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of the customers who were departing. the lantern, and light this stranger to Two seafaring men who stood together, bed." seemed to take particular notice of the stranger who had entered with Joe; and one said to the other, "I tell you I am sure it is him." "Hush," said the other, "say nothing about it here."

Several of these broken expressions were overheard by Joe; and observing their attention was occupied by the stranger, he of course guessed they had been speaking of him; and he was half inclined to ask them, if they knew any thing about him; but however, as there were several persons around the bar at the time, he forbore to do so.

As soon as the house was cleared, and the doors fastened for the night, he made a glass of grog and presented it to the stranger, together with some food, and told him to help himself, and then he could go to his bed. The stranger returned thanks, but in such a hollow sepulchral voice, that Joe lifted up the light and looked in his face, to ascertain if he was really a living being, or the spectre of some departed soul. His looks were not the most encouraging. A long pale visage, with an unshaven skin, dark straggling hair, which being long and thick over his forehead, his cheek bones almost protruding through the skin, and his hollow dimmed eye, gave him almost a spectral appearance.

"Some of those people appeared to know you," said Joe as he looked stedfastly in his face.

The stranger started as he echoed, "know me!"

"Yes :-know you," repeated Joe, "are you afraid of being known, then?" "No," replied the stranger, why should I be afraid?"

"I can't say,' replied Joe. "I think your appearance was enough to frighten them; for you look very like

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Who!" interrupted the stranger. Why you look as if you had been stolen from a churchyard; and your voice sounds more like the grunting of a half-starved bear, than a human being but however, as you appear to be distressed, and in want, that shall be a sufficient passport to Joe Buntline's hospitality; so you shall now retire to rest: but mark my words, I shall expect you to give some account of yourself in the morning, for I am rather particular as to who I receive into my house, as it has always been in good repute since I have had it, and I don't wish it to lose its character; nor shall it while I am able to prevent it. Here Richard, take

The stranger pressed his hand, and would have given utterance to his feelings; but his voice faltered, a tear of thankfulness stood in his eye, and he turned off abruptly and followed Richard in silence.

Joe looked after them, and began to clear away some of the glasses that laid on the table. "I can't help thinking of that poor fellow," ejaculated he, " and I can't for the soul of me think all is as it ought to be. What the deuce could those two fellows mean by saying they were sure it was him?--It's very suspicious."

His cogitations were disturbed by a smart knocking at the window shutters. "Who the deuce can that be at this late hour?" said Joe.

The knock was repeated. there?" said Joe.

"Who 's

"The police!" replied a voice outside, "open."

"Certainly," said Joe as he drew back the bolts. Three of the head officer's entered.

"Well gentlemen," said Joe, "what occasions this visit so late at night? you are aware that I always close my house at a proper hour; and that I never admit improper persons if I know it."

"We are aware of that," replied the officer, who appeared to be the principal. "But it is possible you might receive improper characters without being aware of them. Cast your eyes over that paper." So saying he handed a printed placard to Joe, who unfolded it, and read

Fifty Pounds Reward. "Escaped from the Prison Ship, Ambrose Urban, a notorious pirate, under sentence of death. Whoever will give such information as will lead to his apprehension, shall receive Fifty Pounds reward—stands 5 feet 10 high, with a scar on the back of his neck."

"Ah well!" said Joe. "There has been no such person here, nor have I any person of that description lodging in the house."

Richard having conducted the stranger to his bed, returned, at this moment, and as he placed the lanthorn on the table, said, "I have conducted the stranger to the room as you directed."

"A stranger!" said one of the officers. "Yes," said Ben, "a poor half-starved fellow that I found wandering in the street; but he's not the man you want.

"We must be assured of that," said one of the officers, "before we quit your house, for we have positive information that he was seen here this very evening." "That's a great falsehood," said Joe angrily, "who dared utter such a lie?" "Come forward," said the officer as he turned towards the door. The two sailors who had noticed the stranger now entered. And in reply to the question, said they had seen the very man in that house that same night. Further resistance was useless; the officers immediately rushed up stairs to the stranger's room; while one remained below to watch that Joe did not quit the place, as they strongly suspected he had wilfully concealed the object of their search.

Richard glanced on the placard, and reading—“ a scar on the back of the neck," exclaimed

"They are right, sir; it is the very man. Oh, I wish I had seen this at first, I would have gained fifty pounds." "How?" said Joe.

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By betraying him into their hands," replied Richard.

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Why you skulking 'long shore lubber; would you go and bring disgrace on my house; I say it is impossible he can be the pirate; he hasn't the strength of a mouse, and is unable to protect himself, much more to attack another."

"He has a scar on the back of his neck," muttered Richard.

