R THE SIEGE OF TORQUILSTONE. EBECCA hastened to give Ivanhoe what information she could; but it amounted only to this, that the Templar Bois-Guilbert, and the Baron Front-de-Boeuf, were commanders within the castle; that it was beleaguered from without, but by whom she knew not. She added, that there was a Christian priest within the castle who might be possessed of more information. "A Christian priest," said the knight, joyfully; "fetch him hither, Rebecca, if thou canst-say a sick man desires his ghostly counsel-say what thou wilt, but bring him-something I must do or attempt, but how can I determine until I know how matters stand without?" Rebecca, in compliance with the wishes of Ivanhoe, made an attempt to bring Cedric into the wounded knight's chamber, which was defeated by the interference of Urfried, who had been also on the watch to intercept the supposed monk. Rebecca retired to communicate to Ivanhoe the failure of her errand. They had not much leisure to regret the failure of this source of intelligence, or to contrive by what means it might be supplied; for the noise within the castle, occasioned by the defensive preparations which had been considerable for some time, now increased into tenfold bustle and clamour. The heavy yet hasty step of the menat-arms traversed the battlements or resounded on the narrow and winding passages and stairs which led to the various bartizans and points of defence. The voices of the knights were heard animating their followers or directing means of defence, while their commands were often drowned in the clashing of armour, or the clamorous shouts of those whom they addressed. Tremendous as these sounds were, and yet more terrible from the awful event which they presaged, there was a sublimity mixed with them which Rebecca's high-toned mind could feel even in that moment of terror. eye kindled, although the blood fled from her cheeks; and there was a strong mixture of fear and of a thrilling sense of the sublime, as she repeated, half-whispering to herself, half-speaking to her companion, the sacred text: "The quiver rattleth-the glittering spear and the shield-the noise of the captains and the shouting." Her But Ivanhoe was like the war-horse of that sublime passage, glowing with impatience at his inactivity, and with his ardent desire to mingle in the affray of which these sounds were the introduction. "If I could but drag myself," he said, "to yonder window, that I might see how this brave game is like to go-if I had but bow to shoot a shaft, or battle-axe to strike were it but a single blow for our deliverance !-It is in vain-it is in vain—I am alike nerveless and weaponless." "Fret not thyself, noble knight," answered Rebecca; "the sounds have ceased of a suddenit may be they join not battle." "Thou knowest nought of it," said Wilfrid, impatiently; "this dead pause only shows that the men are at their posts on the walls, and expecting an instant attack; what we have heard was Lut the distant muttering of the storm--it will burst anon in all its fury.-Could I but reach yonder window!" "Thou wilt but injure thyself by the attempt, noble knight," replied his attendant. Observing his extreme solicitude, she firmly added, "I myself will stand at the lattice, and describe to you as I can what passes without." "You must not-you shall not!" exclaimed Ivanhoe; "each lattice, each aperture, will be soon a mark for the archers; some random shaft--" "It shall be welcome," murmured Rebecca, as with firm pace she ascended two or three steps which led to the window of which they spoke. "Rebecca, dear Rebecca!" exclaimed Ivanhoe, "this is no maiden's pastime-do not expose thyself to wounds and death, and render me for ever miserable for having given the occasion; at least, cover thyself with yonder ancient buckler, and show as little of your person at the lattice as may be." Following with wonderful promptitude the directions of Ivanhoe, and availing herself of the protection of the large ancient shield, which she placed against the lower part of the window, Rebecca, with tolerable security to herself, could witness part of what was passing without the castle, and report to Ivanhoe the preparations which the assailants were making for the storm. Indeed the situation which she thus obtained was peculiarly favourable for this purpose, because, being placed on an angle of the main building, Rebecca could not only see what passed beyond the precincts of the castle, but also commanded a view of the outwork likely to be the first object of the meditated assault. It was an exterior fortification of no great height or strength, intended to protect the postern-gate through which Cedric had been recently dismissed by Front-de-Bouf. The castle moat divided this species of barbican from the rest of the fortress, so that, in case of its being taken, it was easy to cut of the communistin tion nearly opposite to the outwork, it seemed no These appear toes she hastily commemdated to Ivanhoe, and added, “The Skirts of the wool seem lined with archers, althoh only a advanced from its dak Ładow." Under what balleri asked Ivanhog. “Under no ensin of war which. I can observe, answered Rebecca. “A singular novelty," alsvered the knight, "to advance to storm such a castle withor pennon or banner displayed-best then who they be that act as leaders!" It was not. however, y clamour that the conte-t was to be decided, and the desperate efforts of the assallants were met by an equally vigorous defence on the part of the besieged. The archers, trained by their wolland pastimes to the most effective use of the long-hs w, shot, to use the appropriate phrase of the time, so wholly together," that no joint at which a defender could -Low the least of his person escaped their cloth-yard shafts. By this heavy discharge, which continued as thick and Sharp as hil, while, notwithstanding, every arrow had its individual aim, and flew by scores toother against each embrasured opening in the parapets, as well as at every window where a detener either occasionally had post or might be Suspe tel to be stationed,-by this stained dischange. two