistress. In the course of the year
+      all the eleven died sudden deaths, and this visitation occurred to them,
+      not because they had violated the law of Moses, but because they believed
+      that the precepts of the Rabbins could be outraged with more impunity than
+      the Word of God.]
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      <a name="linknote-38" id="linknote-38">
+      <!-- Note --></a>
+    </p>
+    <p class="foot">
+      38 (<a href="#linknoteref-38">return</a>)<br /> [ page 94.&mdash;<i>And
+      conquered Julius Cæsar.</i> This classic hero often figures in the erratic
+      pages of the Talmud.]
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      <a name="linknote-39" id="linknote-39">
+      <!-- Note --></a>
+    </p>
+    <p class="foot">
+      39 (<a href="#linknoteref-39">return</a>)<br /> [ page 94.&mdash;<i>The
+      Tombs of the Kings.</i> The present pilgrim to Jerusalem will have less
+      trouble than Alroy in discovering the Tombs of the Kings, though he
+      probably would not as easily obtain the sceptre of Solomon. The tombs that
+      bear this title are of the time of the Asmonean princes, and of a more
+      ambitious character than any other of the remains. An open court, about
+      fifty feet in breadth, and extremely deep, is excavated out of the rock.
+      One side is formed by a portico, the frieze of which is sculptured in a
+      good Syro-Greek style. There is no grand portal; you crawl into the tombs
+      by a small opening on one of the sides. There are a few small chambers
+      with niches, recesses, and sarcophagi, some sculptured in the same flowing
+      style as the frieze. This is the most important monument at Jerusalem; and
+      Dr. Clarke, who has lavished wonder and admiration on the tombs of
+      Zachariah and Absalom, has declared the Tombs of the Kings to be one of
+      the marvellous productions of antiquity.]
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      <a name="linknote-40" id="linknote-40">
+      <!-- Note --></a>
+    </p>
+    <p class="foot">
+      40 (<a href="#linknoteref-40">return</a>)<br /> [ Page 95.&mdash;&lsquo;<i>Rabbi
+      Hillel</i> was one of the most celebrated among the Jewish Doctors, both
+      for birth, learning, rule, and children. He was of the seed of David by
+      his mother&rsquo;s side, being of the posterity of Shephatiah, the son of
+      Abital, David&rsquo;s wife. He was brought up in Babel, from whence he came up
+      to Jerusalem at forty years old, and there studied the law forty years
+      more under Shemaiah and Abtalion, and after them he was President of the
+      Sanhedrim forty years more. The beginning of his Presidency is generally
+      conceded upon to have been just one hundred &lsquo;years before the Temple was
+      destroyed; by which account he began eight-and-twenty years before our
+      Saviour was born, and died when he was about twelve years old. He is
+      renowned for his fourscore scholars.&rsquo;&mdash;<i>Lightfoot,</i> vol. ii. p.
+      2008.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      The great rival of Hillel was Shammai. Their controversies, and the
+      fierceness of their partisans, are a principal feature of Rabbinical
+      history. They were the same as the Scotists and Thomists. At last the Bath
+      Kol interfered, and decided for Hillel, but in a spirit of conciliatory
+      dexterity. The Bath Kol came forth and spake thus: &lsquo;The words both of the
+      one party and the other are the words of the living God, but the certain
+      decision of the matter is according to the decrees of the school of
+      Hillel. And henceforth, whoever shall transgress the decrees of the school
+      of Hillel is punishable with death.&lsquo;]
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      <a name="linknote-41" id="linknote-41">
+      <!-- Note --></a>
+    </p>
+    <p class="foot">
+      41 (<a href="#linknoteref-41">return</a>)<br /> [ page 97.&mdash;<i>A
+      number of small, square, low chambers.</i> These excavated cemeteries,
+      which abound in Palestine and Egypt, were often converted into places of
+      worship by the Jews and early Christians. Sandys thus describes the
+      Synagogue at Jerusalem in his time.]
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      <a name="linknote-42" id="linknote-42">
+      <!-- Note --></a>
+    </p>
+    <p class="foot">
+      42 (<a href="#linknoteref-42">return</a>)<br /> [ page 08.&mdash;<i>Their
+      heads mystically covered.</i> The Hebrews cover their heads during their
+      prayers with a sacred shawl.]
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      <a name="linknote-43" id="linknote-43">
+      <!-- Note --></a>
+    </p>
+    <p class="foot">
+      43 (<a href="#linknoteref-43">return</a>)<br /> [ page 98.&mdash;<i>Expounded
+      the law to the congregation of the people.</i> The custom, I believe, even
+      to the present day, among the Hebrews, a remnant of their old academies,
+      once so famous.]
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      <a name="linknote-44" id="linknote-44">
+      <!-- Note --></a>
+    </p>
+    <p class="foot">
+      44 (<a href="#linknoteref-44">return</a>)<br /> [ page 99.&mdash;<i>The
+      Valley of Jehoshaphat and the Tomb of Absalom.</i> In the Vale of
+      Jehoshaphat, among many other tombs, are two of considerable size, and
+      which, although of a corrupt Grecian architecture, are dignified by the
+      titles of the tombs of Zachariah and Absalom.]
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      <a name="linknote-45" id="linknote-45">
+      <!-- Note --></a>
+    </p>
+    <p class="foot">
+      45 (<a href="#linknoteref-45">return</a>)<br /> [ page 101.&mdash;<i>The
+      scanty rill of Siloah.</i> The sublime Siloah is now a muddy rill; you
+      descend by steps to the fountain which is its source, and which is covered
+      with an arch. Here the blind man received his sight; and, singular enough,
+      to this very day the healing reputation of its waters prevails, and
+      summons to its brink all those neighbouring Arabs who suffer from the
+      ophthalmic affections not uncommon in this part of the world.]