"Well, what has that to do with it?" said Joe; "I'm not a police officer, to examine and suspect every one I meetwhat business is it of mine?"

"Fifty pounds reward," muttered Richard.

"Out of my sight, you soul-selling swab," said Joe; get to bed, and mind your own affairs.

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The officers had rushed into the room where the stranger was supposed to be, and hastily drew back the curtains of the bed; but he had disappeared. The stranger had overheard what passed in the room beneath in an instant his mind was made up; he threw up the window, and finding it within a few feet from the ground, he jumped down, and escaped. The officers finding themselves disappointed in securing their prize, returned below.

"Well, did you find your prize?" inquired Joe.

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No," replied the officer; "and I must say that I suspect you have been the cause of his escape; and therefore it

is my duty to take you before the magistrate'

"Before a magistrate!" exclaimed Joe; "take old Joe Buntline before a magistrate! Lord, you mister officer, I have sailed under the British flag for thirty years, during which time no complaint was ever made against me for breach of discipline or neglect of duty. I have been in thirteen severe engagements, and received some severe wounds, the scars of which will go with me to the grave. I have received a good character from every commander under whom I have served; and after all, to be hauled up before a magistrate as if I was a felon; let me tell you this is hard lines."

"Hard lines, no doubt," rejoined the officer; “but we have a duty to perform, and there is no alternative."

Joe, finding there was no remedy, flapped his broad hat on his head, and went away with the officers.

Joe was not long detained, as the magistrate deemed the evidence insufficient, and taking his good character into consideration, discharged him at

once.

But Joe Buntline felt himself disgraced; he fancied that every one looked upon him with scorn; he found he could not live under the stain which had been thrown on his character, and he determined to leave England and go to sea again. He therefore made over his little inn to his niece (the only relation he had living), and making his way to a sea-port at some distance from his own neighbourhood, entered on board a merchant ship bound to Quebec. They had been at sea about three weeks, when the man on the look-out gave notice of a strange sail bearing down upon them. The master took his telescope, and declared it to be a pirate. All was consternation on board; what few arms they had on board, were quickly put in requisition; and the master swore if she was not too heavy for them, he would put the helm a-lee, and run her down. The Pirate (for such indeed it was) gained fast upon them; every act that bravery could suggest was achieved on board the merchant vessel. The master and mate were both killed, and the marauders rushed on board. Joe used his cutlass with dreadful effect, as many gaping wounds would testify, but he was unable to stand against unequal numbers. He received a severe blow, which brought him to the ground; many daggers were upraised, and he

was about to fall a victim to the pirates' rage, when one of the crew, who appeared to have authority over them, rushed forward, and in a stentorian voice, called out

"Hold! I command you!-I whom you have elected captain, claim the privilege of taking this man as my prisoner. His life must be preserved at all hazards. Take him to my cabin, and dress his wound." Joe was accordingly conveyed on board the pirate ship, and laid on a couch, and fatigue soon lulled him to sleep. The noise and bustle occasioned by the pirates overhauling the treasures they had taken from the merchant ship, did not allow him much repose. He arose from his couch, and feeling sufficient strength, ascended to the deck. Here all was bustle and merriment. The pirates were gambling for the plunder; cards, dice, and money, were scattered promiscuously before them. Joe turned from the scene with disgust, when his eye fell upon the man at the helm. He paused and endeavoured to recollect himself—he thought he recognised the features, and was determined to ascertain if he guessed rightly. He advanced slowly towards him, and in a low voice said, We have met before-" "We have," replied the helmsman. "Sit down here; the crew are half gone with liquor, and are too busy to notice us." Joe seated himself on a coil of rope, and looked at the helmsman with an inquiring gaze.

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"You do not appear to recollect me!" said the pirate. "I am not surprised; for when last we met, I had been three days without food, and had been hunted through the country for many a day, till chance threw me in your way; you stretched forth your charitable hand, and saved me from perishing from want." "What!" exclaimed Joe. "Are you the poor half famished fellow I took into my house. Why how you are altered. Who could ever have thought such a thin spar, as you looked to be, could change to a stout limbed fellow near six feet high, and that faint spectral voice change to one loud enough to vie with half the boatswains in the navy?"

"It is true," replied the pirate. "And you will be further convinced when I tell you that I overheard the conversation between yourself and the police officers. I was guilty of many crimes 'tis true: my heart was turned against my fellow men-I hated mankind for their ingratitude. But callous as I was to every generous feeling, your noble

conduct at that moment so wrought upon my better feelings, that I vowed I would at any time lay down my life to serve you."

"And who the deuce are you?" inquired Joe.

"I am Ambrose Urban the pirate, whose head is now worth fifty good English pounds."

