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 Central University Library 
 
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 SEP 1 1993 
 
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 Frontispiece,
 
 THE COMING RACE; 
 
 OR, 
 
 THE NEW UTOPIA, 
 
 ^^'*^^^,!!^7^5^t 
 
 Sir EDWARDyBULWER LYTTON, Bart. 
 
 CHICAGO AND NEW YORK : 
 
 BELFORD, CLARKE & COMPANY, 
 
 Publishers.
 
 THOW'g 
 fRINTINQ *ND BOOKTSINOINO COMPANY,
 
 THE COMING RACE. 
 
 CHAPTER I. 
 
 I AM a native of , in the United States of America. 
 
 My ancestors migrated from England in the reign of 
 Ciiarles II.; and my grandfather was not undistinguished 
 in the War of Independence. My family, therefore, en- 
 joyed a somewhat high social position in right of birth; 
 and being also opulent, they were considered disqualified 
 for the public service. My father once ran for Congress, 
 but was signally defeated by his tailor. After that event 
 he interfered little in politic^, and lived much in his 
 library. I was the eldest of three sons, and sent at the 
 'age of sixteen to the old country, partly to complete my 
 literary education, partly to commence my commercial 
 training in a mercantile firm at Liverpool. My father 
 died shortly after I was twenty-one; and being left well 
 off, and having a taste for travel and adventure, I re- 
 signed, for a time, all pursuit of the almighty dollar, and 
 became a desultory wanderer over the face of the earth. 
 
 In the year i8 — , happening to be in , I was in- 
 vited by a professional engineer, with whom I had m.ade 
 
 acquaintance, to visit the recesses of the mine, upon 
 
 which he was employed. 
 
 The reader will understand, ere he close this narra- 
 tive, my reason for concealing all clue to the district of 
 which I write, and will perhaps thank me for refraining 
 from any description that may tend to its discovery.
 
 6 THE COMING RACE. 
 
 Let me say, then, as briefly as possible, that I accom- 
 panied the engineer into tlie interior of the mine, and 
 became so strangely fascinated by its gloomy wonders, 
 and so interested in my friend's explorations, that I pro- 
 longed my stay in the neighborhood, and descended daily, 
 ft)r some weeks, into the vaults and galleries hollowed by 
 nature and art beneath the surface of the earth. The 
 engineer was persuaded that far richer deposits of min- 
 eral wealth than had yet been detected, would be found 
 in a new shaft that had been commenced under his oper- 
 ations. In piercing this shaft we came one day upon a 
 chasm jagged and seemingly charred at the sides, as if 
 burst asunder at some distant period by volcanic fires. 
 Down this chasm my friend caused himself to be lo\yercd 
 in a "cage," having first tested the atmosphere by the 
 safety-lamp. He remained nearly an hour in the abyss. 
 When he returned he was very pale, and with an anx- 
 ious, thoughtful expression of face, very different from 
 its ordinary character, which was open, cheerful, and 
 fearless. 
 
 He said briefly that the descent appeared to him un- 
 safe, and leading to no result; and, suspending fuiiher 
 operations in the shaft, we returned to the more familiar 
 parts of the mine. 
 
 All the rest of that day the engineer seemed preoc- 
 cupied by some absorbing thought. He was unusually 
 taciturn, and there was a scared, bewildered look in his 
 eyes, as that of a man who has seen a ghost. At night, 
 as we two were sitting alone in the lodging we shared to- 
 gether near the mouth of the mine, I said to my friend: 
 
 ''Tell mc frankly what \'ou saw in that chasm: I am 
 sure it was something strange and terrible. Whatever 
 it be, it has left your mind in a state of doubt. In such 
 a case two heads are better than one. Confide in me." 
 
 The engineer long endeavored to evade my inquiries; 
 but as, w!iile he spoke, he helped himself unconsciously 
 out of the brandy-flask to a degree to which he ^was 
 wholly unaccustomed, for he was a very temperate man, 
 his reserve gradually melted away. He who would keep 
 himself to himself should imitate the dumb animals, and 
 drink water. At last he said: "I will tell you all. When 
 the cage stopped, I found myself on a ridge of rock; and 
 below me, the cliasm, taking a slanting direction, shot 
 down t<j a considerable deplh, the darkness of which my
 
 THE COM J A' G RACE. 7 
 
 lamp could not have penetrated. But through it, to my 
 infinite surprise, streamed upward a steady brilliant light. 
 Could it be any volcanic fire ? in that case, surely I should 
 have felt the heat. Still, if on this there was doubt, it 
 was of the utmost importance to our common safety to 
 clear it up, I examined the sides of the descent, and 
 found that I could venture to trust myself to the irregu- 
 lar projections or ledges, at least for some way. I left 
 the cage and clambered down. As I drew near and 
 nearer to the light, the chasm became wider, and at last 
 I saw, to my unspeakable amaze, a broad level road at 
 the bottom of the abyss, illumined as far as the eye could 
 reach by what seemed artificial gas-lamps placed at reg- 
 ular intervals, as in the thoroughfare of a great city; and 
 I heard confusedly at a distance a Ivum as of human 
 voices. I know, of course, that no rival miners are at 
 work in this district. Whose could be those voices? 
 What human hands could have levelled that road and 
 marshalled those lamps ? 
 
 "The superstitious belief, common to miners, that 
 gnomes or fiends dwell within the bowels of the earth, 
 began to seize me. I shuddered at the thought of de- 
 scending further and braving the inhabitants of this 
 nether valley. Nor indeed could I have done so without 
 ropes, as from the spot I had reached to the bottom of 
 the chasm the sides of the rock sank down abrupt, 
 smooth, and sheer. I retraced my steps with some diffi- 
 culty. Now I have told you all."' 
 
 "You will descend again?" 
 
 " I ought, yet I feel as if I durst not." 
 
 "A trusty companion halves the journey and doubles 
 the courage. I will go with you. We will provide our- 
 selves with ropes of suitable length and strengtii — and — 
 pardon me — you must not drink more to-night. Our 
 hands and feet must be steady and firm to-morrow."
 
 THE COMING RACE. 
 
 CHAPTER II. 
 
 With the morning my friend's nerves were rebraced, 
 and he was not less excited by curiosity than myself. 
 Perhaps more ; for he evidently believed in his own 
 story, and I felt considerable doubt of it : not that he 
 would have wilfully told an untruth, but that I thourjht 
 he must have been under one of those hallucinations 
 which seize on our fancy or our nerves in solitary, unac- 
 customed places, and in which we give shape to the 
 formless and sound to the dumb. 
 
 We selected six veteran miners to watch our descent ; 
 and as the cage held only one at a time, the engineer 
 descended first; and when he had gained the ledge at 
 which he had before halted, the cage re-arose for me. I 
 soon gained his side. We had provided ourselves with 
 a strong coil of rope. 
 
 The light struck on my sight as it had done the day 
 before on my friend's. The hollow through which it 
 came sloped diagonally: it seemed to me a diffused at- 
 mospheric light, not like that from fire, but soft and 
 silvery, as from a northern star. Quitting the cage, we 
 descended, one after the other, easily enough, owing to 
 the juts in the side, till we reached the place at which 
 my friend had previously halted, and which was a pro- 
 jection just spacious enough to allow us to stand abreast. 
 From this spot the chasm widened rapidly like the lower 
 end of a vast funnel, and I saw distinctly the valley, the 
 road, the lamps which my companion had described. He 
 had exaggerated nothing. I heard the sounds he had 
 heard — a mingled indescribable hum as of voices, and a 
 dull tiamp as of feet. Straining my eye farther down, I 
 clearly beheld at a distance the outline of some large 
 building. It could not be mere natural rock — it was too 
 symmetrical, with huge heavy Egyptian-like columns, 
 and the whole lighted as from within. I had about me a 
 small pocket-telescope, and by the aid of this I could 
 distinguish, near the building I mention, two forms 
 wliich seemed human, though I could not be sure. At 
 least they were living, for they moved, and both vanished 
 within the building. We now proceeded to attach the 
 end of the rope we had brought with us to the Icdgo on
 
 THE COMING RACE. 9 
 
 which we stood, by the aid of clamps and grappling- 
 hooks, with which, as well as with necessary tools, we 
 were provided. 
 
 We were almost silent in our work. We toiled like 
 men afraid to speak to each other. One end of the rope 
 being thus apparently made firm to the ledge, the other, 
 to which we fastened a fragment of the rock, rested on 
 the ground below, a distance of some fifty feet. I was a 
 younger and a more active man than my companion, 
 and having served on board ship in my boyhood, this 
 mode of transit was more familiar to me than to him. 
 In a whisper I claimed the precedence, so that when I 
 gained the ground I might serve to hold the rope more 
 steady for his descent. I got safely to the ground 
 beneath, and the engineer now began to lower himself. 
 But he had scarcely accomplished ten feet of the descent, 
 when the fastenings, which we had fancied so secure, 
 gave way, or rather the rock itself proved treacherous 
 and crumbled beneath the strain; and the unhappy man 
 was precipitated to the bottom, falling just at my feet, 
 and bringing down with his fall splinters of the rock, 
 one of which, fortunately but a small one, struck and for 
 the time stunned me. When I recovered my senses I 
 saw my companion an inanimate mass beside me, life 
 utterly extinct. While I was bending over his corpse in 
 grief and horror, I heard close at hand a strange sound 
 between a snort and a hiss; and turning instinctively to 
 the quarter from which it came, I saw emerging from a 
 dark fissure in the rock a vast and terrible head, with 
 open jaws and dull, ghastly, hungry eyes — the head of a 
 monstrous reptile resembling that of the crocodile or 
 alligator, but infinitely larger than the largest creature 
 of that kind I had ever beheld in my travels. I started 
 to my feet and fled down the valley at my utmost speed. 
 I stopped at last, ashamed of my panic and my flight, 
 and returned to the spot on which I had left the body of 
 my friend. It was gone; doubtless the monster had 
 already drawn it into its den and devoured it. The rope 
 and the grappling-hooks still lay where they had fallen, 
 but they afforded me no chance of return; it was impos- 
 sible to reattach them to the rock above, and the sides 
 of the rock were too sheer and smooth for human steps 
 to clamber. I was alone in this strange world, amidst 
 the bowels of the earth.
 
 10 THE COMING RACE. 
 
 CHAPTER III. 
 
 Slowly and cautiously I went my solitary way down 
 the lamp-lit road and toward the large building I have 
 described. The road itself seemed like a great Alpine 
 pass, skirting rocky mountains of which the one through 
 whose chasms I had descended formed a link. Deep be- 
 low to the left lay a vast valley, which presented to my 
 astonished eye the unmistakable evidences of art and cul- 
 ture. There were tields covered with a strange vegeta- 
 tion, similar to none I have seen above the earth ; the 
 color of it not green, but rather of a dull leaden hue or 
 of a golden red. 
 
 There were lakes and rivulets which seemed to have 
 been curved into artificial banks; some of pure water, 
 others that shone like pools of niiphtha. At my right 
 hand, ravines and defiles opened amidst the rocks, with 
 passes between, evidently constructed by art, and bor- 
 dered by trees resembling, for the most part, gigantic 
 ferns, with exquisite varieties of feathery foliage, and 
 stems like those of the palm-tree. Others were more 
 like the cane-plant, but taller, bearing large clusters of 
 flowers. Others, again, had the form of enormous 
 fungi, with short thick stems supporting a wide dome- 
 like roof, from which either rose or drooped long slender 
 branches. The whole scene behind, before, and beside 
 me, far as the eye could reach, was brilliant wiih innu- 
 merable lamps. The world without a sun was bright and 
 warm as an Italian landscape at noon, but the air less 
 oppressive, the heat softer. Nor was the scene before 
 me void of signs of habitation. I could distinguish at a 
 distance, whether on the banks of lake or rivulet, or 
 half-way upon eminences, embedded amidst the vegeta- 
 tion, buildings that must surely be the homes of men. I 
 could even discover, though far off, forms that appeared 
 to me human moving amidst the landscape. As I 
 paused to gaze, I saw to the right, gliding quickly 
 through the air, what appeared a small boat, impelled 
 by sails shaped like wings. It soon passed out of sight, 
 descending amidst the shades of a forest. Right above 
 me there was no sk}', but only a cavernous roof. This 
 roof grew higher and higher at the distance of the land-
 
 THE COMING RACE. II 
 
 scapes beyond, till it became imperceptible, as an atmos- 
 phere of haze formed itself beneath. 
 
 Continuing my walk, I started — from a bush that re- 
 sembled a great tangle of sea- weeds, interspersed with 
 fern-like shrubs and plants of large leafage shaped like 
 that of the aloe or prickly-pear — a curious animal about 
 the size and shape of a deer. But as, after bounding 
 away a few paces, it turned round and gazed at me in- 
 quisitively, I perceived that it was not like any species of 
 deer now extant above the earth, but it brought instantly 
 to my recollection a plaster cast I had seen in some 
 museum of a variety of the elk stag, said to have existed 
 before the Deluge. The creature seemed tame enough, 
 and, after inspecting me a moment or two, began to 
 graze on the singular herbage around undismayed and 
 careless. 
 
 CHAPTER IV. 
 
 I NOW came in full sight of the building. Yes, it had 
 been made by hands, and hollowed partly out of a great 
 rock. I should have supposed it at the first glance to 
 have been of the earliest form of Egyptian architecture. 
 It was fronted by huge columns, tapering upward from 
 massive plinths, and with capitals that, as I came nearer, 
 I perceived to be more ornamental and more fantastically 
 graceful than Egyptian architecture allows. As the 
 Corinthian capital mimjcs the leaf of the acanthus, so 
 the capitals of these columns imitated the foliage of the 
 vegetation neighboring them, some aloe-like, some fern- 
 like. And now there came out of this building a form — 
 human; — was it human? It stood on the broad way and 
 '.ooked around, beheld me and approached. It came 
 within a few yards of me, and at the sight and presence 
 of it an indescribable awe and tremor seized me, root-^ 
 ing my feet to the ground. It reminded me of symboli- 
 cal images of Genius or Demon that are seen on Etruscan 
 vases or limned on the walls of Eastern sepulchres — 
 images that borrow the outlines of man, and are yet of 
 another race. It was tall, not gigantic, but tall as the 
 tallest men below the height of giants. 
 
 Its chief covering seemed to me to be composed of 
 large wings folded over its breast and reaching to its
 
 12 THE COMIXG RACE. 
 
 knees; the rest of its attire was composed of an under- 
 tunic and leggings of some thin fibrous material. It 
 wore on its head a kind of tiara that shone with jewels, 
 and carried in its right hand a slender staff of bright 
 metal like polished steel. But the face! it was that 
 which inspired my awe and my terror. It was the face 
 of man, butj'et of a type of man distinct from our known 
 extant races. The nearest approach to it in outline and 
 expression is the face of the sculptured sphinx — so regu- 
 lar in its calm, intellectual, mysterious beauty. Its color 
 was peculiar, more like that of the red man than any 
 other variety of our species, and yet different from it — a 
 richer and a softer hue, with large black eyes, deep and 
 brilliant, and brows arched as a semicircle. The face 
 was beardless; but a nameless something in the aspect, 
 tranquil though the expression, and beauteous though 
 the features, roused that instinct of danger which the 
 sight of a tiger or serpent arouses. I felt that this man- 
 like image was endowed with forces inimical to man. 
 As it drew near, a cold shudder came over me. I fell on 
 my knees and covered my face with my hands. 
 
 CHAPTER V. 
 
 A VOICE accosted me — a very quiet and very musical 
 key of voice — in a language of which I could not under- 
 stand a word, but it serv-d to dispel my fear. I un- 
 covered my face and looked up. The stranger (I could 
 scarcely bring myself to call him man) surveyed me with 
 an eye that seemed to read to the very depths of my 
 heart. He then placed his left hand on my forehead, and 
 with the staff in his right gently touched my shoulder. 
 The effect of this double contact was magical. In place 
 of my former terror there passed into me a sense of con- 
 tentment, of joy, of confidence in myself and in the being 
 before me. I rose and spoke in my own language. He 
 listened to me with apparent attention, but with a slight 
 surprise in his looks; and shook his head, as if to signify 
 that I was not understood- He then took me by the 
 hand and led me in silence to the building. The en- 
 trance was open — indeed there was no door to it. \Vc 
 entered an immense hall, lighted by the same kiiul v.i
 
 THE COMING RACE. I 3 
 
 lustre as in the scene without, but diffusing a fragrant 
 odor. The floor was in large tesselated blocks of pre- 
 cious metals, and partly covered with a sort of matlike 
 carpeting. A strain of low music, above and around, 
 undulated as if from invisible instruments, seeming to 
 belong naturally to the place, just as the sound of mur- 
 muring waters belongs to a rocky landscape, or the 
 warble of birds to vernal groves. 
 
 A figure, in a simpler garb than that of my guide, but 
 of similar fashion, was standing motionless near- the 
 threshold. My guide touched it twice with his staff, and 
 it put itself into a rapid and gliding movement, skim- 
 ming noiselessly over the floor. Gazing on it, I then 
 saw that it was no living form, but a mechanical auto- 
 maton. It might be two minutes after it vanished 
 through a doorless opening, half screened by curtains at 
 the other end of the hall, when through the same open- 
 ing advanced a boy of about twelve years old, with feat- 
 ures closely resembling those of my guide, so that they 
 seemed to me evidently son and father. On seeing me 
 the child uttered a cry, and lifted a staff like that borne 
 by my guide, as if in menace. At a word from the elder 
 he dropped it. The two then conversed for some mo- 
 ments, examining me while they spoke. The child 
 touched my garments, and stroked my face with evident 
 curiosity, uttering a sound like a laugh, but with an 
 hilarity more subdued than the mirth of our laughter. 
 Presently the roof of the hall opened, and a platform 
 descended, seemingly constructed on the same principle 
 as the "lifts" used in hotels and warehouses for mount- 
 ing from one story to another. 
 
 The stranger placed himself and the child on the plat- 
 form, and motioned to me to do the same, "which I did. 
 We ascended quickly and safely, and alighted in the 
 midst of a corridor with doorways on eitlier side. 
 
 Through one of these doorways I was conducted into 
 a chamber fitted up with an Oriental splendor; the walls 
 were tesselated with spars, and metals, and uncut jewels; 
 cushions iind divans abounded; apertures as for windows, 
 but unglazed, were made in the chamber, opening to the 
 floor; and as I passed along I observed that these open- 
 ings led into spacious balconies, and commanded views 
 of the illumined landscape without. In cages suspended 
 from the ceiling there were birds of strange form and
 
 14 THE COJ//XG RACE. 
 
 bright plumage, whicli at our entrance set up a chorus 
 of song, modulated into tune as is that of our piping 
 bulliinches. A delicious fragrance, from censers of gold 
 elaborately sculptured, filled the air. Several automata, 
 like the one I had seen, stood dumb and motionless by 
 the walls. The stranger placed me beside him on a 
 divan, and again spoke to me, and again I spoke, but 
 without the least advance toward understanding each 
 other. 
 
 But now I began to feel the effects of the blow I had 
 received from the splinters of the falling rock more 
 acutely than I had done at first. 
 
 There came over me a sense of sickly faintness, ac- 
 companied with acute, lancinating pains in the head and 
 neck. I sank back on the seat, and strove in vain to 
 stifle a groan. On this the child, who l:ad hitherto seemed 
 to eye me with distrust or dislike, knelt by my side to 
 support me; taking one of my hands in both his own, he 
 approached his lips to my forehead, breathing on it 
 softly. In a few moments my pain ceased; a drowsy, 
 happy calm crept over me; I fell asleep. 
 
 How long I remained in this state I know not, but 
 when I woke I felt perfectly restored. My eyes opened 
 upon a group of silent forms, seated around me in the 
 gravity and quietude of Orientals — all more or less like 
 the first stranger; the same mantling wings, the same 
 fashion of garment, the same sphinx-like faces, with the 
 deep dark eyes and red man's color; above all, the same 
 type of race — race akin to man's, but infinitely stronger 
 of form and grander of aspect, and inspiring the same 
 unutterable feeling of dread. Yet each countenance was 
 mild and tranquil, and even kindly in its expression. 
 And, sti-anj^ely enough, it seemed to me that in this very 
 calm and benignity consisted the secret of the dread 
 which the countenances inspired. They seemed as void 
 cf the lines and shadows which care and sorrow, and 
 passion and sin, leave upon the faces of men, as are the 
 faces of sculptured gods, or as, in the eyes of Christian 
 mourners, seem the peaceful brows of the dead. 
 
 I felt a warm hand on my shoulder; it was the child's. 
 In his eyes there was a sort of lofty pity and tenderness, 
 such as that with which we may gaze on some suffering 
 bird or butterfly. I shrank from that touch — I shrank 
 from that eye. I was vaguely impressed with a belief
 
 THE COMIXG RACE. 15 
 
 that, had he so pleased, that child could have killed me 
 as easily as a man can kill a bird or a butterfly. The 
 child seemed pained at my repugnance, quitted me, and 
 placed himself beside one of the windows. The others 
 continued to converse with each other in a low tone, and 
 by their glances toward me I could perceive that I was 
 the object of their conversation. One in especial seemed 
 to be urging some proposal affecting me on the being 
 whom I had first met, and this last by his gesture seemed 
 about to assent to it, when the child suddenly quitted 
 his post by the window, placed himself between me and 
 the other forms, as if in protection, and spoke quickly 
 and eagerly. By some intuition or instinct I felt that 
 the child I had before so dreaded was pleading in my 
 behalf. Ere he had ceased another stranger entered the 
 room. He appeared older than the rest, though not old; 
 his countenance, less smoothy serene than theirs, though 
 equally regular in its features, seemed to me to have 
 more the touch of a humanity akin to my own. He 
 listened quietly to the words addressed to him, first by 
 my guide, next by two others of the group, and lastly 
 by the child; then turned toward myself, and addressed 
 me, not by words, but by signs and gestures. These I 
 fancied that I perfectly understood, and I was not mis- 
 taken. I comprehended that he inquired whence T came. 
 I extended my arm and pointed toward the road which 
 had led me from the chasm in the rock; then an idea 
 seized me. I drew forth my pocket-book and sketched 
 on one of its blank leaves a rough design of the ledge of 
 the rock, the rope, myself clinging to it; then of the 
 cavernous rock below, the head of the reptile, the lifeless 
 form of my friend. I gave this primitive kind of hiero- 
 glyph to my interrogator, who, after inspecting it 
 gravely, handed it to his next neighbor, and it thus 
 passed round the group. The being I had at first en- 
 countered then said a few words, and the child, who 
 approached and looked at my drawing, nodded as if he 
 comprehended its purport, and, returning to the win- 
 dow, expanded the wings attached to his form, shook 
 them once or twice, and then launched himself into space 
 without. I started up in amaze and hastened to the win- 
 dow. The child was already in the air, buoyed on his 
 wings, which he did not flap to and fro as a bird does, 
 but which were elevated over his head, and seemed to
 
 1 6 THE COMIAG FACE. 
 
 bear him steadily aloft without effort of his own. His 
 flight seemed as swift as any eagle's; and I observed that 
 it was toward the rock whence I had descended, of 
 which the outline loomed visible in the brilliant atmos- 
 phere. In a verj"- few minutes he returned, skimming 
 through the opening from which he had gone, and drop- 
 ping on the floor the rope and grappling-hooks I had left 
 at the descent from the chasm. Some words in a low 
 tone passed between the beings present: one of the group 
 touched an automaton, which started forward and glided 
 from the room; then the last-comer, who had addressed 
 me by gestures, rose, took me by the hand, and led me 
 into the corridor. There the platform by which I had 
 mounted awaited us; we placed ourselves on it and were 
 lowered into the hall below. My new^ companion, still 
 holding me by the hand, conducted me from the build- 
 ing into a street (so to speak) that stretched beyond it, 
 with buildings on either side, separated from each other 
 by gardens bright with rich-colored vegetation and 
 strange flowers. Interspersed amidst these gardens, 
 which were divided from each other by low walls, or 
 walking slowly along the road, were many forms similar 
 to those I had already seen. Some of the passers-by, on 
 observing me, approached my guide, evidently by tlieir 
 tones, looks, and gestures addressing to him inquiries 
 about myself. In a few moments a crowd collected 
 round us, examining me with great interest, as if I were 
 some rare wdld animal. Yet even in gratifying their 
 curiosity they preserved a grave and courteous demeanor; 
 and aften a few words from my guide, who seemed to 
 me to deprecate obstruction in our road, they fell back 
 with a stately inclination of head, and resumed their own 
 way with tranquil indifference. Midway in this thor- 
 oughfare we stopped at a building that differed from 
 those we had hitherto passed, inasmuch as it formed 
 three sides of a vast court, at the angles of which were 
 lofty pyramidal towers; in the open space between the 
 sides was a circular fountain of colossal dimensions, and 
 throwing up a dazzling spray of what seemed to me fire. 
 We entered the building through an open doorway and 
 came into an enormous iiall, in which were several groups 
 of children, all apparently employed in work as at some 
 great factory. There was a huge engine in the wall 
 which was in full play, with wheels and cylinders re
 
 THE COMING RACE. 1/ 
 
 sembling our own steam-engines, except that it was 
 richly ornamented with precious stones and metals, and 
 appeared to emanate a pale phosphorescent atmosphere 
 of shifting light. Many of the children were at some 
 mysterious work on this machinery, others were seated 
 before tables. I was not allowed to linger long enough 
 to examine into the nature of their employment. Not 
 one young voice was heard — not one young face turned 
 to gaze on us. They were all still and indifferent as may 
 be ghosts, through the midst of which pass unnoticed 
 the forms of the living. 
 