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      <a name="linknote-46" id="linknote-46">
+      <!-- Note --></a>
+    </p>
+    <p class="foot">
+      46 (<a href="#linknoteref-46">return</a>)<br /> [ page 102.&mdash;<i>Several
+      isolated tombs of considerable size</i>. There are no remains of ancient
+      Jerusalem, or the ancient Jews. Some tombs there are which may be ascribed
+      to the Asmonean princes; but all the monuments of David, Solomon, and
+      their long posterity, have utterly disappeared.]
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      <a name="linknote-47" id="linknote-47">
+      <!-- Note --></a>
+    </p>
+    <p class="foot">
+      47 (<a href="#linknoteref-47">return</a>)<br /> [ page 103.&mdash;<i>Are
+      cut strange characters and unearthly forms</i>. As at Benihassan, and many
+      other of the sculptured catacombs of Egypt.]
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      <a name="linknote-48" id="linknote-48">
+      <!-- Note --></a>
+    </p>
+    <p class="foot">
+      48 (<a href="#linknoteref-48">return</a>)<br /> [ page 104.&mdash;<i>A
+      crowd of bats rushed forward and extinguished his torch.</i> In entering
+      the Temple of Dendara, our torches were extinguished by a crowd of bats.]
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      <a name="linknote-49" id="linknote-49">
+      <!-- Note --></a>
+    </p>
+    <p class="foot">
+      49 (<a href="#linknoteref-49">return</a>)<br /> [ page 104.&mdash;<i>The
+      gallery was of great extent, with a gradual declination.</i> So in the
+      great Egyptian tombs.]
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      <a name="linknote-50" id="linknote-50">
+      <!-- Note --></a>
+    </p>
+    <p class="foot">
+      50 (<a href="#linknoteref-50">return</a>)<br /> [ page 105.&mdash;<i>The
+      Afrite, for it was one of those dread beings.</i> Beings of a monstrous
+      form, the most terrible of all the orders of the Dives.]
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      <a name="linknote-51" id="linknote-51">
+      <!-- Note --></a>
+    </p>
+    <p class="foot">
+      51 (<a href="#linknoteref-51">return</a>)<br /> [ page 106.&mdash;<i>An
+      avenue of colossal lions of red granite.</i> An avenue of Sphinxes more
+      than a mile in length connected the quarters of Luxoor and Carnak in
+      Egyptian Thebes. Its fragments remain. Many other avenues of Sphinxes and
+      lion-headed Kings may be observed in various parts of Upper Egypt.]
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      <a name="linknote-52" id="linknote-52">
+      <!-- Note --></a>
+    </p>
+    <p class="foot">
+      52 (<a href="#linknoteref-52">return</a>)<br /> [ page 107.&mdash;<i>A
+      stupendous portal, cut out of the solid rock, four hundred feet in height,
+      and supported by clusters of colossal Caryatides.</i> See the great rock
+      temple of Ipsambul in Lower Nubia. The sitting colossi are nearly seventy
+      feet in height. But there is a Torso of a statue of Rameses the Second at
+      Thebes, vulgarly called the great Memnon, which measures upwards of sixty
+      feet round the shoulders.]
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      <a name="linknote-53" id="linknote-53">
+      <!-- Note --></a>
+    </p>
+    <p class="foot">
+      53 (<a href="#linknoteref-53">return</a>)<br /> [ page 109.&mdash;<i>Fifty
+      steps of ivory, and each step guarded by golden lions.</i> See 1st Kings,
+      chap. x. 18-20.]
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      <a name="linknote-54" id="linknote-54">
+      <!-- Note --></a>
+    </p>
+    <p class="foot">
+      54 (<a href="#linknoteref-54">return</a>)<br /> [ page 120.&mdash;<i>Crossed
+      the desert on a swift dromedary</i>. The difference between a camel and a
+      dromedary is the difference between a hack and a thorough-bred horse.
+      There is no other.]
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      <a name="linknote-55" id="linknote-55">
+      <!-- Note --></a>
+    </p>
+    <p class="foot">
+      55 (<a href="#linknoteref-55">return</a>)<br /> [ page 121.&mdash;<i>That
+      celestial alphabet known to the true Cabalist</i>. See Note 11.]
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      <a name="linknote-56" id="linknote-56">
+      <!-- Note --></a>
+    </p>
+    <p class="foot">
+      56 (<a href="#linknoteref-56">return</a>)<br /> [ page 133.&mdash;<i>The
+      last of the Seljuks had expired.</i> The Orientals are famous for their
+      massacres: that of the Mamlouks by the present Pacha of Egypt, and of the
+      Janissaries of the Sultan, are notorious. But one of the most terrible,
+      and effected under the most difficult and dangerous circumstances, was the
+      massacre of the Albanian Beys by the Grand Vizir, in the autumn of 1830. I
+      was in Albania at the time.]
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      <a name="linknote-57" id="linknote-57">
+      <!-- Note --></a>
+    </p>
+    <p class="foot">
+      57 (<a href="#linknoteref-57">return</a>)<br /> [ page 136.&mdash;<i> The
+      minarets were illumined.</i> So, I remember, at Constantinople, at the
+      commencement of 1831 at the departure of the Mecca caravan, and also at
+      the annual fast of Ramadan.]
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      <a name="linknote-58" id="linknote-58">
+      <!-- Note --></a>
+    </p>
+    <p class="foot">
+      58 (<a href="#linknoteref-58">return</a>)<br /> [ page 138.&mdash;<i>One
+      asking alms with a wire run through his cheek.</i> Not uncommon. These
+      Dervishes frequent the bazaars.]
