41. THE DESTRUCTION OF SENNACHERIB.

The Assyrian came down like a wolf on the fold,
And his cohorts were gleaming in purple and gold;
And the sheen of their spears was like stars on the sea,
When the blue wave rolls nightly on deep Galilee.
Like the leaves of the forest when summer is green,
That host with their banners at sunset were seen;
Like the leaves of the forest when autumn hath blown,
That host on the morrow lay withered and strown.

For the Angel of Death spread his wings on the blast,
And breathed on the face of the foe as he passed;
And the eyes of the sleepers waxed deadly and chill,
And their hearts but once heaved, and for ever were still!

And there lay the steed with his nostril all wide,
But through it there rolled not the breath of his pride;
And the foam of his gasping lay white on the turf,
And cold as the spray of the rock-beating surf.

And there lay the rider, distorted and pale,

With the dew on his brow, and the rust on his mail;
And the tents were all silent, the banners alone,
The lances uplifted, the trumpet unblown.

And the widows of Asshur are loud in their wail,
And the idols are broke in the temple of Baal;
And the might of the Gentile, unsmote by the sword,
Hath melted like snow in the glance of the Lord!

Take some quiet, sober moment of life, and add together the two ideas of pride and man; behold him, creature of a span high, stalking through infinite space in all the grandeur of littleness... .Pride is not the heritage of man; humility should dwell with frailty, and atone for ignorance, error, and imperfection.-Sydney Smith.

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42. MAILDUN'S ESCAPE.

The next island they reached was very large. On one side rose a lofty, smooth, heath-clad mountain, and all the rest of the island was a grassy plain. Near the seashore stood a great high palace, adorned with carvings and precious stones, and strongly fortified with a high rampart all round. After landing, they went towards the palace, and sat to rest on the bench before the gateway leading through the outer rampart; and looking in through the open door they saw a number of beautiful young maidens in the court.

After they had sat for some time, a rider appeared at a distance coming swiftly towards the palace, and on a near approach the travellers perceived that it was a lady, young and beautiful and richly dressed. She wore a blue, rustling silk head-dress, a silverfringed purple cloak hung from her shoulders, her gloves were embroidered with gold thread, and her feet were laced becomingly in close-fitting scarlet sandals. One of the maidens came out and held her horse while she dismounted and entered the palace; and soon after she had gone in, another of the maidens came towards Maildun and his companions and said,

"You are welcome to this island. Come into the palace; the queen has sent me to invite you, and is waiting to receive you."

They followed the maiden into the palace, and the queen bade them welcome, and received them kindly.

Then leading them into a large hall, in which a plentiful dinner was laid out, she bade them sit down and eat.

A dish of choice food and a crystal goblet of wine were placed before Maildun; while a single dish and a single drinking-bowl, with a triple quantity of meat and drink, were laid before each three of his companions. And having eaten and drunk till they were satisfied, they went to sleep on soft couches till morning. Next day the queen addressed Maildun

and his companions,—

"Stay now in this country, and do not go a-wandering any longer over the wide ocean from island to island. Old age and sickness shall never come upon you, but you shall be always as young as you are at present, and you shall live for ever a life of ease and pleasure.”

"Tell us," said Maildun, "how you pass your life here."

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That is no hard matter," answered the queen. "The good king who formerly ruled over this island was my husband, and these fair maidens that you see are our children. He died after a long reign, and as he left no son, I now reign, the sole ruler of the island. And every day I go to the Great Plain, to administer justice and to decide causes among my people."

"Wilt thou go from us to-day?" asked Maildun.

I must needs go even now," she replied, "to give judgments among the people; but as to you, you will all stay in this house till I return in the evening,

and you need not trouble yourselves with any labour or care."

They remained in that island during the three months of winter. And these three months appeared to Maildun's companions as long as three years, for they began to have an earnest desire to return to their native land. At the end of that time one of them said to Maildun,-

"We have been a long time here; why do we not return to our own country?"

"What you say is neither good nor sensible," answered Maildun, "for we shall not find in our own country anything better than we have here."

But this did not satisfy his companions, and they began to murmur loudly. "It is quite clear," said they, "that Maildun loves the queen of this island, and as this is so, let him stay here; but as for us, we will return to our own country."

Maildun, however, would not consent to remain after them, and he told them that he would go with them.

Now, on a certain day not long after this conversation, as soon as the queen had gone to the Great Plain to administer justice, according to her daily custom, they got their curragh ready and put out to sea. They had not gone very far from land when the queen came riding towards the shore, and seeing how matters stood, she went into the palace, and soon returned with a ball of thread in her hand.

Walking down to the water's edge, she flung the ball

after the curragh, but held the end of the thread in her hand. Maildun caught the ball as it was passing, and it clung to his hand; and the queen, gently pulling the thread towards her, drew back the curragh to the very spot from which they had started in the little harbour. And when they had landed, she made them promise that if ever this happened again some one should always stand up in the boat and catch the ball.

The voyagers abode on the island, much against their will, for nine months longer. For every time they attempted to escape, the queen brought them back by means of the clew, as she had done at first, Maildun always catching the ball.

At the end of the nine months the men held council, and this is what they said,

"We know now that Maildun does not wish to leave the island; for he loves this queen very much, and he catches the ball whenever we try to escape, in order that we may be brought back to the palace."

Maildun replied, "Let some one else attend to the ball next time, and let us try whether it will cling to his hand."

They agreed to this, and watching their opportunity, they again put off towards the open sea. The queen arrived, as usual, before they had gone very far, and flung the ball after them as before. Another man of the crew caught it, and it clung as firmly to his hand as to Maildun's, and the queen began to draw the curragh towards the shore. But Diuran,