these captives-perhaps come to terms with the robber who has got them in his power-we may ransom, or find other means of delivering, them from their bondage: the case is a desperate one, and desperate means must be resorted to. But promise to me faithfully that you will assist me, if required, in my objects, and you will find me on my part bold and trustworthy in your service." At this point the cossack officer could no longer restrain his impatience he took Palovska aside," Why, Sir, should you listen to such ravings? you cannot suffer yourself to be deceived by this false Circassian-who can say whether he be one bit better than the guide we lost? who can satisfy us that he is not like the other-a spy of some villanous Abbassian? Never think of separating from your brave cossacks; and as for attacking the place, in that the fellow says truly-I know something of these fastnesses: it would baffle a whole army of cossacks, aye, or a regiment of the line, to take a man from them; and who can tell if those we seek are there-or, may not this tale be all a feint to secure our assistance in the recovery of that girl he speaks of?-If they are there, be assured that the only means of rescuing them is by negotiating for their ransom through the customary channel."

Palovska was of a different opinion. The ardour of youth and the caution of age are apt to regard the same objects in very different lights. The candid earnestness of the young Circassian, and his ready unembarrassed replies to any question, were to Palovska convincing proofs of his sincerity. The circumstances under which he had fallen into their hands afforded some confirmation of the story he had given. The more he reflected, the more did he become convinced that the proposal of the young man, though adventurous, and almost desperate, was calculated to afford the only chance of compassing their end, and that the arguments he had used to support it were honest and sound,—or, what amounted to the same thing, the more did his enthusiastic imagination suggest the hopethe probability of success.

It is unnecessary to detail the lengthened discussion which ensued, or to follow the process of reasoning and remonstrance, which terminated in Palovska's adoption of the bold suggestion of Hussein Khammourza, and the unwilling acquiescence of Dobracheff in the part assigned to him. The particulars of the arrangements concluded upon were as follows: The troop of cossacks were to be left in a sequestered spot, which lay near the principal road leading to the banks of the Kubau river, while the young Pole, accompanied by his servant Georgeen, and their Circassian guide, were to repair to the dwelling of Arselan Beg. From thence information regarding the proceedings of Ismael Iantemir might readily be obtained; and the chieftain himself, who was no friend to that ferocious robber, might possibly, they conceived, be induced by some means or other to assist in their future attempts. Disguise was important to their safety as well as to their success; and as the resources of the party were inadequate to effect this purpose, it was proposed that they should stop for the night at a village known to Hussein Khammourza, and there complete this precautionary part of their equipment.

Early on the following morning, by the light of a waning moon, the whole party broke up their bivouack and resumed their way. Before half the day had gone by, the cossacks took possession of their intended station-a strong position, covered on the one hand by a precipitous bank, on the other by a rocky ravine; where they had instructions to wait a certain time for directions as to their future movements; in failure of receiving which, they were to proceed cautiously homewards, and their officer would report to head-quarters the loss of the second Palovska. Divesting themselves of their uniforms, retaining only their arms, and mounting their horses, these three adventurers then took leave of their comrades and pursued their way. The sun was low, as emerging from the devious

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and difficult bye-paths, by which they proceeded in order to escape observation, they descried the smoke of a village arising from a thicket of fruit-trees and fine walnuts. Behold our resting-place for the night!" said Hussein, pointing it out; "be pleased to halt for a while under these bushes, while I go forward to give notice of your arrival, and prevent alarm." The precaution appeared reasonable; the guide left his companions to their own cogitations, and soon disappeared among the trees.

His absence did not continue long-he came forward, bringing along with him an old man, whom he presented to Palovska as the elder of the village Ghireikee, and who welcomed him with considerable courtesy. The horses were duly provided for, and their riders led into a comfortable apartment, seated on felt carpets, and presented with pipes in due form. After a while an ample and refreshing meal was served up to the party, which was increased by the company of one or two of the villagers : some brandy was afterwards handed round, and it was plain every exertion was made to welcome their guests in the best manner they could. Palovska was informed by Hussein that suitable dresses of the country costume should be ready for them by morning, so as to enable them to pursue their way to Bissingoula with comfort and security; and, after a while, their host with the rest of his company withdrew, leaving Palovska and his servant alone with their guide Hussein.

