REDBURN PRIORY; OR, The Gipsy's Daughter.

Daily Telegraph (Napier), Issue 4833, 5 February 1887, Page 5 (Supplement)

REDBURN PRIORY; OR, The Gipsy's Daughter.

|BY OAELOTTA KINOSI.EY.J CHAPTER VIII. JEMMY FAA'S WAENINO.

The secretary's mind was filled 'with a wild tumult of feeling when ho quitted St. Anthony's Cave, where the interview took place described in. the last chapter. He longed to throw himself upon the ground under the broad canopy of heaven and for a time give way to the harrowing thonghts which oppressed him. Therefore the presence of Jemmy Faa was irksome to him, and he turned almost angrily upon the poor idiot, saying: 'You need not lead me back to the Priory, Jemmy; I know the way quite well, and would rather be-alone.' ' I'll go with you, nevertheless, whether you will or not, for haply something may befall.'

'Do you not think I can take care of myself, Jemmy?' 'Perhaps aye, and perhaps nay,' returned the lad. ' You did not lift a hand in defence when Zoraya struck you a moment ago.' The young man turned angrily upon his companion. ' How now, idiot!' he cried. ' Have you followed me hither to taunt me with what concerns you not? Go back,. Jemmy, or you will find, that though I spared a woman, I'll not have the same forbearance for you.'

'Peace, Minoya, peace,' returned the boy, gently. ' I meant not to anger you. You and I should be friends, Minoya. There are more reasons than one why we should not quarrel.' The idiot's manner and speech were so different from what they had ever been before, that the secretary's anger was mingled with surprise. He turned, and, by the moonlight, which now shone brightly down upon them, scanned the boy's countenance with perplexed enquiry. ' Are you the same Jemmy Faa who flitted from the Priory so suddenly last October ?' he asked.

The boy laughed, in a low-toned way, as he replied: ' Aye, I am the same.' 'Where have you been since then that you have grown so wise ? It seems to me that a few months have worked wonders in you.' Jemmy shrugged his shoulders. ' Perhaps it is only the change of places, Minoya; In the Priory I may again become the idiot.'

1 For what reasons did you leave me so suddenly f interrogated the secretary, his anger of a moment becoming less than his present surprise. ' Because I was called, Minoya.' ' Who called you, pray ?' 'I know not, and yet Ido know. I was called by a voice which I could not disobey.' i ' And where have you been since then?'

' Ask the winds where they have wandered during the long winter,' was the evasive reply; ' Igo whither lam sent. I am here to-dey, there to-morrow. Tonight, I stand at your side, under the light of the moon; to-morrow —who knows but that I may be in my grave- to-morrow ?' ' Have you a reason for everything that you do, Jemmy, or are you led on by your own wandering whims?' asked the perplexed secretary. ' Both, Minoya. I was sent to fetch you to Zoraya'e presence. I followed you hither of my own free will.' ' For what purpose ?' 'On a fool's errand, truly; for I would advise you—' * Advise ? You, Jemmy ?' ' Aye, you are surprised, and with reason, that the idiot should presume to offer counsel to one so wise as yourself, but beasts and insects have taught wisdom to philosophers and kings.' ' Go on with your counsel, then, Jemmy. What sage precepts have you to offer me ?' ' You mock me, Minoya; but I care not. So I fulfil my trust, it matters little how it is received.'

Then lowering his voice, as if fearful that even on the wide moor, which they were now traversing, there might bo listening ears, he said ? ' I heard and saw all that passed between you and Zoraya.' ' Bγ what right did you play the spy on us ?' cried the young man, angrily. Jemmy again plucked the eleevo of his companion. ' Keep your anger for another time,' he whispered, ' I played the spy because I was bid.'

' Bidden by whom ?' 'It matters not by -whom, Minoya; it matters not.'

A softening suspicion crossed the secretary's mind. ; ' Was it by Alixa?'. he asked, in alow tone.