 Quitting this hall, my guide led me through a gallery 
 rich'ly painted in compartments, with a barbaric mixture 
 of gold in the colors, like pictures by Louis Cranach. 
 The subjects described on these walls appeared to my 
 glance as intended to illustrate events in the history of 
 the race amidst which I was admitted. In all there were 
 figures, most of them like the manlike creatures I had 
 seen, but not all in the same fashion of garb, nor all with 
 wings. There were also the effigies of various animals 
 and birds wholly strange to me, with backgrounds de- 
 picting landscapes or buildings. So far as my imperfect 
 knowledge of the pictorial art would allow me to form 
 an opinion, these paintings seemed very accurate in de- 
 sign and very rich in coloring, showing a perfect knowl- 
 edge of perspective, but their details not arranged ac- 
 cording to the rules of composition acknowledged by our 
 artists — wanting, as it were, a centre; so that the effect 
 was vague, scattered, confused, bewildering — they were 
 like heterogeneous fragments of a dream of art. 
 
 We now came into a room of moderate size, in which 
 was assembled what I afterward knew to be the family 
 of my guide, seated at a table spread as for repast. The 
 forms thus grouped were those of my guide's wife, his 
 daughter, and two sons. I recognized at once the dif- 
 ference between the two sexes, though the two females 
 were of taller stature and ampler proportions than the 
 males; and their countenances, if still more symmetrical 
 in outline and contour, were devoid of the softness and 
 timidity of expression which give charm to the face of 
 woman as seen on the earth above. The wife wore no 
 wings, the daughter wore wings longer than those of the 
 males. 
 
 My guide uttered a few words, on which all the per, 
 
 2
 
 1 8 THE COMLW, RACE. 
 
 sons seated rose, and witli that peculiar mildness of look 
 and manner which I have before noticed, and which is, 
 in truth, the common attribute of this formidable race, 
 they saluted me according to their fashion, which con- 
 sists in laying the right hand very gently on the head 
 and uttering a soft sibilant monosyllable — S.Si, equiva- 
 lent to " Welcome." 
 
 The mistress of the house then seated me beside her 
 and heaped a golden platter before me from one of the 
 dishes. 
 
 While I ate (and though the viands were new to me, I 
 marvelled more at the delicacy than the strangeness of 
 their flavor), my companions conversed quietly, and, so 
 far as I could detect, with polite avoidance of any direct 
 reference to myself, or any obtrusive scrutiny of my ap- 
 pearance. Yet I was the lirst creature of that variety of 
 the human race to which I belong that they had ever be- 
 held, and was consequenth'^ regarded by them as a most 
 curious and abnormal phenomenon. But all rudeness is 
 unknown to this people, and the youngest child is taught 
 to despise any vehement emotional demonsti ation. When 
 the meal was ended, my guide again took me by the hand, 
 and, re-entering the gallery, touched a metallic plate in- 
 scribed w'ith strange figures, and which I rightly con- 
 jectured to be of the nature of our telegraphs. A plat- 
 form descended, but this time we mounted to a much 
 greater height than in the former building, and found 
 ourselves in a room of moiierate dimensions, and which 
 in its general character had much that might be familiar 
 to the associations of a visitor from the upper world. 
 There were shelves on the wall containing v.hat appeared 
 to be books, and indeed were so; mostly very small, like 
 ■our diamond duodecimos, shaped in the fashion of our 
 volumes, and bound in fine sheets of metal. There were 
 several curious-looking pieces of mechanism scattered 
 ■about, apparently models, such as might be seen in the 
 study of any professional mechanician. Four automata 
 (mechanical contrivances which, with these people, an- 
 swer the ordinary purposes of domestic service) stood 
 phantom-like at each angle in the wall. In a recess was 
 a low couch, or bed with pillows. A window, with cur- 
 tains of some fibrous material drawn aside, opened upon 
 a large balcony. My host stepped out into the balcony; 
 I followed him. W^e were on the uppermost story of one
 
 THE COMING RACE. I9 
 
 of the angular pyramids; the view beyond was of a wild 
 and solemn beauty impossible to describe — the vast 
 ranges of precipitous rock which formed the distant 
 background, the intermediate valleys of mystic many- 
 colored herbage, the flash of waters, many of them like 
 streams of roseate flame, the serene lustre diffused over 
 all by myriads of lamps, combined to form a whole of 
 which no words of mine can convey adequate description; 
 so splendid was it, yet so sombre; so lovely, yet so awful. 
 
 But my attention was soon diverted from these nether 
 landscapes. Suddenly there arose, as from the streets 
 below, a burst of joyous music; then a winged form 
 soared into the space; another as in chase of the first, 
 another and another; others after others, till the crowd 
 grew thick and the number countless. But how describe 
 the fantastic grace of these forms in their undulating 
 movements ! They appeared engaged in some sport or 
 amusement; now forming into opposite squadrons; now 
 scattering; now each group threading the other, soaring, 
 descending, interweaving, severing; all in measured time 
 to the music below, as if in the dance of the fabled Peri. 
 
 I turned my gaze on my host in a feverish wonder. I 
 ventured to place my hand on the large wings that lay 
 folded on his breast, and in doing so a slight shock as of 
 electricity passed through me. I recoiled in fear; my 
 host smiled, and, as if courteously to gratify my curiosity, 
 slowly expanded his pinions. I observed that his gar- 
 ment beneath then became dilated as a bladder that fills 
 with air. The arms seemed to slide into the wings, and 
 in another moment he had launched himself into the 
 luminous atmosphere, and hovered there, still, and with 
 outspread wings, as an eagle that basks in the sun. Then, 
 rapidly as an eagle swoops, he rushed downward into 
 the midst of one of the groups, skimming through the 
 midst, and as suddenly again soaring aloft. Thereon, 
 three forms, in one of which I thought to recognize my 
 host's daughter, detached themselves from the rest, and 
 followed him as a bird sportively follows a bird. My 
 eyes, dazzled with the liglits and bewildered by the 
 throngs, ceased to distinguish the gyrations and evolu- 
 tions of these winged playmates, till presently my host 
 re-emergcd from the crowd and alighted at my side. 
 
 The strangeness of all I had seen began now to oper- 
 ate fast on my senses; my mind itself began to v/ander.
 
 20 THE COMING RACE. 
 
 Though not inclined to be superstitious, nor hithert© be- 
 lieving that man could be brought into bodily communi- 
 cation with demons, I felt the terror and the wild excite- 
 ment with W'hich, in the Gothic ages, a traveller might 
 have persuaded himself that he witnessed a sabbat of 
 fiends and witches. I have a vague recollection of hav- 
 ing attempted with vehement gesticulation, and forms of 
 exorcism, and loud incoherent words, to repel my courte- 
 ous and indulgent host; of his mild endeavors to calm 
 and soothe me; of his intelligent conjecture that my 
 fright and bewilderment were occasioned by the differ- 
 ence of form and movement between us which the wings 
 that had excited my marvelling curiosity had, in exercise, 
 made still more strongly perceptible; of the gentle smile 
 wuth which he had sought to dispel my alarm by drop- 
 ping the wings to the ground and endeavoring to show 
 me that they were but a mechanical contrivance. That 
 sudden transformation did but increase my horror, and 
 as extreme fright often shows itself by extreme daring, I 
 sprang at his throat like a wild beast. On an instant I 
 was felled to the ground as by an electric shock, and the 
 last confused images floating before my sight ere I be- 
 came wholly insensible, were the form of my host kneel- 
 ing beside me with one hand on my forehead, and the 
 beautiful calm face of his daughter, with large, deep, in- 
 scrutable eyes intently fixed upon my own. 
 
 CHAPTER VI 
 
 I REMAINED in this unconscious state, as I afterward 
 learned, for many days, even for some weeks, according 
 to our computation of time. When I recovered I was in 
 a strange room, my host and all his family were gathered 
 round me, and to my utter amaze my host's daughter 
 accosted me in my own language with but a slightly 
 foreign accent. 
 
 " How do you feel ?" she asked. 
 
 It was some moments before I could overcome my 
 surprise enough to falter out, " You know my language ? 
 How ? Who and what are you ?" 
 
 My host smiled and motioned to one of his sons, who 
 then took from a table a number of thin metallic sheets
 
 THE COMING RACE. 21 
 
 on which were traced drawings of various figures — a 
 house, a tree, a bird, a man, etc. 
 
 In these designs I recognized my own style of draw- 
 ing. Under each figure was written the name of it in 
 my language, and in my writing; and in another hand- 
 writing a word strange to me beneath it. 
 
 Said the host, "Thus we began; and my daughter Zee, 
 who belongs to the College of Sages, has been your in- 
 structress and ours too." 
 
 Zee then placed before me other metallic sheets, on 
 which, in my writing, words first, and then sentences, 
 were inscribed. Under each word and each sentence 
 strange characters in another hand. Rallying my senses, 
 I comprehended that thus a rude dictionary had been 
 effected. Had it been done while I was dreaming ? 
 "That is enough now," said Zee, in a tone of command. 
 "Repose and take food." 
 
 CHAPTER VH. 
 
 A ROOM to myself was assigned to me in this vast edi- 
 fice. It was prettily and fantastically arranged, but 
 without any of the splendor of metal-work or gems 
 which was displayed in the more public apartments. 
 The walls were hung with a variegated matting made 
 from the stalks and fibres of plants, and the floor car- 
 peted with the same. 
 
 The bed was without curtains, its supports of iron 
 resting on balls of crystal; the coverings, of a thin white 
 substance resembling cotton. There were sundry shelves 
 containing books. A curtained recess communicated 
 with an aviary filled with singing-birds, of which I did 
 not recognize one resembling those I have seen on earth, 
 except a beautiful species of dove, though this was dis- 
 tinguished from our doves by a tall crest of bluish 
 plumes. All these birds had been trained to sing in art- 
 ful tunes, and greatly exceeded the skill of our piping 
 bullfinches, which can rarely achieve more than two 
 tunes, and cannot, I believe, sing those in concert. One 
 might have supposed one's self at an opera in listening 
 to the voices in my aviary. There were duets and trios, 
 /cUd quartets and choruses, all arranged as in one piece
 
 22 THE COMING 17 ACE. 
 
 of music. Did I want to silence the birds ? I had but to 
 draw a curtain over the aviary, and their song hushed as 
 they founci themselv^es left in the dark. Another opening 
 formed a window, not glazed, but on touching a spring 
 a shutter ascended from the floor, formed of some sub- 
 stance less transparent than glass, but still sufficiently 
 pellucid to allow a softened view of the scene without. 
 To this window was attached a balcony, or rather 
 hanging-garden, wherein grew many graceful plants 
 and brilliant flowers. The apartment and its appurte- 
 nances had thus a character, if strange in detail, still 
 tamiliar, as a whole, to modern notions of luxury, and 
 would iiave excited admiration if found attached to the 
 apartments of an English duchess or a fashionable 
 French author. Before I arrived this was Zee's cham- 
 ber; she had hospitably assigned it to me. 
 
 Some hours after the waking up which is described in 
 my last chapter, I was lying alone on my couch trying 
 to fix my thoughts on conjecture as to the nature and 
 genus of the people amongst whom I was thrown, when 
 my host and his daughter Zee entered the room. My 
 host, still speaking my native language, inquired, with 
 much politeness, whether it would be agreeable to me to 
 converse, or if I preferred solitude. I replied that I 
 should feel much honored and obliged by the opportu- 
 nity offered me to express my gratitude for the hospi- 
 tality and civilities I had received in a countrj'to which I 
 was a stranger, and to learn enough of its customs and 
 manners not to offend through ignorance. 
 
 As I spoke, I had of course risen from my couch: but 
 Zee, much to my confusion, curtly ordered me to lie 
 down again, and there was something in her voice and 
 eye, gentle as both were, that compelled my obedience. 
 She then seated herself unconcernedly at the foot of my 
 bed, while her father took his place on a divan a few feet 
 distant. 
 
 "But what part of the world do you come from," 
 asked my host, " that we should appear so strange to 
 you, and you to us ? I have seen individual specimens 
 of nearly all the races differing from our own, except 
 the primeval savages who dwell in the most desolate and 
 remote recesses of uncultivated nature, unacquainted 
 with other light than that they obtain from vc>lcanic 
 fires, and contented to grope their way in the dark, as
 
 THE COMING RACE. 23 
 
 do many creeping, crawling, and even flying things. 
 But certainly you cannot be a member of those barbar- 
 ous tribes, nor, on the other hand, do you seem to belong 
 to any civilized people." 
 
 I was somewhat nettled at this last observation, and 
 replied that I had the honor to belong to one of the 
 most -civilized nations of the earth; and that, so far as 
 light was concerned, while I admired the ingenuity and 
 disregard of expense with which my host and his fellow- 
 citizens had contrived to illumine the regions unpene- 
 trated by the rays of the sun, yet I could not conceive 
 how any who had once beheld the orbs of heaven could 
 compare to their lustre the artificial lights invented by 
 the necessities of man. But my host said he had seen 
 specimens of most of the races differing from his own, 
 save the wretched barbarians he had mentioned. Now, 
 was it possible that he had never been on the surface of 
 the earth, or could he only be referring to communities 
 buried within its entrails? 
 
 My host was for some moments silent; his counte- 
 nance showed a degree of surprise which the people of 
 that race very rarely manifest under any circumstances, 
 liowsoever extraordinary. But Zee was more intelligent, 
 and exclaimed, " So you see, my father, that there is truth 
 in the old tradition; there always is truth in every tradi- 
 tion commonly believed in all times and by all tribes." 
 
 "Zee," saitl my host, mildly, "you belong to the Col- 
 lege of Sages, and ought to be wiser than I am; but, as 
 chief of the Liglit-preserving Council, it is my duty to 
 take nothing for granted till it is proved to the evidence 
 of my own senses." Then, turning to me, he asked me 
 several questions about the surface of the earth and the 
 heavenly bodies; upon which, though I answered him to 
 the best of my knowledge, my answers seemed not to 
 satisfy nor convince him. He shook his head quietly, 
 and, changing the subject rather abruptly, asked how I 
 had come down from what he was pleased to call one 
 world to the other. I answered, that under the surface 
 of the earth there were mines containing minerals, or 
 metals, essential to our wants and our progress in all 
 arts and industries; and I then briefly explained the 
 manner in which, while exploring one of these mines, I 
 and my ill-fated friend had obtained a glimpse of the 
 regions into which we had descended, and how the de-
 
 24 THE COMING RACE. 
 
 scent had cost him his Hfe; appealing to the rope and 
 grappling-hooks that the cliild had brought to the house 
 in which I had been at first received, as a witness of the 
 truthfuhiess of my story. 
 
 INIy host then proceeded to question me as to the 
 habits and modes of life among the races on the upper 
 earth, more especially among those considered to be tlie 
 most advanced in that civilization which he was pleased 
 to define "the art of diffusing throughout a community 
 the tranquil happiness which belongs to a virtuous and 
 well-ordered household." Naturally desiring to repre- 
 sent in the most favorable colors the world from which I 
 came, I touched but slightly, though indulgently, on the 
 antiquated and decaying institutions of Europe, in order 
 to expatiate on the present grandeur and prospective 
 pre-eminence of that glorious American Republic, in 
 which Europe enviously seeks its model and tremblingly 
 foresees its doom. Selecting for an example of the social 
 life of the United States that city in which progiess ad- 
 vances at the fastest rate, I indulged in an animated de- 
 scription of the moral habits of New York. Mortified to 
 see, by the faces of my listeners, that I did not make the 
 favorable impression I had anticipated, I elevated my 
 theme; dwelling on the excellence of democratic institu- 
 tions, their promotion of tranquil happiness by the gov- 
 ernment of party, and the mode in which they diffused 
 such happiness throughout the community by preferring, 
 for the exercise of power and the acquisition of honors, 
 the lowliest citizens in point of property, education, and 
 character. Fortunately recollecting the peroration of a 
 speech, on the purifying influences of American democ- 
 racy and their destined spread over the world, made by 
 a certain eloquent Senator (for whose vote in the Senate 
 a railway company, to which my two brothers belonged, 
 had just paid 20,000 dollars), I wound up by repeating 
 its glowing predictions of the magnificent future that 
 smiled upon mankind — when the flag of freedom should 
 float over an entire continent, and two hundred millions 
 of intelligent citizens, accustomed from infancy to the 
 daily use of revolvers, should apply to a cowering uni- 
 verse the doctrine of the Patriot Monroe. 
 
 When I had concluded, my host gently shook his 
 head, and fell into a musing study, making a sign to me 
 and his daughter to remain silent while he reflected.
 
 THE COMIXG RACE. 2$ 
 
 And after a time he said, in a very earnest and solemn 
 tone, ''If you think as you say, that you, though a 
 stranger, have received kindness at the hands of me and 
 mine, I adjure you to reveal nothing to any other of our 
 people respecting the world from which you came, un- 
 less, on consideration, I give you permission to do so. 
 Do you consent to this request ?" 
 
 "Of course I pledge my word to it," said I, somewhat 
 amazed; a.^^d I extended my right hand to grasp his. 
 But he placed my hand gently on his forehead and his 
 own right hand on my breast, which is the custom 
 amongst this race in all matters of promise or verbal ob- 
 ligations. Then turning to his daughter, he said, "And 
 you, Zee, will not repeat to any one what the stranger 
 has said, or may say, to me or to you, of a world other 
 than our own." Zee rose and kissed her father on the 
 temples, saying, with a smile, " A Gy's tongue is wanton, 
 but love can fetter it fast. And if, my father, you fear 
 lest a chance word from me or yourself could expose our 
 community to danger, by a desire to explore a world be- 
 yond us, will not a wave of the vr//, properly impelled, 
 wash even the memory of what we have heard the 
 stranger say out of the tablets of the brain ?" 
 
 "What is the vril ?" I asked. 
 
 Therewith Zee began to enter into an explanation of 
 which I understood very little, for there is no word in 
 any language I know whicii is an exact synonym for vril. 
 I should call it electricity, except that it comprehends in 
 its manifold branches other forces of nature, to which, in 
 our scientific nomenclature, differing names are assigned, 
 such as magnetism, galvanism, etc. These people con- 
 sider that in vril they have arrived at the unity in natural 
 energic agencies, which has been conjectured by many 
 philosophers above ground, and which Faraday thus in- 
 timates under the more cautious term of correlation: 
 
 "I have long held an opinion," says that illustrious 
 experimentalist, "almost amounting to a conviction, in 
 common, I believe, with many other lovers of natural 
 knowledge, that the various forms under w^hich the 
 forces of matter are made manifest have one common 
 origin; or, in other words, are so directly related and 
 mutually dependent, that they are convertible, as it were, 
 into one another, and possess equivalents of power in 
 their action."
 
 26 THE COMING RACE. 
 
 These subterranean philosophers assert that by one 
 operation of vril, which Faraday would perhaps call "at- 
 mospheric magnetism," they can influence the variations 
 of temperature — in plain words, the weather; that by 
 other operations, akin to those ascribed to mesmerism, 
 electro-biology, odic force, etc., but applied scientifically 
 through vril conductors, they can exercise influence over 
 minds, and bodies animal and vegetable, to an extent 
 not surpassed in the romances of our mystics. To all 
 such agencies they give the common name of vril. Zee 
 asked me if, in niy world, it was not known that all the 
 faculties of tlie mind could be quickened to a degree im- 
 knowu in the waking state, by trance or vision, in which 
 the thoughts of one brain could be transmitted to another, 
 and knowledge be thus rapidly interchanged. I repl/ed 
 that there were amongst us stories told of such trance or 
 vision, and that I had heard much and seen something 
 of the mode in which they were artificially effected, as in 
 mesmeric clairvoyance; but that these practices had fallen 
 much into disuse or contempt, partly because of the gross 
 impostures to which they had been made subservient, 
 and partly because, even where the effects upon certain 
 abnormal constitutions were genuinely produced, the 
 effects, when fairly examined and analyzed, were very 
 unsatisfactory — not to be relied upon for any systematic 
 truthfulness or any practical purpose, and rendered very 
 mischievous to credulous persons by the superstitions 
 they tended to produce. Zee received my answers with 
 much benignant attention, and said that similar instances 
 of abuse and credulity had been familiar to their own 
 scientific experience in the infancy of their knowledge, 
 and while the properties of vril were misapprehended, 
 but that she reserved further discussion (^n this subject 
 till I was more fitted to enter into it. She contented 
 herself with adding that it was through the agency of 
 vril, while I had been placed in the state of trance, that 
 I had been made acquainted with the rudiments of ihcir 
 language; and that she and her father, who, alone of the 
 family, took the pains to watch the experiment, had ac- 
 quired a greater proportionate knowledge of my lan- 
 guage than I of their own; partly because my language 
 was much simpler than theirs, comprising far less of 
 complex ideas; and partly because their organization 
 was, by hereditary culture, much more ductile and more
 
 T£JK COMIXG RACE. 2/ 
 
 readily capable of acquiring knowledge than mine. At 
 this I secretly demurred; and having had, in the course 
 of a practical life, to sharpen my wits, whether at home 
 or in travel, I could not allow that my cerebral organi- 
 zation could possibly be duller than that of people who 
 had lived all their lives by lamplight. However, while 
 I was thus thinking, Zee quietly pointed her forefinger 
 at my forehead and sent me to sleep. 
 
 CHAPTER VIII. 
 
 When I once more awoke I saw by my bedside the 
 child who had brought the rope and grappling-hooks to 
 the house in which I had been first received, and which, 
 as I afterward learned, was the residence of the chief 
 magistrate of the tribe. The child, whose name was 
 Tae (pronounced Tar-ee), was the magistrate's eldest 
 son. I found that during my last sleep or trance I had 
 made still greater advance in the language of the country, 
 and could converse with comparative ease and fluency. 
 
 This child was singularly handsome, even for the beau- 
 tiful race to which he belonged, with a countenance very 
 manly in aspect for his years, and with a more vivacious 
 and energetic expression than I had hitherto seen in the 
 serene and passionless faces of the men. He brought 
 Tie the tablet on which I had drawn the mode of my de- 
 scent, and had also sketched the head of the horrible 
 reptile that had scared me from my friend's corpse. 
 Pointing to that part of the drawing, Tae put to me a 
 few questions respecting the size and form of the mon- 
 ster, and the cave or chasm from which it had emerged. 
 His interest in my answers seemed so grave as to divert 
 him for a while from any curiosity as to myself or my 
 antecedents. But to my great embarrassment, seeing 
 how I was pledged to my host, he was just beginning to 
 ask me where I came from, when Zee fortunately entered, 
 and, overhearing him, said, "Tae, give to our guest any 
 information he may desire, but ask none from him in re- 
 turn. To question him who he is, whence he comes, or 
 wherefore he is here, would be a breach of the lavv which 
 my father has laid down for this house." 
 
 "So be it," said Tae, pressing his hand to his heart;
 
 28 THE COMIXG A' ACE. 
 
 and from that moment, till the one in which I saw him 
 last, this child, with whom I became very intimate, never 
 once put to me anj^ of the questions thus interdicted. 
 
 . CHAPTER IX. 
 
 It was not for some time, and until, by repeated 
 trances, if they are so to be called, my mind became 
 better prepared to interchange ideas with my entertain- 
 ers, and more fully to comprehend differences of man- 
 ners and customs, at first too strange to my experience 
 to be seized by my reason, that I was enabled to gather 
 the following details respecting the origin and history of 
 this subterranean population, as portion of one great 
 family race called the Ana. 
 
 According to the earliest traditions, the remote pro- 
 genitors of the race had once tenanted a world above the 
 surface of that in which their descendants dwelt. Myths 
 of that world were still preserved in their archives, and 
 in those myths were legends of a vaulted dome in which 
 the lamps were lighted by no human hand. But such 
 legends were considered by most commentators as alle- 
 gorical fables. AccordiTig' to these traditions the earth 
 itself, at the date to which the traditions ascend, was not 
 indeed in its infancy, but in the throes and travail of 
 transition from one form of development to another, and 
 subject to many violent revolutions of nature. By one 
 of such revolutions, that portion of the upper world in- 
 habited by the ancestors of this race had been subjected- 
 to inundations, not rapid, but gradual and uncontrolla- 
 ble, in which all, save a scanty remnant, were submerged 
 and perished. Whether this be a record of our histori- 
 cal and sacred Deluge, or of some earlier one contended 
 for by geologists, I do not pretend to conjecture; though, 
 according to the chronolog}^ of this people as compared 
 with that of Newton, it must have been many thousands 
 of years before the time of Noah. On the other hand, 
 the account of these writers does not harmonize with the 
 opinions most in vogue among geological authorities, in- 
 asmuch as it places the existence of a human race upon 
 earth at dates long anterior to that assigned to the ter- 
 restrial formation adapted to the introduction of mam-
 
 THE COMIXG RACE. 29 
 
 malia. A band of the ill-fated race, thus invaded by the 
 Flood, had, during- the march of the waters, taken ref- 
 uge in caverns amidst the loftier rocks, and, wandering 
 through these hollows, they lost sight of the upper world 
 forever. Indeed, the whole face of the earth had been 
 changed by this great revulsion; land had been turned 
 into sea — sea into land. In the bowels of the inner earth, 
 even now, I was informed as a positive fact, might be 
 discovered the remains of human habitation — habitation 
 not in huts and caverns, but in vast cities whose ruins 
 attest the civilization of races which flourished before 
 the age of Noah, and are not to be classified with those 
 genera to which philosophy ascribes the use of flint and 
 the ignorance of iron. 
 
