The pair had not remained many minutes in
the hall, when a stately person, attired after the
Oriental usage, advanced from a recess, his
swarthy countenance beaming with a courtesy
which vanished when, as it seemed, he
recognised the features of the hermit.

"Thou art Saucho del Valparaiso, and that
is mine" thundered forth the stranger, snatching
the bandelore, which the recluse had
retained during his descent. The hermit sank
trembling on his knees, but, quick as thought,
his head fell to the ground severed from the
trunk by the scimitar of the Moor, with the
exclamation, " Thus perish the foes of
Abderrahman!"

A short silence ensued, and then the Moor
again lifted his voice, crying:

"Where is thy vile comrade?"

But the maniac, instinctively detecting the
approach of danger, had stealthily stolen away
through the aperture, and was now wildly leaping
on the plain without, though he refrained
from his wonted practice of yelling, lest his voice
might attract the attention of the Moor.

The course of night appeared tardy to Astolfo
as he sat bound in the Ruined Chapel, and at
last yielding to nature's gentlest summons, he
fell fast asleep. In the morning he was awakened
by the sound of military music, and was pleased
to find that he could stretch out his arms. His
hat was also removed from the position in which
it had so much embarrassed him, and sat in
seemly fashion upon his head. On the table lay
the scroll, with its back towards him, inscribed,
"Push the wall," in words that had evidently
been but lately written.

Wondering what this could mean, he now
looked towards the direction of the mound, and
saw ascending the steps towards the point
where the lower and upper paths joined, a
procession, led by a male and a female figure,
and ending with two men, carrying what was
apparently a lifeless body. We need scarcely
explain that this procession was formed by
Ruggiero's wild troop, and that the two leaders
were the stern captain himself and the fair
Bandelora, who, dissembling her hate, had
unwillingly accompanied him to the Ruined
Chapel. The body, which was that of the
lieutenant, bore witness to the captain's regard
for the treasury of the band. By requesting
the hermit to bury the deceased as soon as he
had joined the hands of the living, he hoped to
obtain an abatement of the remuneration
commonly demanded for the performance of two
ceremonies so distinct from each other.

When the procession reached the junction
point, Astolfo at once recognised with ecstatic
joy the form of his lost Bandelora. He at once
rushed down the upper path, snatched her in
his arms, and rushed back to the Ruined
Chapel. Ruggiero, stirred by the unlikeness
of the stranger to the recluse, whom he had
expected to find, was" too much astounded to
make any resistance, but in a few seconds he
loudly called on his men to follow him, and
hurried up the path. No sooner, however, had
he reached the front of the chapel, than the
wall fell with a terrific crash, overwhelming
the marauders in its ruin. Some of them,
including Ruggiero, were killed by their precipitate
fall upon the lower path, some rolled, or
ran unscathed, into the plain. But these had
small cause for exultation, as a stately figure,
dressed in Oriental fashion, appeared on the
plain, and hurrying now in this direction, now
in that, decapitated them one by one with a
large scimitar. While this carnage was
proceeding, the maniac on the lower path was
whirling round and round with the most frantic
shrieks, till at last, rushing to the brink of an
abyss, which we have not mentioned, he leaped
into the darkness, and never was heard of
more.

When Astolfo and his rescued Bandelora,
having left the scene of so many horrors, were
resting at an humble but hospitable village inn,
a boy of dark complexion, dressed in the
Moorish habit, presented to them a small box,
and then, with a graceful salaam, retired. On
opening the box, they found the skull that had
been so intimately connected with their fortunes,
and likewise a vellum scroll, thus inscribed:

"The Moor, Abderrahman, sends to Theodora,
wrongly called Bandelora, this precious relic of
her father Isaac, wrongly called Tebaldo della
Crusca, but really the last of the Comneni, and
rightful Emperor of the East."

Early in December will be ready
THE COMPLETE SET
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TWENTY VOLUMES,
With GENERAL INDEX to the entire work from its
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THE NEW SERIAL TALE, HESTER'S HISTORY,
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