Newspaper Page Text
a m*mm mum mam^ —bmotub m unMnm, *m mts mb scums. mb to smmm. itmima.
For Richards’ Weekly Gazette-
THE FOREST HOME.
A BALLAD.
•
.so more of your cities, the pride of your dwel
ling,
The pomp of your courts, and the joys of your
crowd ;
The passion of home, in my breast fondly swell
ing,
Atones for the humble, and smiles at the proud:
And sweets, such as Nature unveils to the lover,
Who still from the first has enjoy’d with de
light,
Are here in the woodland, regaling the rover,
Arousing his soul, and rejoicing his sight.
11.
In the shade of this thicket, the rush of this river,
The voice of my youth in its freedom is heard :
When the tall branches bend, and the sunny
leaves quiver,
The pulse of my heart in a moment is stirr'd.
Here, long ere I wander’d to regions of gladness,
I ruled in my empire of brooklet and tree ;
While the spirit that dwells in the mansions of
sadness,
( ame down, in the absence of others, to me!
111.
Oh ! sweet to me always the breath of the moun
tain.
Where the morning found slumber in gladsome
repose ;
The coolness and chirp of the low-gushing foun
tain,
That steals half its way through its meadows
of rose:
There, lone as 1 dwelt, still my spirit was lighter,
And, even in its sadness, my bosom more gay—
My love ever fonder, ray hope ever brighter,
Than the world in the happiest hours of the
day.
IV.
And late in the eve, when 1 wearied of roaming,
And the brown leaf look'd saddest, through
dusk shadows seen,
The old Indian mound was my couch in the
gloaming,
While a mystery hung o'er the hallow'd se
rene :
Here *1 mused o’er the shadows of Muscoghee
story—
The birth of their race in the West, and their
flight;
A record of grief, with no glimmer of glory,
To brighten their graves with the deeds of
their might.
V.
And who was the Chieftain this lone hillock
covers—
A chief raging wild when the battle was cross’d,
An eagle sore wounded, that fearless still hovers,
Around the wild rock where his people were
lost 1
Did he shrink when the battle-storm waken'd
arouud him,
hid he fly with the first when his hope was
undone—
Or, loiter'd he far, when the war-summons found
him,
And the nation call’d wild for the strength of
each son 1
VI.
‘Tis well that no record is left to awaken
The shame which belongs to a legend so base;
And happy that one, by his tribe all forsaken,
May yet have the fame of ennobling his race.
Here Fancy may brood o’er a story less hateful—
May dream that he stood to the last through
the fight,
And leave her own record, more glorious and
grateful,
Attesting his valor, and crowning his might.
VII.
No more need 1 boast of my home in the wild
wood—
The charm of its solitude, fountain and tree ;
Lnough that it shelter’d my happier childhood,
And the child of my strength in its thickets 1
see:
His voice in the forest sounds glorious in joy hood,
And the negro that shouts to him now through
the grove,
Is the same that went ever beside me in boyhood,
When I Hush'd up the partridge and follow'd
the dove! ALC JEV S.
Uesilla , S. C.
For Richards’ Weekly Gazette.
LE MATIN.
BY JACQT’ES TOrUNOT.
Lo ! the Orieut blushes,
At the kiss of the day,
And the hill-tops are waiting
For the earliest ray,
And the rose and the lily
Are awake on the lawn,
And the wild-birds are chanting
The Hymn of the Dawn !
U! thanks for their music,
For true Prophets are they ;
And we know that Night’s shadows
Are passing away;
Ah ! its watches of struggle
With the demons of pain,
And its dreams full of horror, —
They will come not again.
There is Hope, O! ye Millions.
For these signs cannot lie,
And the waited-for morning
Is born in the sky;
And as Light chases Darkness,
And Morn follows the Night,
On the footsteps of (’liaos
Come forth Order and Right.
Charleston. S. C.
For Richards’ Weekly Gazette.
NATALIA.
BY M. F.. C .