 The fugitives had carried with them the knowledge of 
 the arts they had practised above ground — arts of culture 
 and civilization. Their earliest want must have been 
 that of supplying below the earth the light they had lost 
 above it: and at no time, even in the traditional period, 
 do the races, of which the one I now sojourned with 
 formed a tribe, seem to have been unacquainted with the 
 art of extracting light from gases, or manganese, or pe- 
 troleum. They had been accustomed in their former state 
 to contend with the rude forces of nature; and indeed 
 the lengthened battle they had fought with their con- 
 queror Ocean, which had taken centuries in its spread, 
 had quickened their skill in curbing waters into dikes 
 and channels. To this skill they owed their preservation 
 in their new abode. "For many generations," said my 
 host, with a sort of contempt and horror, "these primi- 
 tive forefathers are said to have degraded their rank and 
 shortened their lives by eating the flesh of animals, many 
 varieties of which had, like themselves, escaped the Del- 
 uge, and sought shelter in the hollows of the earth; other 
 animals, supposed to be unknown to the upper world, 
 those hollows themselves produced." 
 
 When what we should term the historical age emerged 
 from the twilight of tradition, the Ana were already es- 
 tablished in different communities, and had attained to a 
 degree of civilization very analogous to that which the 
 more advanced nations above the earth* now enjoy. They 
 were familiar with most of our mechanical inventions, 
 including the application of steam as well as gas. The 
 communities were in fierce competition with each other.
 
 30 THE COMING RACE. 
 
 They had their rich and their poor; they liad orators and 
 conquerors; tliey made war either for a dopuiin or an 
 idea. Though the various states acknowledged various 
 forms of government, free institutions were beginning 
 to preponderate; popular assemblies increased iji power; 
 republics soon became general; the democracy to which 
 the most enlightened European politicians look forward 
 as the extreme goal of political advancement, and which 
 still prevailed among other subterranean races, whom 
 they despised as barbarians, the loftier family of Ana, to 
 which belonged the tribe I was visiting, looked back to 
 as one of the crude and ignorant experiments which be- 
 long to the infancy of political science. It was the age 
 of envy and hate, of fierce passions, of constant social 
 changes more or less violent, of strife between classes, 
 of war between state and state. This phase of society 
 lasted, however, for some ages, and was finally brought 
 to a close, at least among tlie nobler and more intellectual 
 populations, by the gradual discovery of the latent pow- 
 ers stored in the all-permeating fund which they denom- 
 inate Vril. 
 
 According to the account I received from Zee, who, as 
 an erudite professor in the College of Sages, had studied 
 such matters more diligently than any other member of 
 my host's family, this fluid is capable of being raised 
 and disciplined into the mightiest agenc)' over all forms 
 of matter, animate or inanimate. It can destroy like the 
 flash of lightning; yet, differently applied, it can replen- 
 ish or invigorate life, heal, and preserve, and on it they 
 chiefly rely for the cure of disease, or rather for enabling 
 the physical organization to re-establish the due equi- 
 librium of its natural powers, and thereby to cure itself. 
 By this agency they rend way through the most solid 
 substances, and open valleys for culture through the 
 rocks of their subterranean wilderness. From it they ex- 
 tract the light which supplies their lamps, finding it 
 steadier, softer, and healthier than the other inflammable 
 materials they had formerly used. 
 
 But the effects of the alleged discovery of ihe means 
 to direct the more terrible force of vril were chiefly 
 remarkable in their influence upon social polity. As 
 these effects became familiarly known and skilfully ad- 
 ministered, war beteen the vril-discoverers ceased, for 
 they brought the art of destruction, to such perfection
 
 THE COMING RACE, 3 1 
 
 as to annul all superiority in numbers, discipline, or mil- 
 itary skill. The fire lodged in the hollow of a rod di- 
 rected by the hand of a child could shatter the strongest 
 fortress, or cleave its burning way from the van to the 
 rear of an embattled host. If army met army, and both 
 had command of this agency, it could be but to the an- 
 nihilation of each. The age of war was therefore gone, 
 but with the cessation of war other effects bearing upon 
 the social state soon became apparent. Man was so com- 
 pletely at the mercy of man, each whom he encountered 
 being able, if so willing, to slay him on the instant, 
 that all notions of government by force gradually van- 
 ished from political systems and forms of law. It is 
 only by force that vast communities, dispersed through 
 great distances of space, can be kept together; but now 
 there was no longer either the necessity of self-preserva- 
 tion or the pride of aggrandizement to make one state 
 desire to preponderate in population over another. 
 
 The Vril-discoverers thus, in the course of a few gen- 
 erations, peacefully split into communities of moderate 
 size. The tribe amongst which I had fallen was limited 
 to 12,000 families. Each tribe occupied a territory sufh- 
 cient for all its wants, and at stated periods the surplus 
 population departed to seek a realm of its own. There 
 appeared no necessity for any arbitrary selection of 
 these emigrants; there was always a sufficient number 
 wIto volunteered to depart. 
 
 These subdivided states, petty if v.'e regard either ter- 
 ritoiy or population, all appertained to one vast general 
 family. They spoke the same language, though tlie 
 dialects tnight slightly differ. They intermarried; they 
 maintained the same general laws and customs; and so 
 important a bond between these several communities 
 was the knowledge of vril and the practice of its agen- 
 cies, that the word A- Vril was synonymous with civiliza- 
 tion; and Vril-ya, signifying " Tlie Civilized Nations," 
 was the common name b}" which the communities em- 
 ploying the uses of vril distinguished themselves from 
 such of the Ana as were yet in a state of barbarism. 
 
 The government of the tribe of Vril-ya I am treat- 
 ing of was apparently very complicated, really very 
 simple. It was based upon a principle recognized in 
 theory, though little carried out in practice, above 
 ground — viz., that the object of all systems of phiio-
 
 32 THE COMING RACE. 
 
 sophical thought tends to the attainment of unity, or 
 the ascent through all intervening labyrinths to the 
 simplicity of a single first cause or principle. Thus in 
 politics, even republican writers have agreed that a 
 benevolent autocracy would insure the best adminis- 
 tration, if there were any guarantees for its continu- 
 ance, or against its gradual abuse of the powers accorded 
 to it. This singular community elected therefore a single 
 supreme magistrate styled Tur; he held his office nom-< 
 inally for life, but he could seldom be induced to retain 
 it after the first approach of old age. There was indeed 
 in this society nothing to induce any of its members 
 to covet the cares of office. No honors, no insignia of 
 higher rank, were assigned to it. The supreme magis- 
 trate was not distinguished from the rest by superior 
 habitation or revenue. On the other hand, the duties 
 awarded to him were marvellousl}- light and easy, re- 
 quiring no preponderant degree of energy or intelli- 
 gence. There being no apprehensions of war, there were 
 no armies to maintain; being no government of force, 
 there wai no police to appoint and direct. What we 
 call crime was utterly unknown to the Vril-ya; and 
 there were no courts of criminal justice. The rare in- 
 stances of civil disputes were referred for arbitration 
 to friends chosen by either party, or decided by the 
 Council of Sages, which will be described later. There 
 were no professional lawyers; and indeed their laws 
 were but amicable conventions, for there was no power 
 to enforce laws against an offender who carried in his 
 staff the power to destroy his judges. There were cus- 
 toms and regulations to compliance with which, for sev- 
 eral ages, the people had tacitly habituated themselves: 
 or if in any instance an individual felt such compliance 
 hard, he quitted the community and went elsewhere. 
 There was, in fact, quietly established amid this state, 
 much the same compact that is found in our private 
 families, in which we virtually say to any independent 
 grown-up member of the family whom we receive and 
 entertain, " Stay or go, according as our habits and reg- 
 ulations suit or displease you." But though there were 
 no laws such as we call laws, no race above ground is so 
 law-observing. Obedience to the rule adopted by the 
 community has become as much an instinct as if it were 
 implanted by nature. Even in every lunischold the head
 
 THE COMING RACE. 33 
 
 of it makes a regulation for its guidance, which is nevef 
 resisted nor even cavilled at by those who belong to the 
 family. They have a proverb, the pithiness of which is 
 much lost in this paraphrase, " No happiness without 
 order, no order without authority, no authority without 
 unity." The mildness of all government among them, 
 civil or domestic, may be signalized by their idiomatic 
 expressions for such terms as illegal or forbidden — viz., 
 " It is requested not to do so and so." Poverty among 
 the Ana is as unknown as crime; not that property is 
 held in common, or that all are equals in the extent of 
 their possessions or the size and luxury of their habita- 
 tions: but there being no difference of rank or position 
 between the grades of wealth or the choice of occupa- 
 tions, each pursues his own inclinations without creating 
 envy or vying; some like a modest, some a more splen- 
 did kind of life; each makes himself happy in his own 
 way. Owing to this absence of competition, and the 
 limit placed on the population, it is difficult for a family 
 to fall into distress; there are no hazardous specula- 
 tions, no emulators striving for superior wealth and rank. 
 No doubt, in each settlement all originally had the 
 same proportions of land dealt out to them; but some, 
 more adventurous than others, had extended their pos- 
 sessions farther into the bordering wilds, or had im- 
 proved into richer fertility the produce of their fields, or 
 entered into commerce or trade. Thus, necessarily, 
 some had grown richer than others, but none had be 
 come absolutely poor, or wanting anything which their 
 tastes desired. If they did so, it was always in their 
 power to migrate, or at the worst to apply, without 
 shame and with certainty of aid, to the rich, for all the 
 members of the community considered themselves as 
 brothers of one affectionate and united family. More 
 upon this head will be treated of incidentally as my nar- 
 rative proceeds. 
 
 The chief care of the supreme magistrate was to com- 
 municate with certain active departments charged with 
 the administration of special details. The most impor- 
 tant and essential of such details was that connected with 
 the due provision of light. Of this department my host, 
 Aph-Lin, was the chief. Another department, which 
 might be called the foreign, communicated with the 
 neighboring kindred states, principally for the purpose 
 3
 
 34 THE COM IX G RACE. 
 
 of ascertaining all new inventions; and to a third de- 
 partment all such inventions and improvements in ma- 
 chinery were committed for trial. Connected with this 
 department was the College of Sages — a college espe- 
 cially favored by such of the Ana as were widowed and 
 childless, and by the young unmarried females, amongst 
 whom Zee was the most active, and, if what we call re- 
 nown or distinction was a thing acknowledged by this 
 people (which I shall later show it is not), among the 
 most renowned or distinguished. It is by the female 
 Professors of this college that those studies which are 
 deemed of least use in practical life — as purely specula- 
 tive philosophy, the history of remote periods, and such 
 sciences as entomology, conchology, etc. — are the more 
 diligently cultivated. Zee, whose mind, active as Aris- 
 totle's, equally embraced the largest domains and the 
 minutest details of thought, had written two volumes on 
 the parasite insect that dwells amid the hairs of a tiger's* 
 paw, which work was considered the best authority on 
 that interesting subject. But the researches of the sages 
 are not confined to such subtle or elegant studies. They 
 comprise various others more important, and especially 
 the properties of vril, to the perception of which their 
 finer nervous organization renders the female Professors 
 eminently keen. It is out of this college that the Tur, 
 or chief magistrate, selects Councillors, limited to three, 
 in the rare instances in whicli novelty of event or cir- 
 cumstance perplexes his own judgment. 
 
 Tliere are a few other departments of minor conse- 
 quence, but all are carried on so noiselessly and quietly 
 that the evidence of a governrhent seems to vanish alto- 
 gether, and social order to be as regular and unobtrusive 
 as if it were a law of nature. Machinery is employed to 
 an inconceivable extent in all the operations of labor 
 within and without doors, and it is the unceasing object 
 
 * The animal here referred to has many points of difference from 
 the tiger of the upper world. It is larger, and with a broader paw, 
 and still more receding frontal. It haunts the sides of lakes and 
 pools, and feeds principally on fishes, though it does not object to any 
 terrestrial animal of inferior strength that comes in its way. It is be- 
 coming very scarce even in the wild districts, where it is devoured l>y 
 gigantic reptiles. I apprehend that it clearly belongs to the tiger 
 spei ies, since the parasite amimalcule found in its paw, like that found 
 in the Asiatic tigtr's, is a miniature iin.nge of itself.
 
 THE COMING RACE. 35 
 
 of the department charged with its administration to ex- 
 tend its efficiency. There is no class of laborers or ser- 
 vants, but all who are required to assist or control the 
 machinery are found in the children, from the time they 
 leave the care of their mothers to the marriageable age, 
 which they place at sixteen for the Gy-ei (the females), 
 twenty for the Ana (the males). These children are 
 formed into bands and sections under their own chiefs, 
 each following the pursuits in which he is most pleased, 
 or for which he feels himself most fitted. Some take to 
 handicrafts, some to agriculture, some to household 
 v;ork, and some -to the only services of danger to which 
 the population is exposed; for the sole perils that 
 threaten this tribe are, first, from those occasional con- 
 vulsions within the earth, to foresee and guard against 
 which tasks their utmost ingenuity — irruptions of fire 
 and water, the storms of subterranean winds and escap- 
 ing gases. At the borders of the domain, and at all 
 places wher-l such peril miglit be apprehended, vigilant 
 inspectors are stationed with telegraphic communication 
 to the hall in which chosen sages take it by turns to hold 
 perpetual sittings. These inspectors are always selected 
 from the elder boys approaching the age of puberty, and 
 on the principle that at that age observation is more 
 acute and the physical forces more alert than at any 
 other. The second service of danger, less grave, is in 
 the destruction of all creatures hostile to the life, or tlie 
 culture, or even the comfort, of the Ana. Of these the 
 most formidable are the vast reptiles, of some of which 
 antediluvian relics are preserved in our museums, and 
 certain gigantic winged creatures, half bird, half reptile. 
 These, together with lesser wild animals, corresponding 
 to our tigers or venomous serpents, it is left to the 
 younger children to hunt and destroy; because, according 
 to the Ana, here ruthlessness is wanted, and the younger 
 a child the more ruthlessly he will destroy. There is 
 another class of animals in the destruction of which 
 discrimination is to be used, and against which children 
 of intermediate age are appointed — animals that do not 
 threaten the life of man, but ravage the produce of his 
 labor, varieties of the elk and deer species, and a smaller 
 creature much akin to our rabbit, though infinitely more 
 destructive to crops, and much more cunning in its mode 
 of depredation. It is the first object of these appointed
 
 36 THE COMING RACE. 
 
 infants to tame the more intelligent of sucli animals into 
 respect for enclosures signalized by conspicuous land- 
 marks, as dogs are taught to respect a larder, or even to 
 guard the master's property. It is only where such crea- 
 tures are found untamable to this extent that they are 
 destroyed. Life is never taken away for food or for 
 sport, and never spared where untamably inimical to the 
 Ana. Concomitantly with these bodily services and 
 tasks, the mental education of the children goes on till 
 boyhood ceases. It is the general custom, then, to pass 
 through a course of instruction at the College of Sages, 
 in which, besides more general studies, the pupil receives 
 special lessons in such vocation or direction of iniellect 
 as he himself selects. Some, however, prefer to pass 
 this period of probation in travel, or to emigrate, or to 
 settle down at once into rural or commercial pursuits. 
 No force is put upon individual inclination. 
 
 CHAPTER X. 
 
 The word Ana (pronounced broadly y^/v/^z) corresponds 
 with our plural men; An (pronounced Am), the singi^Iar, 
 with ;;/(7/7. The word for woman is Gy (pronounced hard, 
 as in Guy); it forms itself into Gy-ei for the plural, but 
 the G becomes soft in the plural like Jy-ei. They have 
 a proverb to the effect that this difference in pronuncia- 
 tion is symbolical, for that the female sex is soft in the 
 concrete, but hard to deal with in the individual. The 
 Gy-ei are in the fullest enjoyment of all the rights of 
 equality with males, for which certain philosophers above 
 ground contend. 
 
 In childhood they perform the oflices of work and la- 
 bor impartially with the boys, and, indeed, in the earlier 
 age appropriated to the destruction of animals irreclaim- 
 ably hostile, the girls are frequently preferred, as being 
 by constitution more ruthless under the influence of fear 
 or hate. In the interval between infancy and the mar- 
 riageable age familiar intercourse between the sexes is 
 suspended. At the marriageable age it is renewed, never 
 with worse consequences than those which attend upon 
 marriage. All arts and vocations allotted to the one sex 
 are open to the other, and tlie Gy-ei arrogate to them-
 
 THE COMING RACE. 37 
 
 selves a superiority in all those abstruse and mystical 
 branches of reasoning, for which they say the Ana are 
 unfitted by a duller sobriety of understanding, or the 
 routine of their matter-of-fact occupations, just as young 
 ladies in our own world constitute themselves authorities 
 in the subtlest points of theological doctrine, for which 
 few men, actively engaged in worldly business, have suf- 
 ficient learning or refinement of intellect. Whether ow- 
 ing to early training in gymnastic exercises or to their 
 constitutional organization, the Gy-ei are usually supe- 
 rior to the Ana in physical strength (an important ele- 
 ment in the consideration and maintenance of female 
 rights). They attain to loftier stature, and amid their 
 rounder proportions are embedded sinews and muscles 
 as hardy as those of the other sex. Indeed they assert 
 that, according to the original laws of nature, females 
 were intended to be larger than males, and maintain this 
 dogma by reference to the earliest formations of life in 
 insects, and in the most ancient family of the vertebrata 
 — viz., fishes — in both of which the females are generally 
 large enough to make a meal of their consorts if they so 
 desire. Above all, the Gy-ei have a readier and more 
 concentred power over that mysterious fluid or agency 
 which contains the element of destruction, with a larger 
 portion of that sagacity which comprehends dissimula- 
 tion. Thus they can not only defend themselves against 
 all aggressions from the males, but could, at any moment 
 wiien he least expected his danger, terminate tiie existence 
 of an offending spouse. To the credit of the Gy-ei no in- 
 stance of their abuse of this awful superiority in the art 
 of destruction is on record for several ages. The last 
 that occurred in the community I speak of appears (ac- 
 cording to their chronology) to have been about two 
 thousand years ago. A Gy, then, in a fit of jealousy, slew 
 her husband; and this abominable act inspired such ter- 
 ror among the males that they emigrated in a body and 
 U;ft all the Gy-ei to themselves. Tlie history runs that 
 tlie widowed Gy-ei, thus reduced to despair, fell upon the 
 murderess wlien in her sleep (and therefore unarmed), 
 ;ind killed her, and tlien entered into a solemn obligation 
 .unongst themselves to abrogate forever the exercise of 
 their extreme conjugal powers, and to inculcate the same 
 obligation forever and ever on their female children. By 
 this conciliatory process^ a deputation despatched to the
 
 38 HIE COMIXG RACE. 
 
 fugitive consorts succeeded in persuading many to re- 
 turn, but those who did return were mostly the elder 
 ones. The younger, either from too craven a doubt of 
 their consorts, or too high an estimate of their own rher- 
 its, rejected all overtures, and, remaining in other com- 
 munities, were caught up there by other mates, with 
 whom perhaps they were no better off. But the loss of 
 so large a portion of the male youth operated as a salu- 
 tary warning on the Gy-ei, and confirmed them in the 
 pious resolution to which they had pledged themselves. 
 Indeed it is now popularly considered that, by long 
 hereditary disuse, the Gy-ei have lost both the aggres- 
 sive and the defensive superiorit)' over the Ana which 
 they once possessed, just as in the inferior animals above 
 the earth mau}'^ peculiarities in their original formation, 
 intended by nature for their protection, gradually fade 
 or become inoperative when not needed under altered 
 circumstances. I should be sorry, however, for any An 
 who induced a Gy to make tlie experiment whether he or 
 she were the stronger. 
 
 From the incident I have narrated, the Ana date cer- 
 tain alterations in the marriage customs, tending, per- 
 haps, somewhat to the advantage of the male. They 
 now bind themselves in wedlock only for three years; at 
 the end of each third year either male or female can 
 divorce the other and is free to marry again. At the end 
 of ten years the An has the privilege of taking a second 
 wife, allowing the first to retire if she so please. These 
 regulations are for the most part a dead letter; divorces 
 and polygamy are extremely rare, and the marriage 
 state now seems singularly happy and serene among this 
 astonishing people — the Gy-ei, notwithstanding their 
 boastful superiority in physical strength and intellectual 
 abilities, being much curbed into gentle manners by the 
 dread of separation or of a second wife, and the Ana be- 
 ing very much the creatures of custom, and not, exrejit 
 under great aggravation, likely to exchange for hazard- 
 ous novelties faces and manners to which they are recon- 
 ciled by habit. But there is one privilege the Gy-ei 
 carefully retain, and the desire for which perhaps forms 
 the secret motive of most lady asserters of woman's 
 rights above ground. They claim the privilege, here 
 usurped by men, of proclaiming their love and urging 
 their suit; \X\ otlier words, of being the wooing party
 
 THE COMIXG RACE. 39 
 
 rather than the wooed. Such a phenomenon as an old 
 maid does not exist among the Gy-ei. Indeed it is very 
 seldom thgt a Gy does not secure any An upon whom 
 she sets her lieart, if his affections be not strongly en- 
 gaged elsewhere. However coy, reluctant, and prudish 
 tlie male she courts may prove at first, yet her persever- 
 ance, her ardor, her persuasive powers, her command 
 over the mA'stic agencies of vril, are pretty sure to run 
 down his neck into w'hat we call " the fatal noose." Their 
 argument for the reversal of that relationship of the 
 sexes which the blind tyranny of man has established on 
 the surface of the earth, appears cogent, and is advanced 
 with a frankness which might well be commended to im- 
 partial consideration. They say, that of the two the 
 female is by nature of a more loving disposition than 
 the male — that love occupies a larger space in her 
 thoughts, and is more essential to her happiness, and 
 that tlierefore she ought to be the wooing party; that 
 otherwise the male is a shy and dubitant creature — that 
 he has often a selfish predilection for the single state — 
 that he often pretends to misunderstand tender glances 
 and delicate hints — that, in short, he must be resolutely 
 pursued and captured. They add, moreover, that unless 
 the Gy can secure the An of her choice, and one whom 
 she would not select out of the whole world becomes her 
 mate, she is not only less happy than she otherwise would 
 be, but she is not so good a being, that her qualities of 
 heart are not sufficiently developed; whereas the An is a 
 creature that less lastingly concentrates his affections on 
 one object; that if he cannot get the Gy whom he prefers 
 he easily reconciles himself to another Gy; and, finally, 
 that at the worst, if he is loved and taken care of, it is 
 less necessary to the welfare of his existence that he 
 should love as well as be loved; he grows contented 
 with his creature comforts, and the many occupations of 
 thought which he creates for himself. 
 
 Whatever may be said as to this reasoning, the system 
 works well for the male; for being thus sure that he is 
 truly and ardently loved, and that the more coy and re- 
 luctant he shows himself, the more the determination to 
 secure him increases, he generally contrives to make his 
 consent dependent on such conditions as he thinks the 
 best calculated to insure, if not a blissful, at least a 
 peaceful life. Each individual An has his own hobbies,
 
 40 THE COM IXC, RACE. 
 
 his own ways, his own predilections, and, wliatever they 
 may be, he demands a promise of full and unrestrained 
 concession to them. This, in the pursuit of her object, 
 the Gy readily promises; and as the characteristic of this 
 extraordinary people is an implicit veneration for truth, 
 and her word once given is never broken even by the 
 giddiest Gy, the conditions stipulated for are religiously 
 observed. In fact, notwithstanding all their abstract 
 rights and powers, the Gy-ei are the most amiable, con- 
 ciliatory, and submissive wives I have ever seen even in 
 the happiest households above ground. It is an aph- 
 orism among them, that " wliere a Gy loves it is her 
 pleasure to obey." It will be observed that in the rela- 
 tionship of the sexes I have spoken only of marriage, for 
 such is the moral perfection to which this community 
 has attained, that any illicit connection is as little pos- 
 sible amongst them as it would be to a couple of linnets 
 during the time they agreed to live in pairs. 
 
 CHAPTER XI. 
 
