Part 17 (1/2)
?Yes, yes,? said another, ?I see it: it?s a _ghol_! without doubt it?s a ghol! This is the true hour: it is in search of a corpse I dare say it is devouring one now?
I also could see that so was there, but it was ie, looking up with all our eyes, every one being satisfied that it was a supernatural being One called upon Ali, another upon Hossein, and a third invoked the Prophet and the twelve Iested so of your trousers,? said an old Iraki, ?that?s the e treat our ghols, in the desert near Ispahan, and they depart instantly?
?What good will that do?? answered a _delikhan_ (a hare-brained youth); ?I?d rather keep the beast out than let it in?
In short, ith joking, and ith serious talk, thebroke sufficiently to convince us that the apparitionnoas to be seen However, having passed the bridge, the said delikhan, shi+vering in his stirrups, and anxious to gallop his horse, exclaihol,?
drove his horse up a steep bank, and made towards the ruined church We saw hience, that e had taken for a ghol was a woman, whose white veil had attracted our notice, and that she, with athe deep shades of the broken walls
Full of anxiety for what ht upon the object ofto the ruin, in order to ascertain why these people hid the five e
We saw no one until turning the sharp angle of a e found, seated under an arch, the objects of our search A woround, whilst aover, supported her head, in an attitude of the greatest solicitude Enough of daylight now shone upon the The wo its deadly paleness, was surprisingly beautiful; and the youth was the finest specith, activity, and manliness that I had ever seen He was dressed in the costuun rested against the wall Her veil, which was of the purest white, was here and there stained with blood, and torn in several places Although I had been living aers to feelings of pity or commiseration, yet in this instance I andmuch interested at , and paused with a sort of respect for the grief of these apparently unfriended strangers, before we ventured to break the silence of ourhere?? said I ?If you are strangers, and travellers, why do you not go into the village??
?If you have the feelings of a ive me help, for the love of God! Should you be sent to seize us by the serdar, still helpI have no resistance to offer; but pray save her?
?Who are you?? said I ?The serdar has given us no orders concerning you Where do you co andirl where shethat has happened to us She e: she is wounded, but I trust not mortally, and with quiet may recover Thanks to Heaven, you are not one of the serdar?s officers! I entreat you to befriend me, and my lamentable tale may perhaps induce you to take us under your protection?
This appeal to s was unnecessary: the countenance and appearance of the youth had excited great interest in my breast, and I i him that ould, without delay, convey his sick friend to the village, and then, having heard his story, settle what to do for hiathered her veil round her with great precaution, now and then uttering low groans, which indicated pain, and venting the apparent hs
I ordered one of my followers to dismount from his horse; we placed her upon it, and i inspected the interior of several houses, I pitched upon that which afforded the best acco and hu directions that she should be nursed with the greatest care An old wo wounds and bruises, was sent for, and she undertook her cure I learnt from the youth that he and his companion were Armenians; and as the inhabitants of Ashtarek were of the same persuasion, they very soon understood each other, and the poor sufferer felt that she could not have fallen into better hands
[Illustration: ?An explosion took place in the very roo]
CHAPTER xxxVII
The history of Yusuf, the Armenian, and his wife Mariahts of Aberan, where we should have found a cool region and good pasturage for our horses, before halting for the day; but hearing that the wandering tribes, e had expected to find encamped in a certain spot, and upon whose tents and provisions I had reckoned, were removed far into the mountains, fearful of the hich had just broken out, I determined to halt at Ashtarek until the heat of the day should have subsided Accordingly, e: soe, picketing their horses arass: one or two took possession of a mill, situated in the bed of the river, whose wheel was turned by water, made to flow in an elevated channel for the purpose; and I spread hest part of the rocky bank, from whence I had a view of the whole scene, and also could discern any object thattowards us fro refreshed by two hours? sound sleep, upon awaking I sent for the Are served us a light breakfast, of which ere both much in need, I requested hiht him into the situation in which he had been discovered Refreshed with rest and food, thethe spot we occupied, the manly features of the youth exhibited all their beauty; and, as he spoke, their animation and earnestness helped wonderfully to convince me that all he said was the truth He spoke as follows:--