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      <a name="linknote-59" id="linknote-59">
+      <!-- Note --></a>
+    </p>
+    <p class="foot">
+      59 (<a href="#linknoteref-59">return</a>)<br /> [ page 142.&mdash;<i>One
+      hundred thousand warriors were now assembled.</i> In countries where the
+      whole population is armed, a vast military force is soon assembled.
+      Barchochebas was speedily at the head of two hundred thousand fighting
+      men, and held the Romans long in check under one of their most powerful
+      emperors.]
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      <a name="linknote-60" id="linknote-60">
+      <!-- Note --></a>
+    </p>
+    <p class="foot">
+      60 (<a href="#linknoteref-60">return</a>)<br /> [ page 143.&mdash;<i>Some
+      high-capped Tatar with despatches.</i> I have availed myself of a familiar
+      character in Oriental life, but the use of a Tatar as a courier in the
+      time of Alroy is, I fear, an anachronism.]
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      <a name="linknote-61" id="linknote-61">
+      <!-- Note --></a>
+    </p>
+    <p class="foot">
+      61 (<a href="#linknoteref-61">return</a>)<br /> [ page 144.&mdash;<i>Each
+      day some warlike Atabek, at the head of his armed train, poured into the
+      capital of the caliphs.</i> I was at Yanina, the capital of Albania, when
+      the Grand Vizir summoned the chieftains of the country, and I was struck
+      by their magnificent arrays each day pouring into the city.]
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      <a name="linknote-62" id="linknote-62">
+      <!-- Note --></a>
+    </p>
+    <p class="foot">
+      62 (<a href="#linknoteref-62">return</a>)<br /> [ page 153.&mdash;<i>It is
+      the Sabbath etc</i>. &lsquo;They began their Sabbath from sunset, and the same
+      time of day they ended it.&rsquo;&mdash;Talm. Hierosolym. in <i>Sheveith</i>,
+      fol. 33, col. I. The eve of the Sabbath, or the day before, was called the
+      day of the preparation for the Sabbath.&mdash;Luke xxiii. 54.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;And from the time of the evening sacrifice and forward, they began to fit
+      themselves for the Sabbath, and to cease from their works, so as not to go
+      to the barber, not to sit in judgment, &amp;c.; nay, thenceforward they
+      would not set things on working, which, being set a-work, would complete
+      their business of themselves, unless it would be completed before the
+      Sabbath came&mdash;<i>as wool was not put to dye, unless it could take
+      colour while it was yet day! &amp;c.</i>&mdash;Talm. in Sab., par. I;
+      Lightfoot, vol. i. p. 218.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Towards sunsetting, when the Sabbath was now approaching, they lighted up
+      the Sabbath lamp. Men and women were bound to have a lamp lighted up in
+      their houses on the Sabbath, though they were never so poor&mdash;nay,
+      though they were forced to go a-begging for oil for this purpose; and the
+      lighting up of this lamp was a part of making the Sabbath a delight; and
+      women were especially commanded to look to this business.&rsquo;&mdash;Maimonides
+      in Sab. par. 36.]
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      <a name="linknote-63" id="linknote-63">
+      <!-- Note --></a>
+    </p>
+    <p class="foot">
+      63 (<a href="#linknoteref-63">return</a>)<br /> [ page 156.&mdash;<i>The
+      presence of the robes of honour</i>. These are ever carried in procession,
+      and their number denotes the rank and quality of the chief, or of the
+      individual to whom they are offered.]
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      <a name="linknote-64" id="linknote-64">
+      <!-- Note --></a>
+    </p>
+    <p class="foot">
+      64 (<a href="#linknoteref-64">return</a>)<br /> [ page 158.&mdash;<i>Pressed
+      it to his lips, and placed it in his vest.</i> The elegant mode in which
+      the Orientals receive presents.]
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      <a name="linknote-65" id="linknote-65">
+      <!-- Note --></a>
+    </p>
+    <p class="foot">
+      65 (<a href="#linknoteref-65">return</a>)<br /> [ page 164.&mdash;A cap of
+      transparent pink porcelain, studded with pearls. Thus a great Turk, who
+      afforded me hospitality, was accustomed to drink his coffee.]
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      <a name="linknote-66" id="linknote-66">
+      <!-- Note --></a>
+    </p>
+    <p class="foot">
+      66 (<a href="#linknoteref-66">return</a>)<br /> [ page 168.&mdash;<i>Slippers
+      powdered with pearls</i>. The slippers in the East form a very fanciful
+      portion of the costume. It is not uncommon to see them thus adorned and
+      beautifully embroidered. In precious embroidery and enamelling the Turkish
+      artists are unrivalled.]
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      <a name="linknote-67" id="linknote-67">
+      <!-- Note --></a>
+    </p>
+    <p class="foot">
+      67 (<a href="#linknoteref-67">return</a>)<br /> [ page 185.&mdash;<i>The
+      policy of the son of Kareah. Vide</i> Jeremiah, chap. xlii.]
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      <a name="linknote-68" id="linknote-68">
+      <!-- Note --></a>
+    </p>
+    <p class="foot">
+      68 (<a href="#linknoteref-68">return</a>)<br /> [ page 191.&mdash;<i>The
+      inviting gestures and the voluptuous grace of the dancing girls of Egypt.</i>
+      A sculptor might find fine studies in the Egyptian Almeh.]
