f household officers, and a numerous
retinue of young females,--upon whose education she employed
herself,--and a host of servants, black and white. She held friendly
intercourse with the Sublime Porte, with the various pachas, and with
the chiefs of the numerous tribes of Arabs and others about her. Such
was the state in which she lived, and the influence which she exerted,
that she might well imagine herself "Queen of the Desert."

But the splendor of her reign was soon dimmed. Her treasures were not
large enough to bear the unlimited draughts upon them. Her Arab
friends, whose affections were only to be preserved by constant gifts,
cooled towards her when these became less rich and less frequent;
those who had accompanied her from Europe, died or deserted her; and
she was at length left in a state of absolute retirement.

Some sources of influence still remained to her; one of these was in
that power which the strong-minded and educated always exercise over
the weak and ignorant. Astrology--a science long banished from
Europe--still holds its sway in the East. The opinion went abroad that
Lady Hester could read the stars, and procured for her that respect
among the common people, and, to a certain extent, that personal
security, which had formerly been purchased with the shawls of
Cashmere, and the rich silver-mounted pistols of England.

But whilst practising these arts upon others, she became herself the
victim of strange delusions. She came by degrees to believe that the
history of all was written in the stars, and that she had there read
the history of the world. The Messiah was soon to appear upon the
earth, and by his side, mounted upon a milk-white mare of matchless
beauty, which was then in her stable, she was to witness the conquest
of Jerusalem, and the establishment of his kingdom. She had, too, in
her stable the mare upon which her companion was to ride. This animal,
in all other respects of beautiful proportions, had behind the
shoulders a cavity so large and deep, and imitating so completely a
Turkish saddle, that one might say with truth she was foaled saddled.
The appearance of an animal with this peculiarity, in itself a
deformity, served as an incitement to credulity, and to keep up the
delusion. The animal was watched with the greatest care by two grooms,
one of whom was never to lose sight of her. No one had ever mounted
her, and from her bearing one might have fancied that the creature was
con