BERTHA'S MISSION TO THE CAMP OF THE FRANKS AT SCUTARI.

[Count Robert of Paris, Vol. I. p. 60.

"The Franks gathered round the Anglo-Saxon maiden and her Varangian escort, demanding what was her business in the camp? and repeating, in a tone that made Bertha tremble, Take heed! take heed! there is booty, comrades!' I have,' said the faithful bower-maiden, a secret message for the ear of your general-in-chief, Godfrey of Bouillon: I have an assured token; and he will little thank any one who obstructs my free passage to him;" and therewithal shewing a little case, in which the signet of the Count of Paris was enclosed (semee, with lances splintered, and bearing the proud motto, Mine, yet unscathed.') 'I will trust it in your hands,' she said to the page who had spoken first, if you promise not to open it, but to give me free access to the noble leader of the crusades.'

"I will,' said the youth; and if such be the duke's pleasure, thou shalt be admitted to him.' Ernest, the Apulian, the dainty Italian wit, is caught in a trap,' said one of his companions.' Thou art an Ultramontane fool, Polydore,' returned Ernest; there may be more in this than either thy wit or mine is able to fathom. This maiden, and one of her attendants, wear a dress belonging to the Varangian imperial guard. They have, perhaps, been entrusted with a message from the emperor; and it is not irreconcileable with Alexis's policy to send it through such messengers as these. Let us therefore convey them in all honour to the general's tent.'

"Bertha advanced, and whispered in the ear of Ernest. Meantime joke followed joke, in riotous and ribald succession, so that the Saxon maiden with difficulty mustered courage to address them: As you have mothers, she said, as you have sisters, whom you would protect from dishonour with your best blood-as you love and honour those holy places which you are sworn to free from the infidel enemy-have compassion on me, that you may merit success in the undertaking!'

"Fear nothing, maiden,' said Ernest, I will be your protector. I have, though somewhat against my promise, taken a view of the pledge which you bear; and if she who presents it be affronted or maltreated, Godfrey of Bouillon will sorely avenge the wrong done her.' Ernest next provided her with a palfrey; and Bertha, wrapping herself in her cassock, sprang from the ground, and alighted on its back, as a linnet stoops upon a rose-bush. The little embassy now pushed forward at a rapid pace, nor pulled in the rein until within view of the commander's tent, a costly piece of work,

which, in one of Alexis's fits of generosity and munificence, had been presented by the Greek emperor to the chief of the Franks. It was raised upon tall spear-shaped poles, which had the semblance of gold; its curtains were of a thick stuff, manufactured of silk, cotton, and gold thread. The appearance of the warders, who stood around, was serious and considerate, like men who had taken up the Cross, not as an idle adventure of arms, but as a purpose of the most solemn nature. Ernest of Otranto, page of prince Tancred, announced the arrival of Bertha with a message and a token for the duke of Bouillon; and, after due examination of the signet, by the council of the Crusaders, then assembled in the chief's pavilion, the fair and faithful ambassadress was admitted.

The Crusaders were encamped on the heights of Scutari, on the Asiatic side of the Bosphorus, and Bertha and her Varangian protector are supposed to have crossed over the blue waters in a ferry-boat, from the imperial city. Scutari is a populous lively town, overhung by hills, that for some height are clothed with cypresses. These mournful trees indicate the position of the great Turkish cemetery-a place of recreation for some, of sorrow and meditation for others. This is the last home of the rich, who in life derive comfort from a conviction that their remains, interred under the sombre shade of the cypresses of Scutari, will not, like Constantinople, be consigned to infidel hands. The vicinity of Scutari abounds with beautiful scenery, as well as objects of antiquity, interest, and curiosity. The hill of Bourgalou, one mile distant, is celebrated for its commanding view of the Bosphorus, with all its windings, and also of the grand capital of the Osmanlies. Near its summit is a fountain of clear water, which is particularly esteemed by the Turks, and sold in Constantinople at five paras the half-gallon. The sides of the hill are covered with gardens, vineyards. and melon-grounds, and varied with picturesque clumps of trees, and numerous intervening avenues. Here are the ruins of a Christian church, used at one time also as a Turkish mosque, and the remains of an ancient bath, constructed from the buildings raised at this place by Justinian. Scutari itself, which has succeeded the ancient Chrysopolis, or city of gold, is a principal rendezvous of merchants and caravans from Persia and Armenia. It formerly served as a retreat to the galleys of Chalcedon; and the Persians, when they aimed at the conquest of Greece, chose this as a place of arms, and also as a treasury for the gold and silver tribute exacted from the Asiatic towns. Here also the Athenians, the first of any nation, erected a custom-house, for the collection of imposts levied on those who navigated the Euxine sea.

DEATH OF AGELASTES.

"What's the matter? Have we devils here?'

[Count Robert of Paris, Vol. II. p. 98.]

"Agelastes, after looking with surprise and horror at the figure as reflected in the glass, turned back his head to examine the substance of which the reflection was so strange. The object, however, had disappeared behind the curtain, under which it probably lay hid; and it was after a minute or two that the half-gibing, half-scowling countenance showed itself again in the same position in the mirror. By the gods,' exclaimed Agelastes, it is Sylvan! that singular mockery of humanity, who was said to have been brought from Taprobana. I warrant he also believes in his jolly god, Pan, or the veteran Sylvanus. He is to the uninitiated a creature whose appearance is full of terrors; but he shrinks before the philosopher, like ignorance before knowledge.' So saying, he with one hand pulled down the curtain, under which the animal had nestled itself when it entered from the garden-window of the pavilion, and with a staff, which he held in the other, struck the animal a heavy blow. The wild temper of the creature returned unsubdued for the moment by any awe of man: uttering a fierce and stifled cry, it flew on the philosopher, and clasped its sinewy arms about his throat with the utmost fury. The old man twisted and struggled to deliver himself from the creature's grasp, but in vain. Sylvan kept hold of his prize, compressed his powerful arms, and abode by his purpose of not quitting his hold of the philosopher's throat until he breathed his last. Two bitter yells, accompanied each with a desperate contortion of the countenance and clenching of the hands, concluded, in a few minutes, the dreadful strife. Agelastes lay dead upon the ground, while his assassin, springing from the body, as if alarmed at what he had done, made his escape by the window."

THE MIDDLEMAS WIVES ANNOUNCING A NEW PATIENT TO
GIDEON GREY.

"Whom I- -but first 'tis fit the billows to restrain,

And then you shall be taught obedience to my reign."

DRYDEN.

[The Surgeon's Daughter, p. 188.

"The doctor had just reached the door as Luckie Simson, one of the racers, arrived in the little area before it. She had got the start, and kept it, but at the expense, for the time, of her power of utterance; for when she came into the doctor's presence, she stood blowing like a grampus, her loose toy flung back from her face, making the most