The operations of the morrow were still the theme of their discourse, which was protracted till a late hour, when their attention was arrested by a distant murmur. It ceased after a moment, and they resumed their conversation; but scarce had a sentence been uttered, when a loud but distant shout made every one start to his feet. Hussein ran to the entrance, and, laying his head to the ground, listened with intense eagerness-A bustle was soon heard approaching, when springing up, with the agility of a mountain goat, the young Circassian made one bound to the left, and was out of sight in a moment."Oh, false traitor!" exclaimed Palovska, feeling for his arms, and springing up to follow him. When he reached the door, there was no one to be seen, and he stood for a moment perplexed and uncertain which way to turn; but his doubts were speedily terminated, for, in less than a second, more than twenty armed natives bursting from all quarters galloped towards the house with loud shouts. Accosting the two strangers in fierce accents, and with very significant gestures, they summoned them to submit ;-resistance would have been folly-even slavery is less hopeless than death with a deep imprecation upon his treacherous guide, and an emotion of bitter regret at the recollection of his own weak credulity, Palovska threw down the sword he had just drawn; a few of the assailants dismounted, stripped off the upper garments of himself and his servant, carefully relieved his person of every valuable in money or ornaments-searched narrowly for arms, then with no gentle action binding his arms behind him: both master and man were hoisted, each behind a stout horseman, and away they went in spite of darkness and rough ground, dashing through the thick foliage and over rocky heights, more like the beasts of the forest than like men of human form and faculties. Who or how many their companions might be, they could not even guess: the horses, sure-footed and sagacious as they were, stumbled and sometimes fell, between darkness and uncertain footing; and Palovska received more than one severe bruise, and was frequently in danger of his life from the boughs of the trees and the sudden jerks, from which, in consequence of his hampered limbs, he had no power to save himself.

All night-a terrible and painful night-was Palovska and his servant hurried thus along. At dawn of day they were still among lofty forestcovered mountains with high green or rocky crests, on which might here and there be seen a patch of snow. In a small natural meadow of the greenest and sweetest verdure, not more than eight of the intruders of

the preceding night were gathered together, with himself, his servant, and another captive in company. After a rest of three hours and some very slight refreshment, the whole party mounted once more; but the prisoners were now forced to walk along-side of their mounted keepers; and they had a full taste of the brutal treatment bestowed by these people upon their unfortunate captives. Hampered as they were by their bonds, they were forced to keep pace with the horsemen over ground of the most difficult description, nor did their misery suffer any abatement until late in the day; when, after descending from the higher crests of the mountains into a deep rocky chasm, in which ran a roaring torrent, they toiled up a corresponding steep ascent, and stood upon a height which commanded a view over the whole valley. From this point Palovska could discern, still rising far above them, the towers and roofs of buildings mingled with crags of a singularly wild appearance. Towards this point they were obviously tending; and it was not without a chill of horror that, in the few words which dropped from their guards, the young Pole believed he could distinguish the ominous name of Tzingoorchi, the strong-hold, as he well remembered, of the Abbassian chief Ismael Iantemir.

now!"

Cheerless as were Palovska's reflections before, the gloom of his mind grew tenfold darker, and his self-reproach more keen, on this discovery. "Deceitful, double-faced traitor!" groaned he internally-" to think that I should have been made thy sport-that I should have been found the fool to trust thee! and yet, how open-how honest how grateful he seemed!-Oh, if ever-but it is past-all is over And when exhausted and outbreathed, the perspiration pouring down his jaded limbs, he reached the top of the steep path, and saw before him the fatal spot, a thrill of utter dismay shot through his very heart." My brother!-poor Dimitrius!—perhaps, if yet he lives, he may be there-but I shall never see him-he will not even know that I am near, unless indeed when we may be driven together to be sold as slaves as sheep are to the butcher!" Yet even slavery assumed a brighter aspect, in contrast with imprisonment for life in so remote, so savage a region.

