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received notice that the Scourge was to sail from Portsmouth this morning at daybreak, so that she may be off here to-night or to-morrow morning, and I must not delay a moment in getting on board. I have no longer any excuse to prevent me from attending to my duty."

"Thank ye, Mr. Hastings," said Dory, on hearing this; "I take the hint, and shall remember that one good turn deserves another. I must be off. Good night, sir; good night, captain." He looked at Jessie in doubt. "Good night, Miss Jessie; you have a friend in me at all events." And, seizing his hat, he hurried out of the room, followed by Captain Dalling, who seemed anxious to say a word to him before he went away.

The party have all risen. When left alone Hastings took Jessie's hand, and she did not withdraw it.

felt gratitude, but from That love has ripened

"Jessie," he said, "you saved my life, and I the first moment it was not unmixed with love. into the sincerest, the deepest affection which can animate the human heart. I must go now, but I will return the moment my duty will allow me, if you will accept my love, to claim you as my wife. Do for me, Jessie ?"

you care

The young girl's eyes spoke plainly to the lover's senses that his hopes. were not vain, and with joy he pressed her unresistingly to his breast. The first moments enjoyed by lovers, when their affection is mutually confessed, are very sweet, and so Hastings and Jessie found them. Dalling was some time absent, and when he returned he was gloomy and out of spirits. Hastings, however, was unwilling to shorten the moments in which he could be with her he loved, and it was therefore late in the evening before the master of the house, who had been so lost in reflection as not to observe how the time sped, gave the signal for retiring. They had scarcely taken up their lamps when a loud knocking was heard at the door, and a voice inquired if Lieutenant Hastings was there. The person, on being admitted, proved to be a midshipman of the Scourge, who had been sent on shore to report her arrival.

"There was so light a wind that we could scarcely get in, sir," he observed; "and as we got round the Bill a thick fog came on, and we could scarcely make out this place. When we stood in we fancied that we saw a vessel hove-to off here, but we afterwards lost sight of her, and just now a boat hailed us, and told us that you had sent to order us to anchor, and that you would not want the boat till to-morrow at eight o'clock. Mr. Billins accordingly, sir, brought the vessel up, as the weather promises fine, but to make certain sent me on shore to see you in case of a mistake." "A trick of Dory's to gain time," exclaimed Hastings; "but we will be after him. You did right to come for me at all events. I will go on board at once. Captain Dalling, I must say a hurried farewell. Miss Dalling

He took her hand, and whatever he said was not audible; but his looks spoke far more than his words; and had not the midshipman been busily engaged in attacking a cold leg of chicken at the instigation of Captain Dalling, he might have discovered his commander's secret. Hastings then hurried off his subordinate, and, attended by two of his men, who came to assist him, proceeded down to the boat. As he left the house he exclaimed, "Now then, my men, let us put our best feet foremost, and we have a fair chance of catching the famous Jack Dory."

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It was a noble entertainment that which King Alured determined to give in honour of his only daughter's entrance into life. It was to last nine days.

The first, the real birthday, was to commence with a religious ceremony, succeeded, after an interval of some hours, by a luncheon, or, as it was called in those times, "the noonday meal." This concluded, there was to be a ball; the day being finished off by a supper.

The second, third, and fourth days were to be occupied in hunting; the fifth was to be a ball again; the sixth, being Sunday, was to be duly observed; for Eberhard, the grandfather of Alured, who was ninth in descent from the great Arminius, whilst a hostage at the court of Constantinople, had been won by the charms and converted by the eloquence of the Lady Theophila, the last scion of the ancient house of the Heraclidæ. Alured, therefore, had been brought up in the Christian faith, though most of his neighbours, and many of his subjects, still remained faithful to the worship of their ancestral demons.

The seventh day was to be devoted to fishing in the lakes and streams of the neighbourhood; the eighth to a tournament; and the ninth to a festival, more magnificent in every way than anything which had preceded it. After this the guests, unless especially invited to stay, were to depart to their several homes. They had come from every part of Europe and Afric where the Teutons were the ruling race; and there were strangers, too, from other lands-from the shores of the Ægæan and those of the Propontis, from the mountains of Wales and those of Iernè.

