of his object. Rousing himself at length from his reverie, he said hastily:

This pride becomes not thy station, maiden, and it shall not avail thee. Raimond of Toulouse is not wont to let the quarry escape his hands which he has hunted down. Weigh well the alternative which I have offered thee, ere we meet again.' So saying, he abruptly withdrew.

The excitement, which had nerved her for the interview, had passed, and Agatha now sat before the table, her face buried in her hands; and tears, flowing fast and unrestrained, gave relief to her overcharged heart. Again she heard the bolts of her prison withdrawn, and half rose from her seat in alarm, lest her persecutor should again appear; but perceiving that it was Indelgurth, the dwarfish page of Raimond, bearing food, for which, although her failing strength required it, she felt little appetite, she again sank down to her former position.

Indelgurth, by birth a German, though not far beyond the age of boyhood, bore all the traces of mature years. His height was scarcely more than four feet; but his head might have been considered large upon the shoulders of a full grown man. His features were large, and, except his eye, which was occasionally lighted up with quickness and intelligence, wore a somewhat heavy and obtuse expression. For Agatha, during the two days that she had been an inmate of the tower, he had evinced a strong degree of interest; and the utter hopelessness of grief, which now weighed her down, strongly affected the not unbenevolent heart of the page, and, placing on the table the dishes which he bore, he said, with all the tenderness of which his harsh, creaking voice was capable:

'You are afflicted, lady; is there any way in which the poor Indelgurth may be enabled to alleviate your sorrows?'

The maiden raised her head, and looked at him for a moment, as if she doubted the truth of what she heard; but perceiving on the countenance of the page an expression which was in complete accordance with his words, she replied:

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Alas! kind page, thou little knowst how deeply Agatha needs a friend art thou indeed willing to assist her?'

'Lady,' replied the page, Raimond claims my services, but he cannot command my affection. The poor dwarf is the butt at which, during the banquet, he aims the shafts of his wit—and, in secret, the arrows of his spleen. Thou art nearly the only one who has ever treated the despised Indelgurth with kindness.'

Knowst thou Phirouz, the Armenian?'

I should remember him, lady, for he found me during the famine lying in the street faint with hunger, and he gave me food, and spake kindly to me and Indelgurth never forgets a kind word for he

hears but few.'

How shall I reward thee, if thou wilt bear a message to him?' Call me thine own kind page, and I will brave the anger of Raimonday, or even the tortures of the famine, to do thy bidding.' Agatha, amid all her sorrows, could scarce refrain from a smile, as the dwarf spoke, but replied, with becoming gravity, My own kind page, thou wilt be to me a most generous friend and benefactor, if thou wilt immediately seek out Phirouz. Give him this chain,' she conti

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nued, taking from her neck that which Bohemond had given her, 'he will instantly recognise it, and tell him that she who sends it is a prisoner in the tower of Raimond of Toulouse.'

I will do thine errand, fair lady,' said the page, and immediately withdrew.

CHAPTER IV.

THE TRIAL.

WE left Phirouz and Bartoldo setting forth on their search for Agatha. Almost all the principal streets in the city had been examined in vain by the two friends, but no tidings of the lost one could be obtained; and at length, yielding to the calls of hunger and weariness, they unwillingly retired for the night, promising to meet at daylight on the following morning in the porch of the church of St. Peter, thence to proceed again in their now almost hopeless inquiry.

The morning came-they met they went forth; but night again fell, and they still had received no intelligence - no clue to guide them to their beloved Agatha.

Phirouz, almost driven to madness by this continued disappointment, raved and called down curses on the head of him, whosoever he might be, who had deprived him of his promised bride. Nor was Bartoldo less loud in his denunciations against the betrayer of his sister.

The dawn of the following morning saw them again setting forth upon their melancholy search, but they had not prosecuted their inquiries through many of the smaller streets, ere they were met by two soldiers of Raimond's guard, one of whom, placing his hand upon the arm of Phirouz, bade him follow to the court of the council, then sitting, to answer to a charge of treason.

Phirouz, already soured by his disappointment, was roused almost to frenzy by the unjust accusation, as well as by the interruption to his search which the trial would occasion, and refused to obey the summons; the soldiers, however, insisted that their orders were peremptory, and that they must resort to force, unless he chose to obey the mandate of their chief. Phirouz drew his sword, and would have slain the intruders, had he not been held back by Bartoldo; and at length, convinced by his arguments that obedience was his wiser course, he followed in sullen silence to the council.

