bed, clasped her hands on her breast, raised her face,
and collected every thought of her heart--how ought one to pray? What
may be that word, which should bring God nearer? What sayings, what
enchantments could bring the Great Being, the all-powerful, down from
the heavens? What philosophy was that, which all men concealed from one
another and only spoke of to each other in secret, in the form of
letters, which opened to erring humanity the road leading to the home of
an invisible being? How did it begin? How end? What an awful
heart-agony, not to know how to pray,--just to kneel so with a heart
full of crying aspirations, and dumb lips! How weak the voice of a
sobbing sigh, how terribly far the starry heavens--who could hear there?

Yet there is One who hears!

And there is One who notes the unexpressed prayer of the silent
suppliant, One who hears the unuttered words.

Poor girl! She did not imagine that this feeling, this exaltation, was
prayer--not the words, not the sermon, not addresses, not the amens. He
who sees into hearts--reads from hearts, does not estimate the elegance
of words.

In the same hour that the suffering girl knelt thus dumbly before the
Lord of all happiness, that man whom she had worshipped in her heart so
long, whom she must worship forever, was sitting just as sleeplessly
beside his writing-table, separated from her only by two walls, and was
thinking and writing about her, and often wiped his eyes that filled
betimes with tears.

He was writing to his mother about his engagement.

About the poor gypsy girl.

* * * * *

In the dim light of the beautiful starry night twelve horsemen were
following in each others' tracks among the reeds of the morass.

Kandur was leading them.

Each man had a gun on his shoulder, a pistol in his girdle.

Along the winding road the mare Farao, treading lightly, led them: she
too seemed to hasten, and sometimes broke through the reeds, making a
short cut, as if she too were goaded on by some thirst for vengeance.

Among the willows, wills-o'-the-wisps were dancing.

They surrounded the horsemen, and followed their movements. Kandur smote
at them with his lash.

"On the return journey we shall be two more!" he muttered between his
teeth.

When they reached the lair there was merely a black stubbled ground left
where the hay-rick stood before.

In all directions shapeless burnt masses lay about.

These were the