nately directed, in a tremendous roar, to his poltroons, as he called them (for they now evidently showed symptoms of tergiversation, and no very equivocal ones,) and to the bandage, which he did not find ready enough to assist the awkward efforts of the left hand. He was the last who left the scene of fight, and he walked off sulkily down the slope, and across an adjacent bog, trailing his dishonoured musket after him.

In a few minutes they all united at the Cross of Lisnamuck, within rather

a scanty distance of the spot where I now lay. There were loud voices for a moment, and words of reproach exchanged in their vernacular tongue. Then ensued the silence and sullenness of defeat-disgraceful discomfiture; and they walked down the road in a body towards Curra Grove, the estate of Sir Aubrey De Vere Hunt, which, during the occasional absences of this amiable proprietor, was made a fre quent place of meeting by those miserably misguided creatures. They entered the wood, and I lost them.

SLOWLY approach yon yew-tree shade
'Neath which is told the tender tale
Of her within its fring'd turf laid,
Poor Emma, lifeless, cold, and pale.

And read the silent record there,
Of one, whose life was chill'd by scorn,
Was blasted by thy damps, despair
And slighted love, too meekly borne.

Oh! if some swain of pity's mould,
Has e'er felt tears bedew his eye,
The while some rustic tongue has told
More than the lay could well supply-

Then memory to his generous mind
While musing on her hapless lot,
May paint the scene, when lilies, twined
In wreaths, bedecked this silent spot.

Or further to his fancy trace

When scented flowers and deadly rue, O'er her white shroud and beauteous face, 'Twas each young maiden's task to strew.

Perchance more faithful still may tell
What sighs were breath'd of grief profound,
When sadly tolled her funeral knell,
And awe-struck was the hamlet round.

And o'er her grave mark many a print Of warbling words with soft impress,

Where many a rose of richest tint Has blush'd in nature's loveliness.

And one more fair than all beside,
Nurtur'd by some peculiar care,
Expanded forth in leafy pride,
And shed its sweetest fragrance there.

In peeerless beauty, nature's gem,
It grew in summer's sunny hours,
The fairest and the prettiest stem
Among the sisterhood of flowers.

At fall of eve this rose I viewed,
And then the balmy flower bloomed gay,
But ah! ere morn, each opening bud,
With dew o'ercharged had drooped away.

Like Emma, was this short-lived rose,
Which met the orient morning dew,
Its leaves of beauty to disclose,
Then sink in tears beneath the view.

Oh, could the sun's soft glow alone,
With genial warmth soft beauty raise,
This flower in lovely pride had blown,
And nourish'd still to Nature's praise.
Its leaves their wonted bloom would wear,
And, placed in Emma's bosom twine,
More fresh when water'd by the tear
Of eyes that speak a love like mine.

AH! could I then, could I then bid thee farewell! No, no, lovely girl, something wrong appears in it, Or why does it sound on my heart like a knell? Why could I not bid thee farewell every minute? Yet, dearest, I could, and how sweet would the sound be

Of farewell, if whisper'd to meet thee again; To meet thy pure love in the charms that surround thee,

And know that my passion is breath'd not in vain;

And, oh! I could love thee, love, though rejected, Like Adam, when sadly from Paradise driven,

the enemy's ranks. But it was to no purpose--not a discharge took place, but a chasm followed in their little army, till they were reduced to so small a number, that it was suicide to attempt any further resistance. The two first in command had already fallen, and one field officer, quite a youth, only remained out of the number that entered the field. Desperate as his situation was, he at first determined to throw himself on the enemy's sabre, till the remembrance that he still might be of service in the cause of his sovereign, animated him with the hope of escape, and accordingly, though faint ing from the loss of blood, he pricked the sides of his jaded steed, and retreated towards the wood with what of the company were able to follow him.

The loyalists pursued, and offered terms of capitulation-a fresh attack was the only reply. This was the last burst of their fury-it was like goading the tiger in his den. Encompassed by their foes, disdaining every offer of clemency, though bending under their last ebb of strength, they fell victims of their own lion-heartedness, which, reckless as it was, had it been employed in a more noble, or a more reasonable cause, would have been sufficient to carry down their names in the stream of immortality.

