in about ten minutes afterwards I was gratified with the sight of two other gentlemen, dressed in a somewhat similar costume to that worn by my preserver, on horseback, leading a third horse, which I naturally presumed to be intended for my friend.

"I have caught a young spy," said my friend to his friends-" a likely lad for what we want."

"A spy," said one of the respectable party-" why not shoot him?" "He is a spy of Von Doddle's, the magistrate," said my friend. "No spy, sir," said I.

"Of Von Doddle's ?" said the other.

"Let's strangle him!"

"Recollect-we want him."

"Luigi," said my friend, putting his finger to his nose. "Oh!" said one of the party.

"Ah!" said the other.

"Come," said my friend, "jump up behind me on this horse, and we will take you where you will be happy and comfortable if you behave well; with plenty to eat and drink, and be merry withal." "But," said I, "I am a Baron !—I—"

Whereupon they all three set up a loud shout; at the cessation of which, my preserver said,

"Yes-and hunt Emperors!"

At which the two other brutes, without knowing why or wherefore, or in what the joke originated, laughed like two great fools. I despised their stupidity infinitely more than I hated the other's malice.

Having no power of resistance, I mounted the horse, and, after about three-quarters of an hour's progress, at a walking pace, through rides "else unexplored by mortal," we reached a tuft of trees, into which we plunged, and again found ourselves advancing into the thick part of the forest, when my friend, again applying his whistle to his mouth, gave out a low but lengthened sound. In less than half a minute it was answered, and we proceeded some thirty yards, when he bade me jump down. I did so; and having dismounted, he laid his hand upon my shoulder, and told me to fear nothing.

We walked forward. Two men, having taken charge of the three horses upon which we had travelled, and having thrust aside what appeared to me a heap of brambles, I discovered the head of a cave, into the passage of which my friend gently pushed me, and under almost paternal guidance I found myself at the entrance of a long vaulted room, which in an instant brought to my mind "Gil Blas," which Mrs. Von Doddle's maid had lent me to read two years before.

There it was all the scene was realized-nine or ten men were sitting round a table exceedingly well covered; one or two very pretty women, much bigger and older than Bertha, but not so handsome, were also seated with them; one or two of the men were playing cards away from the rest; but there was plenty of every thing, and nothing could exceed the comfort which appeared to reign. The effect which the sudden transition from daylight to torchlight had upon me, was, I recollect, striking; and so was the joyousness of the scene. I had no doubt as to the company I had fallen among, but I began to doubt the accuracy of Von Doddle's taste, or the sincerity of his axioms, when

I saw infinitely more gaiety, and revelry, and conviviality, amongst the robbers against whom he was constantly warring, than I ever beheld under his own roof.

I was introduced to the party as a new acquaintance, and extremely well received. The women were very goodnatured to me, and I was treated to nice bits of the dishes; for which I was extremely grateful, considering that my appetite was unmitigated-sharpened by my Emperor-hunt, and by subsequent adventures, it was quite in a condition to receive all that could be given; and moreover, on seeing the plight my lower garments were in, from my accident in the mud, one of the fair ones volunteered to get me a change of clothing, which I put on gratefully. Having a few weeks afterwards ascertained that they had belonged to a boy of the name of Luigi, who died about three days before my arrival; and whose name, repeated by my friend to the other two, in the wood, acted as a charm in my favour, as indicating in one word, that I was destined to succeed to his duties and drudgeries, I did not feel quite so grateful for the "fit" as perhaps I ought.

After eating, and drinking some much better wine than any I had ever tasted at Von Doddle's, I became sleepy, and exhibited signs of a desire to go to bed. One of the ladies undertook the office of showing me to my dormitory, and treated me with the greatest kindness. She was very good to me, and if it had not been for the recollection of Bertha, I could have been very happy where I was; for the novelty of the scene itself, was enough to please so young a mind as mine. "Tired nature," however, gave me a sound sleep, except that now and then I found myself dreaming of my dear Bertha Von Doddle.

Little, however, did I expect what was to happen to me the next day-and the next. Little did I comprehend that the kindness of the good young lady who put me to bed, was intended to conciliate my regards for the females of the "gang"-ay, that is the word-generally, with whom I was destined to live for the future. When I awoke, and got up, my specific duties were pointed out as successor to Luigi. I was to boil the kettle-turn the spit-scour the pots-keep the covers nice and tidy—and while the men were out pursuing their professed avocations, to take my share of work with my female fellow-servants. Ah! Gil Blas again came into my mind; but as I knew Gil Blas had been in a robber's cave, I did not venture to hint at my recollections to my fair companions, lest it might not be quite genteel to assimilate the pursuits of the present company," with those of the hero of Don Gusman Alfarache.