' Nay, it was not,' replied the -lad. ' I'll not tell the name, even if you should hazard a lucky guess—which, you -will never do,' he added, in a whisper. . Then raising his voice, he continued : ' You and Zoraya have quarrelled. Her wrath is so; kindled against you that I doubt if she will, ever again admit you to her presence.' 'I will never again aeek it,' was the hasty rejoinder. 'Say not so. A ra#h vow is often regretted, Minoya. Think of AJixa.' ' I do think of Alixa, but not even for her sake would I practice the arts of a sneaking thief. I should be unworthy of Alixa's love if I purchased it at such a price.' ' Her love will neither be bought nor, sold, but her hand may be,' said the boy. ' "What do you mean, Jemmy faa ?' .' I mean that Zoraya's purpose js one wMch she will never give over. She has, in truth, » sort of claim upon the Priory lands. WSat that claim is, and how it was acquired, I know not, but she is bent upon winning a fair title to the rich acres which she covets. She j-elies upon you to assist her in this matter. You have access to papers which she is determined to lay hands upon; therefore sho is angry that what' would be so easy for you to accomplish you •roU not do for her.'

> And I swear I never will!' ejaculated the yoking man. ' This claim of which you speak is a yjsion of a decrepit mind. If she longs for $ .quiet resting-place where she and. her tribe' may be unmolested, why does she not take a po»tion of her great wealth and purchase such a spot as pleases her, instead of harboring a mad, nefarious echemeto dispossess the powerful lords-of Redburnf

Then, muttering to himself, he added

' 'Tis the old Zingari thirst for ill-gotten gains ! A morsel filched from the larder of a peasant is sweeter in the mouth of a lowborn gipsy than a haunch of yension bought in the market, and a Zingari queen would rather lie on the bed from which, she had fraudulently driven the rightful owner than accept an emperor's hospitality. Ah! I hate the race with perfect abhorrence, and could I rid my veins of the loathsome taint I fly»uld draw the gypsy blood from them drop t>y (drop. , ■' Yet AliKft is a gipsy,' suggested Jemmy, who had oyerijie#rd the latter part of this passionate speech, ' Alixa is not a gipsy,' retorted Minoya. 1 Did you ever see a gipsy with so fair a skin, with such clear blue eyes, and with such a free, noble bearing as Alixa possesses?'

■' Stranger things have come to -pass, Minoya. , *I doubt it, Jemmy Faa. Could the truth be known concerning all the dark doings, the guilty deeds of the Zingari, I believe it would be shown that my poor Alira was stolen away from some Christian home. .

' Don't think such, thoughts as these,' entreated the boy, in a fearful tone. ' Zoraya is fierce when such things are, hinted at. Beware of Zoraya! Beware of her, Minbya! You fcnow not what she can do! .

The lad clasped his hands beseechingly around , the secretary's arm as he < said this, - . .

' Oh, Minoya !' he continued, and as the young man looked down into the upturned faco of his companion he saw that tears were coursing down his cheeks. ' Oh, Minoya, they call me - strange names; they point at me as'if I were a being set ap.trt from other mortals, and in truth I am so, but in a way they know not of. There are times when lam wiser than the wisest among them, for I caix see into the past and peer into the future. When I am alone at night in waste places, when black storms rage, and when thunder and lightning play about me, I see what other mortals cannot see, and I hear what they never here ; . sometimes I see Zoraya seated on the black thunder clouds, with bolts of lightning in her hand, and when they strike-death follows. 'Twas she who killed the good Sir Hugh,' Jemmy added, in a horrified whisper. ' Yes, 'twas she, indeed, for I saw the bolt that killed him. It was harmless to look upon, for it was only a square paper with a broad seal, which the Devil himself affixed. I saw Sir Hugh when he broke the seal and opened the paper; Lady Wynne saw him, also, and she knows that afterward, when she threw the hellish paper into the fire, it flared up into a likeness of Zoraya, and rose up the chimney in the black di-ess which she wears, with the thick hood drawn close over her head.' ' What is that you are saying, Jemmy? demanded the secretary, suddonly. < ' Did Zoraya come to the Priory at the time of Sir Hugh's death? Was she there the night before he was buried ?'