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      <a name="linknote-69" id="linknote-69">
+      <!-- Note --></a>
+    </p>
+    <p class="foot">
+      69 (<a href="#linknoteref-69">return</a>)<br /> [ page 194.&mdash;<i>Six
+      choice steeds sumptuously caparisoned.</i> Led horses always precede a
+      great man. I think there were usually twelve before the Sultan when he
+      went to Mosque, which he did in public every Friday.]
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      <a name="linknote-70" id="linknote-70">
+      <!-- Note --></a>
+    </p>
+    <p class="foot">
+      70 (<a href="#linknoteref-70">return</a>)<br /> [ page 194.&mdash;<i>Six
+      Damascus sabres of unrivalled temper.</i> But sabres are not to be found
+      at Damascus, any more than cheeses at Stilton, or oranges at Malta. The
+      art of watering the blade is, however, practised, I believe, in Persia. A
+      fine Damascus blade will fetch fifty or even one hundred guineas English.]
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      <a name="linknote-71" id="linknote-71">
+      <!-- Note --></a>
+    </p>
+    <p class="foot">
+      71 (<a href="#linknoteref-71">return</a>)<br /> [ page 195.&mdash;<i>Roses
+      from Rocnabad</i>. A river in Persia famous for its bowery banks of
+      roses.]
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      <a name="linknote-72" id="linknote-72">
+      <!-- Note --></a>
+    </p>
+    <p class="foot">
+      72 (<a href="#linknoteref-72">return</a>)<br /> [ page 195.&mdash;<i>Screens
+      made of the feather of a roc.</i> The screens and fans in the East, made
+      of the plumage of rare birds with jewelled handles, are very gorgeous.]
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      <a name="linknote-73" id="linknote-73">
+      <!-- Note --></a>
+    </p>
+    <p class="foot">
+      73 (<a href="#linknoteref-73">return</a>)<br /> [ page 196.&mdash;<i>A
+      tremulous aigrette of brilliants.</i> Worn only by persons of the highest
+      rank. The Sultan presented Lord Nelson after the battle of the Nile with
+      an aigrette of diamonds.]
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      <a name="linknote-74" id="linknote-74">
+      <!-- Note --></a>
+    </p>
+    <p class="foot">
+      74 (<a href="#linknoteref-74">return</a>)<br /> [ page 211.&mdash;<i> To
+      send him the whole of the next course.</i> These compliments from the
+      tables of the great are not uncommon in the East. When at the
+      head-quarters of the Grand Vizir at Yanina, his Highness sent to myself
+      and my travelling companions a course from his table, singers and dancing
+      girls.]
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      <a name="linknote-75" id="linknote-75">
+      <!-- Note --></a>
+    </p>
+    <p class="foot">
+      75 (<a href="#linknoteref-75">return</a>)<br /> [ page 212.&mdash;<i>The
+      golden wine of Mount Lebanon</i>. A most delicious wine, from its colour,
+      brilliancy, and rare flavour, justly meriting this title, is made on
+      Lebanon; but it will not, unfortunately, bear exportation, and even
+      materially suffers in the voyage from the coast to Alexandria.]
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      <a name="linknote-76" id="linknote-76">
+      <!-- Note --></a>
+    </p>
+    <p class="foot">
+      76 (<a href="#linknoteref-76">return</a>)<br /> [ page 221.&mdash;<i>And
+      the company of gardeners</i>. These gardeners of the Serail form a very
+      efficient body of police.]
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      <a name="linknote-77" id="linknote-77">
+      <!-- Note --></a>
+    </p>
+    <p class="foot">
+      77 (<a href="#linknoteref-77">return</a>)<br /> [ page 226.&mdash;Alroy
+      retired to the bath. The bath is a principal scene of Oriental life. Here
+      the Asiatics pass a great portion of their day. The bath consists of a
+      long suite of chambers of various temperatures, in which the different
+      processes of the elaborate ceremony are performed.]
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      <a name="linknote-78" id="linknote-78">
+      <!-- Note --></a>
+    </p>
+    <p class="foot">
+      78 (<a href="#linknoteref-78">return</a>)<br /> [ page 232.&mdash;<i>We are
+      the watchers of the moon.</i> The feast of the New Moon is one of the most
+      important festivals of the Hebrews. &lsquo;Our year,&rsquo; says the learned author of
+      the &lsquo;Rites and Ceremonies,&rsquo; &lsquo;is divided into twelve lunar months, some of
+      which consist of twenty-nine, others of thirty days, which difference is
+      occasioned by the various appearance of the new moon, in point of time:
+      for if it appeared on the 30th day, the 29th was the last day of the
+      precedent month; but if it did not appear till the 31st day, the 30th was
+      the last day, and the 31st the first of the subsequent month; and that was
+      an intercalary moon, of all which take the following account.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Our nation heretofore, not only observing the rules of some fixed
+      calculation, also celebrated the feast of the New Moon, according to the
+      phasis or first appearance of the moon, which was done in compliance with
+      God&rsquo;s command, as our received traditions inform us.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;Hence it came to pass that the first appearance was not to be determined
+      only by rules of art, but also by the testimony of such persons as deposed
+      before the Sanhedrim, or Great Senate, that they had seen the New Moon. So
+      a committee of three were appointed from among the said Sanhedrim to
+      receive the deposition of the parties aforesaid, who, after having
+      calculated what time the moon might possibly appear, despatched some
+      persons <i>into high and mountainous places, to observe and give their
+      evidence accordingly, concerning the first appearance of the moon.</i>
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;As soon as the new moon was either consecrated or appointed to be
+      observed, notice was given by the Sanhedrim to the rest of the nation what
+      day had been fixed for the New Moon, or first day of the month, because
+      that was to be the rule and measure according to which they were obliged
+      to keep their feasts and fasts in every month respectively.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &lsquo;This notice was given to them in time of peace, <i>by firing of beacons,
+      set up for that purpose,</i> which was looked upon as the readiest way of
+      communication, but, in time of war, when all places were full of enemies,
+      who made use of beacons to amuse our nation with, it was thought fit to
+      discontinue it.&lsquo;]
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      <a name="linknote-79" id="linknote-79">
+      <!-- Note --></a>
+    </p>
+    <p class="foot">
+      79 (<a href="#linknoteref-79">return</a>)<br /> [ page 263.&mdash;<i>The
+      women chatted at the fountain</i>. The bath and the fountain are the
+      favourite scenes of feminine conversation.]
