gratifying to him than to see them depart, which they did, one by one, and to hear them fasten the door on the outside, leaving Mary standing melancholy and alone, unconscious of the assistance which was so near her.

No sooner were they gone than Charles came from his concealment; but the surprise of seeing him was so great, that Mary, losing her self-command, uttered a loud scream, and the moment after a noise was heard at the door.

Charles immediately stepped back, and drew the curtain before him; and directly after, a hideous black eunuch thrust his head in at the door; but Mary had by this time recovered her presence of mind, and holding out her hands towards the open door, seemed to entreat the slave to let her escape. He was deceived, shook his head with a grin, and once more fastened the door.

When Charles now came forward, Mary hid her face on his bosom, and wept for a moment

moment or two in silence.

Neither dared

to speak; but drawing her gently into the next apartment, Charles pointed to the window, to the open country, and to the horse grazing below, and tied the shawl round her waist.

Mary understood him, and clasped her hands with fear, but approached the window. The shawl was one of the longest that are made, but for fear it should not reach the ground, Mr. Melville tore it down the middle, and having twisted it into a kind of rope, and fastened it securely, he raised Mary in his arms, and placed her on the edge of the window. But here for a moment her courage failed, and she clung to him, so that he could not let her down. One reproachful look however was sufficient to recall her to herself; she loosed her hold, shut her eyes, and with ease he lowered his light burden till her feet touched the ground. Charles had no difficulty in dropping from the window himself, and in another moment Mary

G 3

Mary was once more clasped in his arms, safe and at liberty. No time however was to be lost, and catching the horse as soon as he could, he fixed Mary securely behind him, and quite in the style of Gayferos, as celebrated by master Peter in Don Quixote, he set out, carrying his bride away from the hands of the infidels.

1

The next thing was to consider which way they ought to go; no moon was in the sky; the night was exceedingly dark; and as to choosing a safe path, Charles was obliged to leave that to the discretion of his horse; the only thing that he could do being to direct him as well as he could towards the village from whence they had set out in the morning; and this he was enabled to do with some degree of accuracy, for his friendly stars had not deserted him; one in particular, which he had often observed shining with a peculiar lustre to the south of Corfu, now served them as a bright guide towards the seashore; and the horse being a horse of good

common

common sense, finding his head turned in a way that he had been accustomed to go, did not fail to keep the beaten track, without deviating into the more romantic parts of the country, which might have gratified his taste for the picturesque, but would not have been so convenient for his hoofs.

Charles was not at all sorry for the darkness, which concealed the direction of their flight; but after an hour-and-a-half's riding as fast as they could go, the moon rose brightly over the continent of Greece; and nothing could be more gratifying to the fugitives than to find themselves on the shore, and to behold the calm Ionian sea rippling like an ocean of melted silver in the clear light of the planet. To them it spoke of safety, and their hearts beat high to reach the blue island, of which they caught a faint lumen in the distance. Winding along the seashore, they at length came to the village they had left in the morning, and perceiving a light in

one of the houses, Charles lifted his poor fatigued Mary from the horse, and throwing the bridle over his arm, proceeded towards the cottage.

The sound of their horse's hoofs had already spread the alarm, and the door was opened by an old Greek, whose terrified countenance expressed his apprehension of a new visit from the Turks. Charles's European dress however relieved the old man of his fears, and as soon as he recog nised the stranger who had been there in the morning, the young man who spoke Italian was sent for. A great number of the villagers assembled, and a thousand questions were put concerning their unfortunate companions. Of course Charles could not tell them what was their actual fate, and he did not choose to communicate his suspicions, but demanded in turn what had become of his boatmen. These proved luckily to be still there, and he desired them to get ready as soon as possible.

The