But the lad was silent and would not reply. He had released his hold _ upon Minoya's arm and had fallen back with his colorless face upturned toward the placid midnight sky. The moonlight falling thereon showed the seoretary that his lips were moving with what might have been a prayer. The young man waited until this moment of rapture had passed; then, with gentle persuasion, he strove to call the boy's mind back to the words he had last uttered. .

' Zoraya swears that she has never been to the Priory,' he said, ' so how could you have seen her there ?'

'I said not that she came in Vierson,'replied the boy. ' She can send* her spirit whithersoever , she will. But I have a charm which drives her away,' he went on, mysteriously. ' She comes not nigh the Priory when I will that she should not.'

The secretary looked at his strange companion in pitying perplexity. An idiot, a. maddened enthusiast, a rapt mystic, his wandering brain at times excited to supernatural activity, and at other moments lying dormant and dull, it was difficult to trace truth and reality in his impassioned, incoherent vagaries. Many things which he had uttered startled the young man beyond measure, for his own strange experiences bore testimony to the vividness of Jemmy's fancy. How should it chance that both he and the idiot had seen Zoraya at the Priory the night before Sir Hugh's funeral, if she had not really been there ? Zoraya had promptly, and it appeared that she spoke truthfully when she denied having ever before that day set foot within the Priory precincts.

Had the woman the occult powor of projecting her image upon the minds of people ! Had Jemmy and himself been deceived by a supernatural semblance ?

But, no ! If such, indeed, were the case, the visions were created without Zoraya's volition or knowledge, for her surprised denial was not xeigned. She was undeniably eincere when she declared that she knew nothing of those strange visits to the Priory. ' What is that charm by which you keep Zoraya at a distance ?' asked the secretary, rsuming the conversation which his musings had interrupted. ' "Were I to name it its powers would be gone,' the strange creature replied. ' She would have been at the Priory_ many, many times since Sir Hugh died if I had not stopped her.' 'Then, Jemmy,' Raid Minoya, with a grim kind of pleasantry, ' if. this is so, perhaps the Priory is the safest place for me to remain, sinco you say that I must beware of Zoraya.' • It is, indeed, the safest place for you, , the boy quickly replied. ' Don't leave the Priory. Dreadful things will happen if you go away.' 4 What are these dreadful things you speak of, Jemmy f' ; ' I may not tell you what they are, Minoya, but you must not quit the place, at least not until permission comes to you through me.' The young man smiled indulgently, for it seemed a grotesque thing to be taken under the protection, as it were, of a poor unfortunate creature who was either despised or pitied. ' I have told Zoraya that I would not obey her, that I would not remain at the Priory.' '•It is not to obey Zoraya that I counsel 'you to stay,' answered the boy. ' And yet it would be better for you and for Alixa did Zoraya fancy that you were obeying her. So remain for your own sake and for Alixa's.'

' Zoraya would not dare harm' a hair of Alixa's head!' the secretary asserted; yet his very declaration was proof of a secret fear.

