THE SIXTH VOLUME.

PRIVATE GALLERIES OF N. Y., II. Mr. J. T. Johnston's. Eugene Benson.

PUTNAM'S MAGAZINE

OF

LITERATURE, SCIENCE, ART,

AND

NATIONAL INTERESTS.

VOL. VI.-JULY-1870.-No. XXXI.

THE KING'S SENTINEL.

UPON a time, unbidden, came a man
Before the mighty king of Teberistan.

When the king saw this daring man, he cried,
"Who art thou, fellow?" Whereto he replied,
"A lion-hunter and a swordsman, I,

Moreover, I am skilled in archery:

A famous bowman, who of men alone

Can drive his arrows through the hardest stone.
Besides my courage, tried in desperate wars,

I know to read the riddle of the stars.

First in the service of Emeer Khojend,

Who, friend to none, has none to be his friend,—
Him have I left, I hope, an honest man,
To serve, if so he wills, the Lord of Teberistan."
To whom in answer: "I have men enow,
Stalwart like thee, apt with the sword and bow;
These no king lacks, or need to: what we need
Are men who may be trusted-word and deed;
Who, to keep pain from us, would yield their breath,
Faithful in life, and faithfuller in death."

"Try me." As thrice the monarch claps his hands,
The Captain of the Guard before him stands,
Amazed that one, unknown of him, had come

In to the king, and fearful of his doom.

Sternly his lord: "You guard me, slave, so well
That I have made this man my sentinel.❞
Thus did the happy archer gain his end,
And thus his sovereign find at last a friend,
Who from that hour was to his service bound,
Keen as his hawk, and faithful as his hound.

Now when a moon of nights had ta'en its flight,
Amid the darkness of a summer night,

Entered, in the year 1870. by G. P. PUTNAM & SON, in the Clerk's Office of the District Court of the U. S. for the Southern District of N. Y.
VOL. VI.-1

The king awoke, alarmed, with fluttering breath, Like one who struggles in the toils of death, And wandered to his lattice, which stood wide, Whence, down below him in the court, he spied A shadowy figure with a threatening spear. "What man art thou?-if man-and wherefore here?" "Your sentinel, and servant, O my lord!"

"Hearken!" They did. And now a voice was heard, But whether from the desert far away,

Or from the neighbor-garden, who could say? So far it was, yet near, so loud, yet low; "Who calls?" it said. It sighed, "I go! I go!" Then spake the pallid king, in trouble sore, "Have you this dreadful summons heard before?" "That voice, or something like it, have I heard(Perchance the wailing of some magic bird) Three nights, and at this very hour, O king! But could not quit my post to seek the thing.

But now, if you command me, I will try,

Where the sound was, to find the mystery."
"Go! follow where it leads, if anywhere,
And what it is, and means, to me declare;
It may be ill, but I will hope the best:
But haste, for I am weary, and must rest."
Softly, as one that would surprise a thief,
Who might detect the rustling of a leaf,
The sentinel stole out into the night,

Nor knew that the king kept him still in sight,-
Behind him, with a blanket o'er his head,
Black-draped down to his feet, as he were dead;
But the spear trembled in his hands, his knees
Weakened; at length he sank beneath the trees.
Again the voice was heard, and now more near
Than when it faded last-it was so clear:

"I go! What man will force me to return? "
"Now," thought the wondering soldier, "I shall learn
Who speaks, and why." And, looking up, he saw
What filled his simple soul with love and awe-
A noble woman, standing by his side,
Who might have been the widow or the bride
Of some great king, so much of joy and woe

Hung on the perfect lips that breathed, "I go,”

Shone in the quenchless eyes, dimmed the bright hairNo woman, born of woman, half so fair!

"Most beautiful! who art thou?" 66

Know, O man,

I am his life, who rules in Teberistan-

The spirit of your lord, whose end is nigh,

Except some friend-what friend?-for him will die." "Can I?" But she: "Tis written you must live."

"What, then, my life rejected, can I give?"

"You have a son," she whispered in his ear,
Feeling her way, it seemed, in hope and fear,
Lest what she would demand should be denied.
He pressed a sudden hand against his side