one would suddenly sink down into the earth, and disappear altogether! Lester remained in utter bewilderment, looking on this strange sight. He certainly was not dreaming; but what then was it which he saw? Could it be that some gigantic city lay buried beneath that plain, and that these were the ghosts of Titans performing a funeral dance over its invisible remains? He felt enraged at himself as this wild supposition crossed his brain; and he instantly set spurs to his horse, determined to face the shrouded giants on their own ground, and ascertain what they really were.

To his horror, one of them appeared anxious to do him honour, by coming forward with its glidingstep to meet him, and again the horse reared and plunged, refusing to advance; but the great white figure continued to approach till within a few yards of the perplexed Englishman, when it suddenly sunk down and melted away, though, happily, revealing its own nature in the act; for it covered himself and his horse so completely with a fine white dust, that he comprehended at once that his Titanic phantoms were only so many sand-spoutsone of the most common phenomena of the Asiatic plains, but which, though he had often heard described, he never could have conceived in this strange, ghost-like form, had he not beheld it. Somewhat relieved, he now proceeded on his way, watching the long columns of sand as they rose and fell; but his adventures were not over; he was destined to witness another most striking sight peculiar to those countries, but happily more rare, because so terrible.

He had advanced to within a stone's throw of the palace of Kosreff Pasha, when suddenly he felt his horse reel under him, and stagger as if about to fall. Hastily dismounting to ascertain the cause of this, he was himself violently thrown down, he scarce knew how, and when he rose, he found it im possible to stand upright. The horse had flung himself down, and Lester was fain to follow his example; and then looking round, he perceived that the whole plain was in motion, rising and falling like the undulating waves of the sea, and he even became conscious that the mountains round him were rocking from side to side. Though it was the first time he had ever felt an

earthquake, Lester could not doubt that these unnatural appearances proceeded from that alone; for there is something peculiar in the indescribable feeling which is caused on the human mind by this convulsion of nature, which nothing else can produce. There is something most ominous in this shaking of the world's foundations that causes a sensation of horrible insecurity, even where the actual danger is not great.

Lester was obliged to remain prostrate while the phenomena worked: first he could feel, as it were, a long shudder thrill the whole earth, like that which agitates the mortal frame when the dread of something supernatural is upon it; then a deep groan seemed to burst from its labouring bosom, as though drawn from it by very agony of heart. For one moment the great fabric of creation lay intensely still, and then it was seized with a tre mendous convulsion, during which it it appeared to be shaken to the very centre by a prolonged quivering, exactly as though the awful foot steps of one most mighty were passing over it. When these had gone by, it seemed to sink exhausted, only heaving once or twice, like the last sobs of a child that has been hushed to rest before it relapsed into its wonted tranquillity.

During this spasm of the earth, Lester lay stunned and bewildered; and now that it was over, he could hear the deep-booming echoes far off in the mountains, as the huge rocks it had shattered came thundering down on one another; whilst a loud crash quite close to him an nounced that it had taken effect also on the palace of the haughty pasha. Raising himself with some difficulty, he looked anxiously towards it, and perceived that not only a large portion of the building had been destroyed, but that almost the whole of one side of the wall, a moment before so impervious, had been thrown down, and now lay flat on the ground, as though it had been built of cards, and blown down by a breath of wind. Through the large opening thus suddenly formed, he obtained a view of the beautiful gardens, where the scared and terrorstricken women were rushing wildly to and fro whilst from the pavilions, terrible cries resounded, which announced that more than one disaster

had taken place. Lester was not without trepidation as to the possibility of his young charge being one of the sufferers, but he felt convinced, at the same time, that if she had escaped the effects of the earthquake, the confusion resulting from it would singularly facilitate her liberation, of which he had begun almost to despair. In this opinion he was confirmed by Manouk, who had been coming towards him when the shock took place, and who now joined him he assured him that the convulsion was quite over(for, any person habitually resident in these countries can generally tell from surrounding appearances what course they are likely to pursue)—and he declared he had not a doubt that Cyllene would take advantage of the destruction of the wall to effect her escape; he proposed, therefore, that they should hasten to conceal themselves among the ruins, to wait till she should find an opportunity of stealing from the garden, for it would have been too hazardous, even amid the noise and confusion, for themselves to penetrate within it.