"What!" exclaimed Joe, "have I been shielding a pirate!— a murderer! from justice."

"No man is guilty until convicted," replied Ambrose. "You saved my life, and I have now saved yours. Yet though a Pirate and a proscribed felon; 'tis fit you know I was once reckoned as good a seaman as ever trod the deck of a British ship. And I should have been so still; but I had a bitter enemy among the officers, who seemed as it were born to be my scourge. I vowed revenge; and one night when on shore, I waited for my opportunity, waylaid him, and taxed him with his perfidy. He drew his sword upon me, and treated me contemptuously. Enraged at his conduct I drew forth a pistol which I had concealed about me, and shot him through the head. I flew from the kingdom, was taken by pirates at sea, and became one of their crew. I was next taken by the English, and condemned to die. I made my escape, and wandered about the country hoping to meet with a chance of getting to sea. I was on the point of perishing for want, when chance threw me in your way-"

At this moment an unusual bustle was heard at the forecastle, Ambrose looked out, and observed two brigs of war to windward. The pirate crew were completely intoxicated, the brigs gained upon them, and their shot played heavily about the pirate's ship. Ambrose stood at the helm and gave orders; a shot struck the binnacle, and shivered it to atoms-another moment, a shot struck Ambrose on the neck, and he fell a headless corpse at the feet of Joe; Joe instantly decided what course to take. He rushed to the spot where the survivors of the merchant crew were confined, he forced up the hatches and released them, and thus reinforced, the panic struck pirates were immediately overcome. Joe hailed the nearest of the king's ships; "Cease firing, and I'll bring her alongside.' He did so, and went aboard the king's ships, and related the whole of his adventure. "There," said he, "is all the rich cargo safe aboard the pirate's ship." Joe's joy

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was beyond bounds when he was informed that the suspicions which had attached to him, as having been accessary to the escape of Ambrose, had been cleared up, and his pension had been raised in consequence. The cliffs of old England once more met his gladdened sight-he got ashore, and went to his old house. Here he found a young man in the bar, and observed a sleeping infant in a cradle. "Shiver my topsail, if I know what to make of all this!" exclaimed he, "where's my niece Martha, is she dead?" "No uncle, no," exclaimed Martha, as she rushed into his arms, "that babe is mine, and this is my husband. Your house has prospered, and it is with joy I resign it into your hands."

"No my good girl,” replied Joe, "it is now all your own, only give me a corner to lay my old hulk in harbour for life, and the rest is yours for ever."

Martha and her husband testified their gratitude for his generosity, and Joe cast anchor for life, and in his 80th year he cut his cable, and set sail for those regions where eternal happiness is ever the reward of the brave and virtuous.

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[We continue our Extracts from Mr. Lane's very interesting Work]. THE following anecdote would not be out of place in the Thousand and One Nights :'

"A poor man applied one day to the Agha of the police, and said, 'Sir, there came to me to-day, a woman, and she said to me, 'Take this ckoors, and let it remain in your possession for a time, and lend me five hundred piastres:' and I took it from her, Sir, and gave her the five hundred piastres, and she went away. And when she was gone away, I said to myself, "Let me look at this ckoors;" and I looked at it, and behold, it was yellow brass and I slapped my face, and said, "I will go to the Agha, and relate my story to him; perhaps he will investigate the affair, and clear it up;" for there is none that can help me in this matter but thee." The Agha said to him, "Hear what I tell thee, man,

• An ornament worn on the crown of the head-dress by women.

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Take whatever is in thy shop; leave nothing; and lock it up; and to-morrow morning go early, and when thou hast opened the shop, cry out, 'Alas for my property!' then take in thy hands two clods, and beat thyself with them, and cry, 'Alas for the property of others!' and whoever says to thee, What is the matter with thee?' do thou answer, The property of others is lost: a pledge that I had, belonging to a woman, is lost: if it were my own, I should not thus lament it' and this will clear up the affair." The man promised to do as he was desired. He removed every thing from his shop, and early the next morning he went and opened it, and began to cry out, Alas for the property of others!' and he took two clods and beat himself with them, and went about every district of the city, crying, 'Alas for the property of others! a pledge that I had, belonging to a woman, is lost; if it were my own, I should not thus lament it.' The woman who had given him the ckoors in pledge heard of this, and discovered that it was the man whom she had cheated; so she said to herself, 'Go and bring an action against him.' She went to his shop, riding on an ass, to give herself consequence, and said to him, 'Man, give me my property that is in thy possession.' He answered, 'It is lost.' Thy tongue be cut out!' she cried: dost thou lose my property? By Allah! I will go to the Agha, and inform him of it.' said he; and she went, and told her case. The Agha sent for the man; and when he had come, said to his accuser, 'What is thy property in his possession?' She answered, 'A ckoors of red Venetian gold.' 'Woman,' said the Agha, I have a gold ckoors here; I should like to shew it thee.' She said, 'Shew it me, Sir, for I shall know my ckoors.' The Agha then untied a handkerchief, and, taking out of it the ckoors which she had given in pledge, said, 'Look.' She looked at it and knew it, and hung down her head. The Agha said, 'Raise thy head, and say where are the five hundred piastres of this man,' She answered, Sir, they are in my house.' The executioner was sent with her to and her house, but without his sword; the woman, having gone into the house, brought out a purse containing the The money, and went back with him. money was given to the man from whom it had been obtained, and the executioner was then ordered to take the woman and behead her, which he did."