CHAPTER V
It was the next day, at supper. Arban
tel had not quaffed the Queen’s goblet, but
since the yesterday’s repast, his manner
had been all tenderness, his voice all gen
tleness, and the Queen blessed the sorce
ress in her heart. The Queen was mirth
ful and joyous, Arbantel gallant, and Na
talia alone was sad and silent. Her cheek
had lost the rich bloom of high health, and
the eye-lids drooped sadly over their lus
trous orbs. Only once did she raise them
in wonder at her mother’s gayety—so un
usual—so Opposite to her haughty cold
ness before her nuptials, and her melan
choly reserve since.
“Wilt thou pledge me, dearest?” said
Arbantel tenderly. “I return thy favor
of yester-eve. Methinks thou must have
mingled some medicament in thy cup, so
wonderfully has it changed my feelings.”
Cunning Arbantel. He emptied it under
the table. The Queen whispered a bene
diction on the sorceress. They exchanged
cups, as they did before.
“ Health and a happy reign to thee, my
ever-gracious sovereign,” said Arbantel,
raising the goblet lo his lips, and watching
eagerly till she had drained hers. A strange
chill crept over her, as she noted the look
of Arbantel; but it soon passed away.
“Thou art more beautiful than ever,
pretty one,” said Arbantel flatteringly.—
Methinks years but add to thy beauty.—
Thou art now—let me see—some thirty
six. Dost thou feardeath?” he added sud
denly. The grave would be but a cold
resting-place for those graceful limbs, and
methinks the worms would feast daintily
on the rare loveliness of those blushing
cheeks.”
The Queen shuddered.
“ Nay, Arbantel,” answered she. look
ing at him wonderingly, “let us not talk
of death. Who does not fear it ?”
“Fear it! What is it but a pause of
respiration ?—a cessation of pulsation ?”
said Arbantel, philosophically; “ and then
comes nothingness—nonentity.”
“Surely,” said the Queen, “ thou dost
not deny the existence of gods, and demons,
and that they will hereafter inflict misery
or bestow happiness upon us, according to
our actions on earth.”
“What sayest thou, Natalia? Dost
thou give credence to these fables of wise
men—the charlatans who reign by their
mummery, and gain power by practising
on the imaginations of the multitude?”
said Arbantel, addressing her, without re
plying to the Queen.
“Yes,” answered Natalia, with simpli
city, “ I believe what our priests tell us
of the Great Spirit, all-wise, all-glorious,
all-terrible —and of the demons, the evil
spirits who take delight in leading us
astray.”
“ Arbantel,” questioned the Queen sad
ly, “thou dost but banter! Thou dost
not, in truth, disbelieve?”
The cheek of the Queen was ashy pale,
her voice was slightly tremulous, and her
eyes looked strangely. Arbantel com
menced answering, but noting the coun
tenance of the Queen, he looked somewhat
compassionately upon her a moment, and
then, for some hidden reason, the import of
his reply was efianged.
“Thou sayest rightly, my own. I did
but jest:” and again he looked with cu
rious eyes. “Wilt thou not walk?” said
he, rising and approaching the window. —
“The garden blooms in lovely luxuriance,
and methinks thy cheek has somewhat
paled.”
The hetirt of the Queen throbbed vio
lently—there came a wild buzzing in her
ears, and she turned deathly sick.
“ Nay,” answered she, falteringly. “ I
feel strangely unwell. Natalia, wilt thou
assist me to my chamber?”
Arbantel flew to her side, and led her to
her room, whispering fond words, which
gave her happiness, even in the pangs of
death.
Hypocrite ! he had poisoned her !
The Queen died ere the mid-hour, and
Natalia, horror-stricken—palsied by this
sudden bereavement, remained silent and
motionless on bended knee, by the side of
the corpse, unheeding, in her hopeless mis
ery, the whispers of the attendants in the
further part of the chamber. Arbantel had
remained with the Queen during herdeath
agony—his cheek pale, indeed, but his
voice firm—and he shrank not from the
contemplation of his victim. Now, indeed,
he had left her, while the attendants per
formed the last sad offices for the dead, and
paced the moon-lit garden walks with a
musing tread.
‘‘ Menau, thou saidst wisely,” solilo
quised he. “ Man is the architect of his
own fortunes. Why should I not destroy
the one that mars my structure ? Does
not the mechanic remove the stone that is
illy placed, or blast the rock which de
stroys the symmetry of his architecture?
