"but what security dost thou offer that thou wilt observe the truce? "The word of a follower of the Prophet was never broken," answered the 11emir. "It is thou, brave Nazarene, from whom I should demand security, did I not know that treason seldom dwells with courage." The crusader felt that the confidence of the Moslem made him ashamed of his own doubts. "I pledge thee on the cross of my sword," he said, laying his hand upon the weapon as he spoke, "I will be a true companion to thee, Saracen, while our fortune wills that we remain in company." “By Mohammed, Prophet of 12Allah," replied his late foeman, "there is not treachery in my heart toward thee. And now, wend we to yonder fountain; for the hour of rest is at band, and the stream had hardly touched my lip, when I was called to battle by thy approach." The Knight of the Leopard yielded a ready and courteous assent; and the late foes, without an angry look or gesture of doubt, rode side by side to the little cluster of palm trees. NOTE. SCOTT. This lesson is an extract from Sir W. Scott's Talisman, a story of the Crusades (see App.) 1 Knight of the Leopard, so called from the ensign of a leopard painted on his armour. This knight was none other than King Richard I. of England. 2 caftan, Turkish or Persian garment. 3 Saracen, Arabian; Mussulman; Mohammedan. This Saracen was the great Saladin, Sultan of Syria and Egypt, and leader of the Saracens in the third crusade. barb, horse, steed; so called from Barbary, in North Africa, a country famed for its horses. momentum, force, impetus. The knight, during the first part of the combat, acted on the defensive. inimitable dexterity, in remarkably skilful manner; inimitable means not capable of 5 4 6 7 being imitated or copied; dexterity, cleverness, skill, adroitness. illusory, unreal, deceiving, calculated to mislead or deceive. mace, a heavy staff or club of metal, anciently used as a weapon. "formidable, terrible, dreadful, fearful. 10 truce, leaving off fighting for a time. 11 emir, an Arabian prince, military commander, and governor of a conquered province, also an honorary title given in Turkey to the descendants of Mohammed. 12 Allah, Arabian name for God. THE MIRAGE. phe-nom'-e-non at-mos-pher'-ic ter-res'-tri-al THE 'phenomenon of the mirage excites in the traveller of the deserts those 2 alternations of hope and disappointment which add to the miseries of his actual situation. He sees before him lakes of water, which are gone the instant he arrives at the spot where he fancied they offered their refreshment to his feverish lips. The Arabs are familiar with this remarkable appearance, and they are seldom deceived by it; although if the mirage and a real stream could be seen at the same time, it would be difficult to distinguish the reality from the delusion. The guides of the European traveller often amuse themselves by calling to him that water is in sight, when they are upon the most thirsty spots of a sandy or gravelly plain. 3 Burckhardt has described the mirage with his usual felicity: "During the whole day's march we were surrounded on all sides by lakes of mirage, called by the Arabs, Serab. Its colour was of the purest 5 azure, and so clear that the shadows of the mountains, which bordered the horizon, were reflected in it with the greatest precision, and the delusion of its being a sheet of water was thus rendered more perfect. I had often seen the mirage in Syria and Egypt, but always found it of a whitish colour, rather resembling a morning mist, seldom lying steady on the plain, but in continual vibration; but here it was very different, and had the most perfect resemblance to water. The great dryness of the air and earth in this desert may be the cause of the difference. The appearance of water approached also much nearer than in Syria and Egypt, being often not more than two hundred paces from us; whereas I had never seen it before at a distance of less than half a mile. There were at one time about a dozen of these false lakes around us, each separated from the other, and for the most part in the low grounds." The mirage is caused by the extraordinary refraction which the rays of the sun undergo in passing through masses of air in contact with a surface greatly heated. These atmospheric delusions are not confined to the appearance of water in the desert. The traveller, fainting beneath a burning sun, sees a tree in the distance, sufficiently large for him to find a shade beneath its boughs. He quickens his pace, hoping to enjoy half an hour of refreshing coolness before his camels shall have passed. The tree is really a miserable shrub, that does not afford shade enough to shelter one of his hands. This magnifying of objects is produced by the slight vapour which rises when the heat is greatest. When the sun gleams on the sand-hills, they appear at an immense distance; the traveller hopes that his camels may be spared the pain of crossing these slippery ascents; when, in a few minutes, he is close upon them, and sees a man or a camel within a stone's throw, toiling to the top. As the sun ascends towards the zenith, and the earth and the currents of the air assume different temperatures, the phenomena of the mirage present numerous modifications. Humboldt states, that, in the plains of South America, where the air is very dry, he often saw the images of troops of wild oxen suspended in the air, long before the eye could see the oxen themselves; and the small currents of air were of such a variable temperature, that the legs of some appeared to rest upon the ground, while others were elevated above it. In Arabia, 10 Niebuhr observed the image of an animal reversed, before he saw the direct image. Sometimes towers, and large masses of apparent buildings, are seen upon the horizon; they disappear at intervals, without the traveller being able to decide upon the true forms of the objects, which are probably little sand-hills, beyond the ordinary range of vision. All these phenomena are modifications of the mirage, though the name is generally applied to the unreal lakes of the desert. The Persian and Arabian poets make frequent allusions to these magical effects of 11 terrestrial refraction. 1 2 1 phenomenon, properly any appearance; a remarkable or striking appearance. alternations, successive changes from one thing to another. 3 Burckhardt, see App. felicity, happiness; good fortune. Here it means good fortune in finding the right words to express his meaning. 5azure, the clear blue colour of the sky. 6-refraction, being broken or bent. When rays of light pass from one medium to another, as from air to water, they are bent, or refracted, from one straight line into another. atmospheric, belonging to the atmosphere, or air. modification, a change of form. 9 Humboldt, see App. 10 Niebuhr, see App. terrestrial, belonging to the earth. 7 THE PLOUGHBOY POET. re-morse'-fui-15 sus-pi'-cious con-tempt'-u-ous-ly up-roar'-i-ously MOTHER Nature does not always, like other mothers, lay her pet children on downy pillows and under silken 1canopies. She seems to delight in showing that money shall buy everything but brains. At any rate, she not only opened our poet's big lustrous eyes in a clay cottage put roughly together by his father's own hands, but, shortly after his birth, she blew it down over his head, |