It will surprise many ladies of the present day to be told that, notwithstanding the dangers and fatigues of the Forest of Idruna, Alethè was dressed and at the head of her train by an hour before sunrise-but so it was. Leaning on her father's arm, she issued from the palace-gates, followed by all the beauty and chivalry of his subjects, and preceded at a short distance by a band of priests, bearing an immense silver cross, the gift of the reigning Constantinopolitan monarch. Slowly the procession moved onward, to the sound of solemn music, whilst a vast multitude fell to the rear, or accompanied it on either side, till they reached the appointed spot, a wide glade on the outskirts of the forest. There they all knelt, in deep and quiet devotion, until the moment of sunrise. Still and calm they were, but not altogether silent. For, softly and gently from that mighty concourse arose the heartfelt and scarcely uttered prayers which every one there present offered up for the beautiful

princess. But the most fervent prayers were those offered by Alethè herself: for hers was the purest and holiest heart there; and, to her, communion with Heaven was intercourse with home.

And now, as the sun in the fulness of his glory arose above the mountains, arrayed in more than usual splendour, as though he wished to pay his tribute of love and reverence to the lovely and noble princess, the worshippers stood up and poured forth, with one heart and one voice, a hymn of triumphant thanksgiving. The service proceeded with solemn and simple earnestness on the part both of priests and people, till, at the appointed time, the king led his daughter to the front of that mystic stone, which, once used as the altar of Woden, was now consecrated to the worship of Christ; and, giving a garland of golden oak-leaves and a massive wedge of gold to the bishop, knelt beside his child. Aelfric, for it was he, having placed both offerings on the altar, consecrated them by prayer, and then returned the wreath to Alured, who immediately placed it on his daughter's brow. The missionary bishop then pronounced a blessing on the head of the princess; the people ratified the ceremony by a loud "Amen!" and then, rising to their feet, shouted with one accord, "God save the Princess Alethè! Long live Alethè the Beautiful, heiress of Alured the Mighty!"

The princess now returned to the palace, and betook herself to her own apartments, where she spent some hours in thought and prayer before arraying herself for the festival at which she was to preside.

The subjects of Alured, and the greater part of his guests, were deeply impressed by the birthday service; but there were those amongst the latter who did not sympathise with it, who were still strongly attached to the false faith of their fathers, or at any rate unconverted to Christianity. Amongst those who remained as yet undecided on this vitally important point, was Sir Edred of Drontheim; and whilst Eustace entered into earnest conversation with his uncle Aelfric, the Northman wandered listlessly and moodily forth, revolving in his mind the claims of the contending systems which at that time divided the allegiance of the Western World. His ancestors on the one side had been for the most part ferocious Pagans; on the other, for the last hundred years, they had been fanatical Mohammedans, yet he had learned something of the new faith from Christian captives-he had mingled with Christian knights, both as friend and foe-he had been a guest too at the castles and courts of Christian barons and kings, and he had had many opportunities of making himself acquainted with Christian doctrines, and contemplating transcendent examples of Christian virtue. He came, however, to Arlstadt undecided -he would look, he would consider, there was time enough yet: the matter did not press. He wandered the whole of that morning, and he thought deeply; but the result of his thoughts was, that he would for the present content himself with wooing the Princess Alethè, for whom he had already conceived a violent passion, utterly unworthy of the holy being who was its object, and leave the religious question to a future day.

And what were the subjects treated of by Aelfric and Eustace? Many for the uncle and nephew had not met for some time, owing to the missionary labours of the one, and the chivalrous adventures of the other; but amongst them all there was none which the younger of the two dwelt on so long, or recurred to so often, as the Princess Alethè.

Time, however, wore on; and the guests of all ages were summoned to the noonday meal. It was nothing as to quantity-a mere light collation for those days, consisting almost exclusively of birds and the smaller kinds of game. The largest dish there was a lamb roasted whole; the remainder was made up of hares, geese, turkeys, and other small fry, with rabbits, chickens, and ducks, by way of entremêts. It was, therefore, as I observed, a mere light collation; for the warriors of those days looked upon the denizens of the farmyard, the air, or the lake, in the same way that you do, gentle reader! refined, abstemious reader! on larks or becaficoes; or, if you be of less advanced age, we might, perhaps, venture to add sparrows. And why should we not say sparrows? The happiest days of our early life were those on which we had sparrow-pie for dinner. How we used to enjoy that day, as it came once a year, when we were allowed to dine at the cottage, after having watched our kind host pick off the little creatures that were to form our festival dish.