True, the victim loses somewhat of life;
but is that a loss to be deeply mourned ?
Better to stop the breath when life is joy
ous, ere the frame is racked by the tortures
age brings in its train. Better, ere loveli
ness and vigor have become wrinkles and
decrepitude. The dead regret not brief
ness of life : and for a hereafter! The
soul dies with the body, and wise men but
frame these tales to govern fools—vast
multitudes, who are but the stepping-stones
to power, to one with wisdom. The last
obstacle is from my path, and now !”
He extended his arm before him, as if
pointing to the vast vista which ambition
pictured to his scheming heart. “If there
be other worlds,” continued he, resuming
his walk, “may thy soul have happy pas
sage there, oh ! Queen ; and now for my
Natalia. Aye! mine she shall be. Vast
forests lie without the mountains, and thy
brow shall grace the diadem of this conti
nent. oh! loveliest one* Elnochiel can
be bought. Gold is the talisman to con
vert hatred to love, and foes to allies.—
With his vast army and my forces, we will
scale those mountains, that frown on the
narrow limits of my kingdom ; together
we will thread the forests, and conquer the
wild red men. They will prove fit slaves
to till the soil, and fell the forests. Then
I will give them a creed, and build tem
ples, and institute priesthoods, even as
others have done before me. Arbantel the
Great will look abroad upon his vast pos
sessions, with Natalia by his side; and
then, indeed,‘twill be worth while to claim
the title of sovereign. The wise govern
the foolisfc, and inind is the sole king of
the universe; and Menau, thy bookish
lore shall frame the ruling creed of a
mighty nation.”
Full of ambitious schemes, Arbantel
strode to his chamber, and slept calmly as
innocence, without another thought of the
victim, whose only fault was too great
love, and whose love brought destruction.
Passion and imagination are the materials
in other's breasts, wherewith ambition
frames his pedestal and nourishes his lau
real wreath.
A few days afterwards, a noble caval
cade accompanied the last remains of the
unfortunate victim to her mother earth ;
and with great pomp, the body of the
Queen was consigned to the tomb wherein
reposed her ancestors for many a preceding
age.
CHAPTER VI.
Arbantel reigned with a high hand after
the demise of the Queen. Mindful only
of the prosecution of his grand scheme,
he despatched an embassy to Elnochiel—
disciplined the forces in the country im
mediately around, and in the capital, him
self, and deputed officers to do the same in
other parts of the kingdom—imposed hea
vy taxes on the people, and prosecuted his
suit to Natalia. Her lofty disdain and
cutting reproaches, rendered more harsh
from his intrusion on her melancholy soli
tude, stung him to frenzy, and at last, for
getting all prudence, he dared to imprison
her, even in her mother’s palace, and al
ready he threatened more violent measures
if she continued her ob-tinate refusal.—
The people weie discontented at his mea
sures—the new troops levied murmured au
dibly at their separation from their homes,
almost in harvest time. t Arbantel had
bribed the regular forces till they grew
haughty and overbearing in insolence, as
the favored vassals of the reigning sove
reign.
It was evening, a month or more after
the interment of the Queen. The sun had
yet an hour’s course to run, and cast the
shadows of the massy marble buildings of
the capital city, far across the streets. The
inhabitants had not yet dolled their mourn
ing habiliments since that event, and their
dark eyes and sable robes offered strange
contrast to their white faces. Sad and sol
emn was the silence which reigned throvgh
out the crowded dwelling-places of man
kind, and the silence seemed yet more un
natural, when one noted the groups stand
ing in the porticos, or at the corners, seem
ing by iheir animated gestures to be eager,
ly conversing. On the steps of one of the
principal buildings studding the main street
which led up to the palace, stood an aged
man ; his hair snowy with the effect of
its many winters; and a group of twelve
or fourteen gathered around him. He
spoke earnestly, in a low voice, and tile
countenances of his hearers, the flashing
gleams of their large dark eyes, and their
compressed lips, showed that some interest
ing subject was the topic of conversation.