• 'Zoraya halt 9at no fear,' Jemmy returned. * I know what she has done in the past, and by the same light which showed me by-gone deeds I can see what she would do in the future. There are dark schemes already breeding in her breast. Youth and innocence are ill-matched with crafty age. You and Alixa think no evil canbe donejbecanse your hearts are pure; but again I. tell you to beware of Zoraya.' By this time the two had arrived within sight of the Priory. Its gothic gables, its muUioned windows, and its picturesque projections, bathed in the soft moonlight, presented a Scene of such beauty, that,_ for a moment; the secretary stopped to admire the almost magical effect. Born in a woodland retreat, and with memories of a wandering childhood and youth ever before him, this picture of a beautiful, historic, ancestral home filled Minoya's heart with a feeling which almost amounted to covetousness. Hβ had always longed for a home where he could, be sheltered from the real and emblematic storms of life. Endowed with noble aspirations, he would not supinely choose the indolent life of a dweller in houses; but, while battling manfully with the world, and wrestling from it those honors which he felt he might win, he would ever have bofore him the picture of such a homo as this, to which he might come when in need of well-earned repose. ' It is, indeed, a lovely place,' he murmured, as he stood gazing upon the venerable pile. ' And to think that it should ever be turned to such base uses as Zoraya wishes! A den of quarrelsome, poaching Zingari, whose noblest aim is to cheat justice of her dues. "Were Zoraya installed yonder, she would not dare lift her voice in opposition to the interests of her tribe, and, ere a twelve-month had passed, every precious object within the house, every marketable thing outside it, would be bartered away; and when there was nothing further to steal or sell, the ravaging crew would quit the domain they had despoiled and wander in quest of other depredations. Zoraya's brain is doubly crazed; first, in harboring the presumptuous thought of gaining this fair estate, and then in giving it over to her ravaging people. Were my duty to her thrice as binding as it ia, and could a turn of my hand gratify her covetous longing, I would sever that hand from the arm which bore it rather than allow the Zingari entrance there.' The secretary thoughtthathislow-spoken, impulsive words Jiad not been' overheard, but Jemmy Faa eagerly caught them.

* 'Beraain at the Priory, if such is your thought,' he said, 'touching his companion s arm., 'Pretend that you are obeying Zoraya, and watch that nothing is filched from, the family possessions.' These were the last words whioh young Faa uttered, for a moment later he turned and left the side of his companion. Tho secretary called to him to return; but so suddenly and .mysteriously had he disappeared that the young man knew not in what direction to look for him. It was not until some moments lator that tho boy -was seen crossing an open glade so far away as to bo beyond tho reach of the

secretary's voice, and going rapidly in. an opposite direction.

Minoya stole quietly into the house, yet not so noiselessly but that his return was noticed by onp of the inmates, for the housekeeper, knowing he was absent, purposely kept sleep at a distance that she might note the hour of his return.

She saw him from her post of observation as he lighted his bedroom candle at one of the sconces hanging in tho guest hall, and she remarked the haggard expression of his face.

' Something went wrong with Master Eivers last night,' she said, the next day, to Tibbals, tho steward. 'He was abroad until past midnight, and when he came homo he looked as if ho had been through fire and water. My word for it, Tibbals, there's mysteries about the fellow, and I feel something inside of me say as how he'll bear to be looked after. He's a pleasantspoken young man enough; but his dark looks and mum ways set one to thinking that he may have a history, were he a mind to tell it.'

' Hum !' replied Tibbals. ' It's certain, Mrs Brand, if there's anything to find out you're the woman as will succeed in doing it.'

The next day the young secretary was more quiet than usiial, and had not his dark olive cheek been so swarthy one would have noted the pallor which a sleepless night produced.

All through the remaining hours of that night, the earlier portion of which had been passed abroad, Edward Rivers, as he was called when within the Priory circle, lay tossing upon a feverish bed strangely disquieted and sad. HiS'visit to Zoraya had resulted in a rupture which he knew would never be healed. He had made a bitter enemy of his only kin. He now stood alone in the world—alone except for Alixa—and he shuddered with an undefined fear as ho thought of Zoraya's vengeful words concerning her. The girl's image, her very self, were a part of the young man's life. During the long months which had separated them he had been supported by the thought of their next meeting, but now it seemed as if fate had drawn them together for a moment only to separate them for ever. But he determined that he would not tamely submit to Zoraya's arbitrary decrees in a matter where his own happiness was so deeply concerned. Counting upon Jemmy Faa's assistance,; he determined to carry into operation a plan ; which would make them indifferent to his kinswoman's power. The change in the so-called idiot was still a great Marvel to Minoya. While an inmate of the Priory he had soarcely ever been known to speak a score of words consecutively and intelligibly, yet the events of the previous evening proved that he was both wiser and more alert than many who boasted of great mental gifts. The strange words which had fallen from Jemmy's lips were difficult to, understand; some of them were indubitably the outcome of a disordered imagination; but some of his revelations filled the young secretary with alarm, and increased certain perplexities already created. So it was with an odd mixture of respect and commiseration ,that the next night, ere the moon had risen, Rivers again sallied forth to see the distraught lad.