As he passed up the long staircase, leading to the hall in which the council sat, between his two guards, Indelgurth sprang from the crowd, and making his way toward Phirouz, stood behind him and plucked his scarf. Phirouz turned and stooped to listen, and the dwarf, unseen by the guards, hastily whispered his message, and slipped the gold chain into the hands of the Armenian, who felt that nothing now remained for him but to await as calmly as possible the result of the trial.

The hall, which the chiefs of the crusade used for the discharge of the public business of the city and the army, was a spacious and not inelegant apartment. Its high arched roof was supported by clustered columns, of graceful proportions and of delicate finish. The light was received through long, narrow slits in the wall, somewhat resembling

loop-holes, save that they were finished at the top with lancet-shaped arches, highly ornamented. The floor of the upper end, for about one fourth of the whole length, was raised nearly a foot above the rest, and at the further extremity of this elevated floor, or dais, was erected a sort of throne, or chair of state, shaded by a gorgeous canopy. This was occupied by Godfrey as president of the council. The other leaders were ranged on either hand, on seats of less elaborate workmanship.

Phirouz was led by his guards to the verge of the raised platform, and stood silently, though impatiently, awaiting the commencement of the proceedings.

Thou art accused,' said Godfrey at length, by the noble Raimond of Toulouse, of having held treasonable intercourse with the camp of the enemy, during the siege of the city.'

My lord, I am innocent of such crime, unless perchance the Count of Toulouse charges me with delivering Antioch to the army of the Christians. If he mean that siege, and that intercourse with the enemy, I plead guilty. I am unconscious of any ground for a similar charge, on any other occasion.'

We are not insensible,' replied Godfrey, 'of that good service, nor of thy gallant bearing in the late contest with Kerboga; and much do I grieve that the noble Raimond should have found cause to prefer a charge against one whose character has ever stood high in the army for every noble quality; and I trust that thine innocence may be made fully apparent. Raimond, Count of Toulouse, bring forward the evidence on which thy charge rests.'

Hugo and Peter, two soldiers, whose station during the siege had been in the tower of Phirouz, came forward, and deposed that they had on several occasions heard Phirouz conversing, from the loop-holes of his tower, with Moslems, under the wall, in the language of the East; and that they had brought provisions to him during the famine.

'My Lord of Toulouse,' asked Godfrey, 'hast thou any other witnesses to bring forward?'

'I have none other,' he replied, nor doth it appear to me that any farther evidence can be required. The fact of treasonable intercourse with the Moslem camp is made evident; and it appears, also, that the prisoner has received bribes from the enemy, in the shape of provisions at the time, the most valuable that could have been offered.'

Canst thou disprove the charge?' asked Godfrey, turning toward Phirouz.

The prisoner called forth one of the soldiers who had given evidence against him. Hugo,' he said, 'know you aught of the

Moslem tongue?'

'I cannot converse in it.'

How knowst thou then that I held treasonable intercourse with Kerboga's camp followers?'

I said not so I said I had heard thee conversing with them in the Moslem tongue.'

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Were they warriors or women who brought provisions to the tower?'

'There were none but women.'

Received they any thing in exchange for what they brought?'

Thou didst repay them gold for their provisions, methought well nigh weight for weight.'

Did I attempt to conceal these transactions? Were the soldiers ordered from the walls while the women were present?'

'No.'

Peter was then examined, by Phirouz, in the same manner as his companion had been. His answers were nearly the same as those of Hugo.

This wears not the aspect of treachery, my Lord of Toulouse,' said Godfrey; nevertheless it were well if some witness could be brought forward who could inform us of the conversation which took place between Phirouz and the camp followers of Kerboga - whether it were really treasonable or not. Is there none such who may appear, either for or against the prisoner?'

'There is!' said a harsh voice from the crowd, at the lower end of the hall; but none could see the person who had thus answered, until, after a short pause, the diminutive figure of Indelgurth was observed elbowing his way through the dense multitude; and in a few moments he stood before the council. Raimond was surprised, but not displeased at beholding his page approach, for he doubted not his testimony would be any thing but favorable toward the prisoner.

