more modern-looking building for guests. The church is divided into nave and aisles by granite columns; the roof is blue, spangled with stars; and there is the usual priestly paraphernalia, consisting of gaudily-decorated images, pictures of saints and martyrs, silver lamps, gilt candlesticks, and such-like gear. We had to take off our boots before entering the chapel of the Burning Bush, which is considered the Holy of Holies,' as it is pretended that here the Lord appeared to Moses. We were also shown a sarcophagus of white marble containing relics said to have belonged to St. Catherine, and the charnel-house, which was anything but an agreeable sight. Not being much interested even in live monks, I certainly cared less about dead ones, and was heartily glad to breathe the fresh air once more and get into the garden, which is kept in very tolerable order, and contains a good many fruit trees of different descriptions. Having had sight-seeing enough, I tipped 'a quid' to our cicerone, which I thought was doing the thing handsomely, when, to my surprise, he contemptuously turned the coin over in his hand as a London cabby would on receiving a sixpence—and had the cheek to lift up his fingers and demand three more. The next time we come to Sinai,' was my reply, as I buttoned up my pocket; and the thing in petticoats, with a ghastly grin, opened the gates, and we returned to our people, who had prepared us an excellent breakfast.

After doing ample justice to the good cheer, accompanied by four of our own people carrying our guns, lunch, water-skins, &c., and guided by a couple of Bedouin boys in the service of the convent, we set off to explore Jebel Mousa.

Passing behind the convent, we began to ascend by a zigzag path in which steps were cut, which greatly facilitated our route. In a quarter of an hour we came to a spring of clear sweet water, delightfully situated under an overhanging rock, called by the Arabs Ain Jebel- the well of the mountain.' Further on we came across the ruins of two chapels, one dedicated to the Madonna, and the other to Elijah, who was said to have lived in a cave underneath. Then passing under two archways between the rocks, we arrived on the plateau, where there is a paved pool to collect the rain water, and an old cypress, called by the monks-for what reason I know not- Elijah's tree.' Nine hundred feet higher than this plateau is the summit which, by tradition, is the spot where the Law was given to Moses. Here we found the ruins of a Christian church and a Mahomedan mosque-the cross and the crescent in close proximity but little else worth seeing except an extensive view over the surrounding country, which is well described by Jeremiah, who calls it a land of desert and of pits, a land where no man 'passed through, and where no man dwells '-a howling wilderness where there was no water. Imagination cannot picture such a scene of endless desolation. On all sides rose range after range of bare and rugged mountains sufficiently high to cast deep shadows over the sterile and dreary-looking valleys that intersect them, which, with their sandy or stony beds, look like rivers without water.

The slopes were furrowed by dark fissures and chasms that at one time might have been the beds of mountain torrents, but that they were not relieved by any trace of vegetation. Here were no variegated woods of pine, birch, and oak; no ferns, bracken, pasture land, moss, or living verdure to take away from the utter lifelessness of the scene. Save the dismal moaning of the wind as it swept past the scorched rocks and precipices, a death-like silence ever reigned. Here are heard no murmuring purling streams, no sounds of falling waters. All Nature appears dead, for nothing grows, nothing stirs, nothing changes. All seasons are alike in this land of utter desolation, which may be likened to a hideous chaos before the germ of life was awakened.

We were glad to get away from this scene of eternal barrenness, and returned along the road made by order of Abbas Pacha when he conceived the idea of building a palace on the mountain. On arrival in camp, we were somewhat disgusted to find that there were no signs of preparation for dinner, as Le Sage, our cook, and one of the padres, had been fraternizing, and were both in a maudlin state. I very unceremoniously started the monastic party back to his convent, and a few buckets of nearly ice-cold water from the well soon brought Le Sage to his senses, and enabled him to carry on his culinary arrangements. This little contretemps, which delayed our dinner a couple of hours, however trying to our patience at the time, turned out lucky in the end, for just as we were about commencing operations, two American gentlemen, somewhat knocked up after a long march, rode up on camels and did us the honour of joining our party.