 Nothing had more perplexed me in seeking to recon- 
 cile my sense to the existence of regions extending below 
 the surface of the earth, and habitable by beings, if dis- 
 similar from, still, in all material points of organism, akin 
 t(j those in the upper world, than the contradiction thus 
 presented to the doctrine in which, I believe, most geol- 
 ogists and philosophers concur — viz., that though with 
 us the sun is the great source of heat, yet the deeper we 
 go beneath the crust of the earth, tlie greater is the in- 
 creasing heat, being, it is said, found in the ratio of a 
 degree for every foot, commencing from fifty feet below 
 the surface. But though the domains of the tribe I speak 
 of were, on the higher ground, so comparatively near to 
 the surface, that I coidd account for a temperature, there- 
 in, suitable to organic life, yet even the ravines and val- 
 leys of that realm were much less hot than philosophers 
 would deem possible at such a depth — certainly not 
 warmer than the south of France, or at least of Italy. 
 And according to all the accounts I received, vast tracts 
 immeasurably deeper boneath the surface, and in which 
 one might have thought only salamanders could exist,
 
 THE COMIXG RACE. 4 1 
 
 were inhabited by innumerable races organized like our- 
 selves. I cannot pretend in any way to account for a 
 fact which is so at variance with the recognized laws 
 of science, nor could Zee much help me toward a solu- 
 tion of it. She did but conjecture that sufficient allow- 
 ance had not been made by our philosophers for the 
 extreme porousness of the interior earth — the vastness 
 of its cavities and irregularities, which served to create 
 free currents of air and frequent winds — and for the va- 
 rious modes in which heat is evaporated and thrown oft". 
 She allowed, however, that there was a depth at which 
 the heat was deemed to be intolerable to such organized 
 life as was known to the experience of the Vril-ya, though 
 their philosophers believed that even in such places life 
 of some kind, life sentient, life intellectual, would be 
 found abundant and thriving, could the philosophers 
 penetrate to it. "Wherever the AU-Good builds," said 
 she, " there, be sure, He places inhabitants. He loves 
 not empty dwellings." She added, however, that many 
 changes in temperature and climate had been effected by 
 the skill of the Vril-ya, and that the agency of vril had 
 been successfully employed in such changes. She de- 
 scribed a subtle and life-giving medium called Lai, which 
 I suspect to be identical with the ethereal oxygen of Dr. 
 Lewins, wherein work all the correlative forces united 
 under the name of vril; and contended that wherever 
 this medium could be expanded, as it were, sufficiently 
 for the various agencies of vril to have ample play, a 
 temperature congenial to the highest forms of life could 
 be secured. She said also, that it was the belief of their 
 naturalists that flowers and vegetation had been produced 
 originally (whether developed from seeds borne from the 
 surface of the earth in the earlier convulsions of nature, 
 or imported by the tribes that first sought refuge in cav- 
 ernous hollows) through the operations of the light 
 constantly brought to bear on them, and the gradual 
 improvement in culture. She said also, that since the 
 vril light had superseded all other life-giving bodies, the 
 colors of flower and foliage had become more brilliant, 
 and vegetation had acquired larger growth. 
 
 Leaving these matters to the consideration of those 
 better competent to deal with them, I must now devote 
 a few pages to the very interesting questions connected 
 with the language of the Vril-ya.
 
 {2 THE COMLVG RACE. 
 
 CHAPTER XII. 
 
 The language of the Vril-ya is peculiarly interesting, 
 because it seems to me to exhibit with great clearness 
 the traces of the three main transitions through which 
 language passes in attaining to perfection of form. 
 
 One of the most illustrious c^f recent philologists, Max 
 Miiller, in arguing for the analogy between the strata of 
 language and the strata of the earth, lays down this ab- 
 solute dogma: " No language can, by any possibility, be 
 inflectional without having passed through the aggluti- 
 native and isolating stratum. No language can be ag- 
 glutinative without clinging with its roots to the un- 
 derlying stratum of isolation." — " On the Stratification of 
 Lani:;uagL\'' p. 20. 
 
 Taking then the Chinese language as the best existing 
 type of the original isolating stratum, "as the faithful 
 photograph of man in his leading-strings trying the 
 muscles of his mind, groping his way, and so delighted 
 with his first successful grasps that he repeats them 
 again and again,"* — we have, in the language of the 
 Vril-ya, still " clinging with its roots to the underlying 
 stratum," the evidences of the original isolation. It 
 abounds in monosyllables, which are the foundations of 
 the language. The transition into the agglutinative 
 form marks an epoch that must have gradually extended 
 through ages, the written literature of which has only 
 survived in a few fragments of symbolical mythology 
 and certain pith}' sentences which have passed into pop- 
 ular proverbs. With the extant literature of the Vril-ya 
 the inflectional stratum commences. No doubt at that 
 time there must have operated concurrent causes, in the 
 fusion of races by some dominant people, and the rise of 
 some great literary phenomena by which the form of 
 language became arrested and fixed. As the inflectional 
 stage prevailed over the agglutinative, it is surprising to 
 see how much more boldly the original roots of the lan- 
 guage project from the surface that conceals them. In the 
 old fragments and proverbs of the preceding stage the 
 monosyllables which compose those roots vanish amidst 
 
 * Max MUlIer, "Stratification of Language," p. 13.
 
 THE COM IXC, RACE. ^'j 
 
 words of enormous length, comprehending whole sen- 
 tences from which no one part can be disentangled from 
 the other and employed separately. But when the inflec- 
 tional form of language. became so far advanced as to 
 have its scholars and grammarians, they seem to have 
 united in extirpating all such polysynthetical or polysyl- 
 labic monsters, as devouring invaders of the aboriginal 
 forms. Words beyond three syllables became proscribed 
 as barbarous, and in proportion as the language grew 
 thus simplitied it increased in strength, in dignity, and 
 in sweetness. Though now very compressed in sound, it 
 gains in clearness by that compression. By a single let- 
 ter, according to its position, they contrive to express all 
 that with civilized nations in our upper world it takes 
 the waste, sometimes of syllables, sometimes of sentences, 
 to express. Let me here cite one or two instances: An 
 (which I will translate man), Ana (men); the letter s is 
 with them a letter implying multitude, according to 
 where it is placed; Sana means mankind; Ansa a multi- 
 tude of men. The prefix of certain letters in their alpha- 
 bet invariably denotes compound significations. For 
 instance, Gl (which with them is a single letter, as /// is 
 a single letter with the Greeks) at the commencement of 
 a word infers an assemblage or union of things, some- 
 times kindred, sometimes dissimilar — as Oon, a house; 
 Gloon, a town (i.e., an assemblage of houses). Ata is 
 sorrow; Glata, a public calamity. Aur-an is the health 
 or well-being of a man; Glauran, the well-being of the 
 State, the good of the community; and a word constantly 
 in their mouths is A-glauran, which denotes their polit- 
 ical creed — viz., that "the first principle of a community 
 is the good of all." Aub is invention; sila, a tone in 
 music. Glaubsila, as uniting the ideas of invention and 
 of musical intonation, is the classical word for poetry — 
 abbreviated, in ordinary conversation, to Glaubs. Na, 
 which with them is, like Gl, but a single letter, alwavs, 
 when an initial, implies something antagonistic to life or 
 joy or comfort, resembling in this the Aryan root Nak, 
 expressive of perishing or destruction. Nax is darkness; 
 Narl, death; Naria, sin or evil. Nas — an uttermost con- 
 dition of sin and evil — corruption. In writing, they deem 
 it irreverent to express the Supreme Being by any special 
 name. He is symbolized by what may be termed the 
 hieroglyphic of a pyramid. A. In prayer they address
 
 44 THE COMIXG RACE. 
 
 Him by a name which thsy deem too sacred to confide 
 to a stranger, and I know it not. In conversation they 
 generally use a periphrastic epithet, such as the All- 
 Good. The letter V, symbolical of the inverted pyra- 
 mid, where it is an initial, nearly ahva3's denotes excel- 
 lence or power; as Vril, of which I have said so much; 
 Veed, an immortal spirit; Veed-ya, immortality: Koom, 
 pronounced like the Welsh Cwm, denotes something of 
 liollowness. Koom itself is a cave; Koom-in, a hole; 
 Zi-koom, a valley; Koom-zi, vacancy or void; Bodh- 
 koom, ignorance (literally, knowledge-void). Koom- 
 Posh is their name for the government of the man}', or 
 the ascendanc}' of the most ignorant or hollow. Posh is 
 an almost untranslatable idiom, implying, as the reader 
 will see later, contempt. The closest rendering I can 
 give to it is our slang term "bosh;" and thus Koom- 
 Posh may be loosely rendered " Hollow-Bosh." But 
 when Democrac}^ or Koom Posh degenerates from pop- 
 ular ignorance into that popular passion or ferocity 
 which precedes its decease, as (to cite illustrations from 
 the upper world) during the French Reign of Terror, or 
 for the fifty years of the Roman Republic preceding the 
 ascendancy of Augustus, their name for that state of 
 things is Glek-Nas. Ek is strife — Glek, the universal 
 strife. Nas, as I before said, is corruption or rot; thus 
 Glek-Nas may be construed, "the universal strife-rot." 
 Their compounds are very expressive; thus, Bodh being 
 knowledge, and Too a participle that implies the action 
 of cautiously approaching, — Too-bodh is their word for 
 Philosophy; Pah is a contemptuous exclamation anal- 
 ogous to our idiom, "stuff and nonsense;" Pah-bodh 
 (literally, stuff-and-nonsense-knowledge) is their term 
 for futile or false philosophy, and applied to a species 
 of metaphysical or speculative ratiocination formerly in 
 vogue, which consisted in making inqr.iries that could 
 not be answered, and were not worth making; such, for 
 instance, as " Why does an An have five toes to his feet 
 instead of four or six ? Did the first An, created by the 
 All-Good, have the same number of toes as his descend- 
 ants ? In the form by which an An will be recognized 
 by his friends in the future state of being, will he retain 
 any toes at all, and, if so, will they be material toes or 
 spiritual toes ?" I take these illustrations of Pah-bodh, 
 not in irony or jest, but because the very inquiries I name
 
 THE COMING RACE. 
 
 45 
 
 
 SlNGULAR- 
 
 
 
 Nom. 
 
 An, 
 
 Man. 
 
 Nom. 
 
 Dat. 
 
 Ano, 
 
 to Man. 
 
 Dat. 
 
 Ac. 
 
 Anan, 
 
 Man. 
 
 Ac. 
 
 Voc. 
 
 Hil-An, 
 
 Man. 
 
 Voc. 
 
 formed the subject of controversy by the latest cultivators 
 of that '' science" — 4000 years ago. 
 
 In the declension of nouns I was informed that an- 
 ciently there were eight cases (one more than in the San- 
 scrit Grammar); but the effect of time has been to re- 
 duce these cases, and multiply, instead of these varying 
 terminations, explanatory prepositions. At present, in 
 the Grammar submitted to my study, there were four 
 cases to nouns, three having varying terminations, and 
 the fourth a differing prefix. 
 
 Plural. 
 
 Ana, Men. 
 
 Anoi, to Men. 
 
 Ananda, Men. 
 
 Hil-Ananda, O Men. 
 
 In the elder inflectional literature the dual form ex- 
 isted — it has long been obsolete. 
 
 The genitive case with them is also obsolete; the da- 
 tive supplies its place: they say the House to a Man, in- 
 stead of the House of z. Man. When used (sometimes in 
 poetry), the genitive in the termination is the same as 
 the nominative; so is the ablative, the preposition that 
 marks it being a prefix or suffix at option, and generally 
 decided by ear, according to the sound of the noun. It 
 will be observed that the prefix Hil marks the vocative 
 case. It is always retained in addressing another, except 
 in tlie most intimate domestic relations; its omission 
 would be considered rude: just as in our old forms of 
 speech in addressing a king it would have been deemed 
 disrespectful to say " King," and reverential to say " O 
 King." In fact, as they have no titles of honor, the vo- 
 cative adjuration supplies the place of a title, and is 
 given impartially to all. The prefix Hil enters into the 
 composition of words that imply distant communications, 
 as Ilil-ya, to travel. 
 
 In the conjugation of tlieir verbs, which is much too 
 lengthy a subject to enter on here, the auxiliary verb 
 Ya, " to go," which plays so considerable part in the 
 Sanscrit, appears and performs a kindred office, as if it 
 were a radical in some language from which both had de- 
 scended. But another auxiliary of op[)osite signification 
 also accompanies it and shares its labors — viz., Zi, to stay
 
 46 THE COM IXC, RACE. 
 
 or repose. Thus Ya enters into the future tense, and Zi 
 in the preterit of all verbs requiring auxiliaries. Yam, I 
 go — Yiam, I may go — Yani-ya, I shall go (literally, I ^o 
 to go), Zam-poo-yan, 1 have gone (literally, I rest from 
 gone). Ya, as a termination, implies, by analogy, prog- 
 ress, movement, efflorescence. Zi, as a terminal, de- 
 notes fixity, sometimes in a good sense, sometimes in a 
 bad, according to the word with which it is coupled. 
 Iva-zi, eternal goodness; Nan-zi, eternal evil. Poo 
 (from) enters as a prefix to words that denote repug- 
 nance, or things from which we ought to be averse. 
 Poo-pra, disgust; Poo-naria, falsehood, the vilest kind of 
 evil. Poosli or Posh I have already confessed to be un- 
 translatable literally. It is an expression of contempt 
 not unmixed with pity. This radical seems to have orig- 
 inated from inherent sympathy between the labial effort 
 and the sentiment that impelled it. Poo being an utter- 
 ance in which the breath is .exploded from, the lips with 
 more or less vehemence. On tlie other liand, Z, when an 
 initial, is with them a sound in which the breath is 
 sucked inward, and thus Zu, pronounced Zoo (which in 
 their language is one letter), is the ordinary prefix to 
 words that signify something that attracts, pleases, 
 touches the heart — as Zummer, lover; Zutze, love; Zuzu- 
 lia, delight. This indrawn sound of Z seems indeed 
 naturally appropriate to fondness. Thus, even in our 
 language, mothers say to their babies, in defiance of 
 grammar, "Zoo darling;" and I have heard a learned 
 professor at Boston call his wife (he had been only mar- 
 ried a month) " Zoo little pet." 
 
 I cannot quit this subject, however, without observ-ing 
 by what slight changes in the dialects favored by differ- 
 ent tribes of the same race, the original signification and 
 beauty of sounds may become confused and deformed. 
 Zee told me with much indignation that Zummer 
 (lover) which, in the way she uttered it, seemed slowly 
 taken down to the very depths of her heart, was, 
 in some not very distant communities of the Vril-ya, 
 vitiated into the half-hissing, half-nasal, wholly dis^ 
 agreeable, sound of Subber. I thought to myself il 
 only wanted the introduction of ;/ before u to render it 
 into an English word significant of the last quality an 
 amorous Gy would desire in her Zummer. 
 
 I will but mention another peculiarity in this language
 
 THE COMING RACE. 47 
 
 which gives equal force and brevity to its forms of ex- 
 pressions. 
 
 A is with them, as with us, the first letter of the alplia- 
 bet, and is often used as a prefix word by itself to con- 
 vey a complex idea of sovereignty or chiefdom, or pre- 
 siding principle. For instance, Iva is goodness; Diva, 
 goodness and happiness united; A-Diva is unerring and 
 absolute truth. I have already noticed the value of A in 
 A-glauran, so, in vril (to whose properties they trace 
 their present state of civilization), A-vril denotes, as I 
 have said, civilization itself. 
 
 The philologist will have seen from the above how 
 much the language of the Vril-ya is akin to the Aryan 
 or Indo-Germanic; but, like all languages, it contains 
 words and forms in which transfers from very opposite 
 sources of speech have been taken. The very title of 
 Tur, which they give to their supreme magistrate, indi- 
 cates theft from a tongue akin to the Turanian. They 
 say themselves that this is a foreign word borrowed from 
 a title which their historical records show to have been 
 borne by the chief of a nation with whom the ancestors 
 of the Vril-ya were, in very remote periods, on friendly 
 terms, but which has long become extinct, and they say 
 that when, after the discovery of vril, they remodelled 
 their political institutions, they expressly adopted a title 
 taken from an extinct race and a dead language for that 
 of their chief magistrate, in order to avoid all titles for 
 that oflRce with which they had previous associations. 
 
 Should life be spared to me, I may collect into s)'stem- 
 atic form such knowledge as I acquired of this language 
 during my sojourn amongst the Vril-ya. But what I 
 have already said will perhaps suffice to show to genuine 
 philological students that a language which, preserving 
 so many of the roots in the aboriginal form, and clearing 
 from the immediate, but transitory, polysynthetical stage 
 so many rude incumbrances, has attained to such a union 
 of simplicity and compass in its final inflectional forms, 
 must have been the gradual work of countless ages and 
 many varieties of mind; that it contains the evidence of 
 fusion between congenial races, and necessitated, in ar- 
 riving at the shape of which I have given examples, the 
 continuous culture of a highly thoughtful people. 
 
 That, nevertheless, the literature which belongs to this 
 language is a literature of the past — that the present fe*
 
 48 THE COMING RACE. 
 
 licitous state of society at which the Ana have attained 
 forbids the pr<\c;ressive cultivation of literature, especially 
 in the two main divisions of liction aud history — I shall 
 have occasion to show later. 
 
 CHxVPTER XIII. 
 
 This people have a religion, and, whatever may be said 
 against it, at least it has these strange peculiarities: firstly, 
 that they all believe in the creed they profess; secondly, 
 that they all practise the precepts which the creed incul- 
 cates. They unite in the worship of the one divine Cre- 
 ator and Sustainer of the universe. They believe that it 
 is one of the properties of the all-permeating agency of 
 vril to transmit to the well-spring of life and intelligence 
 every thought that a living creature can conceive; and 
 though they do not contend that the idea of a Deity, is 
 innate, yet they say tliat the An (man) is the only crea- 
 ture, so far as their observation of nature extends, to 
 whom the capacity of conceiving that idea, with all the trains 
 of thought which open out from it, is vouchsafed. They 
 hold that this capacity is a privilege that cannot have 
 been given in vain, and hence that prayer and thanks- 
 giving are acceptable to the divine Creator, and neces- 
 sary to the complete development of the human creature. 
 They offer their devotions both in private and public. 
 Not being considered one of their species, I was not ad- 
 mitted into the building or temple in which the public 
 worship is rendered; but I am informed that the service 
 is exceedingly short, and unattended with any pomp of 
 ceremony. It is a doctrine with the Vril-ya, that earnest 
 devotion or complete abstraction from the actual world 
 cannot, with benefit to itself, be maintained long at a 
 stretch by the human mind, especially in put)lic, and that 
 all attempts to do so either lead to fanaticism or to hy- 
 pocrisy. When they pray in private, it is when they are 
 alone or with their young children. 
 
 They say that in ancient times there was a great num- 
 ber of books written upon speculations as to the nature 
 of the Deity, and upon the forms of belief or worship 
 supposed to be most agreeable to Him. But these were 
 found to lead to such heated and angry disputations as
 
 THE COMING RACE. 49 
 
 not only to shake the peace of the community and divide 
 families before the most united, but in the course of dis- 
 cussin_^ the attributes of the Deity, the existence of the 
 Deity Himself became argued away, or, what was worse, 
 became invested with the passions and infirmities of the 
 human disputants. "For," said my host, "since a finite 
 being like an An cannot possibly define the Infinite, so, 
 A'hen he endeavors to realize an idea of the Divinity, he 
 only reduces the Divinity into an An like himself.'" Dur- 
 ing the later ages, therefore, all theological speculations, 
 though not forbidden, have been so discouraged as to 
 have fallen utterly into disuse. 
 
 The Vril-ya unite in a conviction of a future state, more 
 felicitous and more perfect than the present. If they 
 have very vague notions of the doctrine of rewards and 
 punishments, it is perhaps because they have no systems 
 of rewards and punishments among themselves, for there 
 are no crimes to punish, and their moral standard is so 
 even that no An among them is, upon the whole, consid- 
 ered more virtuous than another. If one excels, perhaps, 
 in one virtue, another equally excels in some other vir- 
 tue; if one has his prevalent fault or infirmity, so also 
 another has his. In fact, in their extraordinary mode of 
 life, there are so few temptations to wrong, that they are 
 good (according to their notions of goodness) merely be- 
 cause they live. They have some fanciful notions upon 
 the continuance of life, when once bestowed, even in the 
 vegetable world, as the reader will see in the next chap- 
 ter. 
 
 CHAPTER XIV. 
 
 Though, as I have said, the Vril-ya discourage all 
 speculations on the nature of the Supreme Being, they 
 appear to concur in a belief by which they think to solve 
 that great problem of the existence of evil which has so 
 perplexed the philosophy of the upper world. They 
 hold that wherever He has once given life, with the per- 
 ceptions of that life, however faint it be, as in a plant, 
 the life is never destroyed; it passes into new and im- 
 proved forms, though not in this planet (differing tliere- 
 in from the ordinary doctrine of metempsychosis), and 
 that the living thing retains the sense of identity, so that 
 
 4
 
 50 THE COMING RACE. 
 
 it connects its past life with its future, and is conscious of 
 its progressive improvement in the scale of joy. For 
 they say that, without this assumption, they cannot, ac- 
 cording to the lights of human reason vouchsafed to 
 them, discover the perfect justice which must be a con- 
 stituent quality of the All-Wise and the All-Good. In- 
 justice, they say, can only emanate from three causes; 
 want of wisdom to perceive what is just, want of benev- 
 olence to desire, want of power to fulfil it; and that 
 each of these three wants is incompatible in the All- 
 Wise, the All-Good, the All-Powerful — but that, while 
 even in this life the wisdom, tne benevolence, and the 
 power of the Supreme Being are sufficiently apparent to 
 compel our recognition, the justice necessarily resulting 
 from those attributes, absolutely requires another life, 
 not for man only, but for every living thing of the in- 
 ferior orders; that, alike in the animal and the vegetable 
 world, we see one individual rendered, by circumstances 
 beyond its control, exceedingl}' wretched compared to 
 its neighbors — one only exists as the pre}^ of another 
 — even a plant suffers from disease till it perishes pre- 
 maturely, while the plant next to it rejoices in its vitality 
 and lives out its happy life free from a pang; that it is 
 an erroneous analogy from human infirmities to reply by 
 saying that the Supreme Being only acts. by general 
 laws, thereby making his own secondary causes so potent 
 as to mar the essential kindness of the First Cause; and 
 a still meaner and more ignorant conception of the All- 
 Good, to dismiss with a brief contempt all consideration 
 of justice for the myriad forms into which He has infused 
 life, and assume that justice is only due to the single pro- 
 duct of the An. There is no small and no great in the 
 eyes of the divine Life-Giver. But once grant that noth- 
 ing, however humble, which feels that it lives and suffers, 
 can perish through the series of ages, that all its suffer- 
 ing here, if continuous from the moment of its birih to 
 that of its transfer to another form of being, would be 
 more brief compared with eternity than the cry of the 
 new-born is compared to the whole life of a man; and 
 once suppose that this living thing retains its sense of 
 identity when so transformo(l (for without that sense it 
 could be aware of no future being), and though, indeed, 
 the fulfilment of divine justice is removed from the scope 
 of our ken, yet we have a right to assume it to be uni-
 
 THE COMING RACE. $1 
 
 form and universal, and not varying and partial, as it 
 would be if acting only upon general secondary laws; 
 because such perfect justice flows of necessity from per- 
 fectness of knowledge to conceive, perfectness of love to 
 will, and perfectness of power to complete it. 
 
 However fantastic this belief of the Vril-ya ma\" be, it 
 tends perhaps to confirm politically the systems of gov- 
 ernment which, admitting differing degrees of wealth, 
 yet establishes perfect equality in rank, exquisite mild- 
 ness in all relations and intercourse, and tenderness to 
 all created things which the good of the community does 
 not require them to destroy. And though their notion 
 of compensation to a tortured insect or a cankered flower 
 may seem to some of us a very wild crotchet, yet, at 
 least, it is not a mischievous one; and it may furnish 
 matter for no unpleasing reflection to think that within 
 the abysses of earth, never lit by a ray from the material 
 heavens, there should have penetrated so luminous a 
 conviction of the ineffable goodness of the Creator — so 
 fixed an idea that the general laws by which He acts can- 
 not admit of any partial injustice or evil, and therefore 
 cannot be comprehended without reference to their ac- 
 tion over all space and throughout all time. And since, 
 as I shall have occasion to observe later, the intellectual 
 conditions and social systems of this subterranean race 
 comprise and harmonize great, and apparently antago- 
 nistic, varieties in philosophical doctrine and speculation 
 which have from time to time been started, discussed, 
 dismissed, and have reappeared amongst thinkers or 
 dreamers in the upper world — so I may perhaps appro- 
 priately conclude this reference to the belief of the Vril- 
 ya, that self-conscious or sentient life once given is inde- 
 structible among inferior creatures as well as in man, by 
 an eloquent passage from the work of that eminent zo- 
 ologist, Louis Agassiz, which I have only just met with, 
 many years after I had committed to paper those recol- 
 lections of the life of the Vril-ya which I now reduce into 
 something like arrangement and form: "The relations 
 which individual animals bear to one another are of such 
 a character that they ought long ago to have been consid- 
 ered as sufficient proof that no organized being could 
 ever have been called into existence by other agency 
 than by the direct intervention of a reflective mind. 
 This argues strongly in favor of the existence in every
 
 5S THIl COMING RACr.. 
 
 animal of an immaterial principle similar to that Avhicli 
 by its excellence and superior endowments places man 
 so much above animals; yet the principle unquestionably 
 exists, and whether it be called sense, reason, or instinct, 
 it presents in the whole range of organized beings a 
 series of phenomena closely linked together, and upon 
 it are based not only the higher manifestations of the 
 mind, but the very permanence of the specific differences 
 which characterize every organism. Most of the argu- 
 ments in favor of the immortality of man apply equally 
 to the permanency of this principle in other living beings. 
 May I not add that a future life in which man would be 
 deprived of that great source of enjoyment and intellec- 
 tual and moral improv^ement which results from the con- 
 templation of the harmonies of an organic world would 
 involve a lamentable loss? And may we not look to a 
 spiritual concert of the combined worlds and all their in- 
 habitants in the presence of their Creator as the highest 
 conception of paradise?" — '^ Essay on Classification" seel. 
 xvii.,J>. 97-99. 
 
 CHAPTER XV 
 
 Ktxd to me as I found all in this household, the young 
 daughter of my host was. the most considerate and 
 thoughtful in her kindness. At her suggestion I laid 
 aside the habiliments in whicli I had descended from the 
 upper earth, and adopted the dress of the Vril-ya, with 
 the exception of the artful wings which served them, 
 when on foot, as a graceful mantle. But as many of the 
 Vril-ya, when occupied in urban pursuits, did not wear 
 these wings, this exception created no marked difference 
 between myself and the race among which I sojourned, 
 and I was thus enabled to visit the town without exciting 
 unpleasant curiosity. Out of the household no one sus- 
 pected that I had come from the upper world, and I was 
 but regarded as one of some inferior and barbarous tribe 
 'ivhom Aph-Lin entertained as a guest. 
 