OHAPTEE IX.

moor faa's vision.

Though Minoya knew that he had mortally offended the gipsy queen, and though he had reason to suppose that his presence in the vicinity of her camp would so increase her angry suspicions that serious consequenses might ensue, he still did not hesitate to take his way towards>St. Anthony's Cave, hoping that, somewhere in the neigh - horhood, his good fortune would lead him across Jemmy Faa. During the day he had heard rumors among the Priory people of strange sights and sounds having heen noticed near the cavern. Lights had been seen dancing about life fireflies in the woods. A forester had alarmed the whole village of Redburn by precipitately entering it, and,J with staring eyes and chattering teeth, declaring that when crossing a certain piece of rocky land he distinctly saw and smelled smoke issuing from the ground at his feet, and that when he knelt down and peeped beneath the crevices whence the smoke came he distinctly saw, far, far below him, even in the very bowels of the earth, a glare of unearthly light, and that, gathered about this light, he beheld a legion of dusky gnomes, or devils, dressed in red, in token of their fiendish character, and having eyes which shot forth flames and noxious, ill-smelling vapors. The poor forester was chilled to the bone with horror at the recollection of what he had seen.

So terrible an impression did this leave on his mind that Ms neighbors, though, sorely tempted, forbore questioning himconcerning the matter through fear of bringing on:a more serious illness, and there were none in the villiage so hardy as to risk witnessing these dreadful things for themselves. So it was without fear of encountering any prying peasants that the secretary took his way to the forest as soon as night fell. He looked on every side for Jemmy, Faa, or for some one of the tribe, whom he might ■win. over to his assistance by the offer of a generous recompense. He arrested his steps when he gained the spot where the idiot accosted him the evening "before, and repeated the signal by which she boy had attracted his attention.

He listened eagerly for a reply. He repeated the signal again and again, but received no otherresponse than what echo gave to him.

He had in his possession a letter which he wished Jemmy to give to Alixa. His efforts to attract Jemmy proving unsuccessful, he resolved to brave Zoraya's resentment, proceed to the camp, and, by some device which circumstances might suggest, find an opportuniny to deliver his letter to Alixa in person; so, with a firm step, he moved forward toward the entrance of St. Anthony's Cave. • The dread silence and total darkness which characterized the spot when he gained it, awakened no surprise in the secretary's mind, for ho remembered the cautious habit of the tribe; but he was somewhat astonished that his approach should pass unnoticed. Arriving at the mouth of the cavern, he entered it, and having reached the oak portal which, protected the penetralia of the place, he raised his voice, and, in the Zingari tongue, demanded admittance. His summons was not heeded, neither could he, by attentive listening, perceive any sounds of life within, He had brought with him a small lantern to be used in case of emergency, and this he now proceeded to light, an intimation of the true state of affairs dawning upon his mind. Then summoning his strength, which was almost gigantic, he raised the stout door from tiie flint socket in which it rested, and swinging it back, entered the inner cavern. If he had expected, which was hardly the case, that his entrance would bo resented as an instrusion, he was relieved of any such anxiety the moment he crossed the threshold, for the scene he gazed upon was totally different from that -which, met his eyes the evening bofore, ' The camp-fire was extinct; the cavern was empty ; and rising his lantern high above his head to take a wider survey, Minoya saw that the place was abandoned. Going to the spot where a heap of ashes marked the place where the fire had been,' he stirred them with his foot. Not a lingering spark remained to tell that the flight of tho tribe was of recent occurrence. Minoya placed his hand upon them. They were cold as the ground beneath. Tho people had long been gone, and tho young man, who know their reluctance to break camp by day, thereby knew that they must have gone the previous night—only ft short time, perhaps, after his own departure from their niidst, Minoya next visited ike ohamber waero.ho and Alixa held their brief conference. Tho place wore so different an aspect that one might have thought the picturesque scene of the night before a dream, for now the spot was nothing moro than a • black cavern, damp/dark, and'marrow-chilling. No soft burning lamp, gently swinging from ip.& natural vault of tho roof, shod its light around; no luxurious couches, no boft rugs of eastern dye, no rare perfumes, transformed tho plaoe into a realistic picture from