We had neither table nor chairs, but in the centre of the carpet a tablecloth was spread, on which the viands were placed, and our mattresses being stowed round, we dined like the noble Romans we have all read about, and our cook, to make up for his delinquency, had bestowed extra care upon his cuisine, which was voted the best in the desert by long chalks. A case of Bordeaux was cracked, a brew of Blue Ruin,' such as Vickers only can distil, was concocted, and I never remember passing a more jolly evening. Long after the old monks had finished their 'Kyrie Eliesen,' Annie Laurie,' 'Le Vieux Drapeau,' 'The Star-Spangled Banner,' and 'The Bonnie Blue Flag,' and such-like chants were borne on the night winds, and I dare say somewhat astonished a neighbouring camp of Egyptian soldiers.

Our guests had travelled from Suez by land, and were going to Petra via Akabah, and they tried hard to persuade us to accompany them, but unfortunately we could not spare the time. The next day we visited the block of isolated rock from which-by traditionMoses caused water to flow, and ascended to the summit of Mount Catherine, from whence we had a splendid view of the surrounding country. The panorama embraced the Serbal, with its five peaks, El Shomar, Jebel Mousa, Um Shaumer, the groves of Tôr, and the Red Sea, with the high mountains of El Yareeb, and El Zet, on

the African shore. En route I shot a brace of red-legged partridges and a couple of 'conies,' animals of the same colour as a hare, and much resembling a very large guinea-pig. They have a very strong smell, and can scarcely be good to eat, notwithstanding the Arabs told me that some Europeans had eaten them. We all passed the evening together, and gave our followers and people a feast, at which our Bedouins were joined by a Towara Sheikh and several of his tribe, so that we had to double their allowance of sheep and rice. After our own dinner we sat in state, and were visited by the whole tribe then present, to whom I distributed coffee and tobacco, for which they appeared very grateful. Later on in the evening, the Binbashi, and several officers of the Egyptian detachment, came to see us, so our family circle began to assume rather gigantic proportions. Sending a score of youngsters to collect fuel, a cheerful fire was made, round which we all sat, and copious brews of coffee and sherbet were handed round by our people, who prided themselves upon the hospitality of their masters. Several Bedouin women having got over their shyness, joined our circle, and after some little hesitation-perhaps caused by the presence of the Pacha's officer at the request of the Sheikh, they commenced ‘the Asamer,' their national dance. The younger girls joining hands, sang and kept time to a measure, whilst the men clapped their hands and joined in the chorus. In the beginning the performers were coy, and the movement was very slow; but warming up by degrees, they became extremely animated, their eyes sparkled with excitement, and the scene became very interesting. With the exception of an old party who regulated the time, the dancers seemed between the ages of thirteen and fifteen, and five or six of their number were very good-looking, having extremely white, even teeth with olive complexions tinged with the ruddy glow of health. Although their only garment consisted of the ordinary blue chemise, open from the throat to the waist, which scarcely concealed the outlines of their lithesome figures, there was no immodesty or indelicacy in the whole performance; on the contrary, several of the dances were very graceful. To the best dancers I distributed gilt bracelets and silver rings, of which I brought a quantity for presents, and great was the rejoicing thereupon.

On the strength of my long beard, weather-worn phiz, general getuy and knowledge of the language, Achmed had dubbed me a Hadi, and in the extemporary songs that followed I was welcomed by the tribe as one who had been long away,' and it was evident that my party had gained greatly in the esteem of the Bedouins by not putting up in the convent. The festivities were kept up until a late hour, as long after we had retired I heard them chattering.

(To be continued.)

THE OLD OAK TABLE.

CHAPTER XV.

'How blest should we be, have I often conceived,
Had we really achieved what we nearly achieved!
We but catch at the skirts of the thing we would be,
And fall back on the lap of a false destiny.
O Horace! the rustic still rests by the river,
But the river flows on, and flows past him for ever!
Who can sit down and say, "What I will be, I will?"
Who stand up and affirm, "What I was, I am still?"

LUCILLE.

