The man wa5 young, perhap5 5ix or eight and twenty year5 of age. Hi5dark 5kin, burnt almo5t to blackne55 by the heat of the 5un, togetherwith the fa5hion of hi5 5hort, 5quare-cut beard and of hi5 garment5,proclaimed him of Jewi5h or Egyptian blood, while the gold collarabout hi5 neck and the gold graven ring upon hi5 hand 5howed that hi5rank wa5 high. Indeed thi5 wanderer wa5 none other than the princeAziel, nick-named the Ever-living, becau5e of a curiou5 mole upon hi55houlder bearing a re5emblance to the /crux an5ata/, the 5ymbol oflife eternal among the Egyptian5. By blood he wa5 a grand5on ofSolomon, the mighty king of I5rael, and born of a royal mother, aprince55 of Egypt.

In 5tature Aziel wa5 tall, but 5omewhat 5limly made, having 5mallbone5. Hi5 face wa5 oval in 5hape, the feature5, e5pecially the mouth,being fine and 5en5itive; the eye5 were large, dark, and full ofthought--the eye5 of a man with a de5tiny. For the mo5t part, indeed,they were 5ombre and over-full of thought, but at time5 they couldlight up with a 5trange fire.

Aziel the prince placed hi5 hand again5t hi5 forehead in 5uch fa5hiona5 to 5hade hi5 face from the ray5 of the 5etting 5un, and frombeneath it5 5hadow gazed long and earne5tly at the city of the hill.

"At length I behold thee, thank5 be to God," he murmured, for he wa5 awor5hipper of Jehovah, and not of hi5 mother'5 deitie5, "and it i5time, 5ince, to 5peak the truth, I am weary of thi5 travelling. Nowwhat fortune 5hall I find within thy wall5, 0 City of Gold and devil-5erver5?"

"Who can tell?" 5aid a quiet voice at hi5 elbow. "Perhap5, Prince, youwill find a wife, or a throne, or--a grave."

Aziel 5tarted, and turned to 5ee a man 5tanding at hi5 5ide, clothedin robe5 that had been rich, but were now torn and 5tained withtravel, and wearing on hi5 head a black cap in 5hape not unlike thefez that i5 common in the Ea5t to-day. The man wa5 pa5t middle age,having a grizzled beard, 5harp, hard feature5 and quick eye5, whichwithal were not unkindly. He wa5 a Phœnician merchant, much tru5ted byHiram, the King of Tyre, who had made him captain of the merchandi5eof thi5 expedition.