or three of the garrison were slain, and several others wounded. But, confident in their armour of proof, and in the cover which their situation afforded, the followers of Front-de-Bœuf, and his allies, showed an obstinacy in defence proportioned to the fury of the attack, and replied with the discharge of their large cross-bows, as well as with their long-bows, slings, and other 1 missile weapons, to the close and continued shower of arrows; and, as the assailants were necessarily Il Iv a- but indifferently protected, did considerably more divie, but damage than they received at their hand. The Cinst whining of shafts and of missiles, on both sides, was only interrupted by the shouts which arose when either side inflicted or sustained some notable loss. "A kuight clad in able armour is the most conspienons, said the Jewess; "he al te is admed from head to heel, atel seems to assume the direction of all around him." What device does he bear on his SIMA replied Ivanhoe. Something resembli ar of ir lock painted on the 11. khiM "A fetterlock and sha K-bit azur hoe; I know not who may bear t well I ween it might now be min then not se the motto d Scarce the device itself at this distance," replied Rebecca; "but when the sui glac fair upon his shield, it shows I tell you "Seem there no other leaders anxious inquirer. "And I must lie here like a bed-ridden monk," exclaimed the exclaimed Ivanhoe," while the game that gives me freedom or death is played out by the hand of others - Look from the window once again, kind maiden, but beware that you are not marked by the archers beneath--Look out once more, and tell me if they yet advance to the storm." "None of mark and distinction that I can be hold from this station," said Rebecca, "but doubtless the other side of the castle is also assailed. They seem even now preparing to advance.-God of Zion, protect us! What a dreadful sightThose who advance first bear huge shields, and defences made of plank; the others follow, bending their bows as they come on. They raise their bows! God of Moses, forgive the creatures thou hast made!" Her description was here suddenly interrupted by the signal for assault, which was given by the blast of a shrill bugle, and at once answered by a flourish of the Norman trumpets from the battlements, which, mingled with the deep and hollow clang of the makers (a species of kettle-drum), retorted in notes of defiance the challenge of the enemy. The shouts of both parties augmented the fearful din, the assailants crying, "Saint George for With patient courage, strengthened by the interval which she had employed in mental devotion, Rebecca again took post at the lattice, sheltering herself, however, so as not to be visible from beneath. "What dost thou see, Rebecca!" again demanded the wounded knight. "Nothing but the cloud of arrows, flying so thick as to dazzle mine eyes, and to hide the bowmen who shoot them." "That cannot endure," said Ivanhoe; "if they press not right on to carry the castle by pure force of arms, the archery may avail but little against stone walls and bulwarks. Look for the knight of the fetterlock, fair Rebecca, and see how he men close under the outer barrier of the barbican. They pull down the piles and palisades; they hew down the barriers with axes-his high black plume floats abroad over the throng, like a raven over the field of the slain.-They have made a breach in the barriers-they rush in-they are thrust back! -Front-de-Boeuf heads the defenders; I see his gigantic form above the press. They throng again to the breach, and the pass is disputed hand to hand and man to man. God of Jacob! it is the meeting of two fierce tides-the conflict of two oceans moved by adverse winds." to hand on the breach, amid the roar of their followers, who watch the progress of the strifeHeaven strike with the cause of the oppressed and of the captive!" She then uttered a loud shriek, and exclaimed, "He is down!-he is down!" "Who is down?" cried Ivanhoe; "for our dear Lady's sake, tell me which has fallen ?" "The Black Knight," answered Rebecca, faintly; then instantly again shouted with joyful eagerness "But no-but no!-the name of the Lord of hosts be blessed!-he is on foot again, and fights as if there were twenty men's strength in his She turned her head from the lattice, as if un- single arm.-His sword is broken-he snatches an able longer to endure a sight so terrible. axe from a yeoman - he presses Front-de-Boeuf with blow on blow-the giant stoops and totters, like an oak under the steel of the woodman-he falls-he falls!" "Front-de-Boeuf ?" exclaimed Ivanhoe. "Front-de-Bœuf," answered the Jewess; "his men rush to the rescue; headed by the haughty Templar-their united force compels the champion to pause they drag Front-de-Boeuf within the walls." "The assailants have won the barriers, have they not!" said Ivanhoe. "The ladders are thrown down," replied Rebecca, shuddering; "the soldiers lie grovelling under them like crushed reptiles-the besieged have the better." "Saint George strike for us," said the knight, "do the false yeomen give way!" "No!" exclaimed Rebecca, "they bear themselves right yeomanly-the Black Knight approaches the postern with his huge axe-the thundering blows which he deals, you may hear them above all the din and shouts of the battle-stones and beams are hurled down on the bold champion-he regards them no more than if they were thistle-down or feathers." "By Saint John of Acre," said Ivanhoe, raising himself joyfully on his couch, "methought there was but one man in England that might do such a deed." "They have-they have-and they press the besieged hard upon the outer wall; some plant ladders, some swarm like bees, and endeavour to ascend upon the shoulders of each other-down go stones, beams, and trunks of trees upon their heads, and as fast as they bear the wounded to the, rear fresh men supply their places in the assault. I Great God hast thou given men thine own image, "The postern gate shakes," continued Rebecca; that it should be thus cruelly defaced by the hands; "it crashes-it is splintered by his blows-they of their brethren!" rush in the outwork is won-O God-they hurl the defenders from the battlements-they throw them into the moat-O men, if ye be indeed men, spare them that can resist no longer!" "Think not of that," replied Ivanhoe; "this is no time for such thoughts.