Having taken up their position behind a large fragment of the wall, they remained some time listening to the shouts and vociferations within. From these they gathered that the proud possessor of all this beautiful domain had not himself altogether escaped the power of the earthquake-(Kosreff Pasha was, in fact, lamed for life)-and Lester found ample food for reflection in the strange spectacle of this palace of pleasures stricken down by the fierce wrath of nature, sent at once to release the fettered slaves, and chastise him who was in fact the greatest slave amongst them all! their master, the sworn servant of luxury.

It may, indeed, afford ground for speculation to determine what slavery really is that it is not the chaining down of the mortal body, the binding of hand and foot, is very evident, since from the prisons of great men how many a noble soul has come forth through the gates and the bars, to roam over the world unfettered and free, proclaiming great truths, and boldly flinging down the strongholds of evil-but there is that captivity which was once led captive, that bitter servitude to the sin that

dwells in a man's own soul, by which he finds a taskmaster, ready to chain the heart and the intellect, and to bind him down, as though with iron links, to his own most vile destructive work, day by day, and hour by hour-to this Kosreff Pasha was as a bound and hired servant, but the earthquake had loosened his grasp of the human beings he had purchased as his own.

Lester and Manouk had spent about an hour in their place of concealment, keeping their eyes carefully fixed on the door which the rough hand of the convulsion had fashioned for them. Night had now completely set in, but, fortunately for their enterprise, there was a full moon rapidly ascending the heavens, and giving forth a light so clear and vivid, that it was, for all practical purposes, as efficient as that of day. For some time past, silence and quiet seemed to have been restored within the pasha's domain, and the pleasure-grounds appeared to be altogether deserted-but, as they gazed, suddenly a light figure was seen to flit through the trees, more like the gleaming of a moonbeam than a human being, and, with a single bound, it sprung from the interior of the garden, and stood on the portion of the wall of which the upper stones only had been removed in the shock-it was a young girl, delicate and fragile, with a fair, sweet face, to which early suffering had given a grave expression, ill-suited to her years; she remained in her elevated position for one moment, whilst she glanced all round with a wild startled look it was painful to witness, so full was it of inexpressible terror; then, clasping her hands, and looking up to heaven, she darted down from the stones, and fled over the plain with extraordinary speed, her white robes glancing in the moonlight, and her long hair floating behind her like a golden veil.

It needed not Manouk's exclamation of "Cyllene!" to send Lester in pursuit of this flying form, and both together followed in her steps as fast as they could-but they found it no easy matter even to keep her in sight. It was evident that the poor young girl, utterly bewildered in her dread of the consequences, should her flight be discovered by her tyrants, had not a thought but that of placing as great a distance between herself

and them as she could. She had not, of course, observed Manouk and his companion, and fancying, perhaps, that she was hastening towards them, she profited by the lightness of foot so peculiar to those of her nation-and, it was incredible with what speed the liberated slave fled from her friends, all unconsciously.

Finding, at last, that it was impossible to overtake her, in this manner, the prudent Turk proposed to return to the spot where they had left their horses, with whose assistance alone it now seemed possible to follow her, while Lester remained to watch the direction she took. To this the Englishman agreed, but, long before his horse was brought, and he had time to mount, he had seen her make for the mountains, and the shadowy white figure she appeared in the distance was lost among their rocks and stones. Still he had distinctly observed the point at which she had entered on the rugged ground at the foot of the nearest hill, and exciting by the voice (according to the Eastern mode) the swift Arabian which he rode, it was not many minutes before he was on the spot himself.

The mountain, close to which Kosreff Pasha's dwelling was placed, rose almost perpendicularly from the plain, and its base was girt by a chain of rocks, amongst which Lester and the Turk found it impossible to proceed on horseback. They, therefore, secured their horses, and proceeded on foot. It was certain that Cyllene could not possibly be far distant, and the bright moonshine rendered their search comparatively easy. Manouk even called her several times; but to this suddenly a sound responded which filled them both, brave men as they were, with terror. It was the deep roaring of the beasts of prey, as they came forth from their dens in the mountain, to seek their midnight victims. Their cries rose so spontaneously out of the silence that had reigned throughout the day, that Lester almost fancied he was, by some singular chance, destined to witness every kind of phenomena which the country could produce; but he was mistaken, for nothing which had occurred to him that day had been at all unusual.