an Arabian tale. Every vestige of recent occupancy was gone. Minoya lingered but a short time in this chamber, but returned to the first apartment through which he had come, and by another passage gained access to what, the evening before, had been used as the apartments of the Zingaii women. This natural chamber was not so lofty, but it was quite as spacious as the two others, and in the centre of this also Minoya saw the traces of a recent fire.

: From his well earned acquaintance with habits of the people, he knew that only a short time before this black cavern had presented as rich and picturesque a scene as it is possible for oriental taste to produce. He knew that the tribe over which Zoraya ruled, though hardy and self-denying when roarcing from place to place, indulged at times in seasons of Sybarite luxury and ease. They would uncomplainingly endure long periods of fatigue, of Jiunger, and of thirst when travelling from land to Land; but when arrived at some secret refuge, they brought forth their rich stuffs, of which each man and women bore a share, and decked out their temporary home with those comforts which they effected to despise in others. It was never without the most urgent reason that the Zingari having thus established themselves, suddenly broke up their camp and resumed their wanderings. Being most discreet and waiy in the selection of a safe retreat, anh having decked it with no little expenditure of time, strength and ingenuity, nothing but the fear of molestation, or the positive command of their leader, would induce them to relinquish their coveted season of rest.

Minoya knew that the tribe could scarcely have been established in the neighborhood four-and-twonty hours; quite possibly not so long a time; so his apprehensions were justly aroused as he reflected that his own visit was probably the cause of the sudden abandonment Of the camp. The chamber in which he now stood, solitary and wondering, could not but inspire in him thoughts of his beloved Alixa; yet in reality no such incentive to thought was needed, for the girl had scarcely been ahsent from his mind a moment since he parted from her. .

Again there recurred to Minoya's memory the fierce threat which Zoraya had uttered. Had the tribe left the secure retreat at the queen's command, lest the lovers might surreptiously meet and carry out the treason , -, able scheme which she had discovered ? ■

Minoya cast himself down upon the! ground beside the dead embers, perhaps on the very spot, he thought, where. she ha.d rested, and for a time gave himself up to the thoughtswhich the tribe, andmore especially Zoraya, awakened.

Within the past few months the young man's ideas had undergone a radical change. It seemed a marvel, even unto himself, that he could so alter from what he' had been.

A year before he was a follower of Zoraya, whithersoever she had led her people. He had been a reluctant follower; he hated the ties which bound him to a nomadic life, but while Alixa's voice and presence cheered him, he submitted to his bondage. His mind at that period, was so clouded by the habits and prejudices of his childhood that he was not fully alive to the questionable practices of the gipsies. Hβ accepted Zoraya's mandates as laws from which there was no appeal; yet the moment came when Zoraya herself opened the young man's eyes t* their widest extent, so that he came to a just knowledge of good and evil. For certain purposes of her own, which Minoya could not fathom, she had. lately been in the habit of sending her kinsman out into the world which she professed to despise. She furnished him with ample, means, arid by some almost occult power, he found that wherever he chanced to go ho found his coming had been heralded in advance, and that in certain circles whither Zoraya sent him he was received with especial favor.

These glimpses of another life, these draughts of civilization, were unexpressibly sweet to the young man in. whose veins there ran a strong current of Christian blood side by side with the gipsy blood of his mother. He, therefore, readily and joyfully gave himself up to the cultured influences of refined society, and with marvellous rapidity gained an accurate knowledge of the languages current in the different capitals which he visited, reaping also the various artistic, scientific, and literary advantages which these visits afforded him.

