he, as thou hast been favoured by heaven with the gift of healing, and enjoyest the reputation of an admirable leech, I confide this captive to thy care; if it be possible to preserve his life, take him to thy dwelling; but swear to deliver him into my hands on the twentieth of the moon Schowal; for, if through either thy neglect or perfidy, the slave is suffered to escape, thou shalt answer for the treason with thy head: but if, on the other hand, thou art able to restore him to health, and he is forthcoming at the time appointed, one half the treasure paid for his liberation shall be thine." The Dragoman bowed his assent, and having attentively examined the wounds of the young Sheik, replied, (placing, as he spoke, his hand successively on his breast, his beard, and his forehead) "Your Highness's orders shall be obeyed; commit your prisoner to my charge, and I will endeavour to effect his restoration so completely, that he shall be worth whatever ransom your justice may demand for his release." The dying Ishmael was accordingly conveyed to the house of the Dragoman, whose name was Youhanna Ebn Temym, and who was possessed of a large share of Christian charity. His residence was situated near the gate of St. Stephen, and his garden was partly enclosed by an angle of the wall that bounded the pool of Bethesda-that stream which had in the earliest ages of Christianity wrought so many

miraculous cures on those who resorted to it. Miriam, the loveliest of the daughters of Palestine, heard the repeated knocks of the Dragoman and his attendants; and having recognized the voice of Ebn Temym, her father, opened the door, which, like those of all the Christian residents of Jerusalem, was usually barricaded. It was not without considerable surprise and alarm that she beheld the servants of the Molsallam, bearing among them the almost lifeless body of the young Sheik..."Daughter," said the Dragoman, “I bring thee an unhappy sufferer;" and the pensively beautiful face of Miriam immediately brightened with compassion ;-" He is the bravest of the Bedouin chiefs, the son of Ahmed, the Sheik of Wahydyah." "What, so young!" mournfully responded the fair Christian; “ and is this he who has rendered himself so celebrated among the Bethlehemites? Oh, my dear father! let us pardon him; let us remember the example of the good Samaritan, and pour oil upon his wounds, and comfort into his soul. Oh that your skill may enable you to save the life of this unfortunate youth!" "Quick," said Ebn Temym," haste, daughter, and bring me bandages of linen, and the balsam of Zaggoura ; Miriam waited for no other bidding; she flew to perform the injunctions of her father, and, during her absence, Ishmael was placed on the divan. She returned almost instantaneously, and having herself

prepared the lint, knelt down and sustained in her snowy arms the declining head of the young captive; eagerly watching the countenance of the good Dragoman, in order to ascertain his opinion of the condition of his patient, whose last sigh appeared to be almost fluttering on his lips. His head was, as she continued to support it, pressed against her beating heart, whilst she regarded every alteration of his ghastly features with the most intense watchfulness and anxiety; but his eyes still remained closed, and their long dark lashes served only to contrast with the deadly paleness of his cheek. A deep gash passed across his bosom; Ebn Temym expressed his fears that it was mortal. Miriam, in whose susceptible heart the sufferings of Ishmael had already created a powerful interest, shuddered at her father's words, and pressed the drooping head of the sufferer still more tenderly to her heart. She no longer regarded him as a stranger; his misfortunes had given him à claim upon her sympathies, which nothing else could have secured him; and she kn It by his side and continued to staunch the blood that still flowed profusely from his temples upon his unbound turban. She could no longer restrain her tears, and they fell upon the forehead of the dying Sheik. A balm so precious might almost have sufficed to have awakened him from the sleep of eternity. He slowly opened his eyes, and, at length, fixed them upon the beautiful

face that was bent above him. Delirious, from the effects of the fever which the agony of his wounds had occasioned, "Mahomet," whispered he, “am I then in Paradise!" "Oh! Virgin Mother of the Son of God," exclaimed Miriam," he still lives! blessed be thy name; comfort, I beseech thee, this poor infidel, for without thy aid we can do nothing."

During the entire period of his long and painful illness, Ebn Temym and his daughter tended with unremitting solicitude the couch of the son of Ahmed. Day after day he grew more sensible of the soothing attentions and sympathizing kindnesses of the beautiful Miriam, and gratitude and admiration operating upon his warm and enthusiastic feelings, he delivered himself up to all the impulses of the most intense and passionate adoration;—as his frame gathered strength, the weakness (if love be weakness) of his soul increased; and he lived but in the smiles of the gentle daughter of Ebn Temym. As soon as he was sufficiently recovered to walk out, Miriam led him beneath the sycamore whose branches overshadowed the house and garden of the Dragoman. Seated by his side, she questioned him concerning the wars of his tribe, the revenge of the Wahydyahs upon the treacherous Djezzar Pacha, the condition of his family, and the customs and amusements of the wanderers of the Desert: whilst he, in return, ex

pressed a wish to be instructed in her creed, and sought to know in what it differed from the belief of bis fathers. Twilight frequently surprised them in these long and sweet discourses, and they were often only awakened to a sense of the reality of their existence by the evening chaunt of the Muezzin, who from the minarets of the splendid mosque of El Harem called the Mussulmans to prayer.

"Miriam," said the Arab, on one glorious evening when their delicious conference had been prolonged until the stars were beginning to begem the deep blue skies above them-" Miriam, you have taught me to forget my father, my prophet, and my tribe. You have rescued me from the overwhelming power of the Angel of Death only to deliver me over to all the agonizing anxieties of the most impassioned love. Either my ashes must become as dust to be scattered over the land by the lightest breezes of Yemen, or I must build for thee the bridal bower in the Desert. My parents will rejoice in such a daughter; all the Wahydyahs will kiss the hem of Ebn Temym's garment; and the fairest maidens of the Kabyla will contend for the honour of washing the dust from thy feet." Miriam, touched and troubled by the warmth and tenderness of this appeal, could only reply that she was a Christian, and that every thing in life separated them. "Alas!" added she mournfully, Death will, perhaps, be less unjust to us than