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il THLIY posed of a stone which resembled marble in its colour and hardness, yet they beean to excavate it, and before lono had hollowe.l out several caves for themselves, 1 hen the prince —who was still wealthy —pmmm dan cnormous diamond to whocever would carve best a palace for him. Skilful men came, and, eager for the promised reward, Ia houred mccssam]y' beiore long the ravine became a pathway on cither side of which magnifi- cent marble palaces stretched one after another for over three miles, and the inhos- pitable place now became a city more beauti- ful than poets have dreamed of. T'o own a pdlacc in Metra became the heioht of a prince’s ambition, and over them all the exiled one ruled. When he died his daughter; who had grown to be a beautitul woman, took her father's place and ruled i@s the ancw Idaliah "

“Who possessed these diamonds, 1 think vou told interposcd IFrank. The Arab scemed to scarcely notice the in- terruption, and went On—

“So the princes who dwelt in the marble palacesof Metra wooed the princess, but with- | out success, for she secretly despised them. During her childhood, while her father was still a wandering exile, she had come to know a voung and h’ml\' moun- taineer, and the hlU]d\hlP of childhoo

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grew decper and stronger as they became older. Her suitors ]mtcd the mountaineer, but wereafraid to show this, so they plann(,d how they might rid thcms(l\ es of Jam. The p]]fmm who conveyed the information to Shomar of the w ondertul ut\ arisen was sent by them. The king, on hcalmo of the beauty of ldaliah , deter mmcd to sce her, and shortly afterwards visited her palace 1 in disguise. It the princes admired her, the l\mo did more ; he was infatuated, and, d{tu tryving in vain to win her love, made known his real 1o mk. Then said the princess, as she sat on her throne while the monarch flung himsclf in entre: ity before her— I am but th\ inferior ; it is not litting that the orcat Shomar shou]d wed with a subject. T° here are dark-eyed maidens at the Courts of Persia and the other neighbouring realms, there wilt thou find a princess of royal blood thou mayest thus honour ' and she stretched out her hand as if to raise the monarch from his lowly position. The latter caught it eagerly and pressed 1t to Tis lips, while a burning blush suf- fused the princess's fcatures. Then che caid humbly, with downcast eyes — “CRKnow, O King, that the love (,)f [daliahis already pledoed—— "o whom?!

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ENTRIENTY PRUIVONE MUK,

asked the monarch, rising and standing before the princess, furious at his own want of success. Then [daliah told, with many @ becoming blush and sigh, of the \-uuxig' mountaincer. Shomar's face grew