The sand-spouts are the almost invariable precursors of the frequent

earthquakes; and the one simul taneous roar of the monsters of the plain, is the natural result of the mode in which they call to and answer one another on first issuing from their lair. Manouk, however, stood petrified with horror as he heard it; for he knew more of the habits of the terrible animals which infest the hills of Asia Minor, than his companion, and he actually trembled as he exhorted Lester, in the name of the prophet, to lose no time in continuing his search for Cyllene, not concealing that he thought it but too probable she might fall a victim to some ravenous monster. They were soon themselves in no small danger as they clambered over the pathless mountain-side; for they could see their fierce enemies leaping and bounding from rock to rock on all sides of them.

Lester shuddered as he thought of the gentle young girl exposed to their fury, and sought her almost frantically in every crevice and nook. Nor were his fears causeless: suddenly, above the roaring of the wild beasts, there rose the piercing cry of a woman's voice, prolonged and agonized as the extremity of terror alone could render it. Without a word, though that piteous sound seemed to have frozen the very blood in their veins, the Turk and the Englishman bounded forward in the direction whence it came. It had sounded close to them, but considerably higher up; and Lester, with a swiftness which astonished himself, darted up the steep, rugged cliff. But Manouk, who in many good qualities seemed almost to belie his nation, was, at least, most thoroughly a Turk on the score of a certain solidity of person, which rendered running an accomplishment in which he was by no means an adept; he was, therefore, compelled to let the Englishman distance him so completely that he lost sight of him altogether, though he continued to hurry on, panting and breathless, in the same direction.

Lester, meanwhile, had almost reached the spot whence he imagined the cry to have proceeded: it had not been repeated, and his heart sunk within him as he thought what this silence might portend; suddenly, just as he succeeded in reaching the summit of a gigan. tic rock, he came abruptly on a spec. tacle which, though seen but for one

moment, 'never again passed from his memory.

A shelving portion of the cliff, surrounded by vast bushes of the prickly pear, formed a sort of natural bower, into which the moonbeams, streaming in their fullest radiance, disclosed a strange and fearful picture. Crouching on the ground, with the limbs gathered up as if just about to make a terrible spring, was an enormous panther; its dark form half concealed by the bush where it had been lurking, but its monstrous head and red gleaming eyes only too frightfully distinct. Within a few paces of it, perfectly rigid and motionless, in the paralysis which follows an overpowering terror, knelt the young girl, with no other defence to the breast in which the monster was about to fix his murderous claws, than the two small feeble hands, clasped closely together, more in despair than in supplication, and into which she had unconsciously gathered the long masses of the luxuriant hair which hung about her like a shroud; her face showed ghastly pale in the moonlight, and her large eyes had dilated into an intense gaze of the deepest horror, which she seemed unable to withdraw from the glaring fiery balls with which the panther returned her stare of agonized fear.

To that

fixed look, however, she owed her life; for it is no poetical fiction which asserts that a wild beast may be subdued by the glance of a human eye; it is a positive and undoubted fact. The fierce monster was as utterly spell-bound by her gaze at that moment as she was by terror, and the moment her eyelids had dropped, and the fascination was dispelled, he would have torn her in pieces.

Lester understood it all in a moment. It is rare that the presence of mind of an Englishman is known to fail. At once remaining motionless, lest his step should disturb the charm which held the monster powerless, Lester drew from his belt the loaded pistols which he always carried; he was not above a few yards distant from the panther. Deliberately he took a sure and steady aim, and fired with such precision that the ball lodged in the head of the monster, directly above the ear, and with a groan which made the mountain echoes ring, the fierce animal rolled over on its side, and lay with

its huge limbs agitated in a tremendous convulsion. Lester instantly rushed forward, and firing off the other pistol almost into its distended jaws, put an end at once to its sufferings and its fury. It was not until he was quite convinced that the huge mass now stretched out at his feet was utterly lifeless, that he turned to look on Cyllene.

She had sprung to her feet as the shot whistled past her, and now, bewildered and overwhelmed with the sudden revulsion of feeling from fear to security, she remained looking from her now powerless enemy to the friend whose arrival had been so timely, with seemingly a momentary incapacity for comprehending her de liverance; then, as the conviction grew upon her that she was indeed safe, she did not faint or become hysterical, as a well-educated young lady must necessarily have done, but calmly, quietly she sank on her knees, and crossed herself, with a devout look of gratitude lifted up to the moon-lit sky; then taking the hand of the Englishman, she raised it to her lips and forehead, saying, in a clear, sweet voice, "I should have thanked the wild beast had he saved me, even by a dreadful death, from the horrors of my captivity, but how, oh, how shall I thank you, who have saved me both from him and my slavery alike!"