There can be no advantage in recapitulating the proceedings of seven months which I passed in this place, where one day was exactly "ditto" to the one preceding it. My hours of duty of sweeping, washing, roasting, eating, drinking, and sleeping went on; until, so completely are we creatures of habit, especially when one finds that exchange is almost impossible, I began at last to think less of poor dear Bertha, and to think Helen-a great fine large woman-who, as I said before, was very good to me, a charming creature. But she paid no attention to my civilities, and the only she thing that seemed to care for me, was an old being who was rather pleased with me, and whom they called Bagga; her real name being Sala Baga,

a half black, and less than half human creature of some seventy years old.

Seven months, then, had I been in this place; but without a hopewithout a chance of escape-so I made the best of it, did all I was bid to do, and not only obeyed my mistresses, but was joyous with the male guardians of the cave; for it should be remarked, that, whenever the main body of robbers was out, there were always two or three left at home as a reserve. Luckily, one day, the two guardians, finding the peace establishment dull, were pleased to dissipate, in a game of sequin hazard, and a bottle of the best wine the "Cave" afforded; the womenthat is to say, the two effectives-had gone to the brook, either to bathe, or wash linen, with neither of which pursuits I had any thing to do, and Bagga was fast asleep.*

I watched the gamblers with intense interest, until I found that they had begun to nod over their second bottle; and as they were playing for what is called love-which I soon found out in gaming means nothing -they, too, became equally somniferous with Old Bagga.

Did I lose a moment?-not I. The instant I saw the two dicers so perfectly tête-à-tête that their heads fell together over the table, either of them taking the other for the side of the cave, up I sprang, rushed

All this seems like a romance, and the history of caves and banditti much on a par with the wonders of giants and dragous, and wild men of the woods; but, if the reader turns to the number of this Magazine for last July, he will there find an official report from the Russian police of the existence, not more than a year or eighteen months since, of a band of robbers, most extraordinary as to extent and power; and, in addition to that, in the Morning Post newspaper of last Wednesday se'nnight we find the following heart-rending account- for such under the circumstances it is-of the destruction of a much more formidable banditti than that of Kara Aly, which we have before recorded, or that into which poor Widdlezig has here fallen. The Morning Post of December 19, 1838, says, "The following romantic story is related as a fact in a letter from Thessalonica, dated November 10:- Mustapha Pacha, reputed to be the ablest of all the police-officers of Turkey, has just delivered Macedonia from a formidable band of brigands, who have infested the country for upwards of four years. The means he took are too singular not to be mentioned. Having learned that a young Albanian girl, bearing the name of Theodosia Maria Samik, residing at Mielnik, a town on the frontier of Greece, had secret communications with the robbers, Mustapha had her watched and questioned, but could not obtain any disclosures. He then engaged one of his lieutenants, named Ismael, a young man of remarkable personal beauty, to go and endeavour to gain her affections. This officer succeeded to such a degree, that she became warmly attached to him, and informed him that her real name was Eudoxia Theresa Gherundaxi, and that she was the niece of the chief of the brigands, Michael Gregorio Gherundaxi, whose troop amounted to between 1400 and 1500 men. painted in glowing terms the charms of their errant and adventurous life, and urged Ismael to join them. He pretended to yield to her instances, and then learned further from ber, that her uncle would hold a general muster of his band on October 28, in the forest of Pheloidos. All this Ismael communicated to Mustapha; but, in order to avert suspicion, went with his fair one to the rendezvous. The wily Mustapha collected bis troops, surrounded the assembled freebooters, and, as they refused to surrender, attacked them with all his forces. The greatest number of the brigands fell on the spot, preferring death on the field to capture and an ignominious execution. A few escaped for the moment, but they were afterwards taken, and are now waiting their sentence in the citadel of Thessalonica. Among the dead were found the chief, Gherundaxi, whose head was cloven by a stroke from a sabre, and the young Lieutenant Ismael, whose breast had been penetrated by a musket-ball. Mustapha cut off the beads of all the killed, and has paraded them in triumph through the town. The wretched Eudoxia, on discovering the treachery of her lover, has fallen into a state of complete abandonment, and is believed to have entirely lost her senses. Mustapha has taken her into his own palace, and ordered that every care her deplorable condition requires shall be lavished upon her.""

She

along the passage, and found myself clear of my prison-free-in the light-in the air!-Not but I had been frequently taken by Old Bagga into a dell to which another part of the cave opened, and in which was the spring whence we got all our water. But, when I did get there, which way was I to turn to get out of the forest? I knew nothing about it, nor, as it turned out, did it much signify; for I had not consumed five minutes in considering what I should do, before the tramp of horses' feet induced me to take to my heels faster back into the cavern than I had even darted out of it. It was my friend and his friends returning from an expedition; and, as I calculated that my appearance above ground would induce them to be more severe with me when they got me below it, I hurried as quickly as I could to my old position, where I found both my friends, whom I had left relying upon each other for support, prostrate upon the ground, with the table upset between them; at which I was rather grieved, inasmuch as it struck me I might be blamed for not taking better care of the economy of the " Salon."