“Ay,” said the aged speaker, earnestly,
“ Arbantel waxes insolent. He apes the
sovereign but too haughtily, and methinks
we should prefer a tyrant of our sovereign’s
blood, if we must be slaves. Avina was
here but yesterday, to purchase somewhat
for the palace, and she whispered of Ar
bantel’s tyranny to our fair young prin
cess —because, Avina said, she refused to
listen to his sacrilegious wooing. By the
evil spiiit! Arbantel forgets his parentage,”
said he fiercely; and deep murmurs re
sounded among his audience.
“Thou knowest the heavy tax that con
sumes nearly all our poor earnings; and
some honest families, that were criminal in
being poor, have been driven from their
homes by his insolent soldieis, because,
forsooth, they could not pay their tax; and
even now, they must beg, or see their fam
ilies starve before their eyes. Thou know
est his bribery to the stall-fed army, and,
in sooth, they wax insolent beyond a saint’s
bearing. “Twas but yester-eve, one donned
my best robe, and walked off with it, with
out an apology, but that it pleased his fan
cy. And then his blasphemous wooing of
his wife’s daughter! Shall we bear this ?
Are we men, thus to suffer an impious
stranger to rule with iron rod in the palace
of our kings ?”
“Hast thou heard, Humas,” interrupted
one of the company, “of his embassy to
Elnochiel ? They say he proffered a gov
ernorship, and that the messengei has not
yet returned, though well I wot it is full
time long since.”
“ Does he thus insult the brother of our
most Gracious Majesty ?” said Humas
fiercely. “Methinks, oh! citizens, thou
art palsy-stricken. Has cowardice fallen
upon the land ? and shall this renegade
clasp the chains around our necks, un
checked ? Better to throne our most gra
cious Prince Elnochiel, though in his young
days and hot blood he dared our sovereign.
The law can be violated. Was it not
made for the people, as well as prince ?
Shall this petty “herdsman trample upon
our bodies, because he married our late
most noble Queen ?”
“What wouldst thou, Humas?” said
one of them, echoing the wish of the pale
audience. “Thou wouldst not whisper
rebellion, surely.”
“ Aye,” said the old man, lowering his
voice, and raising his hand determinedly,
“Aye, death to the usurper, thg briber of
the army, the oppressor of the poor, and
the tyrant of our princess.”
The company turned paler, and yet their
eyes answered the flashing gleam which
blazed from Humas’ Similar parties whis
pered along the streets, and the wise men,
in their sweeping robes of sable, with bent
forms and sad countenances, passed from
group to group, whispering words of fire,
and fierce denunciation to Arbantel. Their
cunning counsel, skilfully addressed to the
wild passions of their hearers, fell like fire
on flax, and stirred the multitude to wrath.
Ere night, the streets were filled with
thronging crowds, jostling hither and thith
er —each one talking more daringly than
the other. The streets, so lately deserted,
now resounded with angry voices, roaring
like the waves of the sea in its wrath.—
The time for the evening meal came, and
passed, unheeded. In times like this, the
body craves not food, and passion expels
the minor corporeal appetites from their
wonted dominion. The groups had, for
several preceding days, gathered in the
streets, and before there had been fierce
words of wrath and rebellion, but never
before was there such alarming demonstra
tions of vengeance as now. Suddenly, an
old crone, mounted on the shoulders of the
tallest of the company, made gestures for
silence. Many recognized the sorceress,
and soon, not a breath stirred the death
like silence, and then the voice of the hag
rang out loud and shrill, like a second Py
thoness breathing of fate.
She spoke of her daughter, his victim
of the broken-hearted sire, and her deso
lated hearth—of her idiot boy, whose rea
son fled at his sister's maniac screams.
“Citizens,” she shouted, “Arbantel pin>
chased poison of me. Ferrets, he said, in
fested the palace; and he gave me gold to
keep silence. The Qneen died that night.
Knowest thou the cause? Why rose she
ill from the table, and why, ere midnight,
was she stark and stiff in death?”
“Death,” she shrieked, “death to the
tyrant, and the usurper—the oppressor of
the poor, and the seducer of innocence.—
Death to the murderer.”
