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be not discouraged. Fortune may abase the ordinary mortal, but the sage and the soldier should have minds beyond her control."

Kenneth tried, in vain, to eat; El Hakim examined his hurried pulse, his heated hand, and his shortened respiration.

"The mind," he said, "grows wise by watching, but the body needs the support of repose."

He drew from his bosom a crystal vial, and dropped into a little golden drink-cup a small portion of a dark fluid.

"This," he said, "is one of those productions which Allah hath sent on earth for a blessing. Fear not thou to make use of its virtue in time of need."

"I have seen too much of thy skill, sage Hakim, to debate thine hest;" and swallowing the narcotic, Kenneth stretched himself in the shade to await the promised repose.

When the Knight of the Leopard awoke, he found himself in surroundings so different that, at first, he thought he must still be dreaming. In place of a bed of damp grass, he had now a couch of Oriental luxury. He had been canopied only by palm trees; now he lay beneath a silken pavilion. Beside him was a portable bath lined with silver and ready for use, steaming with the odors which had been used in preparing it. He decided to avail himself of this means of dispelling his weariness. Having dried himself with napkins of Indian wool, he looked about for his own garments, but they were not to be found. In their place, was a Saracen dress of rich material, together with a sabre and a poniard.

Sir Kenneth could think of no motive for all this attention, excepting a suspicion that it was intended to influence him him to change his religion. Therefore, crossing himself devoutly, he resolved to set all such snares at defiance. As his head still felt oppressed, he again reclined upon the couch, and in a moment, fell asleep.

He was awakened by the voice of

the physician, who asked, "May I enter

your tent?"

"The master," replied Kenneth, "need not demand permission to enter the tent of the slave."

"But if I come not as a master?" said El Hakim, still without entering.

"The physician," answered the knight, "hath free access to the bedside of his patient."

"Neither come I now as a physician," replied El Hakim.

"Whoever comes as a friend," said Sir Kenneth, and such thou hast hitherto shown thyself to me, the habitation of the friend is ever open to him."

"I come then, as your ancient foe; but as a fair and generous one," said the sage.

He entered as he spoke, but with so changed an appearance that Sir Kenneth was startled; for he now beheld the face and demeanor of a Moslem Emir.

"Art thou so much surprised? Hast thou walked the earth so carelessly as not to know that men are not always what they seem"?

"No, by St. Andrew!" exclaimed the knight; "for to the entire Christian camp I seem a traitor; and I know myself to be a true, though an erring man."

"Even so I judged thee," said the Emir, "and I desired to rescue thee from disgrace and death."

In the conversation that followed, the Emir cautiously suggested to Kenneth that he might earn his liberty by acting as an emissary for Saladin in the matter of the proposal to purchase a peace through Richard's sanctioning the sacrifice of Edith Plantagenet, as the bride of Saladin.

This disgraceful suggestion so angered Kenneth that the Emir hastened to turn the interview into another, saying, "It was not of the Soldan that I wished to speak. If it will content thee to be so placed that thou mayst detect the thief who stole the banner of England, I can put thee in a fair way of achieving this task, that is, if thou wilt be governed."

"Thou art wise, though a Saracen," said the Scot, and generous, though an infidel. Take, then, the guidance of this matter; and so thou askest nothing of me contrary to my loyalty and my Christian faith, I will obey thee." "Listen, then," said the Saracen, "Thy noble hound is now recovered by the blessing of that divine medicine which healeth man and beast; and by his sagacity shall those who assailed. him be discovered."

"Ha!" said the knight, "methinks I comprehend thee-I was dull not to think of this!"

"Both he and thou shall be disguised, so as to escape even close examination I tell thee," said the Saracen, "that not thy brother in arms— not thy brother in blood-shall discover thee, if thou wilt be guided by my counsel. Thou hast seen me do things more difficult-he that can call the dying from the darkness of the shadow of death, can easily cast a mist before the eyes of the living. Come with me to my tent," he added, and thou shalt presently be equipped with a disguise as unsearchable as midnight; and thou mayst walk in the camp of the Nazarenes in perfect safety."

On the day appointed for the ceremonial in which the Crusading princes had agreed to make atonement for the insult offered to the banner of England by one of their number, King Richard stood on the summit of Saint George's Mount, awaiting the coming of his allies. Near him stood the Nubian slave, holding his hound in the leash.

As each commander swept by with his train of followers, he made a signal of courtesy to Richard and to the standard of England, in sign of regard and amity, not of vassalage.

Over the head of King Richard streamed the large folds of the banner. In the background, and on the very summit of the Mount, a wooden turret erected for the occasion held the Queen Berengaria and the chief ladies of the court. To this the king looked

from time to time, and then ever and anon, his eyes were turned to the Nubian and his dog, especially when any leader approached whom he suspected of having had a part in the theft of the standard.

As the Duke of Austria drew near, Richard remarked, "Lo you, here comes our valiant adversary-mark his manner and bearing-and thou, Nubian, let the hound have full view of him."