In came the gentlemen; and the old history of littering down the horses, summoning the ladies, ordering something to eat and drink, and depositing or dividing into shares whatever might have been the spoils of the night, took place; and again went on the same scene of revelry.

I was very young, but I wondered why they had not more ladies of the party. I thought to myself, if my black-eyed Bertha had been there I could have been as happy as the day was long-and the night too-but there seemed no love amongst these people, except at play-it was all riot and noise, and the affection of the two ladies for the twenty gentlemen seemed general, and very unlike the comfortable doveliness of Mr. and Mrs. Von Doddle.

Well, to cut the matter short; in this cave, with this party, I remained two years and fourteen days. Bagga died-poor old thing -and, although I hated her while alive-she was the first human being I had ever seen a corpse-when I looked at her, stretched out stiff and pale, and saw those lips closed for ever, with which she used to talk to me till I almost wished her dead, I would have given my right hand to hear one single word from them. The moment I beheld her helpless, motionless, unconscious-and, oh! so cold she was-I felt that I had behaved ill to her-that she did care for me, and had been kind to me.

We could make no coffin for her-the women sewed her up in her sheet, and she was laid in a hole, called a grave, which they dug in the dell. There was no prayer said over her-it would have been a mockery there. I confess I did cry throughout that night, although I was then sixteen years old and more.-Poor old Bagga!

It may seem strange to some, that a very young man should have been so deeply affected by the loss of a very old woman; but such is the force of habit, that I positively pined after her; besides which, I was kept more strictly after I lost her. Whether the reserve who remained at home, had received any hint as to my attempted flight, or whether they fancied they saw a restlessness in my manner, which had not previously exhibited itself, I know not; all I know is, that my tether was considerably shortened; and, in fact, I became quite a close prisoner.

The longest day will have an end; and, on the fifteenth morning o the third year of my inhuman inhumation, I was preparing an uncommonly nice mess for dinner (aided by Helen), a tempting olio of fowls, and onions, and sweet herbs, with all sorts of tempting sauces, when my ears were saluted by the sharp, twanging reports of five or six carbines, followed by a rush into the cave of eight or ten of the body, one of whom was bleeding at the breast; a cry followed, and a heavy trapdoor, which covered the entrance to the cave was lowered, by which, for the time, the inmates were saved.

"We are betrayed, Helen," said one of the party; "the thicket is surrounded by soldiers. We must try and escape by the dell. Seven are gone-dead-flat on their backs. There is no time to be lost-if they are not aware of the other opening, we may yet be spared.

Helen, heroine as she was, let go the huge kettle, in filling which with savoury eatables she had been so assiduously employed, and rushed towards the other entrance of the cave; the other lady belonging to us was speedily alarmed, and also betook herself to flight. A sudden explosion of gunpowder followed this step, by which the heavy trap-door above was shivered to pieces; and, as I heard the footsteps of the invaders rapidly approach, I took advantage of my nimbleness and slimness, and leaping up over what served as a fireplace, jammed myself into the cranny, which, when the fire was lighted, did duty for a chimney.

I was not one moment too soon. The troops, in two minutes afterwards, occupied the cavern, and a rigorous search took place, but the survivors in the conflict above had escaped; some remarks upon the excellence of the cuisine, made as the officer of the party looked at the prepared dinner, led him to the hearth; and all I feared was, that, being tempted by its appearance and flavour, upon which I piqued myself, they would, perhaps, have lighted a fire for the purpose of trying its merits a circumstance which must inevitably have brought me out of my hiding-place.

They, however, were soldiers, and too deeply intent upon the strict performance of their duty to care for any thing else; but my horror was by no means insignificant, when I heard the officer give directions for securing both entrances of the cave till the morning, when the legal authorities would repair to the spot, and make search for the vast accumulation of stolen property which it was supposed to contain.

The idea of being shut up in this dismal place by myself all night, only to be apprehended as a thief in the morning, was more than I could bear. Judge, therefore, my relief, when I heard the same officer order down all the men to the other end of the cave, where, he said, he apprehended some resistance, since, as they had defeated the robbers at the upper entrance, there could be no necessity for leaving any guard there.

I was too young to know much of military tactics, but it showed me, that the officer's regard for his own personal security led him, upon this occasion, to take a somewhat injurious step in withdrawing all his men from the upper entrance-however, he did so and it was not more than ten minutes after the last soldier had left the cavern by the dell side, that I quitted my hiding-place, and ran, for the second time since my confinement, up the steep passage, which led to the copse.

The first thing I saw was the body of my friend-my original patron in the society-with a terrible wound through the middle of his face. I