The young officer, Colonel Macfarlane, still escaped, though not without a fresh wound, which, added to the many he had already received, rendered him careless of his fate. He felt assured, from the great loss of blood, that he could not live long; and as his life was no longer a blessing to himself, or of service in the cause of his sovereign, he cared not how soon the mortal strife was ended.

As the enemy had left him for dead, he lay in this deplorable situation for a considerable time, till either a return of strength, or the powerful energies of his mind, would not permit him to remain longer in a state of inactivity. With some difficulty he succeeded in mounting his favourite steed, and endeavoured to gain the border of the wood, which, with the help of a cloak that a warm-hearted loyalist had spread

over him, when he fell, apparently lifeless, from his horse, he hoped to clear undetected.

He had passed the confines of the wood, and had reached the domains of Sir Henry Macdonald, when, in consequence of the severe exercise, and the irritation of his mind, his wounds began to bleed afresh: no longer able to support himself he fell headlong from his horse, and there remained without sense or motion.

It happened that this spot was a wild and romantic glen, the favourite ramble of Flora Macdonald, the only remaining child of Sir Henry. She had lost her mother during her infancy, and had chiefly resided under the care of a maiden aunt in the Highlands of Scotland, till she approached towards womanhood; when her father, during the few intermissions of war, requiring the solace of society, she joyfully consented to take the manage ment of his household. She was of a singular, yet most amiable temper. Unaccustomed from her infancy to any restraint in her edncation, and being the very idol of her aunt, she indulged in all the eccentricities of her mind. It was her delight to shun the society of those the best adapted for her years. and ramble amidst the wild scenery of the Western Highlands, and listen to the legendary lore of their superstitious inhabitants. Her mind, naturally of a romantic turn, became there imbued with wilder feelings. Her delight was to collect the ballads and traditions of the ancient bards; and, associated as they were with the wild scenery around her, her soul was more than ordinarily susceptible of the gentler feelings of our nature, whose fine edges are too frequently blunted by a promiscuous commerce with the world.

Evan Douglass had been from her infancy, her chosen companion in all her romantic rambles. He was the son of a brother warrior of her father, who felt a secret satisfaction at the growing intimacy of the young people. Evan was of a noble family, had ample possessions, was open and coura geous, and possessed of every quality that could ornament the soldier and the man. She was accustomed from her

The young officer remained on the spot upon which he fell for above an hour, when his senses, though unaccompanied by his vigour, partially returned.

On his opening his languid eyes, the first object that presented itself to them was that of a young and beautiful female bending over him in a compassionate attitude. Her look, her smile was that of a superior race of beings, and as the white robes, so carelessly thrown over her, floated in the wind, he imagined he was either in the world of spirits, or that Providence had sent one of her ministers to succour him in his helplessness. He was however soon convinced of her mortality, by her gently placing his head on a mound of earth, and gliding quickly from the spot. He strained his aching eyes for the last glimpse of her sylph-like form, as it bounded through the glen, and when it was totally out of sight did he only feel emotions of hope and fear which he could by no means account for. Were they inspired by the melting look of tenderness, the soft sigh which swelled her gentle bosom when he first beheld her, the thrilling touch of her small white hand, as she placed his head on the bank, or the exquisite expression of pity and sensibility that animated her beautiful countenance when she left him?" Is this a being of earth, or a spirit of heaven ?" he mentally exclaimed. His memory told him he had wandered much, and as he had besides but an indistinct remembrance of the events of the preceding hours, he thought the figure was no more than a frail, though beautiful creation

40 ATHENEUM VOL, 2. 2d series.

The light steps of Flora quickly brought her to her father's mansion; breathlessly she entered the room, where he was engaged in writing despatches of the memorable events of the day. "Why, how now, ye frolicsome kid! What ails you." "Oh! father, rise, quick. Where's Evanthere's a cavalier bleeding to death in the glen; he appears as if he had been engaged in the horrid encounter of Glenamure."

The brave heart of the knight did not suffer him to wait till he heard whether he was a jacobite or a loyalist, but instantly prompted him to sally out with Evan and their beautiful guide, and offer succour and protection.

