V. He raised the ring-he scanned it well, VI. There Valiant Knight and Beauty throng VII. Few are the words that Gamba speaks, VIII. It is the mellow twilight hour- IX. If ever angels from their spheres X. "Oh, Gamba! why this inward strife ?" What have I done to grieve thy heart? I've followed thee along the glade, And down before the Virgin fell- The inward woes thy mien declares ? Beneath this weight of wasting cares? Nor solace gained from Priest nor Prayer- I cannot conquer all this wo- XI. "Leila, my dear-devoted friend, Than when Heaven linked thy fate to mine But Oh! forgive the guilt I'd smother- The minstrel maid whose melody Three weary years entranced this dell, Was my affianced Isabelle A daughter of the Tuscan sky- She might have been to Kings allied- But for my sake, she pined and perished- Whilom along the Arno's side, And there when angels watched above, And Ob! that she should dare the surf- Three weary years For me, who could betray her trust- I know not why Five summers since I sought this land Peace-Pleasure driven from my breast- My country, name, or wo to tell- XII. Pale as a marble statue there XIII. Little can prayer avail on high, For those who will and crave to die. XIV. Leila had youth and beauty left, They never saw young Leila more. She could not brook their holy rest While secret sorrow rent her breastShe could not brook the cold world's sneer Pride's heartless taunt-and envy's jeer. Time-tide no tidings of her bore, Though her they sought afar and near, O'er sea, and land, and mountain drear, But all who passed those graves at night Saw, by the pale stars' glimmering light, A Lady with long raven hair, And sea-drenched garments weeping there. xv.' There mouldering still their Castle stands, The winds are sighing through the halls, From roof and rafter spiders dangle, CHALCAHUAL. IT was evening.-The moon swept in glorious beauty through the clouds in her path, and looked down with an earnest gaze upon the valley of Mexico, as if she, too, loved it—she too, I say-for all elements and kindly influences of Nature seemed to delight in decking it with the rarest beauty and grandeur. Man, also, did his best to enrich it; and from grand old groves of trees and gardens went up toward heaven many a gorgeous structure, while the cities and towns which were set like jewels in its broad expanse, now in the evening hour seemed like glad things with their thousand eyes of light; and upon its waters light canoes glanced along in and out of the wide paths left by the stately floating gardens and innumerable tiny islands, which one might call beautiful freaks of nature, so strangely formed and exquisitely decked with flowers were they. Nor were there wanting things to remind one of the dim, shadowy past; for upon many a high hill were gigantic ruins of massive structures, once the pride of the Soltees, a nation who preceded the Aztecs, and who by famine, pestilence and war, had melted like mist from the land, to give place to the superior race from the north-the Aztecs, who, at the time that I speak of, held sway far and wide, and whose good taste taught them that those old ruins were ornaments to their land. Upon an eminence which overlooked the city of Mexico, and over which went a cross-road leading from the great southern causeway to the capitol, might have been seen, at the hour I speak of, two litters or palanquins resting upon the shoulders of slaves, while the number of slaves who surrounded them told of the wealth and consequence of their owners. The bodies of the slaves were almost naked, excepting a tunic of white cloth, and bracelets of silver about their arms and ankles, which contrasted well with their dark skins. Thus far their costume was alike, but the different livery worn by them attested to the different households they belonged to, as well as the fact that the many banners they bore displayed two separate designs. It would have been a strange sight to us of the democratic nation, had we seen the attitude of the slaves as they listened to the commands of their masters, who stood a little apart from them. With arms folded upon their breast, and eyes and head bent toward the ground, they heard their orders, and with faces turned toward them retreated some distance, and then turning, went quickly out of sight. Alpasson's attendants disappeared first, and were followed by those of Chalcahual, with whom we are the most interested. The bright livery of his slaves-the bands of red cotton, embroidered with yellow eagles and white herons, about the neck, the arms, and the tunic, as well as his banners with their golden decorations, and their embroidered device of an eagle bearing an ocelot in his talons, while below this device was one of a white heron, told one acquainted with the Aztecs in their day of pride and power, that he to whom that banner belonged was allied by marriage to the house of Montezuma, as the eagle bearing the ocelot in his talons were the arms of the emperor himself, and used only upon his banner, or, as in this instance, coupled with the device of the house of those whom his children had married. Seeing the proud banner makes us look at its master, and ask if there is aught of the eagle about him? Yes, Chalcahual might well have the eagle for his crest; one could read nobility of heart and soul in his eye; and all the fault we could find in his face was that there might be perhaps a shade too much of sternness about the mouth, that index of character, as the eye is of talent and nobility of soul. The shade was as yet but slight; still one could imagine that as age crept on-if his life-history was not one in which some continuing gentle influence was blent— the shade might deepen and the glory of that soul be dimmed. His dress was that of the every-day costume of the Aztec noble of the time, a tight-fitting mail of quilted white cotton, confined about the neck with a rich collar of jewels, while chains of gold depended from its principal ornaments, and were gathered into the clasp of jewels which confined the wide-spreading sash, keeping in its place the embroidered tunic; upon his shoulders hung a mantle of the far-famed featherwork; about his head was a coronal of gold, while from its left side towered the heron's plume with one eagle feather in their midst, the sign again of connection with the family of Montezuma. "Well, Chalcahual," said his companion, "you have curbed your impatience finely, and given up your ease and a swift footed progress toward one who waits your coming, that you might heed the wishes of your old uncle, and have a long talk as well as walk before we are lost in yonder great and glorious city. Nay, no need to be ashamed of your blush," he continued, looking smilingly upon the younger man, "no need to be ashamed to long to see the smile of your Lesa. Time was when I should not have heeded the dearest uncle in my haste to show my Minua that she was my heart's love-but she died-she died-and” -he added sadly, "you have been all I have had to love since then, excepting thy memory, Minna! Well-well"-he continued, after a pause, "I shall go to her soon; for these fatigues of war will wear out the old servant of the empire, and the future is full of dread evils which bring war in their train." Leaning upon his spear, the old man looked with gloom in his eye toward the city, while in Chalcahual's face there burned a bright red spot of excitement; but he disturbed not his uncle's meditations, who at last broke the silence with-" How beautiful thou art, Mexico! sitting as thou dost like a queen upon the waters, rejoicing in thy flowers and gardens, thy temples and palaces, thy young men and maidens! My heart burns with love for thee. How often have I welcomed the sight of thy glory, of thy forts and temples afar off, as, returning from some distant campaign, I have looked at thee from the stern rocks which surround the valley of which thou art the jewel of great price. An eagle told our forefathers where thy site should be, and proud and glorious hast thou been; but now thy day of majesty is changing into evening; the splendor of our race must fade as the morning mist; the new and strange race so long predicted have come, and already thy gates have opened to receive them-already the white man is in thy heart to eat it away. Thou hast, alas! but yielded to thy inevitable fate, and gone is the day of the Aztecs! Well is it for the old man that his hair is silver and his strength but weakness: I may be allowed to die, and not see the Aztecs the slaves of these strange and powerful beings." "Alpasson! Alpasson!" interrupted Chalcahual, whose customary deference yielded to the intensity of his feelings'-' Is it Alpasson, the great |