She sank back exhausted; and with
one accord, as though will guided volition,
that vast multitude turned their steps to
ward the palace, rushing, and murmuring
with fierce, hollow voices. Arbantel heard
the rush of many f-et, as he threatened
the pale Natalia in her lone prison.
“Natalia,” said he fiercely, between his
grinded teeth, his voice becoming hoarse
with'passion, “I tended herds in my youth,
and in gazing on the lone stars, I drank in
wisdom, with the dews of night. A wise
man came, and whispered his treasured
lore into my ears, and as I heaped up
knowledge, I felt my superiority to man
kind, and I vowed to reign over the soul
less puppets, and work them to my will.
Step by step I climbed the ladder; thy fa
ther made me a governor; 1 saw thee—
then ambition was lost in love, and I was
content to woo thee humbly—to forego
more honor, if thou wouldst be mine.—
Thou listed not to m v prayer. Thy mother
proffered me the crown, and ambition threw
off its sleep. I wedded her, thou knowest,
and she sleeps in the grave.”
He paused a moment, and passed his
hand over his brow hastily.
“ I am at the summit of what men call
power,” resinned he, “and 1 proffer thee
my hand aga n. Be mine, oh! Natalia, be
mine, and tli vast continent, from sea to
sea, shall cai thee mistress. Aye,” con
tinued he, v h increased earnestness, no
ticing her s ght motion of wonder, “ I
will league with thy uncle. Together
will we scale these mountains, and togeth
er will we subdue and civilize the barba
rous nations beyond. I offer thee an im
perial diadem, and love, burning, passion
ate, such as man ne'er felt before. Nata
lia, be wise; mine thou shalt be. Accept
my proffer, then, without further coyness,
and my life-time’s devotion shall repay thy
kindness.”
Sinking on his knees, he seized her hand
and kissed it passionately. Natalia, pale
and languid as the drooping lily, had lis- j
tened to him with sad composure.
She loved ! What to her were vast pos
sessions and crowns, proffeied by a jailor
she loathed ? Withdrawing her hand has
tily, she drew herself proudly up, and an- !
swered, disdainfully—
“ Proud dreamer! what to me are thy!
kingdoms, when thy very presence is more
abhorrent than the creeping adder ? Have
I not said thee nay sufficiently ? Thou
mayst starve me, if thou wilt; thou mayst
immure me in thy deepest dungeon, and
load my frail limbs with fetters; but with
my latest breath I will still repeat it.—
Vain man, beware! Thou hast usurped
my throne, and lorded it but too haughtily :
over my people ; but they will not tamely |
bear thy tyranny forever. One appeal !
from myself will rouse them; and terrible 1
is their wrath—mighty their revenge.— I
Think you, even if my heart could whis- j
per assent to thy sacrilegious passion, that
the people would sanction such an union
with their approbation ? Better to check
thy passions, wise one, as thou termest
thyself,”—and she smiled scornfully—for
Natalia was yet the princess, though in a
dungeon—“else, in an evil hour, rebellion
will crush thee in the midst of thy usurped
palace.”
“ Arbantel,” continued Natalia, while a j
rosy flush of anger rose in her pale cheeks, !
“thou hast dareJ me to the utmost. lam |
alone in my father's palace, daily outraged j
by thy insults, alternately caressed and i
threatened, bribed and oppressed, to force
my consent to a union which my soul
wodld most devoutly abhor hut for its im
piety alone. I tell thee now, if thou dost
not release me this eve from imprisonment,
and suffer me to abide in one of my father's
mansions unmolested, I will appeal lo the .
people. Thou shalt have the measure of
their indignation to the full. And per
chance, even now Osella comes with his
father’s army, to bear me back with him.
Were he to dream of this tyranny on thy
part, thou wouldst nor live anothi-r day;
thou shouldst he ground lo dust first by
the massy walls of this palace.”
Her slight foim trembled at the threats
dictated, and Arbantel felt, for once, that
her spirit was fully roused.
“ Release me, Arbantel,” said she again,
more proudly commanding than before,
“or I will shew thee my power, and thou
wilt learn, too late, that wisdom strives in
vain with the outraged feelings of a peo
ple. Wisdom, such as thou hast, but leads
the base possessor at length to his just and
ignominious doom.”