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      <a name="linknote-80" id="linknote-80">
+      <!-- Note --></a>
+    </p>
+    <p class="foot">
+      80 (<a href="#linknoteref-80">return</a>)<br /> [ page 264.&mdash;<i>Playing
+      chess.</i> On the walls of the palace of Amenoph the Second, called
+      Medeenet Abuh, at Egyptian Thebes, the King is represented playing chess
+      with the Queen. This monarch reigned long before the Trojan war.]
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      <a name="linknote-81" id="linknote-81">
+      <!-- Note --></a>
+    </p>
+    <p class="foot">
+      81 (<a href="#linknoteref-81">return</a>)<br /> [ page 272.&mdash;<i>Impaled.</i>
+      A friend of mine witnessed this horrible punishment in Upper Egypt. The
+      victim was a man who had secretly murdered nine persons. He held an
+      official post, and invited travellers and pilgrims to his house, whom he
+      regularly disposed of and plundered. I regret that I have mislaid his MS.
+      account of the ceremony.]
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      <a name="linknote-82" id="linknote-82">
+      <!-- Note --></a>
+    </p>
+    <p class="foot">
+      82 (<a href="#linknoteref-82">return</a>)<br /> [ page 299.&mdash;In the <i>Germen
+      Davidis of Gants</i>, translated into Latin by Vorstius, Lug. 1654, is an
+      extract from a Hebrew MS. containing an account of Alroy. I subjoin a
+      translation of a passage respecting his death.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      R. Maimonides deposes: That the Sultan asked him whether he were the
+      Messiah, and that he answered him, &ldquo;I am&rdquo;; and that then the monarch
+      inquired of him what sign he had. To this he replied that they might cut
+      off his head and that he would return to life. Then the King commanded
+      that his head should be cut off, and he died, having said previously to
+      the monarch that the latter should not lack in his life the most grievous
+      torments.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Seven years before the incident quoted above, the Israelites had serious
+      troubles on account of a son of Belial who called himself the Messiah, so
+      that the tetrarch and the princes were justly incensed against the Jews,
+      to such an extent, indeed, that they sent to the latter to inquire whether
+      they desired the reign of the Messiah. The name of this accursed troubler
+      was David El-David, <i>alias</i> Alroy, who hailed from the city of
+      Omadia, where were gathered about a thousand rich, honest, happy and
+      decently-living families, whose tabernacle was the principal resort of
+      those that dwelt in the neighbourhood of the river Sabbathion; and around
+      them were gathered more than a hundred minor tabernacles.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      This city was on the border of the region of Media, and the dialect used
+      there was the Targum. Thence to the region of Golan is a journey of fifty
+      days. It is under the rule of Persia, to which it pays a heavy tribute
+      every fifteen years, and one golden talent in addition. Moreover, this man
+      David El-David was educated under the Prince of the Chaldean captivity, in
+      the care of the eminent Scholiarch, in the city of Bagdad, who was
+      preeminently wise in the Talmud and in all foreign sciences, as well as in
+      all books of divination, magic, and Chaldean lore; This David El-David,
+      out of the boldness and arrogance of his heart, lifted his hand against
+      the ruling powers, and collected those Jews who dwelt in the neighbourhood
+      of Mount Chophtan, seducing them to follow him into battle against all the
+      neighbouring peoples. He showed them signs-of what value they knew not:
+      there were men, indeed, who supported him on account of his magic art and
+      of certain things to be done; others said that his great power came from
+      the hand of God. Those who flocked to him called him the Messiah, lauding
+      and extolling him.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      In another epoch of Persian history a certain Jew arose, calling himself
+      the Messiah, and prospered greatly. A large part of the Israelitish
+      population believed in him. But when the King indeed heard of all this
+      pretender&rsquo;s power, and that he proposed to join battle with him, he sent
+      to the Jews who lived thereabouts and notified them that unless they
+      deserted this man, and came oui; from all association with him, they
+      certainly should be slain, every one of them, with the sword, and
+      afterward the children and the women should perish. Then the whole
+      population of Israel assembled, and argued with this man, and threw
+      themselves down before him on the ground, strongly supplicating him, with
+      clamour and tears, to depart from them. Why, indeed, should he put them
+      and others in danger? Had not the King already sworn that they should
+      perish by the sword, and wherefore should he bring affliction upon all the
+      Jewish inhabitants of Persia? Responding, he said: &ldquo;I have come to serve
+      you, and ye will not have me. Whom do ye fear? Who dares stand in front of
+      me, and what doth this Persian King that he dare not oppose me and my
+      sword?&rdquo; The Jews asked him what sign he had that he was the Messiah. He
+      answered: &ldquo;My mission prospers: the Messiah needs no other sign.&rdquo; They
+      answered that many had acted likewise, and that none had reached success.
+      Then he drove them forth from his face with superb indignation.]