POSTING to Gretna Green from the centre of England, even with the speediest horses, must have been a tedious affair for many an impatient lover in former times; but, as the fugitives who quitted Lovelstone so hurriedly were in no fear of pursuit, Evelyn did not think it necessary to bribe the postboys with five-pound notes in order to increase the pace at which they travelled towards that classic land. Accordingly they did not reach Carlisle until the evening of the fifth day; and as already the lanterns, in poor illustration of the once merrie city,' were dimly burning, few and far between, in the half-deserted streets, the ceremony anticipated by crossing the border was postponed to the following day. Evelyn's nature, like that of many impulsive men, was as fickle as the winds; and as from his earliest years he had been an out-of-door man, devoting his mornings invariably to whatever sport the season and the country supplied, the five days of close confinement to a rumbling post-chaise and the perpetual excitement created by the journey had, by the time he reached Carlisle, somewhat disturbed his thoughts and shaken his faith in the prudence of the step he was now about to take. And the man who had felt so few scruples in the plot he had so successfully designed against his old college friend (albeit to him he proved to be a true benefactor), would he be likely to be more scrupulous in his treatment of the fair woman now so wholly in his power and helpless as a kid in the coils of a python?-would the wild love she had so confidingly evinced for him, and which, as he knew, she had so readily transferred from another in order to gratify him-would the personal attractions she possessed, though they were those of Cleopatra, carry a feather's weight to the balance in her favour, against the interests he was now casting into the opposite scale? I trow not. Self-interest weighs heavy with all men; Cæsar found it so, when, at the call of ambition, the fascination of the beautiful queen lost its power, and the chain that bound him to her side fell asunder like a rope of sand. Rome and duty' was the conqueror's watchword; but self-interest the real motive that governed his soul.

VOL. XVI.-NO. 108,

N

After a comfortable dinner together at the principal posting-house of the old town, Evelyn, having discovered a copy of Blackwood's 'Magazine' on a side-table in the dining-room, handed it to Grace, and then strolled out to smoke a cigar in the almost dark and desolate streets. Forethought and reflection as yet had never troubled Evelyn, nor robbed him of a moment's sleep: indeed, his motto was 'never to suffer the past nor the future to obtrude on his enjoyment ' of the present time:' but it might have been the sedative influence of the grateful weed, which is said to encourage contemplation, that now made him ponder gravely on the irrevocable step he was about to take on the following morn.

As thought after thought crowded upon his mind, the ever-recurring one that again and again would rise, like a spectre to scare him from his present purpose, was the disparity in their social position; proletarian on one side, patrician on the other, -and this reflection harassed him as a thorn rankles in a wound. Then the question followed, and he said to himself, 'I should have thought of this before; but is it now too late?—is extrication impossible?—are 'there no means of evading a ceremony that I feel will inflict a stain ' on my family and a life-long regret on myself?'-and as he reasoned thus, the little rill of legal formality that separated him from Grace grew wider and wider, till soon a gulf yawned between them, deep, broad, and impassable! So true is the French proverb,—“ Quand un 'homme commence à raissonner il cesse de sentir :' and if there be no sentiment, God help the woman!

When Evelyn had lighted a second cigar he walked straight, as if with a purpose, to the inn stables; where stood not only the posthorses of the establishment, but the teams of the stage coaches that changed at the hotel. The strappers and boys were doing-up for the night, and, if he had not been accustomed to such scenes, from the hissing and blowing that prevailed he might have thought he was intruding into a den of snakes; the rattling of the night-halters, the noise of the horses picking up their beans and dragging the unwilling hay through the close bars of their racks, the chronic coughs, the din of the pike-heads and bucket-handles created such a clatter that it was some time before Evelyn could make himself heard by the nearest of those busy men.

'Hark ye, my man,' he said; 'can you tell me where to find a 'well-seasoned postboy; one, for instance, who has been so often. 'to Gretna Green that he could drive there blindfolded ?"

Ay, ay, sir,' said the man, we have a many such; there's old Josey in yon stall has been oop forty year in ta yard, and a kens 'every stane and bracken 'twixt this and Gretna.'

'Then he'll do,' replied Evelyn, dropping half a crown into the postboy's hand: tell him to step out and speak to me for a minute

or two.'

Josey, scenting a job and a handsome fee on the morrow, hobbled forth as he was, with his shirt-sleeves turned up, his leather breeches