the housings of velvet and gold, the train of slaves, and the other costly preparations for the cavalcade which was to convey the Rajah's daughter to her future lord. Secluded from the bustle of the town, Haidai dwelt, during these preparations, in the little summer palace where she had spent her childhood. It was a beautiful structure, shaded by fragrant trees, situated on the side of a mountain lake, and embosomed in a garden of the most rare and delicate flowers. Birds of golden plumage sang all night long around this enchanted bower, and the stars shimmered soft and silvery in the placid lake. In the heat of noonday fountains tinkled in the marble courts, diffusing a delicious freshness around. Here Haidai spent her hours in listening to the songs of her slaves, or indulging in vague dreams of love and happiness ; and often she caught herself wondering whether her future lord would realize the vague ideal beauty which she had longed for in her visions.
Only a month yet elapsed to the nuptials when a message came from the Rajah for his daughter to visit the city in order to select for herself dresses of the richest pattern for the approaching fetés. The distance was but a few hour's journey, and a troop of spahis was sent to escort her, more as a mark of her rank than to defend her from attack, for such a thing was deemed preposterous in the peaceable dominions of the Rajah. Disappointed love, however, will venture any expedient to ensure revenge ; and a neighboring prince who had vainly sought for the hand of Haidai, hearing of the contemplated journey, resolved to possess himself of the young beauty. Accordingly he mustered together his guard, and avoiding the open parts of his neighbor's country, penetrated unknown into the very heart of the province, and waylaid the cavalcade and spahis, in a narrow pass near the foot of the mountain, on which the summer palace of the Rajah stood. The litter of Haidai was slowly descending the hill side, and the young princess was laughing at a sally by one of her slaves, when the practised eye of the captain of her guard detected the spear heads of the ambuscade through the trees in front. Consternation instantly took possession of her followers, and especially of herself, for the object of the attack was at once comprehended, and the leader of the assailants was famed for his cruelty, outrages, and hideous appearance. Haidai shuddered when she thought of him as her future lord, and exhorted her comparatively small troop of spahis to defend her to the last. They swore so to do, or at least to keep the enemy engaged until her slaves should bear her off by a bye-road to a place of safety-for the country was studded by the fortresses of her father, and it would be impossible to travel many leagues in any direction without falling in with one or more of them. 66 By the beard of the Prophet," said the captain of
the spahis, " her highness shall be saved, even if we all die in her defence-ho ! Allah shews the way- charge the mauraders." Down, like an avalanche from the hill, swept that dauntless troop ; but like a rock in the valley the mailed mauraders met them, so that the inconsiderable force of the young princess's guard was broken into fragments. Long and desperately they fought ; but all in vain ; for the overpowering numbers of the assailants hemmed them in on every side, hewing them down like rushes that the north winds prostrate along the banks of the Indus. The little troop was soon cut in pieces, and the litter of the princess overtaken. Her few personal slaves were slaughtered in cold blood, and she found herself in the power of her captor without a single one of her train left even to perform the necessary services due to one of her high rank. CHAPTER II. We shall not attempt to describe the emotions of Haidai when her captor approached her. All of evil which she had heard respecting him was more than verified by his appearance. He had already passed the meridian of his existence, and the crimes of a long life had left themselves indelibly impressed on his countenance, which was forbidding to the last degree. She shrank instinctively from his presence. "Fair daughter of the sun," said he, affecting a gallantry to which he was a stranger, "the fortune of war has placed you in my hands- and henceforth you will be the light of my eyes, the flower of my harem . Long have I loved you, and now it shall be my task only to do your bidding." " If such be your wish," said Haidai, with an energy . she thought would have been a stranger to her nature, "conduct me to my father's court." "Nay-by the Kabala- not so," said her captor, with a hideous smile, "the fountains of my harem pine for your presence." The captive princess saw in the exulting look of her captor the confirmation of her worst fears, and she sank back on her cushions with a shudder. All that day they retreated through secluded ways toward the frontiers of the province, and at nightfall were almost clear of the dominions of the Rajah. As Haidai saw the hills where she had spent her childhood fading in the distance, her heart grew cold within her, and the faint hope which she had entertained of a rescue died away, until at length she was left in total despair. Suddenly, however, she heard a commotion among her capturers, and soon perceived that they were forming in the rear of the litter as if to protect it from assault. Could succor have arrived ? Her heart beat quicker at the supposition. She was not left long in doubt, for in