To his surprise, the Nubian did not move, nor did the dog strain at the leach, so that Richard said scornfully, "Thy success in this enterprise, my sable friend, even though thou hast brought thy hound's sagacity to back thine own, will not, I fear, much augment thy merit toward our person.'

The Nubian answered only by a low obiesance.

Meantime, the troops of Conrade, Marquis of Montserrat, were passing by. Their leader was resplendent in a garb of the richest stuff that seemed to blaze with gold and silver. On his head the Marquis wore a milk-white plume, fastened in his cap by a diamond clasp. The noble steed that he rode caracoled and displayed a spirit that might have troubled a horseman less skillful than Conrade, who reined him with one hand, while the other displayed the baton, by means of which he controlled his troops.

As Conrade approached, Richard, desiring to show him especial favor, descended a step or two to meet him, when suddenly, Roswal, uttering a savage yell, sprang forward. As the Nubian slipped the leash, the hound leaped upon Conrade's charger, seized the Marquis by the throat, and pulled him from his saddle. The plumed rider lay rolling on the sand, and the frightened horse fled in wild career through the camp.

"Thy hound hath pulled down the right quarry, I warrant him," said the king to the Nubian; "Pluck the dog off lest he throttle him."

The Ethiopian, accordingly, though not without difficulty, disengaged the

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dog from Conrade, and fastened him up, still highly excited and straining at the leash.

The followers of Conrade, seeing their leader lie wildly gazing at the sky, cried: "Cut the slave and his hound to pieces!"

But the voice of Richard, loud and sonorous, was heard above all others: "He dies the death who injures the hound! He hath but done his duty, after the sagacity with which God hath endowed the brave animal. Stand forward, for a false traitor, thou Conrade, Marquis of Montserrat! I impeach thee of treason."

"It must be some singular accident. -some fatal mistake," said Philip of France, who rode up at that moment.

"I never touched the banner," said Conrade.

"Thy words betray thee, Conrade!" said Richard, "for how didst thou know, save from conscious guilt, that the question is concerning the banner?"

"Hast thou not kept the camp in turmoil on that, and on no other score?" answered Conrade, "And wouldst thou impeach a prince and an ally on the credit of a dog?"

Philip of France now interposed: "Princes and nobles," he said, "in the name of Heaven, let us draw off, each his own troops, into their separate quarters, and ourselves meet an hour hence in the Pavilion of Council, to take some order in this new state of confusion."

Richard.

"Content," said King "though I should have liked to interrogate that caitiff while his gay doublet was yet besmirched with sandbut the pleasure of France shall be ours in this matter."

At the hour appointed for the council, the princes assembled. Richard formally accused Conrade of having stolen the banner of England, and of having wounded the faithful animal who stood in its defence.

"Brother of England," said Philip, "surely the word of a knight and a prince should bear him out against the barking of a cur."

"Royal brother," rejoined Richard, "recollect that the Almighty, who gave the dog to be companion of our pleasures and our toils, hath invested him with a nature noble and incapable of deceit. He forgets neither friend nor foe-remembers, and with accuracy, both benefit and injury. He hath a share of man's intelligence, but no share of man's falsehood. He is the friend of man, save when man justly incurs his enmity. Dress yonder marquis in what peacock-robes you willalter his complexion with drugs and washes-hide him amidst an hundred men-I will yet pawn my sceptre that the hound detects him, and expresses his resentment, as you have this day beheld."

Thereupon, Richard threw down his glove to signify that he challenged Conrade to combat; for, in the days of chivalry, it was customary for accuser and accused to settle quarrels in that manner, they believing that God would give the victory to the innocent.

Again King Philip interposed, protesting against a king's degrading himself by fighting with one of lower rank. The dispute was finally settled by Richard's asserting that, on the day appointed for the combat, he would produce a champion who should represent him in the lists.

King Philip set the fifth day from that one for the combat. But, feeling that such an encounter on their own ground would breed dissentions among their subordinates, it was decided to appeal to the generosity of the Sultan Saladin, and to ask him to permit the combat to take place within his territory.

When King Richard returned to his tent, he commanded the Nubian to be brought before him. He entered with his usual ceremonial reverence, and having prostrated himself, remained standing before the king, in the attitude of a slave, awaiting the orders of his master.

"Thou understandest well the art of woodcraft," said the king after a pause; "thou hast started thy game

and brought him to bay. But this is not all he must be brought down at force; I myself would have liked to level my hunting-spear at him. There are, it seems, objections to this course. Thou art about to return to the camp of the Soldan, bearing a letter, requiring him, of his courtesy, to appoint neutral ground for the deed of chivalry; and, should it consist with his pleasure, to concur with us in witnessing it. Now we conjecture that thou mighst find in that camp some cavalier, who, for the love of truth, and the augmentation of his own honor, will do battle with this same traitor of Montserrat."

The Nubian raised his eyes and fixed them on the king with a look of eagerness; then raised them to heaven with such an expression of gratitude that they glistened with ardor; then bent his head, as affirming what Richard suggested, and resumed his posture of submissive attention.

