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rode the messenger, and Sherzaran returned to her household work, and the nursing of her thoughts of their future greatness.

"Ben Hafiz," said the courier, after leaping the brook and coming close to him, "you are commanded by the great king who arrived here yesterday, my master, to go to the court of the king of Persia, and to take with you the child that was standing at your side when his majesty passed under the cliffs upon leaving the sea-shore." "Who is this great king?" replied Ben Hafiz; "and what can he want with a poor shepherd and his child?" "All this you will hear when you come into my lord's presence." "But how are my poor legs to carry me to such a distance, when it would take some hours to ride there?" "That labor will be spared you; for, in about an hour from this time, a chariot from the king, your master, will come to your cottage, to convey you both before my lord. You must, therefore, return home and prepare for your journey." So saying, the messenger turned his horse's head, and rode back the way he came.

Ben Hafiz and his little companion now bent their steps towards the cottage hand in hand, for the purpose of being properly equipped and in attendance, when the royal chariot should come to carry them before the stranger king. The old shepherd had never been without the ring and the dagger; and as he had more than once found the benefit of attending to the instructions he had received from the heavenly visitor, he still determined that they should accompany him. He also resolved that Narina, in case of danger, should go in her silver-feathered shoes. "I will go in them, dear Ben Hafiz!" said she, "to please you, but I shall not want them." The confident tone of this speech,

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so different from any he had ever before heard from his darling, surprised the old man, and set him thinking.

The grand carriage now came for them, and the kind old Sherzaran bustled about the door-way, now and then humming a low tune; and then trotting in doors to hasten the travellers; at one time clapping her hands when she thought of what she hoped would come to pass; and at another twitching some part of her dress, to make it sit with propriety as she appeared before the king's coachman and the royal attendants; and lastly, as they drove from the door, following them with her blessings.

In due time the couple arrived at the gates of the palace, where a page was prepared to receive them, who led them through a number of galleries and apartments, till they arrived at a particular one, when he took his leave, requesting them to remain till his lord should come. He had scarcely closed the door, when another on the opposite side of the room was opened, and the same tall, handsome, and sorrowful figure appeared before them whom they had observed, and who had so particularly noticed them the day before. Immediately upon his entrance, he fixed his eyes upon the child, and suddenly walked towards the window, where he remained for a considerable time in silence. At length, taking a deep breath, he turned round, and walking towards the two, he said: "Ben Hafiz, I have already inquired respecting you, and have learned that this child is not your own, but that you rescued her from her peril, and with your good wife have protected and fostered her. Is it not so? Did you not also receive with her certain rare and precious articles, that have been especially serviceable to you in cases when

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danger threatened the babe? Confess to me freely."

"Great king! and my lord," said the unflinching old shepherd, as he looked steadily in his face, "I also have heard much of you, and (pardon the boldness of an old man who has bound himself to perform a sacred duty) before I make known the whole history of this dear babe, I must be assured that your thoughts concerning ONE, whom I shall not name, are altered, and that you are prepared both to receive and cherish her memory. When I feel that to be the case, I shall be able to set your heart at rest, and render you in all respects the FATHER of your child. I am now her father; I have been her father; and—again I say, great king, pardon the boldness of one so humble in life compared with him to whom he is thus talking-her father I shall remain, till I discover one more worthy than myself to claim that title. I speak it not in boast, my lord, but I am so armed in honesty, resolution, and powerful weapons intrusted to me for her defence, that I fear no human attempts to force her from my protection."

"Excellent old man!" said the king; "would that I had such a friend at my side when my mind was poisoned against her of whom I was unworthy, and whom I now believe to be in the company of the good and the blessed, and scarcely more free from unholy taint, than when in the flesh she deigned to become my companion."

He had scarcely uttered these words, when Narina, with a countenance glowing with delight, leaped into his arms, and with both hers encircling his neck, buried her face in his bosom. They sank down together upon a seat, and the old shepherd, quickly putting the

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THE KING REWARDS BEN HAFIZ.

ring upon the finger of the king, hurried from the room, which had instantly become conscious of a heavenly presence.

After such time had been passed as allowed of Narina to describe to her father the events of her life, with the uniform tenderness and watchful care of the good old shepherd and his wife, at his desire she left the room, and returned to it again accompanied by her faithful friend; when the king took him by the hand, and told him that it was his own wish, and particularly that of his daughter, that he and the affectionate Sherzaran should return with them to his own country, where they should pass the remainder of their days in peace, and in such occupation as they might choose for their own delight. "You shall still be my Narina's father," added he, “and I hope you will be my friend. As for the precious articles that were discovered in the chest on the sea, the shoes shall remain with her; the ring will be mine, for by means of its virtue I shall recover the society of one from whom I ought never to have been estranged; and you, as the long-tried champion and protector of our Narina, shall still keep the dagger in charge for her defence in time of need."

"It is hard to take with safety an old tree from its soil," said Ben Hafiz, "and still harder to change the course of its growth and habit; if, therefore, my lord' will permit me still to continue my peaceful employment of tending my old friends and fleecy companions, and once a day to come and look upon the face of her whose affectionate gratitude and cheerful obedience have been the delight of my heart for eleven happy years, I will follow him and her throughout the world."

!

The king instantly accorded with the worthy shepherd's request. Ben Hafiz and his wife were lodged that night in the palace. Who now was so happy as Sherzaran? her dreams of greatness had been fulfilled! But how much more happy was her husband; for he closed his eyes for the night with the pleasing reflection of having performed his duty; added to which, he received the approbation of the celestial spirit, who informed him that, as he had been the protector of the helpless, true to his word, and faithful and zealous in his undertaking, he had already received his reward in this life, by the possession of a good, and therefore happy conscience; "What your lot may be in the life to come, Ben Hafiz," said the angel-mother, "I may not disclose; rest satisfied, however, with the assurance, that the GREAT BEING, in whose sight I draw an eternity of bliss, can in nowise cast forth those who strive to imitate him in acts of long-suffering and loving kindness."

The story being ended, all the young branches of the family received a Christmas present from their grandmamma, who had, that evening, paid them a visit from a distant part of the country. Like the visitors of the former good old times, she never came empty handed. She was a mother in the best sense of the word; and, like each returning season, dispensed her bounty when she came; while her appearance was blessed and honored.

On the last day in the year Adam gave his father the following list of flowers:

"In the early part of the month, papa, and while