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      <br /> <br />
+    </p>
+<pre xml:space="preserve">
+
+
+
+
+
+End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of Alroy, by Benjamin Disraeli
+
+*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK ALROY ***
+
+***** This file should be named 20002-h.htm or 20002-h.zip *****
+This and all associated files of various formats will be found in:
+        http://www.gutenberg.org/2/0/0/0/20002/
+
+Produced by David Widger
+
+Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions
+will be renamed.
+
+Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no
+one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation
+(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without
+permission and without paying copyright royalties.  Special rules,
+set forth in the General Terms of Use part of this license, apply to
+copying and distributing Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works to
+protect the PROJECT GUTENBERG-tm concept and trademark.  Project
+Gutenberg is a registered trademark, and may not be used if you
+charge for the eBooks, unless you receive specific permission.  If you
+do not charge anything for copies of this eBook, complying with the
+rules is very easy.  You may use this eBook for nearly any purpose
+such as creation of derivative works, reports, performances and
+research.  They may be modified and printed and given away--you may do
+practically ANYTHING with public domain eBooks.  Redistribution is
+subject to the trademark license, especially commercial
+redistribution.
+
+
+
+*** START: FULL LICENSE ***
+
+THE FULL PROJECT GUTENBERG LICENSE
+PLEASE READ THIS BEFORE YOU DISTRIBUTE OR USE THIS WORK
+
+To protect the Project Gutenberg-tm mission of promoting the free
+distribution of electronic works, by using or distributing this work
+(or any other work associated in any way with the phrase &ldquo;Project
+Gutenberg&rdquo;), you agree to comply with all the terms of the Full Project
+Gutenberg-tm License (available with this file or online at
+http://gutenberg.org/license).
+
+
+Section 1.  General Terms of Use and Redistributing Project Gutenberg-tm
+electronic works
+
+1.A.  By reading or using any part of this Project Gutenberg-tm
+electronic work, you indicate that you have read, understand, agree to
+and accept all the terms of this license and intellectual property
+(trademark/copyright) agreement.  If you do not agree to abide by all
+the terms of this agreement, you must cease using and return or destroy
+all copies of Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works in your possession.
+If you paid a fee for obtaining a copy of or access to a Project
+Gutenberg-tm electronic work and you do not agree to be bound by the
+terms of this agreement, you may obtain a refund from the person or
+entity to whom you paid the fee as set forth in paragraph 1.E.8.
+
+1.B.  &ldquo;Project Gutenberg&rdquo; is a registered trademark.  It may only be
+used on or associated in any way with an electronic work by people who
+agree to be bound by the terms of this agreement.  There are a few
+things that you can do with most Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works
+even without complying with the full terms of this agreement.  See
+paragraph 1.C below.  There are a lot of things you can do with Project
+Gutenberg-tm electronic works if you follow the terms of this agreement
+and help preserve free future access to Project Gutenberg-tm electronic
+works.  See paragraph 1.E below.
+
+1.C.  The Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation (&ldquo;the Foundation&rdquo;
+ or PGLAF), owns a compilation copyright in the collection of Project
+Gutenberg-tm electronic works.  Nearly all the individual works in the
+collection are in the public domain in the United States.  If an
+individual work is in the public domain in the United States and you are
+located in the United States, we do not claim a right to prevent you from
+copying, distributing, performing, displaying or creating derivative
+works based on the work as long as all references to Project Gutenberg
+are removed.  Of course, we hope that you will support the Project
+Gutenberg-tm mission of promoting free access to electronic works by
+freely sharing Project Gutenberg-tm works in compliance with the terms of
+this agreement for keeping the Project Gutenberg-tm name associated with
+the work.  You can easily comply with the terms of this agreement by
+keeping this work in the same format with its attached full Project
+Gutenberg-tm License when you share it without charge with others.
+
+1.D.  The copyright laws of the place where you are located also govern
+what you can do with this work.  Copyright laws in most countries are in
+a constant state of change.  If you are outside the United States, check
+the laws of your country in addition to the terms of this agreement
+before downloading, copying, displaying, performing, distributing or
+creating derivative works based on this work or any other Project
+Gutenberg-tm work.  The Foundation makes no representations concerning
+the copyright status of any work in any country outside the United
+States.
+
+1.E.  Unless you have removed all references to Project Gutenberg:
+
+1.E.1.  The following sentence, with active links to, or other immediate
+access to, the full Project Gutenberg-tm License must appear prominently
+whenever any copy of a Project Gutenberg-tm work (any work on which the
+phrase &ldquo;Project Gutenberg&rdquo; appears, or with which the phrase &ldquo;Project
+Gutenberg&rdquo; is associated) is accessed, displayed, performed, viewed,
+copied or distributed:
+
+This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with
+almost no restrictions whatsoever.  You may copy it, give it away or
+re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included
+with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org
+
+1.E.2.  If an individual Project Gutenberg-tm electronic work is derived
+from the public domain (does not contain a notice indicating that it is
+posted with permission of the copyright holder), the work can be copied
+and distributed to anyone in the United States without paying any fees
+or charges.  If you are redistributing or providing access to a work
+with the phrase &ldquo;Project Gutenberg&rdquo; associated with or appearing on the
+work, you must comply either with the requirements of paragraphs 1.E.1
+through 1.E.7 or obtain permission for the use of the work and the
+Project Gutenberg-tm trademark as set forth in paragraphs 1.E.8 or
+1.E.9.
+
+1.E.3.  If an individual Project Gutenberg-tm electronic work is posted
+with the permission of the copyright holder, your use and distribution
+must comply with both paragraphs 1.E.1 through 1.E.7 and any additional
+terms imposed by the copyright holder.  Additional terms will be linked
+to the Project Gutenberg-tm License for all works posted with the
+permission of the copyright holder found at the beginning of this work.
