was not without an important result. In the leader of
the Tartars, Bisset to his astonishment saw a man whom he had met under
other circumstances, and instantly turned his discovery to account.

'Hold, hold, brave warrior!' cried he, in a conciliating tone. 'With us
you have no quarrel. We are ambassadors who were sent hither by the King
of France to obtain the release of some captives, and in you I recognise
one of the barons of Tartary who came to the court of the island of
Cyprus, and to whom I myself, as a knight in the Christian king's
service, rendered what service I could. With us, therefore, I repeat,
you have no quarrel. Wherefore should we dye our weapons in each other's
blood?'

The Tartar remained motionless, and eyed the knight keenly, and not
without suspicion.

'It may be as you say,' replied he after some consideration; 'and yet I
know not how I am to credit your words. Knowest thou that the Moslems
have a proverb which says, "Hearken to a Frank, and hear a fable?"'

'You do me wrong by your suspicions,' exclaimed Bisset. 'On my honour as
a Christian knight, I tell you naught but the truth.'

'Give me a token by which I may prove the truth of what you say,'
suggested the Tartar. And Bisset forthwith related several incidents
that had occurred during the residence of the Tartars at Nicosia.

'Enough,' said the Tartar. 'I now give credit to the words you have
spoken; therefore let there be peace between thee and me, and between
thy people and my people. For the present I leave to take measures for
your security; and I will conduct you to the presence of Oulagon the
brave, brother of the great khan, and grandson of him who received the
title of "King of Kings" from a prophet who came down from heaven on a
white horse.'

The ambassadors now breathed freely; and the attendants looked upon
Bisset as almost more than mortal; and the knight congratulated himself
on the prospect of getting his head out of the lion's den. It was not,
however, till the morrow that the Templar and the English knight were
led to the presence of Oulagon; a semi-savage warrior, with those Tartar
features which naturally looked harsh to the eyes of men accustomed to
the features of Norman and Saxon, and short of stature, but thickset,
compact of body, and of prodigious strength. Bisset was at first by no
means satisfied with Oulagon's look, but the Tartar manifested every
disposition to treat the ambassadors as friends.

'The