" Ah, lady !" said the wretched fanatic, " think not that our misfortunes arose from our want of money or arms, but rather through our impatience to be gone, that led us to set out on Friday, instead of waiting for the holy rest of thé Sabbath." The countess was residing with her family in Troyes, when she gave audience to another of her " eastern ambas-sadors," as Henry jocosely called them. This man arrived at nightfall, on a sorry mule, the self-same animal that a few months before, under Peter the Hermit, had led greater hosts to battle than Bucephalus under Alexander, and which had enjoyed such a reputation for sanctity that even his very hairs were devoutly treasur-ed as relics. Now, jaded and dispirited, with drooping head and pendant ears, the poor beast slowly paced his heavy way up to the gates of the castle. His rider seemed no less bowed with grief and fatigue, and wearily dismount-ing, he meekly waited among the servants, till summoned to the presence of his mistress. " You behold, noble lady," said he, " one of those indi-viduals whose fate it is to bring ruin upon every expedition in which he embarks." " Miserable man," exclaimed- Adela, " hast thou betray-ed the army of the Lord ?" " God forbid that I should have been guilty of so foul a deed," said the pilgrim, devoutly crossing himself ; "but the curse of Jonah rests upon me. Evil was the day when, impoverished by the wars of Dnke Robert, I plundered the sacred vessels of a church, and melted and sold them, to obtain food for my starving family. The crime lay heavy on my conscience, and to expiate its guilt I joined the band of the Hermit. But my sinful love for my children pre-vailed over my devotion, and Satan tempted me with the thought, that were they permitted to accompany me, they at least might win the crown of martyrdom, though their father should suffer the punishment of his sins. With much difficulty and labor, we scraped together means to purchase a yoke of oxen and a cart, and the charity of my ADELA. 83