prince grew up the handsomest and most accomplished youth of his day, beloved by all who shared his society. One day, when he was about one-and-twenty years old, he was hunting with his companions in one of the royal forests, and in the course of the morning found that he had been separated from his train, and had wandered to some part of the wood with which he was unacquainted. He wound his horn repeatedly, but there was no reply. At last he flung the reins on his horse's neck, and resolved to trust to his instinct to find the way to his stable again. The horse proceeded quickly enough for more than an hour, when the prince's attention was attracted by loud cries for help, which proceeded from a dense thicket at some little distance. He instantly drew his sword, and spurred his horse to the spot whence the cries seemed to come. Here he found three armed men attacking a dwarf, who had set his back against a tree, and though desperately wounded, was defending himself with the most determined courage. The prince, seeing the inequality of the odds, cut the foremost down with his scimitar, and the dwarf, taking advantage of the surprise which the prince's arrival had occasioned, ran another of the ruffians through the body. The third took to flight; but the prince, stringing his bow, discharged an arrow after him, which struck him in the back, and pierced his vitals, so that he, too, dropped dead on the ground. Prince Redad now alighted to help the wounded man, who was leaning against the tree, exhausted and bleeding. "Noble youth," he said, "your succour has come too late. But I thank you none the less, and will expend my last breath in requiting you to the best of my ability. I can tell you a charm which, in a moment, subdues the fiercest and most untamable horse, and renders it as tractable as though it had been trained from a colt. Listen to the words, and repeat them after me, for I shall die happier, knowing that you have the secret."

The prince, who thought that the dwarf's mind was wandering from the pain of his wounds, nevertheless complied with his request, and repeated the words several

times at his dictation, until the other was satisfied that he would recollect them.

A few moments afterwards, he expired.

Redad threw the four bodies into a pit,which he found near the spot, and covered them as well as he was able with stones and leaves. He then remounted his horse, which in a few hours brought him safe back to his hunting seat.

The same night, after the prince and all his servants had retired to rest, the household was disturbed by a loud knocking at the gate. When this was opened, a horseman was discovered, still keeping the saddle, and holding a led horse by the rein. He was charged with a message to the prince—that the king, his father, had suddenly been seized with a dangerous illness, and was, it was feared, at the point of death. He had sent a trusty servant to desire the immediate presence of his son, together with a horse from his stable, that no time might be lost in saddling one for his use. The prince, overcome by sorrow, caught up his hat and cloak, for he had not yet laid aside his clothes for the night, and hurried down to the gate. The night was so dark, that it was scarcely possible to distinguish one object from another, and he had neither time nor inclination to make a careful scrutiny. He flung himself, without a moment's delay, on the back of the charger, which the royal messenger was still holding for his use, and both horses immediately sprang forward at their utmost speed. For some time Prince Redad could think of nothing but his father's danger, and his hope that, on his arrival, he might find that the crisis was safely passed. But after a while, he could not help remarking, that the road which they were traversing was one wholly unknown to him. He shouted to his attendant, but he received no answer; and the moon at that moment breaking forth from the clouds, which had long obscured it, he perceived that his companion had left him, and that his horse was pursuing a wild career-not along the road to his father's palace, but over a dreary expanse of moor, He strove in vain to check its course,

and, had he not been an accomplished horseman, he would have been unable to retain his seat. Nothing seemed to bar the way or exhaust the speed of the fiery animal. Hour after hour passed on, and at length the day broke, and they were still hurrying forward with unabated fury. As the first ray of the sun fell on the landscape, Prince Redad observed that the horse, which he bestrode, was a coal black charger, without a single speck of white from mane to tail. In an instant the prediction of the magician flashed upon his recollection. He saw that he had been entrapped into the power of his enemy; and he nerved himself to meet the danger as well as he was able. They had now passed the moor, over which they had hitherto been speeding, and were traversing a country strewn with large masses of stone, and broken into precipitous descents, over which it would be certain death to be carried. The horse bounded over fragments of rock, which the boldest rider would never have ventured to attempt; and it was only by the exertion of his utmost strength and skill, that Prince Redad could prevent himself from being hurled from the saddle. At length he saw that the steed was hurrying onward to the edge of a huge crag, over which in a few minutes it would carry him, unless he could check or divert its career. For a moment he surrendered himself to despair; but the next, the recollection of the talisman, given him by the dwarf, broke upon him. He resolved at least to try the effect of it, as the sole remaining chance between him and death, and uttered aloud the words which had been taught him. They were now within fifty yards of the verge of the precipice; but the moment that the charm had been spoken, the horse stayed his flight, and stood as still and docile as the best trained steed in his father's stable. Wearied out with his terrible ride, the prince dismounted, and wrapping himself in his cloak, laid down to sleep, while his companion kept watch at his side, as a faithful dog waits on his master. About noon he awoke refreshed, and again mounting his charger, rode homewards at an easy pace. He arrived at the royal palace

about the hour of sunset, and found his father and all the court in the utmost alarm at his disappearance. When the king was informed of his son's return, he hurried forth eagerly to meet him. Beholding him mounted on a sable steed, his alarm again broke forth in loud exclamations. But Redad, springing lightly to the ground, gave the reins to a groom, whom he charged to take the utmost care of his newly-acquired possession; and then, accompanying his father into the house, detailed to him the strange occurrences of the day.-Balderscourt-Rev. H. C. Adams.

SMALL BEGINNINGS.

A TRAVELLER through a dusty road,
Strewed acorns on the lea;

And one took root, and sprouted up,
And grew into a tree.

Love sought its shade at evening time,
To breathe its early vows;

And age was pleased, in heats of noon,
To bask beneath its boughs.

The dormouse loved its dangling twigs,
The birds sweet music bore;

It stood a glory in its place-
A blessing evermore.

A little spring had lost its way,
Amid the grass and fern;
A passing stranger scooped a well
Where weary men might turn.
He walled it in, and hung with care
A ladle at the brink—

He thought not of the deed he did,
But judged that toil might drink.

He passed again, and, lo! the well,
By summers never dried,

Had cooled ten thousand parching tongues,
And saved a life besides.

A dreamer dropped a random thought,
'Twas old, and yet 'twas new-
A simple fancy of the brain,
But strong in being true;
It shone upon a genial mind,
And, lo! its light became
A lamp of life-a beacon-ray-
A monitory flame.

The thought was small, its issue great

A watch-fire on the hill,

It sheds its radiance far adown,
And cheers the valley still.