A hoarse note from a horn was now blown by one of the party, and the reply, like an echo, soon rung from the walls above them, at that time hidden by a sharp turn in the rock. In another moment the whole place was displayed to their view, and a disheartening prospect it afforded to the unfortunate captives. In a deep recess of the mountains, hollowed out by the action of two considerable streams, and the waters of several smaller dells, which met nearly at one point, there rose, projecting from the central ridge, a tall bluff promontory, being in height with the parent mountain, and connected with it by a rocky neck. The summit of this elevated spot was comparatively level, except in one quarter, where a group of bare and serrated granite peaks started abruptly from the soil, inaccessible, as it might seem, to any thing unpossessed of wings. The village, or rather fortress, of Tzingoorchi occupied the space immediately below these rocks: a wall of stone, which inclosed a number of the ordinary houses and huts of the country with one or two lofty towers, was all that could be seen from without. The granite spires, of which we have spoken, were partially inclosed by this wall, but in some places they formed a part of it, towering high above the houses, and securing them from all possible assaults; a few patches of cultivation in terraces, together with some fruit-trees, occupied the remainder, wherever it was susceptible of such improvement; but except upon the rocks and steep declivities which descended far away into the valley below, there was but little wood upon this height. The deficiency was amply compensated by the aspect of the surrounding mountains; and where the united waters of the hollow rushed through a narrow rocky cleft, dense forests might be observed

covering hill and valley, until they skirted the shores of the Euxine, which, blue, hazy, and far-distant, glimmered through the intervals of the mountain tops.

Small note of this magnificent landscape was taken by the young Pole, as he approached his future prison; he only saw the dark grey walls which were to shut him out from friends and country-from all the world, until slavery should come to his release. A well-guarded gateway admitted the party; around which, men, women, and children, in uncouth garbs, clustered, with a thousand cries, clapping their hands and grinning at the strangers. But they did not continue long subjected to this unpleasant scrutiny, for the guards, dismounting from their weary horses, hurried their prisoners, all tattered and torn as they were, with bleeding feet, and bruised and torn bodies, and arms swelled and mangled by their ligatures, directly into the presence of a person whom they conjectured to be the chief himself, or one of his family. This person, a strong, dark-browed man, whose soiled dress denoted that he also had not long returned from a journey, (for his outer garments had just been thrown aside, and his pistols and sword and coat of mail still remained in the hands of his attendants,) received the prisoners with indifference, and, after slightly surveying them, had already made a sign to the guards to remove them from his presence, when Palovska made an attempt to be heard. With the same cold air the chief cast his eyes over his person, and repeated his signal of removal-an appeal in the native language from Georgeen, accompanied by a significant glance towards his fettered arms, elicited from the great man some words addressed to the guard; and the prisoners were hurried from his presence as rapidly and unceremoniously as they had entered it.

Their prison was a square building of stone, built close under one of the craggy spires of rock which rose within the place. A narrow door-way, strongly closed by a wooden door, gave entrance to an apartment of considerable dimensions, lighted by one high small aperture, which also admitted air; a rent in a corner of the roof performed that office still more effectually. A platform of stone and lime had been raised on one side, to serve the purpose of a dormitory; and that it had very recently been used in this way by some favoured prisoner, was testified by the presence of some fresh but broken straw.

On thrusting their prisoners into this place of confinement, which scarcely bore the character of a dungeon, the men took occasion to relax the bonds which gave them so much pain, and to fasten them in another fashion, with equal attention to security, but with more to comfort. Nor were they otherwise treated with any positive harshness: it seemed as if, confident in the security of the place itself, they were content to let their captives enjoy the miserable privilege of unmolested bondage. A single sentinel was placed without the door, and they were left to their own meditations.