At the same time that his mental powers were thus being quickened, his moral nature awoke from the sort of lethargy which had held, it in bondage, and in the light of Christian teachings, ho recognized the gross defects of the Zingari training. Therefore, what ever may have beon Zoraya's purpose in sending Minoya forth among a civilized Christian people, she could hardly have anticipated that the result would have been so prejudicial to her own purposes, for each time that she recalled him to the camp his hated of the Zingari became more intense, and. more determined grew his purpose to sever all connection with them.

Nothing but the filial duty which he felt that he owed Zoraya kept him from immediately executing this design. Zoraya and Alixa bound him to his old life with strong but totally diverse ties. Yet now Zoraya had herself cast him off; so nothing remained for him but the hope and the determination to free Alixa from the bondage which he knew she hated aa much as he did'himself. ' •

Zoraya was a tyrannical, ruthless, potentate, whose passions, once aroused, knew no law. Human life was of little worth in her eyes when standing in the way of her wishes. She had sworn that unless ■ Minoya execute her commands he should never behold Alixa again. Not daring to lay a violent hand on him, had she dared, would she be so cruel as to wreck her vengeance on the helpless Alixa ?■•'■"

The young man's blood ran cold as this thought entered his mind. : He sprang to' his feet and looked wildly about him, -as if he expected to see the girl's mutilated body revealed to him in some dark corner of the cavern.

A stifled groan escapedhim, and he started back aghast, for out of the surrounding darkness he did, indeed, see a pale, deathlike visage confonting him.

But the visage belonged to a living being, for it came toward him, and a moment later Jemmy Faa's pallid face was recognized; ' '

' Ha,' Jemmy!' cried Minoya, sinking back upon the ground, with a sudden revulsion of feeling, "You came upon me so suddenly 4foat you startled me. I have been looking for you to-night. Where have the. Zingari gone ?"

Jemmy pointed his fingerover hisshoulder. ' The west wind has blown, them away,' he said. ' They went like chaff; yet, when the wind changes, when it blows heavily from the east they will come back again.' ' Why did they go ?' demanded; Minoya, to whose comprehension the b,oy*s. figurative language was somewhat ftrnbiguous, * Why did they go, Jemmy?' 4 Why V the. lad, echoed. ' Does Zoraya ever give ft veajson for what she does ? Did any oine kn.ow why she came hither ? Then, why ask the reason of her going away P 4 Yet, Jemmy, you must know something about the matter.' When did they go ?' ' They went when you and I were talking together over yonder near the Priory.' 4 Lastnight, doyou'mean?' Jemmy nodded. ■ ■ 4 Yet such could not have been. Zoraya' ss purpose when"l left her.' . ' What do you mean about Zoraya's purpose ?' •' retorted the' boy, almost rudely. ' Her secrets are locked in her own bosom and she shares then* with, no one. Yet, perhaps, there may tie something in this which may teH you what you want to know,' and he handed a f oldod paper to Minoya, who impatiently opened it and read as follows :—

- 'Minoya, what has happened between Zoraya and you ? You have but just left the camp, and already we are commanded to leave this spot, where I hoped for,, at least, one more opportunity of seeing you.' ' It was an. evil chauco which made us run the risk of Zoraya's- anger. Her brow darkened with..siuy but, just now when I ventured, to, mention your name; yet I rejoic? that you do not stand alone in her resentment, for the same frown rests upon her face whenever she looks upon mo. 'Shc,is surely planning some evil against

