"Where?"

"At Anbar."

"How seemed the Commander of the Faithful? Overcome with anger, or did he place this in your hands with hesitation, or reluctance?"

6

"Neither, my lord; but with perfect calmness. His words were these, as I bowed low before him, to receive his commands: Jasser, turn thy horse's head towards Bagdad; upon the road, coming hitherward, thou wilt meet with Giafar al Barmeki -bring me his head !'”

"What! no token of regret, no tremour, no faltering ?"

"Mine eyes saw none of these, my lord."

"And is it thus that he has pronounced a sentence of death against a well-tried and faithful servant? It suffices. Mahmoud !"

The slave drew near, and Giafar, having taken from his hands the coffer, knelt upon the sand, and traced on a small piece of parchment the simple word "Farewell!" Having taken the affrighted bird from its prison, he fastened the folded parchment under its wing, and then proceeded to bathe its parched feet with vinegar in which roses had been steeped, that it might not be tempted from its homeward flight to settle upon the cool waters which lay beneath. "Stoop not from thy flight," he said; "let no stream lure thee by its freshness, lest its waters obliterate what I have written. Her tears will wash it soon away. Dost mind me?" he continued. 66 Bear it swiftly, and safely home

there, where is thy heart and mine! Go! 'tis the last earthly intercourse between us."

He has committed the impatient bird to the air, and is watching intently its departure. Quickly it speeds away, and as fast come thronging into his mind thoughts of his helpless wife-how much he should have said to her of consolation, of fortitude, of heaven! "Merciful Allah! he has written but a single word, and his messenger is a speck, scarcely visible upon the horizon. "Back! back!" shouted the wretched man, franticly. The sound of his own voice recalled him to himself. He turnedthe minister of death was at his side, in readiness for his dread task. In a moment he composed himself; and placing in the hands of his slave a purse of gold, and the jewelled poniard that he wore, he said, "Take these, Mahmoud-thou deservest them. Return with speed, and when thou next seest the princess, thy mistress, tell her"-his utterance was choked for a moment-" tell her that thine eyes have beheld me treading upon the verge of the tomb, and that I trembled not, my voice did not falter, neither did my heart fail me, but when I thought of her. From me tell her to be patient and resigned. If death should visit her, bid her fear not. Say-remember well, Mahmoud!-say-except this brief taper be extinguished, the morning will not dawn. Those words, methinks, will sound sweetly to her ears. Go!" Giafar then turned to prepare himself for death. He repeated aloud the confession of his faith

"There is no God but God, and Mohammed is the prophet of God." This done, he lays aside his turban, and gathering his robe about him, bends his neck to the stroke of the cimeter. Upon the gloom of death which has settled on his countenance, a light flashes, and instantaneously like lightning a thought of hope darts across his mind. He lifts his head-the cimeter is uplifted, but the blow has not yet fallen. Stay, Jasser!" he exclaimed, and rises from the earth. "Stay!there is yet time, and, it may be, yet a gleam of hope for me. Do not wonder that I should cling thus to life-I have much to live for. Did you receive this order for my death after the prayer of the morning?"

"I did, my lord."

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"It may be," said the prince, "that the calif was heated with wine, or moved by some sudden and undue anger, and would regret the execution of this sentence against me. Return, and tell him that his commands have been obeyed. If he repent, I shall be still in life; if not, my head is always ready."

"It cannot be, my lord," replied the stern officer. "It were trifling with mine own life, thus to neglect the commands of the calif. His words were plain, and I must not wander from them.”

"I cannot fly, Jasser. Escape, did I meditate it, were impossible; for who throughout the calif's wide dominions would shelter or aid an outlaw and a traitor?"

"Thou art well esteemed, Prince Giafar. Thy family is most powerful, and the many discontented spirits which are scattered throughout Persia would readily rally round the standard of rebellion, when raised by one whose rank and name would offer so fair a prospect of success."

"These are vain fancies of thine own creating, Jasser."

"I have spoken as from myself, my lord; but if I err not, the calif harbours against you the same suspicions."

"Can it be?--enter such thoughts into my master's bosom? I have but little hope, then, if I have aroused his fears. But let us return together into the calif's presence; there I will lay my head at his feet; and bear well in mind, Jasser, that if the Commander of the Faithful should repent him of my death, upon thy head will he visit the punishment of thy precipitation. Stay!" added the prince, seeing him hesitate; "there is not wanting a witness of my request." Giafar was about to beckon the slave Mahmoud, who had withdrawn a short distance from them, awaiting anxiously the fate of his master, but Jasser replied, "It shall not need, my lord-thy wish is granted; and now to horse, for Bagdad. The sun is fast descending down the sky."

"To Bagdad?"
"Ay, to the calif."

"How!" said Giafar, "is the Commander of the Faithful in the city?"

"He returned this morning, my lord, by the road beyond the river.”

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Well, away then, in the name of Allah! I would not tarry from my fate."

Their voices were now drowned by the rapid motion and trampling of their steeds, and Giafar, riding hard by the side of the rude soldier, retraced his road to Bagdad.

CHAPTER XIV.

For now sits expectation in the air.

Henry V

We must now return to the unhappy princess. Fell heavily upon her poor heart the sound of their departing horses' hoofs, as Giafar, followed by the slave Mahmoud, rode quickly away. She listened with a feeling of wintry desolation as to the departure of her last hope, until her ear could no longer distinguish the sound from the loud and quick throbbings of her heart. Then she sank into a state of stunning despair. He was gone— the shield with whose defence she had breasted often the assaults of fortune, and her foreboding heart told her he would no more return.

After remaining for some moments in a state