"It is well," said the king; I see thy desire to oblige me in this matter. And herein, I must say, lies the excellence of such a servant as thou, who hast not speech to debate our purpose, or to require explanation of what we propose."

"I stand discovered," thought the seeming Nubian,-"I stand undoubtedly discovered and unfolded to King Richard; yet I cannot perceive that his resentment is hot against me. If I understood his words, and surely it is impossible to misinterpret them, he gives me a noble chance of redeeming my honor upon the crest of this false Marquis, whose guilt I read in his craven eye and quivering lip when the charge was made against him.-Roswal, faithfully hast thou served thy master, and most dearly shall thy wrong be avenged."

On the following morning, Richard was invited to a conference by Philip of France in which the latter communicated to his royal brother, in

terms extremely courteous, but too explicit to be misunderstood, his positive intention to return to Europe, since he despaired of success in their undertaking, with their diminished forces and their civil discords. Richard remonstrated, but in vain; and when the conference ended, he received without surprise a manifesto from the Duke of Austria, and several other princes, announcing a resolution similar to that of Philip and assigning for their defection from the cause of the Cross, the inordinate ambition and the arbitrary domination of Richard of England.

Richard realized that it would be useless to continue the war with a force so seriously diminished. He was compelled to admit that the failure was, in some degree to be imputed to the advantage which he had given his enemies by his own hasty and imprudent temper. To De Vaux he said: "Fool that I am!-I have not only afforded them a pretext for deserting me, but even a color for casting all the blame upon my unhappy foibles."

These thoughts were so galling to the king that De Vaux was rejoiced when the arrival of an ambassador from Saladin turned his reflections into a new channel.

This new envoy was an Emir high in the confidence of the Soldan. He was also a statesman, who had served Saladin on several occasions in negotiations with the Christian princes. El Hadgi brought word that Saladin offered to prepare a fair field for the combat, to give safe conduct for all who might choose to witness it, and to pledge his own person as a guarantee of good faith.

The station called the Diamond of the Desert, was assigned for the place of conflict, it being at nearly as equal distance from the two camps. It was agreed that Conrade of Montserrat, the defendant, with his godfathers, the Archduke of Austria and the Grand Master of the Templars, should appear there on the day before that fixed for

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the combat, together with an hundred armed followers; that Richard of England, and his brother Salisbury, who supported the accusation, should attend with the same number, to protect his champion; and that the Soldan should bring with him a guard of five hundred chosen men, a band considered as not more than equal to two

hundred Christian lances. Such persons of consideration as either party chose to invite to witness the contest were to wear no other weapons than their swords. The Soldan's letters expressed the pleasure that he anticipated in the prospect of a personal and agreeable as possible.

(To be continued.

Community Singing

May Hamilton Helm.

The Thanksgiving service held in Tomlinson Hall, Indianapolis, was of double signficance: First, because it inaugurated in this city a service that was religious, but not sectarian; next, because it revealed what has been done and what may yet be done to make community singing a real success.

Representatives from all the large religious denominations took part in the service, and it gladdened the hearts of many to listen to the admirable addresses given by a Jewish rabbi and a Catholic priest, to feel that in our time a large body of American citizens gathered, with no evidence of division among them, to give thanks to God.

"The Hymn of Praise," the closing number, was composed by Mendelssohn to celebrate, in 1848, at Leipsig, the four hundredth (approximately) anniversary of the invention of printing. So accustomed are we now to printing, we do not often turn our minds back to try to imagine what the world must have been when every thought had to be transmitted by word of mouth or written by hand. In our thanksgiving, let us not forget those faithful ones who kept alive for us the garnered wisdom of past ages, nor those who invented the speedier way of diffusing knowledge by means of the printed word.

"God sent his singers upon earth With songs of sadness and of mirth, That they might touch the hearts of

men,

And bring them back to heaven again."

And, after all, it was the music that had drawn that throng together, and

it was a great privilege to listen to that masterpiece, well sung. But it was also a great pleasure to join in singing "America, singing "America, the Beautiful," Katherine Lee Bates' inspired patriotic hymn. Every child in America should memorize every line of this noble poem.

Carried along as we were by the splendid big chorus, led by Mr. Birge, it seemed as much a vow as a prayer to "crown thy good with brotherhood, from sea to shining sea."

Community singing has advanced by tottering steps, but this performance showed what could be done with a trained chorus to act as leaven to leaven the whole body of singers, who, tho willing, may be weak.

The Brahms Quintette, in Los Angeles, used to give public rehearsals of their programs, preceding the regular dates. For a small fee one could enjoy the great works, many season ticket holders attending in order to more fully appreciate the music. Familiarity with good music never breeds contempt. (Personally I refuse to waste any breath on "Mr. Zip Zip" and found others of the same mind when it was once attempted.)

Why shouldn't we sing all the stanzas of "America," and at least three of our national air, instead of one from each? The sentiment of the poem, "The Star-Spangled Banner," is beautiful and worthy a place in the memory and heart of every American child.

The singing of "America, the Beautiful" proved conclusively to my mind

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