us, Minoya, yet I think she has not fully determined upon its nature, for even now I nee her sitting abstractedly beside the fire, little knowing that I, in my dark comer, am hurriedly writing these lines to you, and slyly studying her face at the same time. ' I know not whither we go. None but Solim seems to know, and he is as closemouthed as Fate. I would plead with him to tell mo, so I might tell the secret to you, did I think it would be of any avail. Jemmy Faa will not go with us, and to him I shall entrust this letter. Perhaps he will succeed in bringing me a reply ; I shall look for it as eagerly as watchers wait for the morning.' No name was signed to the letter, for none was needed. ,-, ■ r , ' When did you get tins, Jemmy Faa : Minoya asked, turning to the boy, who sat upon the ground, with his hands clasped about his knees and his eyes steadfastly fixed upon the extinct fire. 'Did Alixa give you this with her own hand ?' ° The idiot shook his head. ' I found it there, , he said pointing to tho ashes. ' Alixa ran back to gather a brand, as Zoraya commanded her, and then she did as she agreed. She thrust the lotter there. Do you see ?' Jemmy scraped tho ashes _ from the ground, and removing a stone like a email paving stone, disclosed an opening in the rock where the letter had been deposited. Minoya wondered if this hiding-place could have been agreed upon beforehand between the two, and was about asking the question, when Jemmy anticipated it by saying: • 'Twas I who kindled the fire, Minoya, and I had planned the hidden hole ; for I knew from what I saw in the tempest that it would soon be needed, therefore I whispered to Alixa concerning it, and lo ! you see it has been of use.' ' What else did you see in the tempest ?' asked Minoya, unconsciously regarding the boy as one whose powers were of a supernatural order. 'When did the tempest rage, and what else did you see in it i . Jemmy shook his head, impatiently, and a sudden frown contracted his brow, as he replied : 'Itwas too dark to read aright everything which I saw, but Zoraya's hands were full of fire-brands like those which she sent Alixa to fetch from the fire yonder; only those which I saw in the tempest were flaming and burning so red that I doubt if all the waters of the sea would quench them. .

The boy stopped, and for a moment buried his face in his hands. ' Whither did Zoraya go!'' asked Minoya. Jemmy again pointed over his shoulder, and repeated: ' The west wind blew them away. The east wind will bring them back.' . ' Will Alixa be with them when they return ?' ,' The lad shook his head. ' Alixa is with them no longer,' he said. ' She and the Zingari have parted company forever.' ' All of Minoya's dread forebodings rushed back to him. He again remembered Zoraya's threat. He recalled her ruthless temper ; even Alixa's own letter confirmed his terrible suspicions. 'Have they killed Alixa?' he cried, springing madly to his feet. . Jemmy did not immediately reply, and the impatient young man shook him roughly by the shoiilder. • Answer, Jemmy !' he shouted. ' Have they killed Alixa.?'

For a moment longer the boy was silent; then he slowly said, in a dreamy tone, still gazing into the ashes as a clairvoyant might do:

' I cannot rightly see, Minoya. She is cold and pale. She moves not, and there is some one standing over her who waves us away.' # 'Is it Zoraya ?' asked the young man) excitedly. ' Does Zoraya motion us not to approach to avenge her deed ?' Another harrowing pause ensued before the boy replied: ' Nay, it is not Zoraya. All!' he gasped, suddenly—' Ah! I see plainer now !It is ono I know well!'

He clasped his hands ecstatically and fell upon his knees as if he beheld a tutelary divinity. ' She looks at us with pity. She would not deceive us. She waves us still further away. Obey her, Minoya—obey her, or you will be lost!' The boy sprang to his feet and seized his companion's arm. With his wide open eyes fixed intently upon some vivid vision before him which none but he could see and interpret, ho retreated step by step, forcing Minova back with him.

Tho secretary made no resistance; he could not, for Jemmy's grip upon his arm was like the clutch of another Hercules; and there was, besides, something in the lad's impassioned manner which filled him with a species of awe, if not fear. 'Wo must obey her,' the lad again whispered. ' Alixa is in the care of tiie dead!'

' With the dead!' gasped Minoya. ' Aye, with the dead,' was the solemn reply. 'We who are mortals must neither approach nor repine. It is -well with Alixa. Let us not murmur.'

[to be continued.]