 The city was large in proportion to the territory round 
 it, which was of no greater extent than many an English 
 or Hungarian nobleman's estate; but the whole of it, to 
 ihe verge of the rocks which constituted its boundar}^ 
 was cultivated to the nicest degree, except where certain
 
 THE COMING RACE. 53 
 
 allotments of mountain and pasture were humanely left 
 free to the sustenance of the harmless animals they had 
 tamed, though not for domestic use. So great is their 
 kindness toward these humble creatures, that a sum is 
 devoted from the public treasury for the purpose of de- 
 porting them to other Vril-ya communities willing to 
 receive them (chiefly new colonies), whenever they be- 
 come too numerous for the pastures allotted to them in 
 their native place. They do not, however, multiply to 
 an extent comparable to the ratio at which, with us, 
 animals bred for slaughter, increase. It seems a law of 
 nature that animals not useful to man gradually recede 
 from the domains he occupies, or even become extinct. 
 It is an old custom of the various sovereign states amidst 
 which the race of the Vril-ya are distributed, to leave 
 between each state a neutral and uncultivated border- 
 land. In the instance of the community I speak of, this 
 tract, being a ridge of savage rocks, was impassable by 
 foot, but was easily surmounted, whether by the wings 
 of the inhabitants or the air-boats, of which I shall speak 
 hereafter. Roads through it were also cut for the tran- 
 sit of vehicles impelled by vril. These intercommuni- 
 cating tracts were always kept lighted, and the expense 
 thereof defrayed by a special tax, to which all the com- 
 munities comprehended in the denomination of Vril-ya 
 contribute in settled proportions. By these means a 
 considerable commercial traffic with other states, both 
 near and distant, was carried on. The surplus wealth of 
 this special community was chiefly agricultural. The 
 community was also eminent for skill in constructing 
 implements connected with the arts of husbandry. In 
 exchange for such merchandise it obtained articles more 
 of luxury than necessity. There were few things im- 
 ported on which they set a higher price than birds taught 
 to pipe artful tunes in concert. These were brought 
 from a great distance, and were marvellous for beauty of 
 song and plumage. I understand that extraordinary care 
 was taken by their breeders and teachers in selection, 
 and that the species had wonderfully improved during 
 the last few years. I saw no other pet animals among 
 this community except some very amusing and sportive 
 creatures of the Batrachian species, resembling frogs, 
 but with very intelligent countenances, which the chil- 
 dren were fond of, and kept in their private gardens.
 
 54 THE COMIXG RACE. 
 
 They appear to have no animals akin to our dogs or 
 horses, though that learned naturalist, Zee, informed me 
 that such creatures had once existed in those parts, and 
 might now be found in regions inhabited by other races 
 than the Vril-ya. She said that they had gradually dis- 
 appeared from the more civilized world since the discovery 
 of vril, and the results attending that discovery had dis- 
 pensed with their uses. Machinery and the invention cf 
 wings had superseded the horse as a beast of burden; 
 and the dog was no longer wanted either for protection 
 or the chase, as it had been when the ancestors of the 
 Vril-ya feared the aggressions of their own kind, or 
 hunted the lesser animals for food. Indeed, however, so 
 far as the horse was concerned, this region was so rocky 
 that a horse could have been, there, of little use either 
 for pastime or burden. The only creature they use for 
 the latter purpose is a kind of large goat which is much 
 employed on farms. The nature of the surrounding soil 
 in these districts may be said to have first suggested the 
 invention of wings and air-boats. The largeness of space 
 in proportion to the space occupied by the city, was 
 occasioned by the custom of surrounding every house 
 with a separate garden. The broad main street, in which 
 Aph-Lin dwelt, expanded into a vast square, in which 
 were placed the College of Sages and all the public 
 offices; a magnificent fountain of the luminous fluid 
 which I call naphtha (I am ignorant of its real nature) in 
 the centre. All these public edifices have a uniform 
 character of massiveness and solidity. They reminded 
 me of the architectural pictures of Martin. Along the 
 upper stories of each ran a balcony, or rather a terraced 
 garden, supported by columns, filled with flowering- 
 plants, and tenanted by many kinds of tame birds. From 
 the square branched several streets, all broad and bril 
 liantly lighted, and ascending up the eminence on eitiiet 
 side. In my excursions in the town I was never allowed 
 to go alone; Aph-Lin or his dauglitcr was my habitual 
 companion. In this community the adult Gy is seen 
 walking with any young An as familiarly as if there were 
 no difference of sex. 
 
 The retail shops are not very numerous; the persons 
 who attend on a customer are all children of various 
 ages, and exceedingly intelligent and courteous, but 
 w;thout the least touch of importunity or cringing. The
 
 THE COMIXG RACE. 55 
 
 shopkeeper himself might or might not be visible; when 
 visible, he seemed rarely employed on any matter con- 
 nected with his professional business; and yet he had 
 taken to that business from special liking to {t, and quit€ 
 independently of his general sources of fortune. 
 
 Some of the richest citizens in the community kept 
 such shops. As I have before said, no difference of rank 
 is recognizable, and therefore all occupations hold the 
 same equal social status. An An, of whom I bought my 
 sandals, was the brother of the Tur, or chief magistrate; 
 and though his shop was not larger than that of any 
 bootmaker in Bond Street or Broadway, he was said to 
 be twice as rich as the Tur who dwelt in a palace. No 
 doubt, however, he had some country-seat. 
 
 The Ana of the community are, on the whole, an in- 
 dolent set of beings after the active age of childhood. 
 Whether by temperament or philosophy, they rank re- 
 pose among the chief blessings of life. Indeed, when you 
 take away from a human being the incentives to action 
 which are fou<nd in cupidity or ambition, it seems to me 
 no wonder that he rests quiet. 
 
 In their ordinary movements they prefer the use of 
 their feet to that of their wings. But for their sports or 
 (to indulge in a bold misuse of terms) their public //'fw^- 
 iiadcs, they employ the latter, also for the aerial dances I 
 have described, as well as for visiting their country-places, 
 which are mostly placed on lofty heights; and, when 
 still young, they prefer their wings for travel into the 
 other regions of the Ana, to vehicular conveyances. 
 
 Those who accustom themselves to flight can fly, if 
 less rapidly than some birds, yet from twenty-five to 
 thirty miles an hour, and keep up that rate for five or 
 si;C hours at a stretch. But the Ana generally, on reach- 
 ing middle age, are not fond of rapid movements requir- 
 inff violent exercise. Perhaps for this reason, as they 
 hold a doctrine which our own physicians will doubtless 
 approve, viz., that regular transpiration through the 
 pores of the skin is essential to health, they habitually 
 use the sweating-baths to which we give the name ot 
 Turkish or Roman, succeeded by douches of perfumed 
 waters. They have great faith in the salubrious virtue 
 of certain perfumes. 
 
 It is their custom also, at stated but rare periods, per- 
 haps four times a year when in health, to use a bath
 
 56 THE COM IXC KACE. 
 
 cliarged with vril.* They consider that this fluid, spar- 
 ingly used, is a great sustainerof life; but used in excess, 
 when in the normal state of health, rather tends to reac- 
 tion and exhausted vitality. For nearly all their diseases, 
 however, they resort to it as the chief assistant to nature 
 in throwing off the complaint. 
 
 In their own way they are the most luxurious of people, 
 but all their luxuries are innocent. They may be said 
 to dwell in an atmosphere of music and fragrance. 
 Every room has its mechanical contrivances for melodi- 
 ous sounds, usually tuned down to soft-murmured notes, 
 which seem like sweet whispers from invisible spirits. 
 They are too accustomed to these gentle sounds to find 
 them a hindrance to conversation, nor, when alone, to 
 reflection. But they have a notion that to breathe an air 
 filled with continuous melody and perfume has necessarily 
 an effect at once soothing and elevating upotl the forma- 
 tion of character and the habits of thought. Though so 
 temperate, and with total abstinence from other animal 
 food than milk, and from all intoxicating drinks, they 
 are delicate and dainty to an extreme in food and bever- 
 age; and in all their sports even the old exhibit a child- 
 like gayety. Happiness is the end at which they aim, 
 not as the excitement of a moment, but as the prevailing 
 condition of the entire existence; and regard for the hap- 
 piness of each»other is evinced by the exquisite amenity 
 of their manners. 
 
 Their conformation of skull has marked differences 
 from that of any known races in the upper world, though 
 I cannot help thinking it a development, in the course of 
 countless ages, of the Brachycephalic type of the Age of 
 Stone in Lyell's " Elements of Geology," C. X., p. 113, as 
 compared with the Dolichocephalic type of the beginning 
 of the Age of Iron, correspondent with that now so prev- 
 alent amongst us, and called the Celtic type. It has the 
 same comparative massiveness of forehead, not receding 
 like the Celtic — the same even roundness in the frontal 
 organs; but it is far loftier in the apex, and far less 
 pronounced in the hinder cranial hemisphere where phre- 
 
 * I once tried the effect of the vril bath. It was vory similar in its 
 inviRorating powers to that of the baths at Gastein, tiie virtues of 
 which are ascribed by many physicians to electricity; but though sim- 
 ilar, the effect of the vril bath was more lasting.
 
 THE COMING RACE. 57 
 
 nologists place the animal organs. To speak as a phre- 
 nologist, the cranium common to the Vril-ya has the 
 organs of weight, number, tune, form, order, casuality, 
 Very largely developed; that of construction much more 
 pronounced than that of ideality. Those which are called 
 the moral organs, such as conscientiousness and benevo- 
 lence, are amazingly full; amativeness and combativeness 
 are both small; adhesiveness large; the organ of destruc- 
 tiveness {i.e., of determined clearance of intervening obsta- 
 cles) immense, but less than that of benevolence; and their 
 philoprogenitiveness takes rather the character of com- 
 passion and tenderness to things that need aid or protec- 
 tion than of the animal love of offspring. I never met 
 with one person deformed or misshapen. The beauty of 
 their countenances is not only in symmetry of feature, 
 but in a smoothness of surface, which continues without 
 line or wrinkle to the extreme of old age, and a serene 
 sweetness of expression, combined with that majesty 
 which seems to come from consciousness of power and 
 the freedom of all terror, physical or moral. It is that 
 very sweetness, combined with that majesty, which in- 
 spired in a beholder like myself, accustomed to strive 
 with the passions of mankind, a sentiment of humilia- 
 tion, of awe, of dread. It is such an expression as a 
 painter might give to a demi-god, a genius, an angel. 
 The males of the Vril-ya are entirely beardless; the Gy-ei 
 sometimes, in old age, develop a small mustache. 
 
 I was surprised to find that the color of tlieir skin was 
 not uniformly that which I had remarked in those indi- 
 viduals whom I had first encountered, some being much 
 fairer, and even with blue eyes, and hair of a deep golden 
 auburn, thougli still of complexions warmer or richer in 
 tone than persons in the north of Europe. 
 
 I was told that this admixture of coloring arose froni 
 intermarriage with other and more distant tribes of the 
 Vril-ya, who, whether by the accident of climate or early 
 distinction of race, were of fairer hues than the tribes of 
 which this community formed one. It was considered 
 that the dark-red skin showed the most ancient family of 
 Ana; but they attached no sentiment of pride to that 
 antiquity, and, on the contrary, believed their present ex^ 
 cellence of breed came from frequent crossing with other 
 families differing, yet akin; and they encourage such inter- 
 marriages, always provided that it be with the Vril-ya
 
 58 THE COMIXG RACE. 
 
 nations. Nations which, not conforming their manners 
 and institutions to those of the Vril-ya, nor indeed held 
 capable of acquiring the powers over the vril agencies 
 which it had taken them generations to attain and trans- 
 mit, were regarded with more disdain than citizens of 
 New York regard the negroes. 
 
 I learned from Zee, who had more lore in all matters 
 than any male with whom I was brought into familiar 
 converse, that the superiority of the Vril-)^a v/as sup- 
 posed to have originated in the intensity of their earlier 
 struggles against obstacles in nature amidst the localities 
 in which they had first settled. "Wherever," said Zee, 
 moralizing, " wherever goes on that earl)' process in the 
 history of civilization, by which life is made a struggle, 
 in which the individual has to put forth all his powers 
 to compete with his fellow, we invariably find this result 
 — viz., since in the competition a vast number must perish, 
 nature selects for preservation only the strongest speci- 
 mens. With our race, therefore, even before the discov- 
 ery of vril, only the highest organizations were preserved; 
 and there is among our ancient books a legend, once 
 popularly believed, that we were driven from a region 
 that seems to denote the world you come from, in order 
 to perfect our condition and attain to the purest elimina- 
 tion of our species by the severity of the struggles our 
 forefathers underwent; and that, when our education 
 shall become finally completed, we are destined to return 
 to the upper world, and supplant all the inferior races 
 now existing therein." 
 
 Aph-Lin and Zee often conversed with me in private 
 upon the political and social conditions of that upper 
 world, in which Zee so philosophically assumed that the 
 inhabitants were to be exterminated one day or other by 
 the advent of the Vril-ya. They found in my accounts 
 — in which I continued to do all I could (without launch- 
 ing into falsehoods so positive that they would have 
 been easily detected by the shrewdness of my listeners) 
 to present our powers and ourselves in the most flatter- 
 ing point of view — perpetual subjects of comparison be- 
 tween our most civilized populations and the meaner 
 subterranean races which they considered hopelessly 
 plunged in barbarism, and doomed to gradual if certain 
 extinction. But they both agreed in desiring to conceal 
 from their community all premature opening into the
 
 THE COMIXG RACE. 59 
 
 regions lighted by the sun; both were humane, and 
 shrunk from the thought of annihilating so many mil- 
 lions of creatures; and the pictures I drew of our life, 
 highly colored as they were, saddened them. In vain £ 
 boasted of our great men — poets, philosophers, orators, 
 generals — and defied the Vril-ya to produce their equals. 
 "Alas!" said Zee, her grand face softening into an 
 angel-like compassion, "this predominance of the few 
 oyer the many is the surest and most fatal sign of 
 a race incorrigibly savage. See you not that the 
 primary .condition of mortal happiness consists in the 
 extinction of that strife and competition between indi- 
 viduals, which, no matter what forms of government 
 ihey adopt, render the many subordinate to the few, de- 
 stroy real liberty to the individual, whatever may be the 
 nominal liberty of the state, and annul that calm of 
 existence, without which, felicity, mental or bodily, can- 
 not be attained? Our notion is, that the more we can 
 assimilate life to the existence which our noblest ideas 
 can conceive to be that of spirits on the other side of the 
 grave, why, the more we approximate to a divine happi- 
 ness here, and the more easily we glide into the condi- 
 tions of being hereafter. P'or, surely, all we can imagine 
 of the life of gods, or of blessed immortals, supposes the 
 absence of self-made cares and contentious passions, such 
 as avarice and ambition. It seems to us that it must be 
 a life of serene tranquillity, not indeed without active 
 occupations to the intellectual or spiritual powers, but 
 occupations, of whatsoever nature they be, congenial to 
 the idiosyncrasies of each, not forced and repugnant — a 
 life gladdened by the untrammelled interchange of gentle 
 affections, in which the moral atmosphere utterly kills 
 hate and vengeance, and strife and rivalry. Such is the 
 political state to which all the tribes and families of the 
 Vril-ya seek to attain, and toward that goal all our 
 theories of government are shaped. You see how utterly 
 opposed is such a progress to that of the uncivilized na- 
 tions from which you come, and which aim at a system- 
 atic perpetuity of troubles, and cares, and warring pas- 
 sions, aggravated more and more as their progress storms 
 its way onward. The most powerful of all the races in 
 our world, beyond the pale of the Vril-ya, esteems itself 
 the best governed of all political societies, and to have 
 reached in that respect the extreme end at which polit-
 
 6o THE COM IXC RACE. 
 
 ical wisdom can arrive, so that the other nations should 
 tend more or less to copy it. It has established, on its 
 broadest base, the Koom-Posh — viz., the government of 
 the ignorant upon the principle of being the most numer- 
 ous. It has placed the supreme bliss in the vying with 
 each other in all things, so that the evil passions are 
 never in repose — vying for power, for wealth, for emi- 
 nence of some kind; and in this rivalry it is horrible to 
 hear the vituperation, the slanders arxl calumnies which 
 even the best and mildest among them heap on each 
 other without remorse or shame." 
 
 "Some years ago," said Aph-Lin, "I visited this peo- 
 ple, and their misery and degradation were the more ap- 
 palling because they were always boasting of their felic- 
 ity and grandeur as compared with the rest of their spe- 
 cies. And there is no hope that this people, which evi< 
 dently resembles 3-our own, can improve, because all 
 their notions tend to further deterioration. They desire 
 to enlarge their dominion more and more, in direct an- 
 tagonism to the truth that, beyond a very limited range, 
 it is impossible to secure to a community the happiness 
 which belongs to a well-ordered family; and the more 
 they mature a system by which a few individuals are 
 heated and swollen to a size above the standard slender- 
 ness of the millions, the more they chuckle and exact, 
 and cry out, * See by what great exceptions to the com- 
 mon littleness of our race we prove the magnificent re- 
 sults of our s)'Stem ! ' " 
 
 " In fact," resumed Zee, " if the wisdom of human life 
 be to approximate to the serene equality of immortals, 
 there can he no more direct flying off into the opposite 
 direction than a system which aims at carrying to the 
 utmost the inequalities and turbulences of mortals. Nor 
 do I see how, by any forms of religious belief, mortals, 
 so acting, could fit themselves even to appreciate the 
 joys of immortals to which they still expect to be trans- 
 fened by the mere act of dying. On the contrary, minds 
 accustomed to place happiness in things so much the re- 
 verse of godlike, would find the happiness of gods ex- 
 ceedingly dull, and would long to get back to a world in 
 which they could quarrel with each other. "
 
 THE COMIh'G RACE. 6 1 
 
 CHAPTER XVI. 
 
 I HAVE spoken so much of the Vril Staff that my 
 reader may expect me to describe it. This I cannot do 
 accurately, for I was never allowed to handle it for fear 
 of some terrible accident occasioned by my ignorance of 
 I'tSuse; and I have no doubt that it requires much skill 
 and practice in the exercise of its various powers. It is 
 hollow, and has in the handle several stops, keys, or 
 springs by which its force can be altered, modified, or 
 directed — so that by one process it destroys, by another 
 it heals — by one it can rend the rock, by another disperse 
 the vapor — by one it affects bodies, by another it can ex- 
 ercise a certain influence over minds. It is usually car- 
 ried in the convenient size of a walking-staff, but it has 
 slides by which it can be lengthened or shortened at will. 
 When used for special purposes, the upper part rests in 
 the hollow of the palm with the fore and middle fingers 
 protruded. I was assured, however,. that its power was 
 not equal in all, but proportioned to the amount of cer- 
 tain vril properties in the wearer in affinity, or rapport 
 with the purposes to be effected. Some were more po- 
 tent to destroy, others to heal, etc.; much also depended 
 on the calm and steadiness of volition in the manipula- 
 tor. They assert that the full exercise of vril power can 
 only be acquired by constitutional temperament — i.e., by 
 hereditarily transmitted organization — and that a female 
 infant of four years old belonging to the Vril-ya races 
 can accomplish feats with the wand placed for the first 
 time in her hand, which a life spent in its practice would 
 not enable the strongest and most skilled mechanician, 
 born out of the pale of the Vril-ya, to achieve. All 
 these wands are not equally complicated; those intrusted 
 to children are much simpler than those borne by sages of 
 either sex, and constructed with a view to the special ob- 
 ject in which the children are employed; which, as I have 
 before said, is among the youngest children the most de- 
 structive. In the wands of wives and mothers the cor- 
 relative destroying force is usually abstracted, the heal- 
 ing power fully charged. I wish I could say more in 
 detail of this singular conductor of the vril fluid, but its 
 machinery is as exquisite as its effects are marvellous.
 
 62 THE COMING RACE. 
 
 I should say, however, that this people have invented 
 certain tubes by which the vril fluid can be conducted 
 toward tlie object it is meant to destroy, throughout a 
 distance almost indefinite; at least I put it modestly 
 when I say from 500 to 600 miles. And their mathemat- 
 ical science as applied to such purpose is so nicely accu- 
 rate, that on the report of some observer in an air-boat, 
 any member of the vril department can estimate unerr- 
 ingly the nature of intervening obstacles, the height to 
 which the projectile instrument should be raised, and 
 the extent to which it should be charged, so as to reduce 
 to ashes within a space of time too short for me to ven- 
 ture to specify it, a capital twice as vast as London. 
 
 Certainly these Ana are wonderful mechanicians — won- 
 derful for the adaptation of the inventive faculty to prac- 
 tical uses. 
 
 I went with my host and his (Uuiglitcr Zee over the 
 great public museum, which occupies a wing in the Col- 
 lege of Sages, and in which are hoarded, as curious speci- 
 mens of the ignorant and blundering experiments of 
 ancient times, many contrivances on which we pride our- 
 selves as recent achievements. In one department, care- 
 lessly thrown aside as obsolete lumber, are tubes for 
 destroying life by metallic balls and an inflammable pow- 
 der, on the principle of our cannons and catapults, and 
 even still more murderous than our latest improve- 
 ments. 
 
 My host spoke of these with a smile of contempt, such 
 as an artillery offlcer might bestow on the bows and ar- 
 rows of the Chinese. In another department there were 
 models of vehicles and vessels worked by steam, and of 
 an air-balloon which might have been constructed by 
 Montgolfier. " Such," said Zee, with an air of meditative 
 wisdom — " such were the feeble triflings with nature of 
 our savage forefathers, ere they had even a glimmering 
 perception of the properties of vril !" 
 
 This young Gy was a magnificent specimen of the mus- 
 cular force to which the females of her country attain. 
 Her features were beautiful, like those of all her race: 
 never in the upper world have I seen a face so grand 
 and so faultless, but her devotion to the severer studies 
 luid given to her countenance an expression of abstract 
 thought which rendered it somewhat slcrn when in re- 
 pose; and such sternness became formidable when ob-
 
 THE COMIXG RACE. 63 
 
 served in connection with her ample shoulders and lofty 
 stature. She was tall even for a Gy, and I saw her lift 
 up a cannon as easily as I could lift a pocket-pistol. Zee 
 inspired me with a profound terror — a terror which in- 
 creased when we came into a department of the museum 
 appropriated to models of contrivances worked by the 
 agency of vril; for here, merely by a certain p)ay of her 
 vril staff, she herself standing at a distance, she put into 
 movement large and weighty substances. She seemed 
 to endow them with intelligence, and to make them com- 
 prehend and obey her command. She set complicated 
 pieces of machinery into movement, arrested the move- 
 ment or continued it, until, within an incredibly short 
 time, various kinds of raw material were reproduced as 
 symmetrical wor|ks of art, complete and perfect. What- 
 ever effect mesmerism or electro-biology produces over 
 the nerves and muscles of animated objects, this young 
 Gy produced by the motions of her slender rod over the 
 springs and wheels of lifeless mechanism. 
 
 When I mentioned to my companions my astonishment 
 at this influence over inanimate matter — while owning 
 that, in our world, I had witnessed phenomena which 
 showed that over certain living organizations certain other 
 living organizations could establish an influence genuine 
 in itself, but often exaggerated by credulity or craft — 
 Zee, who was more interested in such subjects than her 
 father, bade me stretch forth my hand, and then, placing 
 beside it her own, she called my attention to certain dis- 
 tinctions of type and character. In the first place, the 
 thumb of the Gy (and, as I afterward noticed, of all that 
 race, male or female) was much larger, at once longer and 
 more massive, tlian is found with our species above 
 ground. There is almost, in this, as great a difference 
 as there is between the thumb of a man and that of a 
 gorilla. Secondly, the palm is proportionally thicker 
 than ours — the texture of the skin infinitely finer and 
 softer — its average warmth is greater. More remarka- 
 ble than all this is a visible nerve, perceptible under the 
 skin, which starts from the wrist, skirting the ball of the 
 thumb, and branching, fork-like, at the roots of the fore 
 and middle fingers. "With your slight formation of 
 thumb," said the philosophical young Gy, "and with the 
 absence of the nerve which you find more or less devel" 
 oped in the hands of our race, you can never achieve
 
 64 THE COMIXG RACE. 
 
 Other than imperfect and feeble power over the agency 
 of vril; but so far as the nerve is concerned, that is not 
 found in the hands of our earliest progenitors, nor in 
 those of the ruder tribes without the pale of the Vril-ya. 
 It has been slowly developed in the course of generations, 
 commencing in the early achievements, and increasing 
 with the continuous exercise, of the vril power; therefore, 
 in the course of one or two thousand years, such a nerve 
 may possibly be engendered in those higher beings of 
 your race, who devote tliemselves to that paramount sci- 
 ence through which is attained command over all the 
 subtler forces of nature permeated by vril. But when 
 you talk of matter as something in itself inert and mo- 
 tionless, your parents or tutors surely cannot have left 
 you so ignorant as not to know that no form of matter 
 is motionless and inert: every particle is constantly in 
 motion and constantly acted upon by agencies, of which 
 heat is the most apparent and rapid, but vril the most 
 subtle, and, when skilfully wielded, the most powerful. 
 So that, in fact, the current launched by my hand and 
 guided by my will does but render quicker and more po- 
 tent the action which is eternally at work upon every 
 particle of matter, however inert and stubborn it may 
 seem. If a heap of metal be not capable of originating 
 a thought of Its own, yet, through its internal suscepti- 
 bility to movement, it obtains the power to receive the 
 thought of the intellectual agent at work on it; and 
 which, when conveyed with a sufficient force of the vril 
 power, it is as much compelled to obey as if it were dis- 
 placed by a visible bodily force. It is animated for the 
 time being by the soul thus infused into it, so tliat one 
 may almost sa.y that it lives and it reasons. Without 
 this we could not make our automata supply the place 
 of servants." 
 
