ittle birds fluttered above our heads, silently and fearfully, as
though they had lost their way. At length we turn sharply round an
angle of the road,--and what a surprise awaits us! A large handsome
building, surrounded by a very strong fortified wall, pierced for
cannon in several places, lies spread before us near the bed of the
river, and rises in the form of terraces towards the brow of the
hill. From the position we occupied, we could see over the whole
extent of wall from without and from within. Fortified as it was,
it lay open before our gaze. Several buildings, and in front of all
a church with a small cupola, told us plainly that St. Saba lay
stretched below.

On the farther bank, seven or eight hundred paces from the convent,
rose a single square tower, apparently of great strength. I little
thought that I should soon become much better acquainted with this
isolated building.

The priests had observed our procession winding down the hill, and
at the first knocking the gate was opened. Masters, servants,
Arabs, and Bedouins, all passed through; but when my turn came, the
cry was, "Shut the gate!" and I was shut out, with the prospect of
passing the night in the open air,--a thing which would have been
rather disagreeable, considering how unsafe the neighbourhood was.
At length, however, a lay brother appeared, and, pointing to the
tower, gave me to understand that I should be lodged there. He
procured a ladder from the convent, and went with me to the tower,
where we mounted by its aid to a little low doorway of iron. My
conductor pushed this open, and we crept in. The interior of the
tower seemed spacious enough. A wooden staircase led us farther
upwards to two tiny rooms, situated about the centre of the tower.
One of these apartments, dimly lighted by the rays of a lamp,
contained a small altar, and served as a chapel, while the second
was used as a sleeping-room for female pilgrims. A wooden divan was
the only piece of furniture this room contained. My conductor now
took his leave, promising to return in a short time with some
provisions, a bolster, and a coverlet for me.

So now I was at least sheltered for the night, and guarded like a
captive princess by bolt and bar. I could not even have fled had I
wished to do so, for my leader had locked the creaking door behind
him, and taken away the ladder. After carefully examining the
chapel and my neatly-furnished apartment in this dreary