'What evidence hast thou to give?' asked Godfrey.

The dwarf appeared not to notice the question, but turning toward his master, said: Didst thou send me to the tower of Phirouz during the siege?'

'Yea, imp, I did,' replied Raimond, smiling.

Most noble Godfrey,' continued the dwarf, 'two years a prisoner in the camp of Solyman, the language of the infidel became familiar to mine ear. I was in the tower of Phirouz whilst he was purchasing provisions from the female camp followers of Kerboga. No question was asked, no word spoken, such as a spy may ask, or a traitor speak. The food was drawn up into the tower-the gold was returned in the same basket, and the women departed, apparently well pleased with their traffic.' What think you, my lords,' asked Godfrey, is the prisoner guilty,

or not?'

Raimond spoke not; but from every other lip in the council was returned the answer Not guilty!'

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'And now, my lord,' said Phirouz, it is my turn to become the accuser. Prince of Tarentum,' he added, turning to Bohemond, Know you this chain?'

'I do,' replied Bohemond.

She to whom you gave it, my lord, with the words 'a mark of admiration for the virtues which thou hast exhibited in the midst of licentiousness,' is now detained a prisoner in the tower of Raimond. I call upon you, most noble Godfrey, and ye other brave leaders of the holy enterprise in which we are engaged, to employ your authority to release that innocent maiden from the power of him who would sacrifice her fair fame to his licentious passions, and would heap obloquy, and reproach, and despair, upon the head of her lover and her brother - that brother who, two days since, came so providentially to our aid, when the Saracens pressed sore upon our shattered columns.'

Count of Toulouse,' said Bohemond, rising, 'the maiden is under

my protection, and my knighthood's honor is pledged to befriend her whenever she may need assistance at my hands. As governor and lord of this city, I command thee, therefore, to cause Agatha instantly to be released, and I ask my brothers in arms to interpose their authority, to insure the fulfilment of the order.'

We will see the command enforced,' was the unanimous reply to the appeal of Bohemond.

Nay,' replied Raimond, endeavoring to conceal his rage and disappointment, if the maiden be an object of such deep solicitude to the individuals of this grave assembly, Raimond must perforce yield obedience to their wishes. Come hither, abortion!' he added, addressing Indelgurth, carry this signet ring to Bertram, and tell him it is Raimond's will that the prisoner be allowed to depart - and,' he continued, in a whisper, remember this is the last service thou ever performest for Raimond; let me never again set eyes upon thy hideous form!'

The dwarf withdrew, well pleased with his commission, and far from unhappy at his dismissal. Phirouz accompanied him, but finding that Indelgurth was unable to equal his own impetuous strides, he raised him in his arms a mode of conveyance which the dwarf at any other time would have stoutly resisted - and in a few minutes was ascending the staircase which led to the prison of Agatha.

CHAPTER V.

THE CONCLUSION.

THE maiden had augured but little from the message to Phirouz, for she scarcely hoped, even if the dwarf should succeed in finding him, that her lover could command assistance sufficient to snatch her from the hands of so powerful a noble as Raimond; and she was now sitting in the tower, almost without hope, and in momentary apprehension lest her persecutor should again appear, when a quick step upon the staircase met her ear. It was not the 'iron tread' of the athletic Raimond, nor the unequal footstep of Indelgurth, and no other approached her tower. Could it be Phirouz? Her heart leaped at the thought. She had but short time for speculation-the bolts withdrew - the door opened and in the arms of her lover all her sorrows were forgotten. And now,' said Phirouz, after the first transport of joy at the almost unhoped-for recovery of his betrothed had in some measure subsided, 'fly from this hateful spot. At the house of Walter de Bras, I doubt me not, thou wilt meet with one whom thou scarce expectest to see.' 'Lady,' said the dwarf, throwing himself on his knees before her, 'thou hast already been kind to the poor Indelgurth; suffer him to go with thee.'

Rise, my kind page,' said Agatha; 'in joy for my release, I had almost selfishly forgotten that it was by thy means that I have procured it. Would that I could reward thee for thy faithful service!'

• Thou canst, lady,' he replied; one word will secure to thee the devotion of my whole future life. I did but speak the truth at the trial of Phirouz, and Raimond hath dismissed me from his service: I rejoice at it, for perchance I may now indeed become thine own little page.'