Arbantel sprang to his feet.
“ Aye,” said he tauntingly, “ how canst
thou appeal, when the massy marble sur
rounds thee, and my hand holds thy onl)
prison key, sleeping or waking ? And as
for Osella, how will thy woman’s heart
writhe with its burden of slighted love,
when Osella comes to my table, an ally
and friend ? Thou darest to taunt my
wisdolh. “ continued he, with bitter angei,
through his grinded teeth—“what think
you of it now, foolish one? Wilt thou
listen to reason? or shall I indeed load
those limbs with fetters, and use severity
to win kindness ? I have wooed thee, Na
talia, humbly, and payed but too low
ly suit, and thou hast scorMl me; but be
ware that the love does not turn to hatred,
with commensurate bitterness.” .
Natalia, during this partly angry and
mocking, part ly serious address, had shrank
at the threat of Osella’s being gained as Ar
bantel’s partisan, but a minute's reflection
dispeffed the momentary distrust of her
early playmate, and she contradicted the
sovereign’s assertion with indignant scorn.
“Arbantel.” continued she seriously and
gravely, “ 1 have submitted to thy unlaw
ful tyranny, hitherto, as thou wert sove
reign according to the letter of the law,
though thou knowest, as well as 1, that its
spirit is violated by thy reign, and that it
was made under the expectation of the
royal family’s exclusive union with those
jof their own blood. Be this as it may,
my spirit is roused to resistance, and 1 ask
justice of thee calmly. Dost thou think
that walls, and locks, can shut out from
the people my appeal ?—that though thou
shouldst surround my prison with a double
guard, that they would prove faithful to
thee in preference to myselfl Nay, thy
hireling guard would carry the appeal—
and my voice can penetrate my people in
dependent of their aid, through all obstruc
tions save death, and even thou darest not
inflict that. I tell thee, Arbantel, finally,”
concluded Natalia, with the calm compo
sure of conscious power, “ that if I depart
not from this palace with morning’s dawn,
thou shalt leave it,, an uncrowned sove
reign. ere a week has passed.”
Arbantel advanced a step towards her;
his clenched hand was raised, as if he
would vent his irritation in blows, and his
breast heaved in unavailing efforts to mas
ter the extremity of anger which convulsed
litrn, so as to articulate distinctly—when
suddenly the tumult of the advancing mul
titude, borne by the evening breeze, arrest
ed his attention. It rose and fell alternate
ly—a roar, like the sea in wrath lashing
the rocky shore. His hand fell to his side
—the expression of fierce ire left his” fea
tures, and quitting the room hastily, he
proceeded to the saloon, after fastening the
door securely, leaving Natalia involved #i
perplexing thoughts respecting the com
motion.
As Arbantel passed the long passage
leading to the saloon, and the outcries be
came more audible, a vague suspicion of
the truth crept into his panic-struck bosom.
A crowd of trembling servitors were hud
dled into one corner of the apartment, with
ashy faces. Arbantel, with a mighty ef
fort, summoned composure, and advancing
with a calm step but quaking heart, he
sternly demanded the meaning of the up
roar.
“ Sovereign,” said one of them, his teeth
shattering with fear, “it is the mob, sound
ing strange threats against thee; and the
witch is before, borne by one of them.”
“Curses on the wretch,” muttered Ar
bantel inwardly, his gili#y heart divining
the cause, though unknowing her private
wrongs.
Casting all fear to the winds, and deter
mining to brave his fate, if he could not
avoid it, he advanced to the window, or
opening answering the same end, and with
drawing the curtain, gazed without. The
broad lines of light streamed through the
casements, across a forest of human faces,
upturned, and infuriate with passion. —
They were like tigers thirsting for the
blood of their prey, and the screams of
wild beasts were but music to the discord
ant shrieks of human voices, mingling into
one mighty cry, a burthen of mingled and
frightful strains, swelling sullenly and
shrilly, from the crowded mass.