These, it may be imagined, afforded Palovska little comfort; but the first subject upon which the mind of a captive generally employs itself, being to calculate the possibility of escape, the young man soon arose to examine his prison, in which he was assisted by his servant, as far as the still hampered condition of their limbs would permit. The survey yielded small satisfaction. "It is all over with us, Georgeen, I fear," said he in a gloomy under voice, as he viewed the rugged strength of the walls and the narrow window, and felt how impossible the smallest exertion was while their arms remained thus confined. "Can we not contrive any method of ridding each other of these cursed cords?" said he; but the intricacy of the ligatures, the tightness of the knots, and the impossibility of directing their efforts to any purpose without the aid of their eyes, baffled every attempt. They groaned in the bitter assurance of their own impotence; and after a vain discussion upon the probabilities of their

future fate, weariness and exhaustion prevailed over anxiety, and they fell asleep upon their miserable pallet.

The night passed quietly away, and the subsequent day produced no change in their condition. Food of moderate quality, and not deficient in quantity, was given to them, and the whole character of the treatment they experienced proved that no wanton severity was intended towards them. But when they remonstrated with those who entered their prison upon the inconvenience of their bonds, and intimated a wish to be released from them, no attention whatever was paid to their appeal. "Aye, your Excellency," said Georgeen, with a mournful shake of the head, as his master was congratulating himself on these favourable symptoms, "it is a clear case-we are for Trabloos. If we were in bad condition, it would spoil our sale: we may accompany your Excellency's brother yet to Trabloos."

On that day the sound of distant horns, repeated from the village, announced, as the prisoners supposed, more than one arrival, while the triumphant shouts of the inhabitants sufficiently denoted the character of those who came. As evening approached the bustle increased, but the sounds which reached the ears of the captives betokened only joy and satisfaction. Some feast or rejoicing was plainly in progress; and the shouts of the soldiers, and their boisterous mirth, as they relieved the sentinels at the prison-door, confirmed this belief: it brought no joy to the weary captives, who, as the light of the setting sun vanished from their narrow window, threw themselves with sinking spirits on their straw, to forget, if they could, their misery in sleep.

It was midnight before quiet was restored to the village, but at length the roar of revelry ceased; the only sounds which obtruded themselves upon the stillness were the distant growl of a dog, or the lowing of the cattle which were pent within the walls. Even the step of the sentinel had ceased to be heard, and perfect repose prevailed throughout the village. The sleep of the captives was less tranquil : Palovska's mind was filled with scenes of tumult and confusion,-Circassians and cossacks were mingled together in wild and grotesque conflicts - his brother Dimitrius would appear at the top of a rock, or on the edge of a precipice, over which savage figures were threatening to thrust him, while with fettered arms and feet he toiled in vain to approach and save him; or they were carried together as slaves in company, but could not meet;-or he saw him at a banquet with his brother officers: but every effort on his part to join the phantom, to congratulate him on his supposed escape, was baffled by some unseen force. He thought that he himself was charging a party of Circassians at the head of his company, when his brother was seen among the foremost of the enemy stretching out his arms in an attitude of supplication. He threw himself across the line to stop the progress of his men, when just at that moment he felt himself struck by a shot in the foot, and awoke. So much of his dream was partly true, for his foot had in reality received a blow; it was a stone which might have fallen from the roof above him, and he cast his eyes upwards to see whence it came. He started, as on looking at the fracture in the corner of the roof, he saw that the obscure light which it gave was partially darkened, and something like the proportions of a human arm was protruded through it.

Palovska rubbed his eyes: he looked again, and saw the same arm waved with a movement that seemed to imply caution. It was withdrawn, and the young Pole thought he could discern a head, belonging no doubt to the same body; in another moment something was thrown from the chasm and fell near his feet, and the head was also withdrawn. The faint gleam of the falling substance was like the gleam of steel. Palovska, feeling with his foot, soon detected a knife which had in this manner been conveyed within his reach. Holy St. Nicholas! these must be friends

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