However, to our tale. The princess sat at the head of the board, her brows graced with the oaken chaplet, whose leaves were of gold, and its acorns of emerald; her beautiful figure clothed, but not concealed, by a simple white robe, confined by a rich girdle; her shoulders were covered by a shawl of rich green silk, lately arrived from the East, over which was thrown a scarf of netted silver, the knots being all concealed by garnets; around her neck was a necklace of magnificent pearls, from which hung a diamond cross, that had once been the property of her Grecian ancestress. But who, of all those present, looked at any of these ornaments when they could look at the Princess Alethè? None of the male guests, at any rate. There was, however, one ornament which did attract attention, and that was a beautiful rose which she wore in her bosom.

The meal was soon despatched; for the provant, though light in the extreme, was first-rate, so that it invited attack and offered no effectual resistance.

Seeing, therefore, that his guests had concluded their aerial repast, and were all eager for the coming ball, King Alured rose from his seat, and, giving his arm to the princess, led the way to the apartment destined to be the scene of the coming festivity. It was a large enclosure, formed by walling in and roofing with timber and green boughs an extensive piece of smooth, hard greensward. The walls were richly decorated with all the flowers of the season, and thickly stuck with torches of firwood, which were lighted as the sun went down; flowery festoons hung from the roof, supporting in the centre, high above the heads of the dancers, yet sufficiently far from the roof to avoid its taking fire, bundles of smaller torches, which acted as chandeliers. At the higher end of the room hung more than one magnificent lamp of Byzantine manufacture; in the corners stood four bronze statues, the spoils of Rome, when sacked by Alaric, holding in their hands large flambeaux. The length of the room was three times its breadth, and the entrance, situated at the lower end and occupying half the width, enabled the vast concourse assembled without to see all that went on within; so that the people danced to the same music with the court, though not under the same roof, and shared with them the beauty of the brilliant scene.

The ladies were, generally speaking, extremely handsome, especially those of the princess's train, whose bright eyes glanced with a thrilling delight at the thought of their first ball. Amongst them the beauty of Alice shone pre-eminent, yielding only to that of her unrivalled mistress. The dress of the fair Teutons, though the Greek minstrel deemed it barbaric in the extreme, displayed their faultless forms to the fullest advantage, without in the least degree violating the strictest modesty.

The king opened the ball with his daughter; Sir Reginald danced with her on the next occasion, but a difficulty arose as to who should lead her out then. Their prior arrival, and their services on the preceding day, placed Sir Edred and Sir Eustace above all other competitors; but the difficulty was to choose between them. Sir Edred claimed descent from Zernebock, Sir Eustace from Thor. Sir Edred had performed prodigies of valour, so had Sir Eustace; nor could the palm be easily assigned to either. They had, moreover, arrived at the same moment on the same day, and had shown equal zeal and courage in attempting to preserve the princess from the emissaries of Sir Hildebrand.

The king was much perplexed: at length a lucky thought struck him —a thought more likely to suggest itself to a parent than to his child, especially on such an occasion-he would settle the point by seniority. So, after he had explained his difficulty at full length, he demanded to know the ages of his two guests; and the result was, that Alethè found herself the partner of Sir Edred. She was decidedly disappointed. She would have preferred dancing with Sir Eustace. So you see, dear young ladies! that your loveliest ancestresses were afflicted with the same sorrows that fall to your lot: even the Princess Alethè could not obtain the partner she wished for the third dance, and that, too, on her own birthday. As the knight took her hand, with a bright smile on his countenance, his eye glanced passionately from her beautiful features, over her graceful form, till it rested on THE ROSE. Suddenly the whole expression of his face changed; his eye flashed; his brow became darkened; and after expressing his warm admiration for the flower, to which the lady merely replied, "Yes, it is very lovely,”—he asked her whence it came, and who had been so fortunate as to present it to her. The princess changed colour, and, for the first time in her life, felt unable to give a direct reply; whilst Rosabel's warning-" Beware of Sir Edred" -rang ominously in her ear.

"Is it not the same which your highness forbad me to gather in yonder wood?" said he, observing her confusion.

"No, certainly not," cried the princess; "at least, I should think

not.".

"But may I not ask from whom you received it? My honour is concerned, lady, if another has dared to seek your favour by presenting to you that which you refused at my hands." And he glanced fiercely round at the whole assembly, till his eye rested on Sir Eustace. "Indeed, indeed, you are mistaken," exclaimed Alethè. which has roused your curiosity was the gift of a female friend." "Thank you, lady-thank you. I am quite satisfied. It is very beautiful."

"THE ROSE

And he gazed upon THE ROSE till all around him seemed lost, even the princess herself; whilst dark suspicions and fearful thoughts of

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