That ne'er before were parted; it hath knit That told the wedded one her peace was flown. 4. Farewell to the sweet sunshine! one glad day CXLI. THE CRUSADER AND THE SARACEN. FROM WALTER SCOTT. CAFTAN; a kind of loose vest. 1. As the Knight of the Leopard fixed his eyes attentively on the distant cluster of palm-trees, which arose beside the well, assigned for his mid-day station, it seemed to him as if some object was moving among them. The distant form separated itself from the trees which partly hid its motions, and advanced toward the knight with a speed which soon showed a mounted horseman, whom his turban, long spear, and green caftan floating in the wind, on his nearer approach, showed to be a †Saracen †cavalier. "In the desert," saith an Eastern proverb, "no man meets a friend." The crusader was totally indifferent whether the infidel, who now approached on his gallant barb, as if borne on the wings of an eagle, came as friend or foe: perhaps, as a vowed champion of the Cross, he might rather have preferred the latter. He disengaged his lance from his saddle, seized it with the right hand, placed it in rest, with its point half elevated, gathered up the reins in the left, waked his horse's mettle with the spur, and prepared to encounter the stranger with the calm self-confidence belonging to the victor in many contests. 2. The Saracen came on at the speedy gallop of an Arab horseman, managing his steed more by his limbs and the +inflection of his body, than by any use of the reins, which hung loose in his left hand; so that he was enabled to wield the light, round buckler of the skin of the rhinoceros, ornamented with silver loops, which he wore on his arm, swinging it, as if he meant to oppose its slender circle to the formidable thrust of the western lance. 3. His own long spear was not couched, or leveled like that of his antagonist, but grasped by the middle with his right hand, and brandished at arm's length, above his head. As the cavalier approached his enemy, at full career, he seemed to expect that the Knight of the Leopard should put his horse to the gallop, to encounter him. But the Christian knight, well acquainted with the customs of eastern warriors, did not mean to exhaust his good horse by any unnecessary exertion; and, on the contrary, made a dead halt, confident that if the enemy advanced to the actual shock, his own weight and that of his powerful charger would give him sufficient advantage, without the momentum gained by rapid motion. 4. Equally sensible and apprehensive of such a probable result, the Saracen cavalier, when he had approached toward the Christian within twice the length of his lance, wheeled his steed to the left, with inimitable dexterity, and rode twice around his antagonist, who, turning without quitting his ground, and presenting his front constantly to his enemy, frustrated his attempts to attack him on an unguarded point; so that the Saracen, wheeling his horse, was fain to retreat to the distance of a hundred yards. A second time, like a hawk attacking a heron, the heathen renewed the charge, and, a second time, was fain to retreat without coming to a close struggle. 5. A third time, he approached in the same manner, when the Christian knight, desirous to terminate this illusory warfare, in which he might, at length, have been worn out by the activity of his foeman, suddenly seized the mace which hung at his saddle-bow, and with a strong hand and unerring aim, hurled it against the head of his assailant. The Saracen was just aware of the formidable missile, in time to interpose his light buckler betwixt the mace and his head; but the violence of the blow forced the buckler down on his turban, and, though that defense also contributed to deaden its violence, the Saracen was beaten from his horse. 6. Ere the Christian could avail himself of this mishap, his nimble foeman sprung from the ground, and, calling on his steed, which instantly returned to his side, he leaped into his seat, and regained all the advantage of which the Knight of the Leopard had hoped to deprive him. But the latter had, in the mean while, recovered his mace, and the eastern cavalier, who remembered the strength and dexterity with which his antagonist had aimed it, seemed to keep cautiously out of reach of that weapon, of which he had so lately felt the force; while he showed his purpose of waging a distant warfare with missile weapons of his own. Planting his long spear in the sand at a distance from the scene of combat, he strung, with great address, a short bow which he carried at his back, and, putting his horse to the gallop, once more described two or three circles, of a wider extent than formerly, in the course of which he discharged six arrows with such unerring skill, that the goodness of the knight's armor alone saved him from being wounded in as many places. 7. The seventh shaft apparently found a less perfect part of the harness, and the Christian dropped heavily from his horse. But what was the surprise of the Saracen, when, dismounting to examine the condition of his *prostrate enemy, he found himself suddenly within the grasp of the European, who had had recourse to this artifice to bring his enemy within his reach! Even in this deadly grapple, the Saracen was saved by his agility and presence of mind. He unloosed the sword-belt, in which the Knight of the Leopard had fixed his hold, and thus eluding the fatal grasp, mounted his horse, which seemed to watch his motions with the intelligence of a human being, and again rode off. 8. But in the last encounter, the Saracen had lost his sword and his quiver of arrows, both of which were attached to the girdle, which he was obliged to abandon. He had also lost his turban in the struggle. These disadvantages seemed to incline the Moslem to a truce. He approached the Christian with right hand extended, but no longer in a menacing attitude. "There is truce betwixt our nations," he said; "where fore should there be war betwixt thee and me? Let there be peace betwixt us." "I am well contented," answered he of the Leopard; "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 temir. "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." 9. "By Mohammed, Prophet of Allah," 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 hand, 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. EDGAR A. POE, an American poet, was born at Baltimore in 1811. He graduated at Jefferson University with the highest honors. His prose writings are quite numerous. His poems are few, but many of them evince high poetic talent. He died in 1849. 1. Once upon a midnight dreary, while I ponder'd weak and weary, 2. Ah! distinctly I remember, it was in the bleak December, 3. And the silken, sad, uncertain rustling of each purple curtain Thrill'd me, fill'd me with fantastic terrors, never felt before; 66 So that now, to still the beating of my heart, I stood repeating, 66 4. Presently my soul grew stronger, hesitating then no longer, 66 'Sir," said I, or Madam, truly your forgiveness I implore; But the fact is, I was napping, and so gently you came rapping, And so faintly you came tapping, tapping at my chamber door, That I scarce was sure I heard you." Here I open'd wide the door. Darkness there, and nothing more. 5. Deep into that darkness +peering, long I stood there, wondering, fearing, [before; Doubting, dreaming dreams no mortal ever dared to dream But the silence was unbroken, and the darkness gave no token, And the only word there spoken, was the whisper'd word, "Lenore!" Merely this, and nothing more. 6. Then into the chamber turning, all my soul within me burning, Let me see then, what thereat is, and this mystery +explore, 7. Open here I flung the shutter, when, with many a +flirt and flutter, In there stepp'd a stately raven of the saintly days of +yore: Not the least tobeisance made he; not an instant stopp'd or stay'd he; But with +mien of lord or lady, perch'd above my chamber door, Perch'd upon a †bust of Pallas, just above my chamber door, Perch'd, and sat, and nothing more. 8. Then this tebony bird +beguiling my sad fancy into smiling, By the grave and stern †decorum of the countenance it wore ; "Though thy crest be shorn and shaven, thou," I said, "art sure no craven, |