 I was too much in awe of the thews and the learning 
 of the young Gy to hazard the risk of arguing with her. 
 I had read somewhere in my school-boy days that a wise 
 man, disputing with a Roman emperor, suddenly drew 
 in his horns; and when the emperor asked him whether 
 he had nothing further to say on his side of the question, 
 replied, " Nay, Caesar, there is no arguing against a rea- 
 soner who commands ten legions." 
 
 Though I had a secret persuasion that, whatever the 
 real effects of vril upon matter, Mr. Faraday could have
 
 THE COMIXG RACE. 65 
 
 proved her a very shallow philosopher as to its extent or 
 its causes, I had no doubt that Zee could have brained 
 all the Fellows of the Royal Society, one after the other, 
 with a blow of her fist. Every sensible man knows that 
 it is useless to argue with any ordinary female upon mat- 
 ters he comprehends; but to argue with a Gy seven feet 
 high upon the mysteries of vril — as well argue in a des- 
 ert, and with a simoom ! 
 
 Amid the various departments to which the vast 
 building of the College of Sages Vv'as appropriated, that 
 which interested me most was devoted to the archaeology 
 of the Vril-ya, and comprised a very ancient collection 
 of portraits. In these the pigments and groundwork 
 employed were of so durable a nature that even pictures 
 said to be executed at dates as remote as those in the 
 earliest annals of the Chinese, retained much freshness 
 of color. In examining this collection, two things espe- 
 cially struck me: — ist, That the pictures said to be be- 
 tween 6000 and 7000 years old were of a much higher 
 degree of art than any produced within the last 3000 or 
 4000 years; and, 2d, That the portraits within the former 
 period much more resembled our own upper world and 
 European types of countenance. Some of them, indeed, 
 remind me of the Italian heads which look out from the 
 canvas of Titian — speaking of ambition or craft, of care 
 or of grief, with furrows in which the passions have 
 passed witli iron ploughshare. These were the counte- 
 nances of men who had liv^ed in struggle and conflict 
 before the discovery of the latent forces of vril had 
 changed the character of society — men who had fought 
 with each other for power or fame as we in the upper 
 world fight. 
 
 The type of face began to evince a marked change 
 about a thousand years after the vril revolution, becom- 
 ing then, with each generation, more serene, and 'in that 
 serenity more terribly distinct from the faces of laboring 
 and sinful men; while in proportion as the beauty and 
 the grandeur, of the countenance itself became more fully 
 develo[)ed, the art of the painter became more tame and 
 monotonous. 
 
 But the greatest curiosity in the collection was that of 
 
 three portraits belonging to the prehistorical age, and, 
 
 according to mythical tradition, taken by the orders of a 
 
 philosopher, whose origin and attributes were as much 
 
 5
 
 66 THE COMIXG RACE. 
 
 mixed up with symbolical fable as those of an Indian 
 Budh or a Greek Prometheus. 
 
 From this mysterious personage, at once a sage and a 
 hero_,all the principal sections of tlie Vril-ya race pretend 
 to trace a common origin. 
 
 The portraits are of the philosopher himself, of his 
 grandfather and great-grandfather. They are all at full 
 length. The philosopher is attired in a long tunic which 
 seems to form a loose suit of scaly armor, borrowed, 
 perhaps, from some fish or reptile, but the feet and 
 hands are exposed; the digits in both are wonderfully 
 long and webbed. He has little or no perceptible throat, 
 and a low receding forehead, not at all the ideal of a 
 sage's. He has bright brown prominent eyes, a very 
 wide mouth and high cheek-bones, and a muddy com- 
 plexion. According to tradition, this philosopher had 
 lived to a patriarchical age, extending over many cen- 
 turies, and he remembered distinctly in middle life his 
 grandfather as surviving, and in childhood his great- 
 grandfather; the portrait of the first he had taken, or 
 caused to be taken, while yet alive — that of the latter 
 was taken from his effigies in mummy. The portrait of 
 the grandfather Kad the features and aspect of the phi- 
 losopher, only much more exaggerated; he was not 
 dressed, and the color of his body was singular; the 
 breast and stomach yellow, the shoulders and legs of a 
 dull bronze hue: the great-grandfather was a magnificent 
 specimen of the Batrachian genus, a Giant Frog, /?^/- (?/ 
 simple. 
 
 Among the pithy sayings which, according to tradi- 
 tion, tl:e philosopher bequeathed to posterity in rhyth- 
 mical form and sententious brevity, this is notably 
 recorded: "Humble yourselves, my descendants; the 
 father of your race was a twat (tadpole): exalt your- 
 selves, my descendants, for it was the same Divine 
 Thought u'hich created your father that develops itself 
 in exalting you." 
 
 Aph-Lin told me this fable while I gazed on the three 
 Batrachian {)ortraits. I said in reply: " You make a jest 
 of my supposed ignorance and credulity as an unedu- 
 cated Tish, but though these horrible daubs may be of 
 great antiquity, and were intended, perhaps, for some 
 rude caricature, 1 presume that none of your race, even 
 in the less enlightened ages, ever believed that the great-
 
 THE COMING RACE. 6/ 
 
 grandson of a Frog became a sententious philosopher; 
 cjr that any section, I will not say of the lofty V^ril-ya, 
 but of the meanest varieties of t"he human race, had its 
 origin in a Tadpole." 
 
 "Pardon me," answered Aph-Lin:"in what we call 
 the Wrangling or Philosophical Period of History, which 
 was at its height about seven thousand years ago, there 
 was a very distinguished naturalist, who proved to the 
 satisfaction of numerous disciples such analogical and 
 anatomical agreements in structure between an An and 
 a Frog, as to show that out of the one must have devel- 
 oped the other. They had some diseases in common; 
 they were both subject to the same parasitical worms 
 in the intestines; and, strange to say, the An has, in his 
 structure, a swimming-bladder, no longer of any use to 
 him, but which is a rudiment that clearly proves his de- 
 scent from a Frog. Nor is there any argument against 
 this theory to be found in the relative difference of size, 
 for there are still existent in our world Frogs of a size 
 and stature not inferior to our own, and many thousand 
 years ago they appear to have been still larger." 
 
 " I understand that," said I, " because Frogs thus 
 enormous are, according to our eminent geologists, who 
 perhaps saw them in dreams, said to have been distin- 
 guished inhabitants of the upper world before the Deluge; 
 and such Frogs are exactly tlie creatures likely to have 
 flourished in the lakes and morasses of your subterranean 
 regions. But pray, proceed." 
 
 " In the Wrangling Period of History, whatever one 
 sag'e asserted another sage was sure to contradict. In 
 fact, it was a maxim in that age, that the human reason 
 could only be sustained aloft by being tossed to and fro 
 in the perpetual motion of contradiction; and therefore 
 another set of philosophers maintained the doctrine that 
 the An was not the descendant of the Frog, but that the 
 Frog was clearly the improved development of the An. 
 The shape of the Frog, taken generally, was much more 
 symmetrical than that of An; besides the beautiful con- 
 formation of its lower limbs, its flanks and shoulders, 
 the majority of the Ana in that day were almost de- 
 formed, and certainly ill-shaped. Again, the Frog had 
 the power to live alike on land and in water — a mighty 
 privilege, partaking of a spiritual essence denied to the 
 An, since the disuse of his swimming-bladder clearly
 
 68 THE COMIXG RACE. 
 
 proves his degeneration from a liighcr development of 
 species. Again, the earlier laces of the Ana $cem to 
 have been covered with hair, and, even to a c'ompar- 
 atively recent date, hirsute bushes defo^med the very 
 faces of our ancestors, spreading wiki over their cheeks 
 and chins, as similar bushes, my poor Tish, spread wild 
 'over 3-ours. But the object of the higher races of the 
 Ana through countless generations has been to erase all 
 vestige of connection with hairy vertebrata, and they 
 have gradually eliminated that debasing capillary excre- 
 ment by the law of sexual selection; the Gy-ei naturally 
 preferring youth or the beauty of smooth faces. But 
 the degree of the Frog in the scale of the vertebrata is 
 shown in this, that he has no hair at all, not even on his 
 head. He was born to that hairless perfection which the 
 most beautiful of the Ana, despite the culture of incal- 
 culable ages, have hot yet attained. The wonderful 
 complication and delicacy of a Frog's nervous system 
 and arterial circulation were sliown by this school to be 
 more susceptible of enjoyment than our inferior, or at 
 least simpler, physical frame allows us to be. The exam- 
 ination of a Frog's hand, if I may use that expression, 
 accounted for its keener susceptibility to love, and to 
 social life in general. In fact, gregarious and amatory 
 as are the Ana, Frogs are still more so. In short, these 
 two schools raged against each other; one asserting the An 
 to be the perfected type of t,he Frog; the other that the 
 Frog was the highest development of the An. The moral- 
 ists were divided in opinion with the naturalists, but 
 the bulk of them sided with the Frog preference school. 
 They said, with much plausibility, that in moral con- 
 duct (viz., in the adherence to rules best adapted to the 
 health and welfare of the individual and the community) 
 there could be no doubt of the vast superiority of the 
 Frog. All history showed the wholesale immorality of 
 the human race, the complete disregard, even by the 
 most renowned amongst them, of the laws which they 
 acknowledged to be essential to their own and the gen- 
 eral happiness and well-being. But the severest critic of 
 the Frog race could not detect in their manners a single 
 aberration from the moral law tacitly recognized by them- 
 selves. And what, after all, can be the profit of civiliza- 
 tion if superiority in moral conduct be not the aim for
 
 THE COMIXG RACE. 69 
 
 which it strives, and the test by which its progress 
 should be judged ? 
 
 " In fine, the adherents to this theory presumed that 
 in some remote period the Frog race had been the im- 
 proved development of the Human; but that, from some 
 causes which defied rational conjecture, they had not 
 maintained their original position in the scale of nature; 
 while the Ana, though of inferior (jrganization, had, by 
 dint less of their virtues than their vices, such as ferocity 
 and cunning, gradually acquired ascendancy, much as 
 among the human race itself tribes utterly barbarous 
 have, by superiority in similar vices, utterly destroyed 
 or reduced into insignificance tribes originally excelling 
 them in mental gifts and culture. Unhappily these dis- 
 putes became involved with the religious notions of that 
 age; and as society was then administered under the 
 government of the Koom-Posh — who, being the most ig- 
 norant, were of course the most inflammable class — the 
 multitude took the whole question out of the hands of 
 the philosophers; political chiefs saw that the Frog dis- 
 pute, so taken up by the populace, could become a most 
 valuable instrument of their ambition; and for not less 
 than one thousand years war and massacre prevailed, 
 during which period the philosophers on both sides 
 were butchered, and tlte government of the Koom-Posh 
 itself was happily brought to an end by the ascendancy 
 of a family that clearly established its descent from the 
 aboriginal tadpole, and furnished despotic rulers to the 
 various nations of the Ana. These despots finally disap- 
 peared, at least from our communities, as the discovery 
 of vril led to the tranquil institutions under which 
 flourish all the races of the Vril-ya." 
 
 "And do no wranglers or philosophers now exist to 
 revive the dispute; or do they all recognize the origin of 
 your race in the tadpole?" 
 
 "Nay, such disputes," said Zee, with a lofty smile, 
 "belong to the Pah-bodh of the dark ages, and now only 
 serve for the amusement of infants. When we know the 
 elements out of which our bodies are composed, elements 
 common to the humblest vegetable plants, can it signify 
 whether the All-Wise combined those elements out of 
 one form more than another, in order to create that in 
 which lie has placed the capacity to receive the idea of
 
 /O THE COM IX G RACE. 
 
 Himself, and all the varied grandeurs of intellect to which 
 that idea gives birth ? The An in reality commenced to 
 exist as An with the donation of that capacity, and, with 
 that capacity, the sense to acknowledge that, however 
 through the countless ages his race may improve in wis- 
 dom, it can«never combine the elements at its command 
 into the form of a tadpole." 
 
 "You speak well, Zee," said Aph-Lin; "and it is 
 enough for us short-lived mortals to feel a reasonable as- 
 surance that whether tlie origin of the An was a tadpole 
 or not, he is no more likel}' to become a tadpole again 
 than tlie institutions of the Vril-ya are likely to relapse 
 into the heaving quagmire and certain strife-rot of a 
 Koom-Posh," 
 
 CHAPTER XVII. 
 
 The Vril-)'a, being excluded from all sight of the heav- 
 enly bodies, and having no other difference between 
 night and day than that which they deem it convenient 
 to make for themselves, do not, of course, arrive at their 
 divisions of time by the same process that we do; but I 
 found it easy, by the aid of my watch, which I luckily 
 had about me, to compute their time with great nicety. 
 I reserve for a future work on the science and literature 
 of the Vril-ya, should I live to complete it, all details as 
 to the manner in which they arrive at their rotation of 
 time; and content myself here with saying, that in point 
 of duration, their year differs very slightly from ours, 
 but that the divisions of their year are by no means the 
 same. Their day (including what we call night) consists 
 of twenty hours of our time, instead of twenty-four, and 
 of course their year comprises the correspondent increase 
 in the number of days by which it is summed up. Tl.ey 
 subdivide the twenty hours of their day thus: eight 
 hours,* called the "Silent Hours," for repose; eight 
 hours, called the "Earnest Time," for the j^ursuits and 
 occupations of life; and four hours, called the "Easy 
 Time" (with which what I may term their day closes), 
 
 * For the sake of convenience, I adopt the words hours, days, 
 years, etc., in any general reference to subdivisions of time among 
 the Vrilya — those terms but loosely corresponding, however, with 
 such subdivisions.
 
 THE COMIXG RACE. J I 
 
 allotted to festivities, sport, recreation, or family converse, 
 according to their several tastes and inclinations. But, 
 in truth, out-of-doors there is no night. They maintain, 
 both in the streets and in the surrounding country, to 
 the limits of their territory, the same degree of light at 
 all hours. Only, witliin-doors, they lower it to a soft 
 tw^ilight during the Silent Hours. They have a great 
 horror of perfect darkness, and their lights are never 
 wholly extinguished. On occasions of festivity they con- 
 tinue the duration of full light, but equally keep note of 
 the distinction between night and day, by mechanical 
 contrivances which answer the purpose of our clocks 
 and watches. They are very fond of music; and it is by 
 music that these chronometers strike the principal di- 
 vision of time. At every one of their hours, during their 
 day, the sounds coming from all the time-pieces in their 
 public buildings, and caught up, as it were, by those 
 of houses or hamlets scattered amidst the landscapes 
 without the city, have an effect singularly sweet, and 
 yet singularly solemn. But during the Silent Hours 
 these sounds are so subdued as to be only faintly heard 
 by a waking ear. They have no change of seasons, 
 and, at least on the territory of this tribe, the atmos- 
 phere seemed to me very equable, warm as that of 
 an Italian summer, and humid rather than dry; in the 
 forenoon usually very still, but at times invaded by 
 strong blasts from the rocks that made the borders 
 of their domain. But time is the same to them for 
 sowing or reaping as in the Golden Isles of the ancient 
 poets. At the same moment you see the younger plants 
 in blade or bud, the older in ear or fruit. All fruit- 
 bearing plants, however, after fruitage, either shed or 
 change the color of their leaves. But that which inter- 
 ested me most in reckoning up their divisions of time 
 was tlie ascertainment of the average duration of life 
 amongst them. I found on minute inquiry that this very 
 considerably exceeded the term allotted to us on the up- 
 per earth. What seventy years are to us, one hundred 
 years are to them. Nor is this the only advantage they 
 have over us in longevity, for as few among us attain to 
 the age of seventy, so, on the contrary, few among them 
 die before the age of one hundred; and they enjoy a 
 general degree of health and vigor which makes life itself 
 a blessing even to the last. Various causes Contribute to
 
 72 THE COM IXC A'. ICE. 
 
 tliis result: the absence of all alcolujlic stimulants; tem- 
 perance in food; more especial!)', perhaps, a serenity of 
 mind undisturbed by anxious occupati(~)ns and eager pas- 
 sions. They are not tormented by our avarice or our 
 ambition; they appear perfectly indifferent even to the 
 desire of fame; tliey are capable of great affection, but 
 their love shows itself in a tender and cheerful complai- 
 sance, and, while forming their happiness, seems rarely, 
 if ever, to constitute their woe. As tlie Gy is sure only 
 to marry where she herself fixes her choice, and as here, not 
 less than above ground, it is the female on whom the 
 happiness of home depends; so the Gy, having chosen 
 the mate she prefers to all others, is lenient to his faults, 
 consults his humors, and does her best to secure his at- 
 tachment. The death of a beloved one is of course with 
 them, as with us, a cause of sorrow; but not only is death 
 with them so much more rare before that age in which it 
 becomes a release, but when it does occur the survivor 
 takes much more consolation than, I am afraid, the 
 generality of us do, in the certainty of reunion in another 
 and yet happier life. 
 
 All these cases, then, concur to their healthful and 
 enjoyable longevity, though, no doubt, much also must 
 be owing to hereditary organization. According to their 
 records, however, in those earlier stages of their society 
 when they lived in communities resembling ours, agi- 
 tated by fierce competition, their lives were considerably 
 shorter, and their maladies more numerous and grave. 
 They themselves say that the duratjon of life, too, has 
 increased, and is still on the increase, since their dis- 
 covery of the invigorating and ffiedicinal properties of 
 vril, applied for remedial purposes. They have few pro- 
 fessional and regular practitioners of medicine, and the$e 
 are chiefly Gy-ei, who, especiall}' if widowed and child- 
 less, find great delight in the healing art, and even un- 
 dertake surgical operations in those cases required by 
 accident, or, more rarely, by disease. 
 
 They liave their diversions and entertainments, and, 
 during the Easy Time of their day, they are wont to as- 
 semble in great numbers for those winged sports in the 
 air which I have already described. They have also pub- 
 He halls for music, and even theatres, at which are per- 
 formed pieces that appeared to me somewhat to resemble 
 the plays of the Chinese — dramas that are thrown back
 
 THE COMIXG RACE. 73 
 
 into distant times for their events and personages, in 
 which all classic unities are outrageously violated, and 
 the hero, in one scene a child, in the next is an old man, 
 and so forth. These plays are of very ancient composi- 
 tion, and their stories cast in remote times. They ap- 
 peared to me very dull, on the whole, but were relieved 
 by startling mechanical contrivances, and a kind of fai- 
 cical broad humor, and detached passages of great vigor 
 and power expressed in language higlily poetical, but 
 somewhat overcharged with metaphor and trope. In fine, 
 they seemed to me very much what the plays of Shakes- 
 peare seemed to a Parisian in the time of Louis XV., or 
 perhaps to an Englishman in the reign of Charles II. 
 
 The audience, of which the Gy-ei constituted t!ie chief 
 portion, appeared to enjoy greatly the representation of 
 these dramas, which, for so sedate and majestic a race of 
 females, surprised me, till I observed that all the per- 
 formers were under the age of adolescence, and conjec- 
 tured truly that the mothers and sisters came to please 
 their children and brothers. 
 
 I have said tliat these dramas are of great antiquity. 
 No new plays, indeed no imaginative works sufficiently 
 important to survive tlieir immediate day, appear to have 
 been composed for several generations. In fact, though 
 there is no lack of new publications, and they have even 
 what may be called newspapers, these are chiefly devoted 
 to mechanical science, reports of new inventions, an- 
 nouncements respecting various details of business — in 
 short, to practical matters. Sometimes a child writes a 
 little tale of adventure, or a young Gy vents her amorous 
 hopes or fears in a poem; but these effusions are of very 
 little merit, and are seldom read except by children and 
 maiden Gy-ei. The most interesting works of a purely! 
 literary character are those of explorations and travels 
 into other regions of this nether world, which are gen- 
 erally written by j^oung emigrants, and are read with 
 great avidity by the relations and friends they have left 
 behind. 
 
 I could not lielp expressing to Aph-Lin my surprise 
 that a community in which mechanical science had made 
 so marvellous a progress, and in which intellectual civili- 
 zation had exhibited itself in realizing those objects for 
 the happiness of the people, which the political philoso- 
 phers above ground had, after ages of struggle, pretty
 
 74 THE COMIXG RACE. 
 
 generally agreed to consider unattainable visions, should, 
 nevertheless, be so wholly without a contemporaneous 
 literature, despite the excellence to which culture had 
 brought a language at once rich and simple, vigorous and 
 musical. 
 
 My host replied — "Do you not perceive that a litera- 
 ture such as you mean would be wholly incompatible 
 with that perfection of social or political felicity at which 
 you do us the honor to think we have arrived ? We have 
 at last, after centuries of struggle, settled into a form of 
 government with which we are content, and in which, as 
 we allow no differences of rank, and no honors are paid 
 to administrators distinguishing them from others, there 
 is no stimulus given to individual ambition. No one would 
 read works advocating theories that involved any politi- 
 cal or social change, and therefore no one writes them. 
 If now and then, an An feels himself dissatisfied with our 
 tranquil mode of life, he does not attack it; he goes away. 
 Thus all that part of literature (and, to judge by the 
 ancient books in our public libraries, it was once a very 
 large part) which relates to speculative theories on so- 
 ciety is become utterly extinct. Again, formerly there 
 was a vast deal written respecting the attributes and 
 essence of the All-Good, and the arguments for and 
 against a future state; but now we all recognize two 
 facts — that there is a Divine Being, and there is a future 
 state — and we all equally agree that if we wrote our fin- 
 gers to the bone, we could not throw any light upon the 
 nature and conditions of that future state, or quicken 
 our apprehensions of the attributes and essence of that 
 Divine Being. Thus another part of literature has be- 
 come also extinct, happily for our race; for in the times 
 when so much was written upon subjects which no one 
 could determine, people seemed to live in a perpetual 
 state of quarrel and contention. So, too, a vast part of 
 our ancient literature consists of historical records of wars 
 and revolutions during the times when the Ana lived in 
 large and turbulent societies, each seeking aggrandize- 
 ment at the expense of the other. You see our serene 
 mode of life now; such it has been for ages. We liave 
 no events to chronicle. What more of us can be said 
 than that ' they were born, they were happy, they died ? ' 
 Coming next to that part of literature which is more 
 under the control of the imagination, such as what we
 
 THE COMIXG RACE. 75 
 
 call Glaubsila, or colloquially ' Glaubs,' and you call 
 poetry, tlie reasons for its decline amongst us are abun- 
 dantly obvious. 
 
 " We find, by referring to the great masterpieces in 
 that department of literature which we all still read with 
 pleasure, but of which none would tolerate imitations, 
 that they consist in the portraiture of passions which we 
 no longer experience — ambition, vengeance, unhallowed 
 love, the thirst for warlike renown, and suchlike. The old 
 poets lived in an atmosphere impregnated with these pas- 
 sions, and felt vividly what they expressed glowingly. 
 No one can express such passions now, for no one can 
 feel them, or meet udth any sympathy in his readers if 
 he did. Again, the old poetry has a main element in its 
 dissection of those complex mysteries of human character 
 which conduce to abnormal vices and crimes, or lead to 
 signal and extraordinary virtues. But our society, hav- 
 ing got rid of temptations to any prominent vices and 
 crimes, has necessarily rendered the moral average so 
 equal, that there are no very salient virtues. Without 
 its ancient food of strong passions, vast crimes, heroic ex- 
 cellences, poetry therefore is, if not actually starved to 
 death, reduced to a very meagre diet. There is still the 
 poetry of description — description of rocks, and trees, 
 and waters, and common household life; and our young 
 Gy-ei weave much of this insipid kind of composition into 
 their love' verses." 
 
 " Such poetry," said I, " might surely be made very 
 charming; and we have critics amongst us who consider 
 it a higher kind than that which depicts the crimes, or 
 analyzes the passions, of man. At all events, poetry of 
 the insipid kind you mention is a poetry that nowadavs 
 commands more readers than any other among the peo- 
 ple I have left above ground." 
 
 " Possibly; but then I suppose the writers take great 
 pains with the language they employ, and devote them- 
 selves to the culture and polish of words and rhythms as 
 an art ?" 
 
 "Certainly they do: all great poets must do that. 
 Though the gift of poetry may be inborn, the gift re- 
 quires as much care to make it available as a block of 
 metal does to be made into one of your engines." 
 
 "And doubtless your poets have some incentive to be- 
 stow all tliose pains upon such verbal prettinesses T'
 
 76 THE COM IXC RACE. 
 
 "Well, I presume their instinct of song would make 
 them sing as the bird does; but to cultivate the song into 
 verbal or artificial prettiness, probably does need an in- 
 ducement from without, and our poets find it in the love 
 of fame — perhaps, now and then, in the want of money." 
 
