His good horse, too, which had plodded
forward with the steady endurance of his master, now lifted his
head, expanded his nostrils, and quickened his pace, as if he
snuffed afar off the living waters which marked the place of
repose and refreshment. But labour and danger were doomed to
intervene ere the horse or horseman reached the desired spot.
As the Knight of the Couchant Leopard continued to fix his eyes
attentively on the yet distant cluster of palm-trees, it seemed
to him as if some object was moving among them. The distant form
separated itself from the trees, which partly hid its motions,
and advanced towards the knight with a speed which soon showed a
mounted horseman, whom his turban, long spear, and green caftan
floating in the wind, on his nearer approach showed to be a
Saracen cavalier. "In the desert," saith an Eastern proverb, "no
man meets a friend." The Crusader was totally indifferent
whether the infidel, who now approached on his gallant barb as if
borne on the wings of an eagle, came as friend or foe--perhaps,
as a vowed champion of the Cross, he might rather have preferred
the latter.
Pages:
25
26
27
28
29
30
31
32
33
34
35
36
37
38
39
40
41
42
43
44
45
46
47
48
49