" but the command of my queen must give me the fitting inspiration." He touched a melodious prelude, and sung in a clear, manly voice :— 1. "Ia minstrel of Grenada, Gonzalvo Bereio bight, Once wandering as a pilgrim, found a meadow richly dight, Green and peopled full of flowers, of flowers fair and bright, A place where many a weary man would rest him with delight. 2. " And the flowers I beheld all looked and smelt so sweet, That the senses and the soul they seemed alike to greet, While on every side ran fountains through all this glad retreat, Which in winter kindly warmth supplied, yet tempered summer's heat 8. " And of rich and goodly trees there grew a boundless maze, Rich grapes and apples bright, and flgs of golden rays, And many other fruits beyond my skill to praise, But none that turneth sour, and none that e'er decays. 4. " The freshness of that meadow, the sweetness of its flowers, The dewy shadows of the trees that fell like cooling showers, Renewed within my frame its worn and wasted powers, I deem the very odors would have nourished me for hours." An arrow that pierced the tent, and fell among the strings of the minstrel's harp, interrupted the symphony, and called forth discordant screams of terror. A moment after the Earl of "Warrenne, breathless^and bleeding, rushed into the assembly, and communicated the startling intelli-gence, that the Turks had taken possession of the heights allotted for their encampment, and that the king, unaware of his danger, was proceeding to the snare, spread for his whole army. Maurienne hastily cast away his mimic fetters, and counselling his lovely charge to remain as close as possible beneath the shadow of the trees, stationed a small guard to defend them, and hastened back to the as-sistance of his sovereign. The Syrian moon now rose broad and clear in the east, and the frightened females, huddling together like a flock of timid sheep, could distinctly see the heavy-armed troops on which rested all their hopes, toiling slowly up the moun-tain, in the face of a tremendous shower of arrows and loose masses of stone which the Moslems threw upon them from above. Men, horses and baggage, overborne by the sudden 138 HEROINES OF THE CRUSADES.