 " Precisely so. But in our society we attach fame to 
 nothing which man, in that moment of his duration which 
 is called "life," can perform. We should soon lose that 
 equality which constitutes the felicitous essence of our 
 commonwealth if we selected any individual for pre- 
 eminent praise: pre-eminent praise would confer pre- 
 eminent power, and the moment it were given, evil pas 
 sions, now dormant, v;ould awake; other m.en would im- 
 mediately covet praise, then would arise envy, and with 
 envy hate, and with hate calumny and persecution. Our 
 history tells us that most of the poets and most of the 
 writers who, in the old time, were favored with the great- 
 est praise, were also assailed by the greatest vituperation^ 
 and even, on the whole, rendered very unhappy, partly 
 b)^ the attacks of jealous rivals, partly by the diseased 
 mental constitution which an acquired sensitiveness to 
 praise and to blame tends to engender. As for the stim- 
 ulus of want; in the first place, no man in our commu- 
 nity knows the goad of poverty; and, secondly, if he did, 
 almost every occupation would be more lucrative than 
 writing. 
 
 " Our public libraries contain all the books of the past 
 which time has preserved; those books, for the reasons 
 above stated, are infinitely better than any can write 
 nowadays, and they are open to all to read without cost. 
 We are not such fools as to pay for reading inferior books, 
 when we can read Superior books for nothing." 
 
 " With us, novelty has an attraction; and a new book, 
 if bad, is read when an old book, though good, is neg- 
 lected." 
 
 " Novelty, to barbarous states of society struggling in 
 despair for something better, has no doubt an attraction, 
 denied to us, who see nothing to gain in novelties; but 
 after all, it is observed by one of our great authors four 
 thousand years ago, that 'he who studies old books will 
 always findin them something nev.', and he who reads new 
 books will always find in them something old.' But to 
 return to the question you have raised, there being then 
 amongst us no stimulus to painstaking labor, whether in
 
 THE COMIXG RACE. 'Jf 
 
 desire of fame or in pressure of want, such as have the 
 poetic temperament, no doubt, vent it in song, as you 
 say the bird sings; but for lack of elaborate culture it 
 fails of an audience, and, failing of an audience, dies out, 
 of itself, amidst the ordinary avocations ©f life." 
 
 " But how is it that these discouragements to the 
 cultivation of literature do not operate against that of 
 science ?" 
 
 " Your question amazes me. The motive to science is 
 the love of truth apart from all consideration of fame, 
 and science with us too is devoted almost solely to prac- 
 tical uses, essential to our social conversation and the 
 comforts of our daily life. No fame is asked by the in- 
 ventor, and none is given to him; he enjoys an occupa- 
 tion congenial to his tastes, and needing no wear and 
 tear of the passions. Man must have exercise for his 
 mind as well as body; and continuous exercise, rather 
 than violent, is best for both. Our most ingenious cul- 
 tivators of science are, as a general rule, the longest 
 lived and the most free from disease. Painting is an 
 amusement to many, but the art is not Vv'hat it was in 
 former times, when the great painters in our various 
 communities vied with each other for the prize of a 
 golden crown, which gave them a social rank equal to 
 that of the kings under whom they lived. You will thus 
 doubtless have observed in our archaeological depart- 
 ment how superior in point of art the pictures were sev- 
 eral thousand years ago. Perhaps it is because music i-s, 
 in reality, more allied to science than it is to poetry, that, 
 of all the pleasurable arts, music is that which flourishes 
 the most amongst us. Still, even in music the absence 
 of stimulus in praise or fame has served to prevent any 
 great superiority of one individual over another; and we 
 rather excel in choral music, with the aid of our vast 
 mechanical instruments, in which we make great use of 
 the agency of water,* than in single performers. We 
 iiave had scarcely any original composer for some ages. 
 Our favorite airs are very ancient in substance, but have 
 admitted many complicated variations by inferior, though 
 ingenious, musicians." 
 
 * This may remind the student of Nero's invention of a musical 
 marhine, by which water was made to perform the part of an orches- 
 tra, and on which he was employed when the conspiracy against him 
 broke out.
 
 yS THE COMING RACE. 
 
 "Are there no political societies among the Ana which 
 are animated by those passions, subjected to those crimes, 
 and admitting those disparities in condition, in intellect, 
 and in morality, which the state of your tribe, or indeed 
 of the Yril-ya generally, has left behind in its progress to 
 perfection ? If so, among such societies perhaps Poetry 
 and her sister arts still continue to be honored and to im- 
 prove?" 
 
 " There are such societies in remote regions, but we do 
 not admit them within the pale of civilized communities; 
 we scarcely even give them the name of Ana, and cer- 
 tainly not that of Vril-ya. They are savages, living 
 chiefly in that low stage of being, Koom-Posh, tending 
 necessarily to its own hideous dissolution in Glek-Nas. 
 Their wretched existence is passed in perpetual contest 
 and perpetual change. When they do not fight with 
 their neighbors, they fight among themselves. They 
 are divided into sections, which abuse, plunder, and 
 sometimes murder each other, and on the most frivolous 
 points of difference that would be unintelligible to us if 
 we had not read history, and seen that we too have 
 passed through the same early state of ignorance and 
 barbarism. Any trifle is sufficient to set tliem together 
 by the ears. They pretend to be all equals, and the 
 more they have struggled to be so, by removing old dis- 
 tinctions and starting afresh, the more glaring and intol- 
 erable the disparity becomes, because nothing in heredi- 
 tary affections and associations is left to soften the one 
 naked distinction between the many who have nothing 
 and the few who have much. Of course the many hate 
 the few, but without the few they coidd not live. The 
 many are always assailing the few; sometimes they ex- 
 terminate the few; but as soon as they have done so, a 
 new few starts out of the many, and is harder to deal 
 with than the old few. For where societies are large, 
 and competition to have something is the predominant 
 fever, there must be always many losers and few gainers. 
 In short, they are savages groping their way in the dark 
 toward some gleam of light, and would demand our 
 commiseration for their infirmities, if, like all savages, 
 they did not provoke their own destruction by their ar- 
 rogance and cruelty. Can you imagine that creatures of 
 this kind, armed only with such miserable weapons as 
 you may see in our museum of antiquities, clumsy iron
 
 THE COMING RACE. 79 
 
 tubes cliarged with saltpetre, have more than once 
 threatened with destruction a tribe of the Vril-ya, which 
 dwells nearest to them, because they say they have thirty 
 millions of population — and that tribe may have fifty 
 thousand — if the latter do not accept their notions of 
 Soc-Sec (money-getting) on some trading principles 
 wliich they have the impudence to call a 'law of civili- 
 zation ?' " 
 
 " But thirty millions of population are formidable odds 
 against fifty thousand!" 
 
 My host stared at me astonished. "Stranger," said he, 
 ** you could not have heard me say that this threatened 
 tribe belongs to the Vril-ya; and it only waits for these 
 savages to declare war, in order to commission some 
 half-a-dozen small children to sweep away their whole 
 population." 
 
 At these words I felt a thrill of horror, recognizing 
 much more affinity with " the savages" than I did with 
 the Vril-ya, and remembering all I had said in praise of 
 the glorious American institutions, which Aph-Lin stig- 
 matized as Koom-Posh. Recovering my self-posses- 
 sion, I asked if there were modes of transit by which I 
 could safely visit this temerarious and remote people. 
 
 " You can travel with safety, by vril agency, either 
 along the ground or amid the air, throughout all the 
 range of the communities with which we are allied and 
 akin; but I cannot vouch for your safety in barbar- 
 ous nations governed by different laws from ours; na- 
 tions, indeed, so benighted, that there are among them 
 large numbers who actually live by stealing from each 
 other, and one could not with safety in the Silent Hours 
 even leave the doors of one's own house open." 
 
 Here our conversation was interrupted by the entrance 
 of Tae, who came to inform us that he, having been de- 
 puted to discover and destroy the enormous reptile 
 which I had seen on my first arrival, had been on the 
 watch for it ever since his visit to me, and had began to 
 suspect that mj' eyes had deceived me, or that the crea- 
 ture had made its w^ay through the cavities within the 
 rocks to the wild regions in which dwelt its kindred race, 
 when it gave evidences of its whereabouts by a great 
 devastation of the herbage bordering one of the lakes. 
 " And," said Tae, " I feel sure that within that lake it is 
 now hiding. So" (turning to me) " I thought it might
 
 80 THE COMIXG RACE. 
 
 amuse you to accompany me to see the way we destroy 
 such unpleasant visitors." As -I looked at the face of 
 the young child, and called to mind the enormous size of 
 the creature he proposed to exterminate, I felt myself 
 shudder with fear for him, and perliaps fear for myself, 
 if I accompanied him in sucli a chase. But my curiosity 
 to witness the destructive effects of the boasted vril, and 
 my unwillingness to lower myself in the eyes of an in- 
 fant by betraying apprehensions of personal safety, pre- 
 vailed over my first impulse. Accordingly, I thanked 
 Tae for his courteous consideration for my amusement, 
 and professed my willingness to set out with him on so 
 diverting an enterpiise. 
 
 CHAPTER XVIII. 
 
 As Tae and myself, on quitting the town, and leaving 
 to the left the main road which led to it, struck into the 
 fields, the strange and solemn beauty of the landscape, 
 lighted up, by numberless lamps, to the verge of the 
 horizon, fascinated my eyes, and rendered me for some 
 time an inattentive listener to the talk of my companion. 
 
 Along our way various operations of agriculture were 
 being carried on by machinery, the forms of which were 
 new to me, and for the most part very graceful; for 
 among these people, art, being so cultivated for the sake 
 of mere utility, exhibits itself in adorning or refining the 
 shapes of useful objects. Precious metals and gems are 
 so profuse among them, that they are lavished on things 
 devoted to purposes the most commonplace; and their 
 love of utility leads them to beautify its tools, and quick- 
 ens their imagination in a way unknown to themselves. 
 
 In all service, whether in or out of doors, they make 
 great use of automaton figures, which are so ingenious, 
 and so pliant to the operations of vril, that they actually 
 seem gifted with reason. It was scarcely possible to dis- 
 tinguish the figures I beheld, apparently guiding or 
 superintending the rapid movements of vast engines, 
 from human forms endowed with thought. 
 
 By degrees, as we continued to walk on, my attention 
 became roused by the lively and acute remarks of my 
 companion. The intelligence of the children among this
 
 THE COMIXG RACE. 8 1 
 
 race is marvellously precocious, perhaps from the habit 
 of having intrusted to them, at so early an age, the toils and 
 responsibilities of middle age. Indeed, in conversing 
 with Tae, I felt as if talking with some superior and ob- 
 servant man of my own years. I asked him if he could 
 form any estimate of the number of communities into 
 which the race of the Vril-ya is subdivided. 
 
 "Not exactly," he said, "because they multiph^ of 
 course, every year as the surplus of each community is 
 drafted off. But I heard my father say that, according 
 to the last report, there were a million and a half of com- 
 munities speaking our language, and adopting our insti- 
 tutions and forms of life and government; but, I believe, 
 with some differences, about which you had better ask 
 Zee. She knows more than most of the Ana do. An 
 An cares less for things that do not concern him than a 
 Gy does; the Gy-ei are inquisitive creatures." 
 
 " Does each community restrict itself to the same 
 number of families or amount of population that vou 
 do?" 
 
 "No; some have much smaller populations, some have 
 larger — varying according to the extent of the country 
 they appropriate, or to the degree of excellence to which 
 they have brought their machinery. Each community 
 sets its own limit according to circumstances, taking care 
 always that there shall never arise any class of poor by 
 the pressure of population upon the productive powers 
 of the domain, and that no state shall be too large for a 
 government resembling that of a single well-ordered 
 family. I imagine that no vril community exceeds thirty 
 thousand households. But, as a general rule, the smaller 
 the community, provided there be hands enough to do 
 justice to the capacities of the territory it occupies, the 
 richer each individual is, and the larger the sum contrib- 
 uted to the general treasury — above all, the happier and 
 the more tranquil is the whole political body, and the 
 more perfect the products of its industry. The state 
 whicli all tribes of the Vril-ya acknowledge to be the 
 highest in civilization, and which has brought the vril 
 force to its fullest development, is perhaps the smallest. 
 It limits itself to four thousand families; but every inch 
 of its territory is cultivated to the utmost perfection of 
 garden ground; its machinery excels that of every other 
 tribe, and there is no product of its industry in any de-
 
 S2 THE COMIXG A\4CE. 
 
 parlment which is not soutiiil tDr, at extraortliiiiiry pi'iccs, 
 by each community of our race. All our tribes make 
 this state their model, considering that we should reach 
 the highest state of civilization allowed to mortals if we 
 could unite the greatest degree of happiness with the 
 highest degree of intellectual achievement; and it is clear 
 that the smaller the society the less difficult that will be. 
 Ours is too large for it." 
 
 This reply set me thinking. I reminded myself of 
 that little state of Athens, with only twenty thousand 
 free citizens, and which to this day our mightiest nations 
 regard as the supreme guide and model in all depart- 
 ments of intellect. But then Athens permitted fierce 
 rivalry and perpetual change, and was certainly not 
 happy. Rousing myself from the reverie into which 
 these reflections had plunged me, I brought back our 
 talk to the subjects connected with emigration. 
 
 "But," said I, "when, I suppose yearly, a certain num- 
 ber among you agree to quit home and found a new 
 community elsewhere, they must necessarily be very few, 
 and scarcely sufficient, even with the help of the machines 
 they take with them, to clear the ground, and build 
 towns, and form a civilized state with the comforts and 
 luxuries in which they had been reared." 
 
 "You mistake. All the tribes of the Vril-ya are in 
 constant communication with each other, and settle 
 amongst themselves each year what proportion of one 
 community will unite with the emigrants of another, so 
 as to form a state of sufficient size; and the place for 
 emigration is agreed upon at least a year before, and 
 pioneers sent from each state to level rocks, and embank 
 waters, and construct houses; so that when the emigrants 
 at last go, they find a city already made, and a country 
 around it at least partially cleared. Our hardy life as 
 children makes us take cheerfully to travel and adven- 
 ture. I mean to emigrate myself when of age." 
 
 " Do the emigrants always select places hitherto unin- 
 habited and barren ?" 
 
 "As yet generally, because it is our rule never to de- 
 stroy except when necessary to our well-being. Of 
 course, we cannot settle in lands already ocupicd by the 
 Vril-ya; and if we take the cultivated lands of the other 
 races of Ana, we must utterly destroy the previous in- 
 habitants. Sometimes, as it is, we take waste spots, and
 
 THE COMIXG RACE. 83 
 
 find that a troublesome, quarrelsome race of Ana, espe- 
 cially if under the administration of Koom-Posh or Glek- 
 Nas, resents our vicinity, and picks a quarrel with us; 
 then, of course, as menacing our welfare, we destroy it: 
 there is no coming to terms of peace with a race so 
 idiotic that it is always changing the form of govern- 
 ment which represents it. Koom-Posh," said the child, 
 emphatically, "is bad enough, still it has brains, though 
 at the back of its head, and is not without a heart; but 
 in Glek-Nas the brain and heart of the creatures disap- 
 pear, and they become all jaws, claws, and bell}'." 
 
 "You express yourself strongly. Allow me to inform 
 you that I myself, and I am proud to say it, am the 
 citizen of a Koom-Posh." 
 
 " I no longer," answered Tae, "wonder to see you here 
 so far from your home. What was the condition of your 
 native community before it became a Koom-Posh ?" 
 
 "A settlement of emigrants — like those settlements 
 which your tribe sends forth — but so far unlike 3'our 
 settlements, that it was dependent on the state from 
 which it came. It shook off that yoke, and, crowned 
 with eternal glory, became a Koom-Posh." 
 
 " Eternal glory! how long has the Koom-Posh lasted ?" 
 
 "About one hundred )'ears." 
 
 " The length of an An's life — a ver}' young community. 
 In much less than another one hundred 5'ears your 
 Koom-Posh will be a Glek-Nas." 
 
 " Nay, the oldest states in the world I come from, have 
 such faith in its duration, that they are all gradually 
 shaping their institutions so as to melt into ours, and 
 their most thoughtful politicians say that, whether they 
 like it or not, the inevitable tendency of these old states 
 is toward Koom-Posh-erie." 
 
 " The old states ?" 
 
 " Yes, the old states." 
 
 "With populations very small in proportion to the 
 area of productive land ?" 
 
 " On the contrary, with populations very large in pro- 
 portion to that area." 
 
 " I see ! old states indeed ! — so old as to become drivel- 
 ling if they don't pack off that surplus population as we 
 do ours — very old states ! — very, very old ! Pray, Tish, do 
 you think it wise for very old men to try to turn head- 
 ovcr-heels as very young children do ? And if you ask
 
 84 THE COMIXG RACE. 
 
 them why they attempted such antics, sliould you not 
 hiugh if they answered that by imitating very young 
 children they could become very young children them- 
 selves ? Ancient history abounds with instances of this 
 sort a great many thousands years ago — and in every 
 instance a very old state tliat played at Koom-Posh soon 
 tumbled into Glek-Nas. Then, in horror of its own self, 
 it cried out for a master, as an old man in his dotage 
 cries out for a nurse; and after a succession of masters 
 or nurses, more or less long, that very old state died out 
 of history. A very old state attempting Koom-Posli-erie 
 is like a very old man who pulls down the house to which 
 he has been accustomed, but he has so exhausted his 
 vigor in pulling down, that all he can do in the way of 
 rebuilding is to run up a crazy hut, in which himself and 
 his successors whine out, 'How the wind blows ! How 
 the walls shake !' " 
 
 " My dear Tae, I make all excuse for your unenlight- 
 ened prejudices, which every school-boy educated in a 
 Koom-Posh could easily controvert, though he miglit 
 not be so precociously learned in ancient history as you 
 appear to be." 
 
 "I learned ! not a bit of it. But would a school-boy, 
 educated in your Koom-Posh, ask his great-great-grand- 
 father or great-grcat-grandmother to stand on his or her 
 head with the feet uppermost? and if the poor old folks 
 hesitated — say, 'What do you fear? — see how I do it !' " 
 
 "Tae, I disdain to argue wdth a child of your age. I 
 repeat, I make allowances for your want of tliat culture 
 which a Koom-Posh alone can bestow." 
 
 "I, in my turn," answered Tae, with an air of tire 
 suave but lofty good breeding wdiich characterizes his 
 race, "not only make allowances for you as not educated 
 among the Vril-ya, but I entreat you to vouchsafe me 
 your pardon for insufficient respect to the habits and 
 opinions of so amiable a — Tish !" 
 
 I ought before to have observed that I was commonly 
 called Tish by my host and his family, as being a polite 
 and indeed a pet name, literally signifying a small bar- 
 barian; the children apply it endearingly to the tame 
 species of Frog which they keep in their gardens. 
 
 We had now reached the banks of a lake, and Tae 
 here paused to point out to me the ravages made in 
 fields skirting it. "The enemy certainly lies wiLhin
 
 THE COMIXG RACE. 85 
 
 these waters," said Tae. '' Observe what shoals of fish 
 are crowded together at the margin. Even the great 
 fishes with the small ones, who are their habitual prey 
 and who generally shun them, all forget their instincts 
 in the presence of a co.mmon destroyer. This reptile cer- 
 tainly must belong to the class of Krek-a, which are more 
 devouring than any other, and are said to be among the 
 few surviving species of the world's dreadest inhabitants 
 before the Ana were created. The appetite of a Krek is 
 insatiable — it feeds alike upon vegetable and animal life; 
 but for the swift-footed creatures of the elk species it is 
 too slow in its movements. Its favorite dainty is an An 
 when it can catch him unawares; and hence the Ana de- 
 stroy it relentlessly whenever it enters their dominion. 
 I have heard that when our forefathers first cleared this 
 country, these monsters, and others like them, abounded, 
 and, vril being then undiscovered, many of our race were 
 devoured. It was impossible to exterminate them wholly 
 till that discovery which constitutes the power and sus- 
 stain the civilization of our race. But after the uses of 
 vril became familiar to us, all creatures inimical to us 
 were soon annihilated. Still, once a year or so, one of 
 these enormous creatures wanders from the unreclaimed 
 and savage districts be^^ond, and within my memory one 
 seized upon a young Gy who was bathing in this very 
 lake. Had she been on land and armed with her staff, 
 it would not have dared even to show itself; for, like all 
 savage creatures, the reptile has a marvellous instinct, 
 which warns it against the bearer of the vril wand. How 
 they teach their j'oung to avoid him, though seen for the 
 first time, is one of those mysteries which you may ask 
 Zee to explain, for I cannot.* So long as I stand here, 
 the monster will not stir from its lurking-place; but we 
 must now decoy it forth." 
 
 " Will not that be difficult ?" 
 
 " Not at all. Seat yourself )^ondcr on that crag (about 
 one hundred yards from the bank), while I retire to a 
 distance. In a sliort lime the reptile will catch sight or 
 scent of yon, and, perceiving that you are no vril-bearer, 
 
 * The reptile in this instinct does but resemble our wild birds and 
 animals, which will ncjt come in reach of a man armed with a gun. 
 Vi'hcn the electric wires were first put up. partridc;es struck against 
 ihem in their flight, and fell down wounded. No younger generations 
 of partridges meet with a similar accident.
 
 86 THE COMIXG RACE. 
 
 will come forth to devour you. As soon as it is fairly 
 out of the water, it becomes my pre}'." 
 
 "Do you mean to tell me that I am to be the decoy to 
 that horrible monster which could engulf me within its 
 jaws in a second! I beg to decline." 
 
 The child laughed. " Fear nothing," said he; " only 
 sit still." 
 
 Instead of obeying this command, I made a bound, ^ 
 and was about to take fairly to my heels, when Tae' 
 touched me lightly on the shoulder, and, fixing his eyes 
 steadily on mine, I was rooted to the spot. All power 
 of volition left me. Submissive to the infant's gesture, 
 I followed him to the crag he had indicated, and seated 
 mvself there in silence. Most readers have seen some- 
 thing of the effects of electro-biology, whether genuine 
 or spurious. No professor of that doubtful craft had 
 ever been able to influence a thought or a movement of 
 mine, but I was a mere machine at the will of this ter- 
 rible child. Meanwhile he expanded his wings, soared 
 aloft, and alighted amidst a copse at the brow of a hill 
 at some distance. 
 
 I was alone; and turning my eyes with an indescrib- 
 able sensation of horror toward the lake, I kept them 
 fixed on its water, spell-bound. It might be ten or fifteen 
 minutes, to me it seemed ages, before the still surface, 
 gleamingunder the lamplight, began to be agitated toward 
 the centre. At the same time the shoals of fish near the 
 margin evinced their sense of the enemy's approach by 
 splash and leap and bubbling circle. I could detect their 
 liurried flight hither and thither, some even casting them- 
 selves ashore. A long, dark, undulous furrow came mov- 
 ing along the waters, nearer and nearer, till the vast head 
 of the reptile emerged — its jaws bristling with fangs, and 
 Hs dull eyes fixing themselves hungrily on the spot where 
 I sat motionless. And now its forefeet were on the 
 strand — now its enormous breast, scaled on either side 
 as in armor, in the centre showing its corrugated skin of 
 a dull venomous yellow; and now its whole length was 
 on the land, a hundred feet or more from the jaw to the 
 tail. Another stride of those ghastly feet would have 
 brought it to the spot where I sat. There was but a 
 moment between me and this grim form of death, when 
 what seemed a flash of lightning shot through the air, 
 smote, and, for a space in time briefer than that in which
 
 THE COMING RACE. 8/ 
 
 a man can draw his breath, enveloped the monster; and 
 then, as the flash vanished, there lay before me a black- 
 ened, charred, smoiddering mass, a something gigantic, 
 but of which even the outlines of form were burned away, 
 and rapidly crumbling into dust and ashes. I remained 
 still seated, still speechless, ice-cold with a new sensation 
 of dread: what had been horror was now awe. 
 
 I felt the cliild's hand on my head — fear left me — the 
 spell was broken — I rose up. "You see with what ease 
 the Vril-ya destroy their enemies," said Tae; and then, 
 moving toward the bank, he contemplated the smoul- 
 dering relics of the monster, and said quietly, " I have 
 destroyed larger creatures, but none with so much pleas- 
 ure. Yes, it is a Krek; what suffering it must have in- 
 flicted while it lived!" Tlien he took up the poor fishes 
 that had flung themselves ashore, and restored them 
 mercifully to their native element. 
 
 CHAPTER XIX. 
 
 As we walked back to the town, Tae took a new and 
 circuitous way, in order to show me what, to use a famil- 
 iar term, I will call the "Station," from which emigrants 
 or travellers to other communities commence their jour- 
 neys. I had, on a former occasion, expressed a wish to 
 see their vehicles. These I found to be of two kinds, one 
 for land journeys, one for aerial voyages: the former 
 were of all sizes and forms, some not larger than an or- 
 dinary carriage, some movable houses of one story and 
 containing several rooms, furnished according to the 
 ideas of comfort or luxury which are entertained by the 
 Vril-ya. The aerial vehicles were of light substances, not 
 the least resembling our balloons, but rather our boats 
 and pleasure-vessels, with helm and rudder, with large 
 wings as paddles, and a central machine worked by vril. 
 All the vehicles both for land and air were indeed 
 worked by that potent and mysterious agencv. 
 
