Alick had some difficulty in making out the exact meaning of what was said; and in a matter of life and death, he thought it but fair to ask for an interpreter; a request that excited the utmost indignation on the part of his accusers; the judge did not seem to hear it, but at this moment the stranger who had so attentively eyed him, stepped forward; and with a respectful obeisance, repeated it to him. He asked, 'What needs the Bedouin? Do we not speak with the tongue of his people?'

'I am no Bedouin,' said Alick, 'I am a Jew; and I believe,' he added, while a deep colour mounted to his brow, as he glanced toward the Mount of Olives, 'I believe in Jesus of Nazareth.'

To describe the effect of these words on his auditors is impossible. Epithets of atonishment, scorn, detestation, were uttered on all sides, as loud as their respect for the chief man would permit. He, too, exclaimed, 'By Allah he speaks lies!' and for the first time looked him in the face, then muttered, A boy!' and seemed more ruffled than was his wont on occasions of greater moment. Alick had never in his life felt so happy as when the avowal at once of his race and his faith had passed his lips: he paused for a moment, and in the same clear, calm tone, added, ‘I am also an Englishman.'

A laugh of exultation burst from his captors and the bystanders, who supposed his conviction now inevitable; and the Aga himself smiled, when two or three of his attendants, pointing to the tall Egyptian officer already noticed, said, 'Speak in English to him!' and with no small alacrity Alick turned to him, saying, 'If, sir, you speak the language of my native land, I crave your good offices in repeating to

me the substance of the evidence brought against I am guiltless in this matter, as I hope, with your kind assistance, now to prove.'

me.

'You have injured your cause,' rejoined the other, hurriedly, by the indiscreet admission of beingwhat you say you are: and what indeed you cannot be; for the two are incompatible.' He turned abruptly from him, and communicated in a very low voice with the governor, at some length. The latter seemed wavering, and his attendants evidently excited in no small measure. One, whose office it was to inflict the punishment of the bastinado, had prepared a long leather strap, which he drew impatiently through his fingers, while others, by catching Alick's eye, and directing his attention towards it, with looks and gestures of extreme satisfaction, indicated that he was about to suffer that torture. He flinched a little; but the thought immediately arose, ‘He who here suffered far more grievous pain and indignity for me, will surely strengthen me to endure whatever He sees good I should encounter. I have confessed his Name; and that confession it is that has incensed these poor followers of an impostor against me. Oh that they knew what I know! Oh that my own people Israel knew it! It was there, on that blessed mountain He stood, when weeping over Jerusalem; it was here his pitying eye rested, when he lamented their perverse rejection of his sheltering love, and foreshewed the desolations that I witness. May He take me, a poor, sinful, worthless creature, under the wings that he longed to spread over my fathers!' Tears filled his eyes, as with that love of which the world knows nothing, he looked around him, and above; the unprovoked enemies who were them

selves but tools in the hands of Satan, to harass this solitary young believer, exulted in the supposition that fear for what they were about to inflict on him was the source of those gathering tears; and impatiently they awaited the result of their chief's lengthened conference with the volunteer interpreter.

He was an Englishman; an adventurer who had entered the service of Mahommed Ali, and for the promotion of his worldly advantage had exchanged his nominal Christianity for equally nominal Islamism. His rank in the infidel army was not high, nor did he seek an elevation that would have surrounded him with envious rivals; but the actual influence obtained by ajudicious application of much worldly, scientific, professional, and political knowledge, stood him in more stead than comparative rank would have done. So far was he from seeking notoriety, that few were aware of his history. He was a favorite with those in power; who by craving nothing for himself, and being ready to do a good-natured thing for others, escaped much jealousy, and enjoyed a fair measure of popular good-will. He had taken a liking to Alick Cohen, before he knew more of him than that he was a prisoner, accused by one of the darkest, most malignant of the officials; and the discovery of his English birth, following as it did on an avowal so exceedingly honest and fearless, respecting his race and his religion, altogether completely engaged Ali Mustapha's interest on his behalf.

The conversation ended by an order being given to conduct the prisoner wheresoever this renegade might direct; he making himself accountable for his safe custody till the charge should be settled, established, or disproved.

Alick was, therefore, again hurried away, and to his dismay found that he was not returning to his former prison; earnestly he implored to be allowed, if but for a moment's time, to revisit his wounded friend: it was useless: and when he found himself lodged in a comparatively comfortable room, with a stool, a table, and a rude camp-bed, he looked with dissatisfaction on the contrast, and earnestly desired he could transport every indulgence to the narrow, dull, damp prison of Da Costa. When the person whom he could not but regard as his deliverer visited him, he followed up his expressions of gratitude by an earnest intercession for his friend. He too is English,' he said, 'and equally innocent with myself in this matter. He is wounded, suffering greatly, ignorant of where we are, and will be miserable under the apprehension that my continued absence will occasion; I beseech you, let me be with him.' 'Is he older than yourself?'

'Yes-a dozen years I should say, at least.'

Then he probably misled you. How came you under the guardianship of that worthy Abdalla?'

Alick told him, suppressing all particulars concerning the precise object of their journey; and Mustapha remarked, ' He certainly must have known the character of the Bedouin, and now he must take the consequences of what he has brought upon himself and you, by this senseless disguise. But what induced you to make such a singular statement of your religion? Did you imagine that in Jerusalem the name of Jew would have helped your case? The very last to do so.'

'But I am a Jew; no drop of Gentile blood is in

termingled with that of my race; and would you have me deny or conceal that fact?'

'Well; grant that you felt bound to declare it, surely the other and contradictory assertion of being also a Christian, was, at least, ill-judged.'

'Do you then doubt the reality of my belief in the Messiah of Israel, who here suffered for our sins, and shall here return in great glory for our deliverance and ultimate triumph? Are you not yourself, as a Christian, rejoicing in that hope, and will you not receive, as a returning brother, a penitent, believing son of Abraham ?'

He held out his hand to the renegade, who, taking it, good-humouredly, though with some embarrassment, said, 'Jew or Christian, Mussulman or Brahmin, each man is, or calls himself, what best suits his own mind, whether from habit, or from finding that he may advantageously depart from his accustomed path. I hold no man in greater or less respect for what he calls himself. If you are returning (supposing we get you out of this awkward position) to England, no doubt your prospects will be much advanced by embracing the ascendant form; but have you any particular tie there? A fine field of enterprise lies open here in the East-opportunities worth grasping at; fame, distinction, emolument, in prospect and possession a vast deal more than the cold, dull routine of English life holds out. I have had the luck so far to be useful to you, for I verily believe they would have put you to death, or inflicted some horrible punishment upon you, without giving you time or opportunity to apprize any person of your doom; and now I can guarantee your safety, I think, if your incli