Go,'

In no country is more advantage taken of the facilities afforded to divorce by the Mahommedan law :

"There are many men in this country, who, in the course of ten years, have married as many as twenty, thirty, or more wives; and women not far advanced in age, who have been wives to a dozen or more men successively. I have heard of men who have been in the habit of marrying a new wife almost every month. A person may do this, though possessed of very little property: he may choose from among the females of the lower orders, in the streets of Cairo, a handsome young widow, or divorced woman, who will consent to become his wife for a dowry of about ten shillings: and when he divorces her, he need not give her more than double that sum to maintain her during the period that she is forbidden to marry again."

The demoralizing effects of this pernicious custom may easily be imagined; mutual confidence and respect scarcely exist in domestic life; and, unless there be a child to cement the union, no Egyptian woman can be sure of her husband for a single hour:

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Often, indeed, if mutual attachment subsist between her and her master, the situation of a concubine slave is more fortunate than that of a wife; for the latter may be cast off by her husband in a moment of anger, by an irrevocable sentence of divorce, and reduced to a state of poverty; whereas a man very seldom dismisses a female slave without providing for her in such a manner that, if she have not been used to luxuries, she suffers but little, if at all, by the change this he generally does by emancipating her, giving her a dowry, and marrying her to a person of honest reputation; or by presenting her to a friend. I have already mentioned, that a master cannot sell a slave who has borne him a child: and that she is entitled to her freedom on his death. It often happens that such a slave, immediately after the birth of her child, is emancipated, and becomes her master's wife: when she has become free, she can no longer lawfully supply the place of a wife unless he marry her. Many persons consider it disgraceful even to sell a female slave who has been long in their service."

Knowledge, in Egypt, is at a very low ebb; and we are not surprised to learn that the Egyptians are even more superstitious than the Arabs. The stories of gins and afrits are common over the East, but the belief in walis, or men

supernaturally endowed, is peculiar to Egypt. We extract one popular anecdote respecting these wonder-working saints, which is almost universally believed in Cairo :

"The saint above mentioned, as soon as he had entered upon his office, walked through his district; and seeing a man at a shop with a jar full of boiled beans before him, from which he was about to serve his customers as usual, took up a large piece of stone, and with it broke the jar. The bean-seller immediately jumped up, seized hold of a palm-stick that lay by his side, and gave the saint a severe beating; but the holy man complained not, nor did he utter a cry: as soon as he was allowed, he walked away. When he was gone, the bean-seller began to try if he could gather up some of the scattered contents of the jar. A portion of the jar remained in its place; and on looking into this, he saw a venemous serpent in it, coiled round, and dead. In horror at what he had done, he exclaimed, 'There is no strength nor power but in God! I implore forgiveness of God the Great! What have I done! This man is a saint, and has prevented my selling what would have poisoned my customers!' He looked at every passenger all that day, in the hope of seeing again the saint whom he had thus injured, that he might implore his forgiveness: but he saw him not, for he was too much bruised to be able to walk. On the following day, however, with his limbs still swollen from the blows he had received, the saint limped through his district, and broke a great jar of milk at a shop not far from that of the bean-seller, and its owner treated him as the beanseller had done the day before; but while he was beating him, some persons ran up, and stopped his hand, informing him that the person whom he was thus punishing was a saint, and relating to him the affair of the serpent that was found in the jar of beans. 'Go and look,' said they, in your jar of milk, and you will find, at the bottom of it, something either poisonous or unclean.' He looked, and found, in the remains of the jar, a dead dog. On the third day, the saint, with the help of a staff, hobbled painfully up the Durb-el-Ahhmar, and saw a servant carrying, upon his head, a supper-tray covered with dishes of meat, vegetables, and fruit, for a party who were going to take a repast in the country. He put his staff between the servant's legs, and overthrew him, and the contents of the dishes were scattered in

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