66

As soon as the two had arrived at the glen, they found the Colonel insensible, and to all appearance dead. "Alas!" sobbed Flora, "we are too late, he must have died since I left him, for he has moved from the spot where I placed his head." By his cloak I perceive he is a loyalist," said Evan, "there is one more stout heart added to the heavy list." "Not yet, my worthy Douglass, I hope that he may still recover, and by the help of Flora's nursing be yet a staunch defender of his king and country. But who can he be? These features are too noble to belong to an individual of an inferior station, and are too striking and handsome to escape our notice if he was at Glenamure." "There was an officer of the Pretender's party who fought as if heaven and earth depended on his sword, and these features strongly remind me of him," replied Evan. Before they had time for any further examination, Ellen, who had flown back to the house, returned with a host of servants bearing a couch, on which the body of the soldier was conveyed to a chamber in her father's hospitable mansion.

In those dangerous times, when Scotland was but thinly populated, and the frequent encounters diminished its inhabitants, it may be supposed that

medical assistance was difficult to be procured. Evan had had his arm dressed by the military surgeon, who immediately joined the remnant of the victorious army to head-quarters. He therefore very confidently placed himself under the care of his beautiful mistress, who had now two objects for the exercise of her medical knowledge.

The stranger for a while did not seem likely to require any more assistance on earth, but by close attention he partially recovered his senses, to the manifest delight of his young nurse. In the meantime, from his uniform it was discovered, to the visible disappointment of Sir Henry, that he belonged to the opposite party. To harbour a rebel in his house-to make it a receptacle for an enemy to his king, was to the loyal heart of Sir Henry, as heinous a crime as any in the calendar. It was treason by the laws of this country to afford refuge to a red rebel, but yet it was repugnant to the laws of his Maker, and those of social life, to turn a fellow-being adrift in his then pitiable situation. Honour and conscience had a severe struggle, but the feelings of humanity triumphed over the artificial bonds of authority; for how could his daughter's prayers and the young soldier's wounds be replied to in the language of royal proclamation, or quotations from acts of parliament? He at last determined to give what assistance he could to the officer, ill he should be sufficiently recovered o seek another asylum. In the meantime the improving appearance of the brave sufferer, gradually repaid the beautiful eyes of his anxious watcher; who witnessed his recovery with a heartfelt and deeply breathing interest. As the energies of his mind gradually developed, he became to her more and more engaging. Her soul, that first clung to him from the impulse of all the warmer feelings of a woman's nature, became fully tempered to receive a feeling equally intellectual and refined. His large dark eyes gradually assumed their wonted brilliancy, and his lovely attendant watched with unconscious delight the returning glow to his cheek. Sir Henry at length con

sented to hold some communication with his guest, when with a mixture of satisfaction and regret, he discovered that he was the son of one of his father's friends and companions; and who had formerly fought side by side in the same glorious cause, and under the same standard—that of Prince Rupert, at the memorable Marston Moor.

The invalid, as he increased in the good opinion of his host, improved in his health and good looks, to the unconcealed satisfaction of his romantic guardian. She evidently entertained feelings of a more enthusiastic turn than those of mere benevolence and philanthropy. No wonder that the unsophisticated mind of the girl should be so engrossed by its object. The situ ation in which he first engaged her attention, when pity, sympathy, and fellow-feeling were awakened in his favour, the gratitude seemingly blended with the warmest affection, which beamed from his eyes whenever he turned them towards her-bis person, which to her enthusiastic judgment was the beau ideal of chivalry and romance, all combined to create for him the liveliest emotion, and before she herself was aware of it, she loved him with all the enthusiasm and tenderness that was inherent in her disposition, and which a woman can display in the impulses of her first affection.

It is scarcely possible to imagine a feeling more innocent and refined than that which seemed the life-spring of every action of her heart. Had she but a moment reflected on the pros pect of their future felicity, she would have endeavoured to fortify her heart, rather than abandon it to the contemplation of an object it could never obtain. She thought not of the likeli hood of their union, or the probabilities of their separation, the heavenly delight of the present was all to her; and love is not a miser, who foregoes the fleeting happiness of the present moment in the anticipation of future misery. As he gradually gained strength, her heart gladdened in innocent gaiety. Oh! it was to her a sight the most joyful on earth, to see that form, which was but lately like a tree rooted up by the winds, lying weak