first he had done, with disdain and horror, his soul bent like iron in
the breath of the furnace flame, and he wavered and became irresolute.
The keen eye of the Caliph saw the working of his spirit within him, and
allowed him yet another day to form his resolution. When the second day
was expired, Demetrius craved a third; and on the fourth morning
miserable man, he abjured the faith of his fathers, and became a
Mussulman.

Abubeker loved the youth, assigning him a post of dignity, and all the
mighty host honoured him whom the Caliph delighted to honour. He was
clad in rich attire, and magnificently attended, and, to all eyes,
Demetrius seemed a person worthy of envy; yet, in the calm of thought,
his conscience upbraided him, and he was far less happy than he seemed to
be.

Ere yet the glow of novelty had entirely ceased to bewilder the
understanding of the renegade, preparations were made for the assault;
and after a fierce but ineffectual resistance, under their gallant
leaders Thomas and Herbis, the Damascenes were obliged to submit to their
imperious conqueror, on condition of being allowed, within three days, to
leave the city unmolested.

When the gates were opened, Demetrius, with a heart overflowing with love
and delight, was among the first to enter. He enquired of every one he
met of the fate of Isabelle; but all turned from him with disgust. At
length he found her out, but what was his grief and surprise--in a
nunnery! Firm to the troth she had so solemnly plighted, she had
rejected the proposition of her mercenary parent; and, having no idea but
that her lover had shared the fate of all Christian captives, she had
shut herself up from the world, and vowed to live the life of a vestal.

The surprise, the anguish, the horror of Isabelle, when she beheld
Demetrius in his Moslem habiliments, cannot be described. Her first
impulse, on finding him yet alive, was to have fallen into his arms; but,
instantly recollecting herself, she shrank back from him with loathing,
as a mean and paltry dastard. "No, no," she cried, "you are no longer
the man I loved; our vows of fidelity were pledged over the Bible; that
book you have renounced as a fable; and he who has proved himself false
to Heaven, can never be true to me!"

Demetrius was conscience-struck; too late he felt his crime, and foresaw
its consequences. The very object for whom he had dared to make the
tremendous sacrifice had deserted him, and his