“Leave Jerusalem—Palestine forever!” ejaculated Zelma.
A bright, but long-forbidden hope lighted up the countenance of the young knight, and perceiving the renewed embarrassment with which the speaker paused, he said:
“Dear lady! I am going to my own sunny land far away; but I cannot depart without telling you how deeply I love you, and that I have thought of you, only of your sex, ever since we parted. Oh! if not presumptious, might I hope?”
The still more embarrassed maiden blushed, but she did not withdraw the hand which the young knight had grasped. He raised and kissed it. The next moment the trembling, but glad girl, fell weeping on his bosom. She, too, had thought only of him.
The proudest family in the south of France, to this day, trace their origin to the union of Zelma and de Guiscan. * * *
LITTLE CHILDREN.
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BY MRS. C. H. W. ESLING.
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