While Mr. Welson was engaged in listening to the rehearsal of the proposed plans of Correliana for the speedy rescue of her people, a falcon in the act of stooping from its poise attracted the quick eyes of Mr. Dow, who raised his rifle, but before he could secure his aim the Heraclean maid uttered an exclamation of alarm which arrested his destructive purpose. In explanation and apology for her impetuous words and act, the falcon settled from his waft upon her shoulder with a flutter of glad recognition, coaxingly pecking at her ear with side glances for accustomed caresses. In a few moments the fair perch became so abstracted with varying emotions hovering between sorrow and gladness, that her pet was fain to stoop to her wrist for the mechanical recognition of the right hand; yet, as if unmindful of neglect, it plumed itself in the pride of feathery vanity, seemingly confident notwithstanding the reserved affection of its mistress.

At length, as if suddenly made aware of her preoccupation from the silence that prevailed, she asked the privilege of retiring to the cabin for a few minutes for the recovery of her composure. During her absence Cleorita said that she had been similarly affected on several previous occasions from falcon visits. Nearly an hour passed before Correliana reappeared, then, with the pleading animation of anxiety, she requested M. Hollydorf to urge all warrantable haste in preparation for the overland journey from that 73point, if they proposed to rescue her people, as they were in extremity from the increased virulence of the pestilence aggravated by famine, of which the besieging savages were preparing to take speedy advantage. Naturally supposing that the bird was the carrier medium of communication, all their energies were exerted for the accomplishment of her affectionate solicitation.

Mr. Dow, with Jack’s and Bill’s assistance, drilled the Kyronese in the art of loading and discharging the howitzer, with effective aim, also in the use of rifles and pistols. During the day hampers were filled with prepared munitions and rations, and the party selected for the expedition. Having assisted, with wonderful tact, during the process of packing, just before night-fall Correliana dispatched the falcon in homeward flight, with encouraging promises of speedy relief. When with the approach of darkness, and fatigue, the labors of the day were suspended, she pronounced herself anxious that we should become acquainted with the history of her people, that we might judge of their worth before venturing the hazard of our promised aid. With an assurance of unwavering determination to adventure their lives for the rescue of her kindred by all, she commenced her narration.

“The transmitted written history of our people, derived from our ancestors of old Heraclea, has not been esteemed reliable by the later renewed generations of our present City of the Falls, inasmuch as the historians, of the middle period, were invariably inclined to ascribe the partial prejudices of degeneration as evidences of progression in their assumptive decisions of right and wrong. With self exaltation they did not hesitate to extol the most arbitrary and licentious acts of persons in power, which in accommodation for the selfish retention of favor were constantly subject to reversion. These sources of selfish 74contradiction, serve to impeach the veracity of the whole, so that from the adventitious impressions of truth we have been obliged to make conjectural deductions to subserve our desire for the preservation of a probable outline record of the causeful events that led to ancestral translation from the Pontine to the Iberian Heraclea. However, in my prompted relation I shall endeavor to give a simple rendering agreeable to the expressed judgment of our advisors, without attempting to force your concurrence with reasoning similitudes. Your knowledge pertaining to coincident history will certainly attest to the correctness of the alleged source from which our remote ancestors were derived.

“Our original stock, in translation, might well be represented in the variations of caste by the contingent elements with which I am at present surrounded; for the place from which our ancestors embarked was a central point for the fermenting commixture of the peoples and septs of Asia, Europe, and Africa. Our patrician historian states that the original stock were all derived from noble Roman families who were emigrating, with collateral provincial branches, from the Euxine Heraclea, in a Macedonian ship, to an Iberian city of the same name, situated a short distance inland from the ocean opening of the straits of Gades. After touching at the African port of Rusander Gaditarius for supplies necessary for support during the interval of planting and harvest, they set sail for their port of destination.