+
+1.E.4.  Do not unlink or detach or remove the full Project Gutenberg-tm
+License terms from this work, or any files containing a part of this
+work or any other work associated with Project Gutenberg-tm.
+
+1.E.5.  Do not copy, display, perform, distribute or redistribute this
+electronic work, or any part of this electronic work, without
+prominently displaying the sentence set forth in paragraph 1.E.1 with
+active links or immediate access to the full terms of the Project
+Gutenberg-tm License.
+
+1.E.6.  You may convert to and distribute this work in any binary,
+compressed, marked up, nonproprietary or proprietary form, including any
+word processing or hypertext form.  However, if you provide access to or
+distribute copies of a Project Gutenberg-tm work in a format other than
+&ldquo;Plain Vanilla ASCII&rdquo; or other format used in the official version
+posted on the official Project Gutenberg-tm web site (www.gutenberg.org),
+you must, at no additional cost, fee or expense to the user, provide a
+copy, a means of exporting a copy, or a means of obtaining a copy upon
+request, of the work in its original &ldquo;Plain Vanilla ASCII&rdquo; or other
+form.  Any alternate format must include the full Project Gutenberg-tm
+License as specified in paragraph 1.E.1.
+
+1.E.7.  Do not charge a fee for access to, viewing, displaying,
+performing, copying or distributing any Project Gutenberg-tm works
+unless you comply with paragraph 1.E.8 or 1.E.9.
+
+1.E.8.  You may charge a reasonable fee for copies of or providing
+access to or distributing Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works provided
+that
+
+- You pay a royalty fee of 20% of the gross profits you derive from
+     the use of Project Gutenberg-tm works calculated using the method
+     you already use to calculate your applicable taxes.  The fee is
+     owed to the owner of the Project Gutenberg-tm trademark, but he
+     has agreed to donate royalties under this paragraph to the
+     Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation.  Royalty payments
+     must be paid within 60 days following each date on which you
+     prepare (or are legally required to prepare) your periodic tax
+     returns.  Royalty payments should be clearly marked as such and
+     sent to the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation at the
+     address specified in Section 4, &ldquo;Information about donations to
+     the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation.&rdquo;
+
+- You provide a full refund of any money paid by a user who notifies
+     you in writing (or by e-mail) within 30 days of receipt that s/he
+     does not agree to the terms of the full Project Gutenberg-tm
+     License.  You must require such a user to return or
+     destroy all copies of the works possessed in a physical medium
+     and discontinue all use of and all access to other copies of
+     Project Gutenberg-tm works.
+
+- You provide, in accordance with paragraph 1.F.3, a full refund of any
+     money paid for a work or a replacement copy, if a defect in the
+     electronic work is discovered and reported to you within 90 days
+     of receipt of the work.
+
+- You comply with all other terms of this agreement for free
+     distribution of Project Gutenberg-tm works.
+
+1.E.9.  If you wish to charge a fee or distribute a Project Gutenberg-tm
+electronic work or group of works on different terms than are set
+forth in this agreement, you must obtain permission in writing from
+both the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation and Michael
+Hart, the owner of the Project Gutenberg-tm trademark.  Contact the
+Foundation as set forth in Section 3 below.
+
+1.F.
+
+1.F.1.  Project Gutenberg volunteers and employees expend considerable
+effort to identify, do copyright research on, transcribe and proofread
+public domain works in creating the Project Gutenberg-tm
+collection.  Despite these efforts, Project Gutenberg-tm electronic
+works, and the medium on which they may be stored, may contain
+&ldquo;Defects,&rdquo; such as, but not limited to, incomplete, inaccurate or
+corrupt data, transcription errors, a copyright or other intellectual
+property infringement, a defective or damaged disk or other medium, a
+computer virus, or computer codes that damage or cannot be read by
+your equipment.
+
+1.F.2.  LIMITED WARRANTY, DISCLAIMER OF DAMAGES - Except for the &ldquo;Right
+of Replacement or Refund&rdquo; described in paragraph 1.F.3, the Project
+Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation, the owner of the Project
+Gutenberg-tm trademark, and any other party distributing a Project
+Gutenberg-tm electronic work under this agreement, disclaim all
+liability to you for damages, costs and expenses, including legal
+fees.  YOU AGREE THAT YOU HAVE NO REMEDIES FOR NEGLIGENCE, STRICT
+LIABILITY, BREACH OF WARRANTY OR BREACH OF CONTRACT EXCEPT THOSE
+PROVIDED IN PARAGRAPH F3.  YOU AGREE THAT THE FOUNDATION, THE
+TRADEMARK OWNER, AND ANY DISTRIBUTOR UNDER THIS AGREEMENT WILL NOT BE
+LIABLE TO YOU FOR ACTUAL, DIRECT, INDIRECT, CONSEQUENTIAL, PUNITIVE OR
+INCIDENTAL DAMAGES EVEN IF YOU GIVE NOTICE OF THE POSSIBILITY OF SUCH
+DAMAGE.
+
+1.F.3.  LIMITED RIGHT OF REPLACEMENT OR REFUND - If you discover a
+defect in this electronic work within 90 days of receiving it, you can
+receive a refund of the money (if any) you paid for it by sending a
+written explanation to the person you received the work from.  If you
+received the work on a physical medium, you must return the medium with
+your written explanation.  The person or entity that provided you with
+the defective work may elect to provide a replacement copy in lieu of a
+refund.  If you received the work electronically, the person or entity
+providing it to you may choose to give you a second opportunity to
+receive the work electronically in lieu of a refund.  If the second copy
+is also defective, you may demand a refund in writing without further
+opportunities to fix the problem.
