In sudden sight from black concealment rose,
And forward gliding noiselessly, below
Our lofty cranny paused. Anxious, alert,
We listened breathlessly, and then we heard—
Just God! but how we started when we heard,
And horror-mute stared in each other's eyes,
That moment haggard grown!

"Then down we slipped,

And in the shadow by the breach's edge
Where dropped the wall nigh two men's height

away

To sloping ground, with faces set, and hands

Fast clutching weapon hilts, we stood in wait.

We dared not leave the breach. The robber band Once in the town, would spread through sinuous lanes

And sow destruction; and the first to fall

Beneath their ruthless power might be the ones
To whom by love-ties was Ibraim bound.
We felt that here their onset we must face,
And with that onset lift our cry for aid.
Their parley ceased. A moment, and we saw
Two stealthy forms rise, black against the moon,
Propped by their comrades on the ground below.
Then pealed our wildest shout, and on the twain
We flung ourselves so madly they were hurled
Sheer backward on the heads below. A space
The band retreated, but when they divined
That we alone stood guard, while still our cries
Vibrated down the corridors of night,

In one close mass they rushed upon the breach,

Like some huge wave that, when the seas are fierce, Rolls on the ruined battlements of Tyre,

Clutches their base, and reaches clinging arms,

To clasp the loftiest stone.

"Then from its sheath,

Where like a coiled serpent round my waist
Slept my curved blade of keen Damascus steel,
I whipped it forth, as drew Ibraim his.

A deadly circle did we flash in air,

And on that human wave fell vengefully.

Twice, thrice we smote, and while, unharmed, I clove A fourth black-turbaned crown, I saw two fiends Leap at Ibraim. As he slew the first

The other seized him in his demon grasp,

And, like one frenzied, sprang through middle space Upon the writhing throng.

"Along the street

The tardy rescuers surged. I cried them on;
But when they came, the wily Bedouin foe
Had sought the shielding shadow of the night.

"I raised Ibraim's head: his heavy lids
Fluttered a moment, and around his mouth
A sad smile hovered, as he breathed my name
And that of his beloved. Death was bride
Of brave Ibraim on that Easter Eve."
Demetrius paused, and leaned upon his palm.
A sudden wind tore at the tent above,

Black clouds had gulfed the stars. A bodeful moan
Grew momently amid the dark defiles;

The livid lightning rent the breast of night;
Then burst the brooding storm. But lo! at dawn
Peace smiled upon the plain of Jericho,
And all the line of Moab mountains lay
Golden and glad beneath the risen sun.

CLINTON SCOLLARD.

WHAT MISS EDITH SAW FROM HER WINDOW.

OUR window's not much—though it fronts on the

street,

There's a fly on the pane that gets nothin' to eat;
But it's curious how people think it's a treat

For me to look out of the window.

Why, when company comes, and they're all speaking

low,

With their chairs drawn together, then some one

says, "O

Edith, dear! that's a good child; now run, love, and go

And amuse yourself there at the window!"

Or Bob-that's my brother-comes in with his chun And they whisper and chuckle-the same words wi

come

And it's "Edith, look here!—O I say! what a rum Lot of things you can see from that window !"

And yet, as I told you, there's only that fly
Buzzing round on the pane, and a bit of blue sky,
And the girl in the opposite window, that I
Look at when she looks from her window!

And yet, I've been thinking I'd so like to see
If what goes on behind her goes on behind me!
And then, goodness gracious! what fun it would be
For us both as we sit by our window!

How we'd watch when the parcels were hid in the drawer,

Or things taken out that we never see more;
What people come in and go out of the door
That we never see from the window!

And that night when the stranger came home with our Jane

I might see what I heard then-that sounded sc plain

Like when my wet fingers I rub on the pane— (Which they won't let me do on my window.)

And I'd know why papa shut the door with a slam,

And said something funny that sounded like

jam,

And said, "Edith, where are you?" I said, "Here I am."

"Ah! that's right, dear-look out of the window."

They say when I'm grown up these things wil

appear

More plain than they do when I look at them here;
But I think I see some things uncommonly clear
As I sit and look down from the window.

What things? Oh! things that I make up, you know,

Out of stories I've read-and they all pass belowAli Baba, the Forty Thieves, all in a row,

Go by as I look from my window.

That's only at church time; other days there's no crowd

Don't laugh! See that big man who looked up and bowed;

That's our butcher-I call him the Sultan Mahoud When he nods to me here at the window!

And that man-he's our neighbor-just gone for a

ride,

Has three wives in the church-yard that lie side by

side.

So I call him old "Blue Beard" in search of his

bride,

While I'm "Sister Ann," at the window?

And what do I call you? Well, here's what I do:
When my sister expects you she puts me here, too.
But I wait till you enter to see if it's you,
And then I just open the window!