?I am an Armenian by birth, and a Christian; e of Gavmishlu, inhabited entirely by Armenians, situated not far froatch from this place In the e, and enjoying a climate celebrated for coolness and serenity, we are a healthy and a hardy race; and, notwithstanding the nuovernors, were happy in our poverty We live so far within the mountains, that we are more distant froreat towns, the residences of governors; and, secluded from the world, our habits are simple, and our modes of life patriarchal I had an uncle, my father?s brother, a deacon, and an attendant upon the head of our church, the patriarch at Etchmiazin; and another uncle, by e: thereforewell in the church, determined that I should follow the sacred profession My father hiround, and by his own labour had cleared away a considerable tract near the village, having two sons besides me, expected to receive sufficient help froreed to spare ly, when about ten years old, I went to Etchmiazin to be educated, where I learned to read, write, and perforreat pleasure from instruction, and read every book that came in my way A very extensive library of Ared now and then to get a few; and although ot a history of Armenia, which riveted all my attention; for I learnt by it that we once were a nation, having kings, whoupon our degraded state at the present day, and considering ere our governors, I becas turned hts from the sacred profession to which I was destined About this tie lying in the track of the ar to the frontiers, I felt that my family would require every protection possible, and that I should be more usefully ely, but a short ti priest?s orders, I left my friends at Etchmiazin, and returned to my father?s house I elcomed by every one Already had they felt the horrors of war; forparties of both Persians and Russians (both equally to be feared) had made their appearance, and molested the peaceable and inoffensive inhabitants of ours and the neighbouring villages This frontier warfare, in its general results, was of no great utility to either of the powers at war, yet to those who inhabited the seat of it, its consequences were dreadful We were continually harassed either by the fears of the invading enemy, or by the exactions and overnment Our harvests were destroyed, our cattle dispersed, and ourselves in constant danger of being carried away prisoners Anxious to preserve our property, and our only resource to keep us from starvation, we continued to till our fields, but went to ith swords by our sides, and guns ready loaded slung at our backs; and when a stranger appeared, whoever he ht be, we immediately assembled and made a show of defence By this reat difficulty and perseverance, to get in our harvest, and, by the blessing of Providence, had enough to subsist upon But here I in some of those particulars which relate to o, when securing our harvest, I had gone out long before the dawn to reap the corn of one of our most distant fields, armed and prepared as usual I perceived a Persian horsereat speed through a glen that wound nearly at the foot of a
The feainst her will, for as soon as she perceived me she uttered loud shrieks, and extended her ary side of the len tih to intercept the horseman?s road
I called out to himyself in an attitude to seize his bridle as he passed
Embarrassed by the burden behind hi at his back, so he excited his horse to an increased speed, hoping thus to ride over round, and as I made a cut with my sabre, the horse bounded frohtened woman lost her hold and fell off
The horseun; but, seeing ht itmore of him
?I ran to the assistance of the fallen woman, whom by her dress, I discovered to be an Armenian She was stunned and severely bruised: her outward veil had already disengaged itself, and in order to give her air, I immediately pulled away the under veil, which hides the lower part of the face (common to the Armenians), and, to my extreination can conceive The lovely creature whoe Oh! I shall never forget the thrill of love, delight, and apprehension, which I felt at gazing upon her I hung over her with all the intenseness of a first passion; a feeling arose inbut the object immediately before me, I verily believe that I should have been for ever riveted to that spot had she not opened her eyes and began to show signs of life
The first words she spoke went to my very soul; but when she discovered where she was, and in the hands of an utter stranger, she began to cry and bewail herself in a manner that quite alarmed me Little by little, however, she became more composed; and when she found that I was one of her own nation and religion, that I was, an to look upon s: my vanity made me hope that, perhaps, she was not displeased, at the interest she had awakened in , however, she did not cease to deplore, and to upbraid iveness for ence which even a husband scarcely ever enjoys, that distinguishi+ng emblem of chastity and honour, so sacred in the eyes of an Ararded by me, and I stood before her in the criminal character of one who had seen all her face In vain I represented, that had I not relieved her mouth and nose from the pressure of the lower band, shedeprived her of all sensation, had she not inhaled the fresh air, death would have been the consequence Nothing would convince her that she was not a lost woument had more effect upon her than any other; no one but myself itness to her dishonour (if such she must call it); and I swore so fervently by the Holy Cross, and by St Gregorio, that it should re as I had one to keep it in, that she perth to be coive me an account of her late adventure, and to tell ood fortune to liberate her