d Master of the Templars was a tall, thin, war-worn man,
with a slow yet penetrating eye, and a brow on which a thousand dark
intrigues had stamped a portion of their obscurity. At the head of
that singular body, to whom their order was everything, and their
individuality nothing--seeking the advancement of its power, even at
the hazard of that very religion which the fraternity were originally
associated to protect--accused of heresy and witchcraft, although by
their character Christian priests--suspected of secret league with the
Soldan, though by oath devoted to the protection of the Holy Temple, or
its recovery--the whole order, and the whole personal character of its
commander, or Grand Master, was a riddle, at the exposition of which
most men shuddered. The Grand Master was dressed in his white robes
of solemnity, and he bore the ABACUS, a mystic staff of office, the
peculiar form of which has given rise to such singular conjectures and
commentaries, leading to suspicions that this celebrated fraternity of
Christian knights were embodied under the foulest symbols of paganism.

Conrade of Montserrat had a much more pleasing exterior than the dark
and mysterious priest-soldier by whom he was accompanied. He was a
handsome man, of middle age, or something past that term, bold in the
field, sagacious in council, gay and gallant in times of festivity; but,
on the other hand, he was generally accused of versatility, of a narrow
and selfish ambition, of a desire to extend his own principality,
without regard to the weal of the Latin kingdom of Palestine, and of
seeking his own interest, by private negotiations with Saladin, to the
prejudice of the Christian leaguers.

When the usual salutations had been made by these dignitaries, and
courteously returned by King Richard, the Marquis of Montserrat
commenced an explanation of the motives of their visit, sent, as he said
they were, by the anxious kings and princes who composed the Council of
the Crusaders, "to inquire into the health of their magnanimous ally,
the valiant King of England."

"We know the importance in which the princes of the Council hold our
health," replied the English King; "and are well aware how much they
must have suffered by suppressing all curiosity concerning it for
fourteen days, for fear, doubtless, of aggravating our disorder, by
showing their anxiety regarding the event."

The flow of the Marquis's eloquence being checked, and he himself thro