_“Dong—dong!” And the sound of a bell_ _Went wailing away over meadow and mere—_“Eleven!” _Counted aloud by the sentinel clock_ _On the turret of Time; and the regular beat_ _Of his echoing feet_ _Fell—like lead—on the ear—_ _As he left the dead Hour on its desolate bier._ With his ashen lance in rest, Careered the youthful knight, With a haughty heart, and an eagle eye, And a visage burning bright— For he loved the tilted fight— And, under Saturn’s light, With a shock that shook the world, The rude old warrior fell—and lay A corpse—along the frozen clay! As with a crash the gates of day Their brazen valves unfurled. _“Dong—dong!” And the sound of a bell_ _Went wailing away over meadow and mere—_“Twelve!” _Counted aloud by the sentinel clock_ _On the turret of Time; and the regular beat_ _Of his echoing feet_ _Fell—like lead—on the ear—_ _As he left the dead Year on his desolate bier._ * * * * * THE ISLETS OF THE GULF; OR, ROSE BUDD. Ay, now I am in Arden; the more fool I; when I was at home I was in a better place; but Travelers must be content. As You Like It. BY THE AUTHOR OF “PILOT,” “RED ROVER,” “TWO ADMIRALS,” “WING-AND-WING,” “MILES WALLINGFORD,” ETC. [Entered, according to the Act of Congress, in the year 1846, by J. Fenimore Cooper, in the Clerk’s Office of the District Court of the United States, for the Northern District of New York.] (_Continued from page 252._) PART XIV. She’s in a scene of nature’s war, The winds and waters are at strife; And both with her contending for The brittle thread of human life.—Miss Gould. Spike was sleeping hard in his berth, quite early on the following morning, before the return of light, indeed, when he suddenly started up, rubbed his eyes, and sprang upon deck like a man alarmed. He had heard, or fancied he had heard, a cry. A voice once well known and listened to, seemed to call him in the very portals of his ear. At first he had listened to its words in wonder, entranced like the bird by the snake, the tones recalling scenes and persons that had once possessed a strong control over his rude feelings. Presently the voice became harsher in its utterance, and it said, “Stephen Spike, awake! The hour is getting late, and you have enemies nearer to you than you imagine. Awake, Stephen, awake!”