Lester lifted her gently from the ground, but his answer was cut short by the arrival of Manouk, who had been guided towards them by the shots. If ever, under any circumstances, a Turk had been known to dance, whether for joy or for amusement, this good Mahometan would most certainly have capered round them now in singular style, so exuberant was his delight on finding them safe, for he had entertained scarce a hope of finding both or either alive, when the last roar of the monster struck on his ear. His next proceedings were very characteristic: he first, with his usual forethought, reloaded the pistols, and then solemnly anathematized the carcase of the unhappy panther, for which purpose he carefully took off his slippers.

Lester, meanwhile, had begun to converse with Cyllene, and was about, forgetting time and place, to answer her eager inquiries respecting her mother; but Manouk, having completed the ce

remonies he had deemed so necessary, composedly told them he thought they might find a better locality for conversation than this domain of wild beasts, and urged most strongly the expediency of their proceeding as silently and quickly as possible on their return to the village. Both were quite ready to obey him; and they were not long in descending the mountain, though continually thrown into a state of terror by the close proximity of their dreadful enemies, especially the hyænas,

who grinned at them from almost every rocky cave they passed. They managed, however, by firing continually, to keep them off, and reached the plain in safety, where they found their horses in a paroxysm of terror, though they had only heard the howling of the beasts of prey afar off. Having mounted Lester's beautiful Arabian, carrying this time a double burden, they proceeded rapidly across the plain, and arrived at the village with their prize long before the dawn of day.

THE adventurous Englishman, having now happily attained his object, lost no time in returning to Smyrna with his two companions, in order to be in readiness to sail for Greece with his brethren, the Philellenists, as soon as it should be thought prudent for them to start. He found that they had decided on delaying their departure only two days more. Scarlato G, the second son of the dumb Rayah, had received an invitation from the Turkish governor, to join in a great festival which was to be held next day at his palace, and of which the principal entertainment was to be a trial of skill at the game of the jereed, the favourite pastime of the young men in the East. It was thought advisable that the Greek prince should obey this call, in order to dispel the suspicions which it was believed the Pasha entertained respecting the intentions of the Rayah's sons to effect their escape.

Lester was so impatient to proceed to Argos, in order that he might change the poor mother's long suspense to the most boundless joy, by presenting to her safe and free the beautiful child over whose probable fate she had shed so many fruitless tears, that he was little pleased at any delay. Since, however, it could not be avoided, he determined to avail himself of this opportunity of witnessing the Turkish sports, by mingling with the other spectators round the Pasha's palace on the day of the festivities, where it was little likely he would be observed, or known as a Philellenist. Accompanied by his faithful Manouk, he therefore proceeded to the spot at the appointed time, and mixed with the crowd who

were assembled on the open space before the palace. This free ground extended to a considerable distance, and was, therefore, peculiarly adapted for the exercise of the jereed. All who were to be engaged in this noble game that morning were assembled together in groups. They were chiefly young men, strong and active, and, without exception, admirably mounted, for this was most important to their success in this warlike sport.

The Pasha, then governor of Smyrna, being a man advanced in years, and extremely feeble, though retaining the full vigour of his mental faculties, was unable to join in the games, and he was, therefore, seated on a sort of throne, which was placed on the back of an enormous camel, whose trappings were as magnificent as it was possible to make them. His slaves stood round him in a wide semicircle, and Manouk obtained a place close behind him for Lester, who could thus watch all the proceedings, and examine the details of this Oriental amusement. All the young men who were to take an active part in it, came forward one by one to salute the Pasha; and Lester gazed with admiration on Scarlato Gwho was, indeed, a noble specimen of the young Greek warrior, as he rode forward mounted on a splendid horse, and dressed in the full costume of his country. For one moment only the Englishman gazed on him, as he raised his hand to his lips and forehead, in token of respect to the Turkish governor, and then galloped off to join his companions; but long did he remember in pity and regret that glowing countenance, so full of youthful beauty, as he looked upon it then, with