y father," exclaimed she, "and my brothers! there is
Ovanes, and Agoop, and Aratoon! and my uncle too!"

'As they came up, she embraced them all with transports of delight. I
was in agonies of apprehension lest some youth should appear, who might
have excited other feelings in her heart; but no, none but relations
were there. They explained to her that the alarm of her seizure had been
spread throughout the village by her young friends; that luckily they
had not yet gone to the fields, and the family horse was at home,
upon which her father was instantly mounted. They had traced the fresh
footsteps of her ravisher's horse as long as he kept the road, had
marked the place where he turned from it, had seen them again in several
places, had tracked him through a corn-field that led up a steep slope,
and at length, from a high summit, Ovanes had seen them descending a
glen, which must have been very near the spot where they had now found
her.

'She said all this was true, and again thanked God and St. Gregory for
her escape; and, after some hesitation, in a most embarrassed manner,
pointed me out as her deliverer. The attention of the whole party was
then directed to me. "Whose son are you?" said the old man, her father.

'"I am the son of Coja Petros," said I, "the chief of the village of
Gavmishlu."

'"Ah! he is my friend and neighbour," answered he; "but I do not know
you; perhaps you are the son who was educating at the Three Churches for
a priest, and who came to the help of your family?"

'I answered in the affirmative, and then he said, "You are welcome. May
your house prosper! You have saved our daughter, and we owe you eternal
gratitude. You must come with us and be our guest. If ever it were
necessary to kill a lamb, to eat and be merry, it is now. We, and all
our families, will carry you upon our heads; we will kiss your feet, and
smooth your brow, for having saved our Mariam, and preserved her from
dragging out her existence the slave of the Mussulman."

'I then received the congratulations and kind speeches of her brothers
and uncle, who all invited me to their village in so pressing a manner,
that, unable to resist, and propelled by my anxiety to see Mariam, I
accepted their offer, and we forthwith proceeded in a body.

'As we were winding down the side of one of the mountains, Mariam's
village, for such I shall call it, was pointed out to me, situated among
trees, snugly seated in a warm nook, protecte