nd those of Ulrica fixed in return upon her new and
pleasant acquaintance; when, Jesu Maria!--as every thing that is evil
ordained it,--behold, the newly-shod palfrey of the pretty
Brabanconne, irritated, perhaps, by the clumsy veterinaryship of a
village smithy, began suddenly to rear and plunge, and set at
defiance the old dunderhead by whom it was held!--The ass of a
ferryman, in his eagerness to lend his aid, let go his oar into the
stream; and between the awkwardness of some and the rashness of
others, in a moment the whole party were carried round by the eddy of
the Dyle!--The next, and Ulrica was struggling in the waters"--

"And the next, in the arms of the prince, who had plunged in to her
rescue!"--

"You know him too well not to foresee all that follows. Take for
granted, therefore, the tedious hours spent at the ferry-house, in
restoring to consciousness the exhausted women, half-dead with cold
and fright. Under the unguarded excitement of mind produced by such
an incident, I expected indeed every moment the self-betrayal of my
companion; but _that_ evil we escaped. And when, late in the evening,
the party was sufficiently recovered to proceed, I was agreeably
surprised to find that Don John was alive to the danger of escorting
the fair Ulrica even so far as the hamlet, where her father's people
were in waiting."

"And where he had been inevitably recognized!"--

"The certainty of falling in with the troopers of Horn, rendered it
expedient for us to return to Namur with only half the object of his
highness accomplished. But the babble of the old chaplain had
acquainted us with nearly all we wanted to know,-- namely, the number
and disposal of the Statists, and the position taken up by the
English auxiliaries."

"And this second parting from Ulrica?"--

"Was a parting as between friends for life! The first had been the
laughing farewell of pleasant acquaintance. But now, ere she bade
adieu to the gallant preserver of her life, she shred a tress of her
silken hair, still wet with the waters of the Dyle, which she
entreated him to keep for her sake. In return, he placed upon her
finger the ruby presented to him by the Doge of Venice, bearing the
arms of the republic engraved on the setting; telling her that chance
had enabled him to confer an obligation on the governor of the
Netherlands; and that, in any strait or peril, that signet,
dispatched in his name to Don John of Austria, would command his
pro