Arbantel sprang upon the broad marble
seat of the opening. His sudden appear
ance, his calm, authoritative demeanor,
and the very boldness of the not. for a mo
ment daunted his pursuers, and the mur
murs were hushed for an instant, while
the flashing eyes of that countless multi
tude were fastened upon his face. His
gaze wandered over them, and one might
have been persuaded that demeanor so
lofty, beauty so rare and perfect, were but
the accompaniments af a spirit as w’orthy.
“ My people, what would ye ?” said he,
raising his arm aloft, while his harmonious
voice rang out calmly and musically, in
strange contra 1 -! to the proceeding discord.
“ Death to thee, tyrant,” shouted the
shrill voice of hag, in reply, prevent
ing further parley on his part; and again
the burthen of denunciation swelled up, in
a deep-toned volume, from the assembled
multitude.
They rushed into the portico, and beat
frantically against the doors, which had
been barricaded with the furniture, by the
foresight of the servants.
Arbantel shouted in vain—only by the
moving lips, and his energetic gestures,
could it he perceived he was speaking.—
Finding that expostulation was useless, he
sprang from the casement, and hurried to
the back apartments, intending to escape
through the garden—a yearning, intense
longing for life filling his heart and upset
ting his stoical philosophy in regard to
death, while a feeling of mingled’ hatred
and love to Natalia was intermixed, add
ing greater bitterness. But there, a crowd,
seemingly as dense as the other, were jost
ling each other, and eager for the tyrant's
blood. Escape was impossible, and even
while knowing he would but the more ex
asperate his enemies, he armed the attend
ants, and soon clouds of arrows flew
through the casements at the besiegers,
who already climbed each other’s shoul
ders, in attempts to scale the walls. The
blood drawn but fanned their fierce fury to
a hotter flame, and added vigor to their
exertions.
Arbantel saw his fate was inevitable,
and advancing to the head of the hall, he
calmly drew his rone around him, and af
ter a single glance around the apartment,
stood, with downcast eyes, awaiting the
coming of his executioners. While he
thus stood—that man of crime—destitute
of all principle, save the one great ruling
motive, selfishness —living but for the world
—scrupling at no means to remove an ob
stacle in his path—memory reverted to the
past, and with scrupulous fidelity pictured
! to his mental gaze the long array of life’s
events. The pale faces of victims rose up
and looked at him with calm reproach in
their pallid countenances—blooming beau
ty faded and vanished from the cheeks of
maidens—grey-haired subjects, with their
houseless families, and the wealthy im-
I poverished, swelled the ghastly group ;
1 and Arbantel ground his teeth in agony,
I as the dim, oppressive, impalpable dread of
Ia future pressed upon his seftses, and con
science aroused from her life-time’s slum
ber, to add her scorpion scourge. And
then came the thoughts of the grand
I schemes of ambition, which life was to
realize—of unbounded sway, and happi
ness, with the possession of Natalia, and
the half angry desire of humbling her
haughty spirit, which latterly had mingled
in his musings; and fancy depicted frui
tion, and he cursed his coming foes in his
heart, as ungrateful for the vast benefits he
hail intended for them. The space was
short for reflection, and yet a world of bit
| ter thought rushed tumultuously into the
mind of the philosopher, and even then
there was a slight pang of wounded vani
ty, when he foresaw Natalia’s remembrance
of his vaunted power.
The door yielded at last, and Arbantel,
calm as a martyr, with a last exertion of
pride, gazed undauntedly on his approach
ing executioners. Foremost came the witch
—her gaunt arm bared to the shoulder, and
a glittering blade brandished in her hand.
“ Demon,” she shrieked, while her large
eyes gleamed with unnatural fires, “ re
memberest thou Ellora, and her grey-hair
ed sire? Rememberest thou the palace
thou plunderedst, and the idiot boy ? Re
meinberest thou me ? Aye,” she shriek
ed, as Arbantel’s face paled at her ques
tions, “demon, l will avenge them.” And
as she sprang forward to her victim, many
a knife assisted her vengeance-nerved arm
in dealing the death-blow to the calmly
haughty hypocrite.
Arbantel sank unresisting to the floor,
bathed in his spouting blood.
Thus perished the man of crime! The
populace were awed; the flowing blood
calmed their raging passions, and they