+
+1.F.4.  Except for the limited right of replacement or refund set forth
+in paragraph 1.F.3, this work is provided to you &lsquo;AS-IS&rsquo; WITH NO OTHER
+WARRANTIES OF ANY KIND, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO
+WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTIBILITY OR FITNESS FOR ANY PURPOSE.
+
+1.F.5.  Some states do not allow disclaimers of certain implied
+warranties or the exclusion or limitation of certain types of damages.
+If any disclaimer or limitation set forth in this agreement violates the
+law of the state applicable to this agreement, the agreement shall be
+interpreted to make the maximum disclaimer or limitation permitted by
+the applicable state law.  The invalidity or unenforceability of any
+provision of this agreement shall not void the remaining provisions.
+
+1.F.6.  INDEMNITY - You agree to indemnify and hold the Foundation, the
+trademark owner, any agent or employee of the Foundation, anyone
+providing copies of Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works in accordance
+with this agreement, and any volunteers associated with the production,
+promotion and distribution of Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works,
+harmless from all liability, costs and expenses, including legal fees,
+that arise directly or indirectly from any of the following which you do
+or cause to occur: (a) distribution of this or any Project Gutenberg-tm
+work, (b) alteration, modification, or additions or deletions to any
+Project Gutenberg-tm work, and (c) any Defect you cause.
+
+
+Section  2.  Information about the Mission of Project Gutenberg-tm
+
+Project Gutenberg-tm is synonymous with the free distribution of
+electronic works in formats readable by the widest variety of computers
+including obsolete, old, middle-aged and new computers.  It exists
+because of the efforts of hundreds of volunteers and donations from
+people in all walks of life.
+
+Volunteers and financial support to provide volunteers with the
+assistance they need, is critical to reaching Project Gutenberg-tm&rsquo;s
+goals and ensuring that the Project Gutenberg-tm collection will
+remain freely available for generations to come.  In 2001, the Project
+Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation was created to provide a secure
+and permanent future for Project Gutenberg-tm and future generations.
+To learn more about the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation
+and how your efforts and donations can help, see Sections 3 and 4
+and the Foundation web page at http://www.pglaf.org.
+
+
+Section 3.  Information about the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive
+Foundation
+
+The Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation is a non profit
+501(c)(3) educational corporation organized under the laws of the
+state of Mississippi and granted tax exempt status by the Internal
+Revenue Service.  The Foundation&rsquo;s EIN or federal tax identification
+number is 64-6221541.  Its 501(c)(3) letter is posted at
+http://pglaf.org/fundraising.  Contributions to the Project Gutenberg
+Literary Archive Foundation are tax deductible to the full extent
+permitted by U.S. federal laws and your state&rsquo;s laws.
+
+The Foundation&rsquo;s principal office is located at 4557 Melan Dr. S.
+Fairbanks, AK, 99712., but its volunteers and employees are scattered
+throughout numerous locations.  Its business office is located at
+809 North 1500 West, Salt Lake City, UT 84116, (801) 596-1887, email
+business@pglaf.org.  Email contact links and up to date contact
+information can be found at the Foundation&rsquo;s web site and official
+page at http://pglaf.org
+
+For additional contact information:
+     Dr. Gregory B. Newby
+     Chief Executive and Director
+     gbnewby@pglaf.org
+
+
+Section 4.  Information about Donations to the Project Gutenberg
+Literary Archive Foundation
+
+Project Gutenberg-tm depends upon and cannot survive without wide
+spread public support and donations to carry out its mission of
+increasing the number of public domain and licensed works that can be
+freely distributed in machine readable form accessible by the widest
+array of equipment including outdated equipment.  Many small donations
+($1 to $5,000) are particularly important to maintaining tax exempt
+status with the IRS.
+
+The Foundation is committed to complying with the laws regulating
+charities and charitable donations in all 50 states of the United
+States.  Compliance requirements are not uniform and it takes a
+considerable effort, much paperwork and many fees to meet and keep up
+with these requirements.  We do not solicit donations in locations
+where we have not received written confirmation of compliance.  To
+SEND DONATIONS or determine the status of compliance for any
+particular state visit http://pglaf.org
+
+While we cannot and do not solicit contributions from states where we
+have not met the solicitation requirements, we know of no prohibition
+against accepting unsolicited donations from donors in such states who
+approach us with offers to donate.
+
+International donations are gratefully accepted, but we cannot make
+any statements concerning tax treatment of donations received from
+outside the United States.  U.S. laws alone swamp our small staff.
+
+Please check the Project Gutenberg Web pages for current donation
+methods and addresses.  Donations are accepted in a number of other
+ways including checks, online payments and credit card donations.
+To donate, please visit: http://pglaf.org/donate
+
+
+Section 5.  General Information About Project Gutenberg-tm electronic
+works.
+
+Professor Michael S. Hart is the originator of the Project Gutenberg-tm
+concept of a library of electronic works that could be freely shared
+with anyone.  For thirty years, he produced and distributed Project
+Gutenberg-tm eBooks with only a loose network of volunteer support.
+
+
+Project Gutenberg-tm eBooks are often created from several printed
+editions, all of which are confirmed as Public Domain in the U.S.
+unless a copyright notice is included.  Thus, we do not necessarily
+keep eBooks in compliance with any particular paper edition.
+
+
+Most people start at our Web site which has the main PG search facility:
+
+     http://www.gutenberg.org
+
+This Web site includes information about Project Gutenberg-tm,
+including how to make donations to the Project Gutenberg Literary
+Archive Foundation, how to help produce our new eBooks, and how to
+subscribe to our email newsletter to hear about new eBooks.
+
+
+</pre>
+  </body>
+</html>