“When in sight of the landmarks of Heraclea, while offering sacrifice to the gods of their worship, for the prosperous termination of their voyage, a sudden tempest arose which forced their vessel out into the broad Atlantic. For days the storm raged, while before it their bark was driven heedless of mortal control, every moment threatening destruction. At length, after hopeless despair had held them bound in 75shadowy darkness through a lapse of time unmarked by the full distinctions of day and night, the sun rose clear over a limitless expanse of waters. Still they feared to offer thankful oblations, for they were drifting they knew not whither. In the listless inactivity of despair they had allowed the waters of heaven to accumulate in their vessel mixed with the briny wash of the ocean. As the sun rose in the firmament to its meridian, the heat parched their mouths with thirst, then they recognized the providence of heaven for the supply of water tempered with salt to make it unpalatable for excess.

“‘Again hope began to dawn, which was strengthened on the following night by a flight of fish seemingly attracted by the altar fire, which had continued to burn through the fearful tossings of the vessel when impelled by the merciless tempest urged by the god of the ocean. Revived, with the second sun, the sailors spread the vessel’s sails to a favoring waft of the ocean wind, showing their recognition and resignation to the decrees its providence had ordained. There was no lack of food, for the supply obtained at Rusador for anticipated wants between seedtime and harvest, more than sufficed for prospective requirements, unless the ocean proved boundless. Of luxuries there was also a bountiful supply; dates, dried figs, grapes, and Chian wine. Strange as it may appear, with the revival of our hopes, a large portion of the wine was sacrificed to furnish vessels for treasuring the water preserved by the ship. But with the rising of the eleventh visible sun all the supply of water having been exhausted,—for there were many mouths and great thirst,—despair, which dried up the moisture, began its reign of terror, from the moans of mothers who freely offered their tears to still the wailing cries of their children.

“‘In this condition, when all coveted death to relieve the tortures of thirst, there came on the sixteenth 76of its rise upon our forlorn hopes at sundown, a waft that made all murmur thanks in their weakness. This was followed with genial showers which brought a reviving consciousness of an overruling presence inspiring a love of life and the blessings of kindred affection. When the clouds, to whose timely benefactions we were beholden for our preservation, were dispersed by the rising sun, our eyes and hearts were gladdened with the sight of land, which called forth tears with whispered rejoicings, and wan smiles of congratulation bestowed with embraces, and hand pressures in thankful praise that we had been once more permitted to see the element from which we had been so long divorced by cruel fate.

“‘Borne onward by a gentle wind from the ocean, we entered a broad estuary whose banks, or shores, were bordered with a forest verdure of trees exceeding in magnitude our previous conceptions. Far off in the interior, as the sun declined, were seen mountains whose summits were clothed in fleecy mists while beneath the varied descent appeared dressed in rainbow tints of moving light and shadow. The banks of the mighty river, or arm of the ocean, became more distinct in the approaching twilight, until darkness with its pall withheld them from view. Again another day dawned; refreshed with the dews of the night we bethought ourselves how we might bring the vessel to land where we could obtain water to quench our thirst, when lo, with the first feeble dip of the oars the trickle of the water inward discovered to a child its freshness. The faint struggles of the oarsmen strengthened with the fear of again being carried out into the ocean, for the current was forcing the vessel backward, were at length rewarded with the stranding of its keel beneath the steep bank of an inlet.

“‘In vain our eyes, from the mast, searched the shore for evidences of man’s habitation; neither 77smoke from hamlets or signs of cultivation could be traced. Weary and weak, but composed in spirit, from our now secure attachment to land, which, although foreign, seemed afar off fruitful, all sank into a deep and refreshing slumber, lulled by the familiar sound of the cicada’s shrill vibrations, which continued unbroken until the dawn of another day, when we were awakened by the sound of strange voices speaking an unknown tongue. Surprised, but not alarmed, when we discovered that the utterances were from a collection of human beings who were viewing us and our vessel from the bank that overlooked the transtra, our own curiosity was in like manner attracted by the novelty of their appearance. In stature they exceeded in height our own, but were gracefully formed, with expressive features inclined in color to a brownish red. With eyes of vivid blackness they seemed capable of giving intensity to the two extremes of passion—expressed by revengeful anger and dalliant softness. The cov............