-Who yield -who push their way?" 強 MY WATCH. Y beautiful new watch had run eighteen months without losing or gaining, and without break ing any part of its machinery or stopping. I had come to believe it infallible in its judgments about the time of day, and to consider its constitution and its anatomy imperishable. But at last, one night, I let it run down. I grieved about it as if it were a recognised messenger, and forerunner of calamity. But by-and-by I cheered up, set the watch by guess, and commanded my bodings and superstitions to depart. Next day I stepped into the chief jeweller's to set it by the exact time, and the head of the establishment took it out of my hand and proceeded to set it for me. Then he said, "She is four minutes slow-regulator wants pushing up." I tried to stop him-tried to make him understand that the watch kept perfect time. But no; all this human cabbage could see was that the watch was four minutes slow, and the regulator must be pushed up a little; and so, while I danced around him in anguish, and beseeched him to let the watch alone, he calmly and cruelly did the shameful deed. My watch began to gain. It gained faster and faster day by day. Within the week it sickened to a raging fever, and its pulse went up to 150 in the shade. At the end of two months it had left all the timepieces of the town far in the rear, and was a fraction over thirteen days ahead of the almanack. It was away into November enjoying the snow, while the October leaves were still turning. It hurried up house-rent, bills payable, and such things in such a ruinous way that I could not abide it. I took it to the watchmaker to be regulated. He asked me if I had ever had it repaired. I said no, it had never needed any repairing. He looked a look of vicious happiness, and eagerly prised the watch open, then put a small dice-box into his eye and peered into its machinery. He said it wanted cleaning and oiling, besides regulating-come in a week. After being cleaned and oiled and regulated, my watch slowed down to that degree that it ticked like a tolling bell. I began to be left by trains, I failed all appointments, I got to missing my dinner; my watch strung out three days' grace to four, and let me go to protest; I gradually drifted back into yesterday, then day before, then into last week, and by and by the comprehension came upon me that all solitary and alone I was lingering along in week before last and the world was out of sight. I seemed to detect in myself a sort of sneaking fellow-feeling for the mummy in the museum, and a desire to exchange news with him. I went to a watchmaker again. He took the watch all to pieces while I waited, and then said the barrel was "swelled." He said he could reduce it in three days. After this the watch averaged well but nothing more. For half a day it would go like the very mischief, and keep up such a barking and wheezing, and whooping and sneezing and snorting that I could not hear myself think for the disturbance; and as long as it held out there was not a watch in the land that stood any chance against it. But the rest of the day it would keep on slowing down and fooling along until all the clocks it had left behind caught up again. So at last, at the end of twenty-four hours, it would trot up to the judge's stand all right and just in time. It would show a fair and square average, and no man could say it had done more or less than its duty. But a correct average is only a mild virtue in a watch, and I took this instrument to another watchmaker. He said the kingbolt was broken. I said I was glad it was nothing more serious. To took the watch to another watchmaker. He picked it all to pieces and turned the ruin over and over under his glass; and then he said there appeared to be something the matter with the hair trigger. He fixed it, and gave it a fresh start. It did well now, except that always at ten minutes to ten the hands would shut together like a pair of scissors, and from that time forth they would trave! together. The oldest man in the world could not make head or tail of the time of day by such a watch. and so I went again to have the thing repaired. This person said that the crystal had got bent, and that the mainspring was not straight. He also remarked that part of the works needed halfsoling. He made these things all right, and then my timepiece performed unexceptionally, save that now and then, after working along quietly for nearly eight hours, everything inside would let go all of a sudden and begin to buzz like a bee, and the hands would straightway begin to spin round and round so fast that their individuality was lost completely, and they simply seemed a delicate spider's web over the face of the watch. She would reel off the next twenty-four hours in six or seven minutes, and then stop with a bang. I went with a heavy heart to one more watchmaker, and looked on while he took her to pieces. Then I prepared to cross-question him rigidly, for this thing was getting serious. The watch had tell the plain truth, I had no idea what the king-cost two hundred dollars originally, and I seemed bolt was, but I did not choose to appear ignorant to have paid out two or three thousand for repairs. to a stranger. He repaired the kingbolt, but what the watch gained in one way it lost in another. It would run awhile and then stop awhile, and then run awhile again, and so on, using its own discretion about the intervals. And every time it went off it kicked back like a musket. I padded my breast for a few days, but finally While I waited and looked on I presently recognised in this watchmaker an old acquaintancea steamboat engineer of other days, and not a good engineer either. He examined all the parts carefully just as the other watchmakers had done, and then delivered his verdict with the same confidence of manner. He said |