 I saw a convoy set out on its journey, but it had few 
 passengers, containing chiefly articles of merchandise, 
 and was bound to a neighboring communitv; for amono- 
 all the tribes of the Vril-ya there is considerable com- 
 mercial interchange. I may here observe, that their
 
 uo THE COMIXG RACE. 
 
 money currency does not consist of ihc precious metals, 
 wliich are too common among them for that purpose. 
 The smaller coins in ordinary use are manufactured from 
 a peculiar fossil shell, the comparatively scarce remnant 
 of some very early deluge, or other convulsion of nature, 
 by which a species has become extinct. It is minute, 
 and tiat as an oyster, and takes a jewel-like polish. This 
 coinage circulates among all the tribes of the Vril-ya. 
 Their larger transactions are carried on much like ours, 
 by bills of exchange, and thin metallic plates which an- 
 swer the purpose of our bank-notes. 
 
 Let me take this occasion of adding that the taxation 
 among the tribe I became acquainted with was very con- 
 siderable, compared with the amount of population. But 
 I never heard that any one grumbled at it, for it was de- 
 voted to purposes of universal utility, and indeed neces- 
 sary to the civilization of the tribe. The cost of lighting 
 so large a range of country, of providing for emigration, 
 of maintaining the public buildings at which the various 
 operations of national intellect were carried on, from the 
 first education of an infant to the departments in which 
 the College of Sages were perpetuall}' trying new experi- 
 ments in mechanical science — all these involved the 
 necessity for considerable state funds. To these I must 
 add an item that struck me as very singular. I have said 
 that all tlie human labor required by the state is carried 
 on by children up to the marriageable age. For this la- 
 bor the state pays, and at a rate immeasurably higher 
 than our remuneration to labor even in the United States. 
 According to their theory, every child, male or female, 
 on attaining the marriageable age, and there terminating 
 the period of labor, should have acquired enough for an 
 independent competence during life. As, no matter what 
 the disparity of fortune in the parents, all the children 
 must equally serve, so all are equally paid according to 
 their several ages or the nature of the work. Where the 
 parents or friends choose to retain a child in their own 
 service, they must pay into the public fund in the same 
 ratio as the state pays to tlie children it employs; and 
 this sum is handed over to the child when the period of 
 service expires. This jiractice serves, no doubt, to render 
 the notion of social equality familiar and agreeable; and 
 if it may be said that all the children form ii democracy, 
 no less truly it may be said that all the adults form
 
 rilE COMIXG RACE. 89 
 
 an aristocrac3^ The exquisite politeness and refinement 
 of manners among tlie Vril-ya, the generosity of their 
 sentiments, the absolute leisure they enjoy for following 
 out their own private pursuits, the amenities of their 
 domestic intercourse, in which they seem as members of 
 one noble order that can have no distrust of each other's 
 word or deed, all combine to make the Vril-ya the most 
 perfect nobility which a political disciple of Plato or 
 Sidney could conceive for the ideal of an aristocratic 
 republic. 
 
 CHAPTER XX. 
 
 From the date of the expedition with Tae which I have 
 just narrated, the child paid me frequent visits. He had 
 taken a liking to me, which I cordially returned. Indeed, 
 as he was not yet twelve years old, and had not com- 
 menced the course of scientific studies with which child- 
 hood closes in that country, my intellect was less inferior 
 to his than to tliat of the elder members of his race, 
 especially of the Gy-ei, and most especially of the accom- 
 plished Zee. The children of the Vril-ya, having upon 
 their minds the weight of so many active duties and 
 grave responsibilities, are not generally mirthful; but 
 Tea, with all his wisdom, had much of the playful good- 
 humor one often finds the characteristic of elderly men 
 of genius. He felt that sort of pleasure in my society 
 whicli a boy of a similar age in the upper world has in 
 the company of a pet dog or monkey. It amused him 
 to try and teach me the ways of his people, as it amuses 
 a nephew of mine to make his poodle walk on his hind 
 legs or jump through a hoop. I willingly lent myself 
 to such experiments, but I never achieved the success of' 
 the poodle. I was very much interested at first in the 
 attempt to ply the wings which the youngest of the Vril- 
 ya use as nimbly and easily as ours do their legs and 
 arms; but my efforts were attended with contusions 
 serious enougli to make me abandon them in despair. 
 
 These wings, as I before said, are very large, reaching 
 to the knee, and in repose thrown back so as to form a 
 very graceful mantle. They are composed from the 
 feathers of a gigantic bird that abounds in the rocky 
 heights of the country — the color mostly white, but some-
 
 90 THE COMING RACE. 
 
 times with reddish streaks. They are fastened round 
 the shoulders with light but strong springs of steel; and, 
 when expanded, the arms slide through loops for that 
 purpose, forming, as it were, a stout central membrane. 
 As the arms are raised, a tubular lining beneath ihe vest 
 or tunic becomes, by mechanical contrivance inflated 
 with air, increased or diminished at will by the move- 
 ment of the arms, and serving to buoy the whole form 
 as on bladders. The wings and the balloon-like appara- 
 tus are highly charged with vril; and when the body is 
 thus wafted upward, it seems to become singulaily light- 
 ened of its weight. I found it easy enough to soar from 
 the groLind; indeed, when the wings were spread it was 
 scarcely possible not to soar, but then came the difficulty 
 and the danger. I utterly failed in the power to use and 
 direct the pinions, though I am considered among my 
 own race unusually alert and ready in bodily exercises, 
 and am a very practised swimmer. I could only make 
 the most confused and blundering efforts at flight. I was 
 the servant of the wings; the wings were not my servants 
 — they were beyond my control; and when by a violent 
 strain of muscle, and, I must fairly own, in that abnor- 
 mal strength whicli is given by excessive fright, I curbed 
 their gN'rations and brought them near to the body, it 
 seemed as if I lost the sustaining power stored in them 
 and the connecting bladders, as when air is let out of a 
 balloon, and found myself precipitated again to the earth; 
 saved, indeed, by some spasmodic flutterings, from being 
 dashed to pieces, but not saved from the bruises and the 
 stun of a heavy fall. I would, however, have persevered 
 in my attempts, but for the advice or the commands of 
 the scientific Zee, who had benevolently accompanied my 
 flutterings, and, indeed, on the last occasion, flying just 
 under me, received my form as it fell on her own ex- 
 panded wings, and preserved me from breaking my head 
 on the roof of the pyramid from which \vc had ascended. 
 " I see," she said, " that your trials are in vain, not from 
 the fault of the wings and their appurtenances, nor from 
 any impcrfectncss and malformation of your own cor* 
 puscular system, but from irrcmedial)le, because organic, 
 defect in your power of volition. Learn that the con- 
 nection between the will and the agencies of that fluid 
 which has been subjected to the control of the Vril-ya 
 was never established by the first discoverers, never
 
 THE COMING RACE. 9 1 
 
 achieved by a single generation; it has gone on increas- 
 ing, like otiier properties of race, in proportion as it has 
 been uniformly transmitted from parent to child, so that, 
 at last, it has become an instinct; and an infant An of 
 our race wills to fly as intuitively and unconsciously as he 
 wills to walk. He thus plies his invented or artificial 
 wings with as much safety as a bird plies those with 
 which it is born. I did not think sufficiently of this 
 when I allowed you to try an experiment which allured 
 me, for I longed to have in you a companion. I shall 
 abandon the experiment now. Your life is becoming 
 dear to me." Herewith the Gy's voice and face softened, 
 and I felt more seriously alarmed tiian I had been in my 
 previous flights. 
 
 Now that I am on the subject of wings, I ought not to 
 omit mention of a custom among the Gy-ei which seems 
 to me very pretty and tender in the sentiment it implies. 
 A Gy wears wings habitually while ye.t a virgin — she 
 joins the Ana in their aerial sports — she adventures alone 
 and afar into the wilder regions of the sunless world: in 
 the boldness and height of her soarings, not less than in 
 the grace of her movements, she excels the opposite sex. 
 But from the day of marriage she wears wings no more, 
 she suspends them with her own willing hand over the 
 nuptial couch, never to be resumed unless the marriage 
 tie be severed by divorce or death. 
 
 Now when Zee's voice and eyes thus softened — and at 
 that softening I prophetically recoiled and shuddered — ■ 
 Tae, who had accompanied us in our flights, but who, 
 child-like, had been much more amused with my awk- 
 wardness than sympathizing in my fears or aware of my 
 danger, hovered over us, poised amidst the still radiant 
 air, serene and motionless on his outspread wings, and 
 liearing the endearing words of the young Gy, laughed 
 aloud. Said he, "If the Tish cannot learn the use of 
 wings, you may still be his companion, Zee, for you can 
 suspend your own." 
 
 CHAPTER XXI. 
 
 I HAD for some time observed in my host's highly in- 
 formed and powerfully proportioned daughter that kindly 
 and protective sentiment which, whether above the earth
 
 C.2 THE co:jixg race. 
 
 or below it, an all-wise Providence has bestowed upon 
 the feminine division of the human race. But until very 
 lately I had ascribed it to that affection for "pets" which 
 a human female at every age shares with a human child. 
 I now became painfully aware that the feeling with 
 which Zee deigned to regard me was different from that 
 which I had inspired in Tae. But this conviction gave 
 me none of that complacent gratification whicli the vanity 
 of man ordinaril}' conceives from a flattering appreciation 
 of his personal merits on the part of the fair sex; on tlie 
 contrary, it inspired me with fear. Yet of all the Gy-ei 
 in the community, if Zee were perhaps the wisest and 
 the strongest, she was, by common repute, the gentlest, 
 and she was certainly the most popularly beloved. The 
 desire to aid, to succor, to protect, to comfort, to 
 bless seemed to pervade her whole being. Though the 
 complicated miseries that originate in penury and 
 guilt are unknown to the social system of the Vril-ya, 
 still no sage had 5'et discovered in vril an agency 
 which could banish sorrow from life; and wherever 
 amongst her people sorrow found its way, there Zee fol- 
 lowed in the mission of comforter. Did some sister Gy 
 fail to secure the love she sighed for? Zee sought her 
 out, and brought all the resources of her lore, and all the 
 consolations of her sympathy, to bear upon a grief that 
 so needs the solace of a confidant. In the rare cases 
 when grave illness seized upon childhood or youth, and 
 the cases, less rare, when, in the hardy and adventurous 
 probation of infants, some accident, attended with pain 
 and injury, occurred, Zee forsook her studies and her 
 sports, and became the healer and the nurse. Ilcr favoi- 
 ite flights were toward the extreme boundaries of the 
 domain where children were stationed on guard against 
 outbreaks of warring forces in nature, or the invasions of 
 devouring animals, so that she might warn them of any 
 peril which her knowledge detected or foresaw, or be at 
 hand if any harm had befallen. Nay, even in the exer- 
 cise of her scientific acquirements there was a concurrent 
 benevolence of purpose and will. Did slie learn any 
 novelty in invention that would be useful to the practi- 
 tioner of some special art or craft ? she hastened to com- 
 municate and explain it. Was some veteran sage of the 
 College perplexed and wearied with the toil of an ab- 
 struse study ? she would patiently devote herself to his
 
 THE COMING RACE. 93 
 
 aid, work out details for him, sustain liis spirits with her 
 hopeful smile, quicken his wit with her luminous sug- 
 gestion, be to him, as it were, his own good genius made 
 visible as the strengthener and inspirer. The same ten- 
 derness she exhibited to the inferior creatures. I have 
 often known her bring home some sick and wounded ani- 
 mal, and tend and cherish it as a mother would tend and 
 cherish her stricken child. Many a time when I sat in 
 the balcony, or hanging garden, on which my window 
 opened, I have watched her rising in the air on her radi- 
 ant wings, and in a few moments groups of infants below, 
 catching sight of her, would soar upward with joyous 
 sounds of greeting; clustering and sporting around her, 
 so that she seemed a very centre of innocent delight. 
 When I have walked with her amidst the rocks and val- 
 leys without the city, the elk-deer would scent or see her 
 from afar, come bounding up, eager for the caress of her 
 hand, or follow her footsteps, till dismissed by some 
 musical whisper that the creature had learned to compre- 
 hend. It is the fashion among the virgin Gy-ei «to wear 
 on their foreheads a circlet, or coronet, with gems resem- 
 bling opals, arranged in four points or rays like stars. 
 These are lustreless in ordinary use, but if touched by the 
 vril wand they take a clear lambent flame, which illumi- 
 nates, yet not burns. This serves as an ornament in 
 their festivities, and as a lamp, if, in their wanderings 
 beyond their artificial lights, they have to traverse the 
 dark. There are times, when I have seen Zee's thoughtful 
 majesty of face lighted up by this crowning halo, that I 
 could scarcely believe her to be a creature of mortal 
 birtii, and bent m}^ head before her as the vision of a 
 being among the celestial orders. But never once did 
 my heart feel for this lofty type of the noblest woman-^ 
 hood a sentiment of human love. Is it that, among the 
 race I belong to, man's pride so far influences his pas- 
 sions that woman loses to him her special charm of wo- 
 man if he feels her to be in all things eminently superior 
 to himself? But by what strange infatuation could this 
 peerless daughter of a race which, in the supremacy of 
 its powers and the felicity of its conditions, ranked all 
 other races in the category of barbarians, have deigned 
 to honor me with her preference? In personal qualifi- 
 cations, though I passed for good-looking amongst the 
 people I came from, the handsomest of my countrymen
 
 94 THE COMING RACE. 
 
 might have seemed insig-nificant and homely beside the 
 grand and serene type of beauty which cliaracterized the 
 aspect of the Vril-ya. 
 
 That novelty, the very difference between myself and 
 those to whom Zee was accustomed, might serve to bias 
 her fancy, was probable enough, and, as the reader will 
 see later, such a cause might suffice to account for the 
 predilection with which I was distinguished by a young 
 Gy scarcely out of her childhood, and very inferior in all 
 respects to Zee. But whoever will consider those tender 
 characteristics which I have just ascribed to the daughter 
 of Aph-Lin, may readily conceive that the main cause of 
 my attraction to her was in her instinctive desire to 
 cherish, to comfort, to protect, and, in protecting, to 
 sustain and to exalt. Thus, wdien I look back, I account 
 for the only weakness unworthy of her loft}'' nature, 
 which bowed the daughter of the Vril-ya to a woman's 
 affection for one so inferior to herself as was her father's 
 guest. But be the cause what it may, the consciousness 
 that I had inspired such affection thrilled me with awe — 
 a moral awe of her very perfections, of her mysterious 
 powers, of the inseparable distinctions between her race 
 and my own; and with that awe, I must confess to my 
 shame, there combined the more material and ignoble 
 dread of the perils to which her preference would ex- 
 pose me. 
 
 Could it be supposed for a moment that the parents 
 and friends of this exalted being could view without in- 
 dignation and disgust the possibility of an alliance be- 
 tween lierself and a Tish? Her they could not punisli, 
 her they could not confine nor restrain. Neitlier in do- 
 mestic nor in political life do they acknowledge any law 
 of force amongst themselves; but they could effectually 
 put an end to her infatuation by a flash of vril inflicted 
 upon me. 
 
 Under these anxious circumstances, fortunately, my 
 conscience and sense of honor were free from reproach. 
 It became clearly my duty, if Zee's preference continued 
 manifest, to intimate it to my host, with, of course, all 
 the delicacy which is ever to be preserved by a well-bred 
 man in confiding to another any degree of favor by which 
 one of the fair sex may condescend to distinguish him. 
 Thus, at all events, I should be freed from rcsjjonsibility 
 or suspicion of voluntary participation in the sentiments
 
 THE COMIXG RACE. 95 
 
 of Zee; and the superior wisdom of my host might prob- 
 ably suggest soma sage extrication from my perilous 
 dilemma. In this resolve I obeyed the ordinary instinct 
 of civilized and moral man, who, erring though he be, 
 still generally prefers the right course in those cases 
 where it is obviously against his inclinations, his inter- 
 ests and his safety to elect the wrong one. 
 
 CHAPTER XXII. 
 
 As the reader has seen, Aph-Lin had not favored my 
 general and unrestricted intercourse with his country- 
 women. Though relying on my promise to abstain from 
 giving any information as to the world I had left, and 
 still more on the promise of those to whom had been put 
 the same request, not to question me, whicli Zee had 
 exacted from Tae, yet he did not feel sure that, if I were 
 allowed to mix with the strangers whose curiosity the 
 sight of me had aroused, I could sufficiently guard my- 
 self against their inquiries. When I went out, therefore, 
 it was never alone; I was always accompanied either by 
 one of my host's family, or my child-friend Tae. Bra, 
 Aph-Lin's wife, seldom stirred beyond the gardens which 
 surrounded the house, and was fond of reading the an- 
 cient literature, which -contained something of romance 
 Ind adventure not to be found in the writings of recent 
 ages, and presented pictures of a life unfamiliar to her 
 experience and interesting to her imagination; pictures, 
 indeed, of a life more resembling that which we lead 
 every day above ground, colored by our sorrows, sins, 
 and passions, and much to her what the Tales of the 
 Genii or the Arabian Nights are to us. But her love of 
 readmg did not prevent Bra from the discharge of her' 
 duties as mistress of the largest household in the city. 
 She went daily the round of her chambers and saw that 
 the automata and other mechanical contrivances were in 
 order, that the numerous children employed by Aph-Lin, 
 whether in his private or public capacity, were carefully 
 tended. Bra also inspected the accounts of the whole 
 estate, and it was her great delight to assist her husband 
 in the business connected with his office as chief admin- 
 istrator of the Lighting Department, so that her avoca-
 
 96 . THE COMING RACE. 
 
 tions necessarily kept her much witliin-doors. The two 
 sons were botli completing their education at the College 
 of Sages; and the elder, who liad a strong passion for 
 mechanics, and especially for works connected with the 
 machinery of time-pieces and automata, had decided on 
 devoting himself to these pursuits, and was now occu- 
 pied in constructing a shop, or warehouse, at which liis 
 inventions could be exhibited and sold. The younger son 
 preferred farming and rural occupations; and when not 
 attending the College, at which he chiefly studied the 
 theories of agriculture, was much absorbed by his prac- 
 tical application of that science to his father's lands. It 
 will be seen by this how completely equality of ranks is 
 established among this people — a shop-keeper being 
 exactly the same grade in estimation as the large landed 
 proprietor. Aph-Lin was the wealthiest member of the 
 community, and his eldest son preferred keeping a shop 
 to any other avocation; nor was this choice thought to 
 show any want of elevated notions on his part. 
 
 This young man had been much interested in examin- 
 ing my watch, the works of which were new to him, and 
 was greath'^ pleased when I made him a present of it. 
 Shortly after, he returned the gift with interest, by a 
 watch of his own construction, marking both the time as 
 in my watch and the time as kept among the Vril-ya. I 
 have that watch still, and it has been much admired by 
 many among the most eminent watch-makers of London 
 and Paris. It is of gold, with diamond handsand figures, 
 and it plays a favorite tune among the Vril-ya in striking 
 the hours: it only requires to be wound up once in ten 
 months, and has never gone wrong since I had it. These 
 young brothers being thus occupied, my usual compan- 
 ions in that family, when I went abroad, were my host 
 or his daughter. Now, agreeably with the honorable 
 conclusions I had come to, I began to excuse myself 
 from Zee's invitations to go out alone with her, and 
 seized an occasion when that learned Gy was delivering 
 a lecture at the College of .Sages to ask Aph-Lin to show 
 me his country-seat. As this was at some little distance, 
 and as Aph-Lin was not fond of walking, while I had 
 discreetly relinquished all attempts at flying, we pro- 
 ceeded to our destination in one of the aerial boats be- 
 longing to my host. K child eight j'ears old, in his em- 
 ploy, was our conductor. My host and myself reclined
 
 THE COMJNG RACE. 97 
 
 on cushions, and I found the movement very easy and 
 luxurious. 
 
 '' Aph-Lin," said I, "you v/ill not, I trust, be displeased 
 v/ith me, if I ask your permission to travel for a short time, 
 and visit other tribes or communities of your illustrious 
 race. I have also a strong desire to see those nations 
 which do not adopt your institutions, and which you 
 consider as savages. It would interest me greatly to 
 notice what are the distinctions between them and the 
 races whom we consider civilized in the world I have 
 left." 
 
 " It is utterly impossible that 3^ou should go hence 
 alone," said Aph-Lin. " Even among the Vril-ya you 
 would be exposed to great dangers. Certain peculiari- 
 ties of formation and color, and the extraordinary phe- 
 nomenon of hirsute bushes upon your cheeks and chin, 
 denoting in you a species of An distinct alike from our 
 race and any known race of barbarians yet extant, would 
 attract, of course, the special attention of the College of 
 Sages in whatever community of Vril-ya you visited, 
 and it would depend upon the individual temper of some 
 individual sage whether you would be received, as you 
 have been here, hospitably, or whether you would not be at 
 once dissected for scientific purposes. Know that when 
 the Tur first took you to his house, and while you were 
 there put to sleep by Tae in order to recover from your 
 previous pain or fatigue, the sages summoned by the 
 Tur were divided in opinion whetlier you were a harm- 
 less or an obnoxious animal. During your unconscious 
 state your teeth were examined, and they clearly showed 
 that you were not only graminivorous but carnivorous. 
 Carnivorous animals of your size are always destroyed, 
 as being of dangerous and savage nature. Our teeth, as 
 you have doubtless observed,* are not those of the crea- 
 tures who devour flesh. It is, indeed, maintained by 
 Zee and other philosophers, that as, in remote ages, the 
 Ana did prey upon living beings of the brute species, 
 their teeth must have been fitted for that purpose. But, 
 even if so, they have been modified by hereditary trans- 
 mission, and suited to the food on which we now exist; 
 nor are even the barbarians, who adopt the turbulent 
 
 * I never had observed it; and. if I had, am not physiologist 
 enough to have distinguished the difference. 
 7
 
 ^8 THE COMING RACE. 
 
 and ferocious institutions of Glek-Nas, devourers of 
 flesh like beasts of prey. 
 
 "In the course of this dispute it was proposed to dis- 
 sect you; but Tae begged you off, and the Tur being, by 
 office, averse to all novel experiments at variance with 
 our custom of sparing life, except where it is clearly 
 proved to be for the good of the community to take it, 
 sent to me, whose business it is, as the richest man of 
 the state, to afford hospitality to strangers from a dis- 
 tance. It was at my option to decide whether or not 
 you were a stranger whom I could safely admit. Had I 
 declined to receive you, you would have been handed 
 over to the College of Sages, and what might there have 
 befallen you I do not like to conjecture. Apart from 
 this danger, you might chance to encounter some child 
 of four years old, just put in possession of his vril staff; 
 and who, in alarm at 3'our strange appearance, and in 
 the impulse of the moment, might reduce you to a cinder. 
 Tae himself was about to do so when he first saw you, 
 had his father not checked his hand. Therefore I say 
 you cannot travel alone, but with Zee you would be safe; 
 and I have no doubt that she would accompany you on 
 a tour round the neighboring con>munities of Vril-ya (to 
 the savage states. No !): I will ask her." 
 
 Now, as my main object in proposing to travel was to 
 escape from Zee, I hastil}^ exclaimed, " Nay, pray do not! 
 I relinquish my design. You have said enougli as to its 
 dangers to deter me from it; and I can scarcely think 
 it right that a young Gy of the personal attractions of 
 your lovely daughter should travel into other regions 
 without a better protector than a Tish of my insignificant 
 strength and stature." 
 
 Aph-Lin emitted the soft sibilant sound which is the 
 nearest approach to laughter that a full-grown An per- 
 mits to himself, ere he replied: " Pardon my discourteous 
 but momentary indulgence of mirth at an}-^ observation 
 seriously made by my guest. I could not but be amused 
 at the idea of Zee, who is so fond of protecting others 
 that children call her 'the guardian,' needing a protec- 
 tor herself against any dangers arising from the auda- 
 cious admiration of males. Know that our Gy-ei, while 
 unmarried, are accustomed to travel alone among other 
 tribes, to see if they find there some An who may please 
 them more than the Ana they find at home. Zee has al-
 
 THE CO^i/A'G RACE. 99 
 
 ready made tliree such journeys, but hitherto her heart 
 has been untouched." 
 
 Here the opportunity which I sought was afforded to 
 me, and I said, looking down, and with faltering voice, 
 " Will you, my kind host, promise to pardon me, if what 
 I am about to say gives ypu offence ?" 
 
 "Say only the truth, and I cannot be offended; or, 
 could I be so, it would not be for me, but for you to 
 pardon." 
 
 " Well, then, assist me to quit you, and, much as I should 
 have liked to witness more of the wonders, and enjoy 
 more of the felicity, which belong to your people, let me 
 return to my own." 
 
 "I fear there are reasons why I cannot do that; at all 
 events, not without permission of the Tur, and he, prob- 
 ably, would not grant it. You are not destitute of intel- 
 ligence; you may (though I do not think so) have con- 
 cealed the degree of destructive powers possessed by 
 3''our people; you might, in short, bring upon us some 
 danger; and if the Tur entertains that idea, it would 
 clearly be his duty either to put an end to you, or enclose 
 you in a cage for the rest of your existence. But why 
 should you wish to leave a state of society which you so 
 politely allow to be more felicitous than your own ?" 
 
 "Oh, Aph-Lin! my answer is plain. Lest in aught, 
 and unwittingly, I should betray your hospitality; lest, 
 in that caprice of will which in our world is proverbial 
 among the other sex, and from which even a Gy is not 
 free, your adorable daughter should deign to regard me, 
 !:hough a Tish, as if I were a civilized An, and — and — 
 and " 
 
 "Court you as her spouse," put in Aph-Lin, gravely, 
 and without any visible sign of surprise or displeasure. 
 
 " You have said it." 
 
 "That would be a misfortune," resumed my host, after 
 a pause, "and I feel that you have acted as you ought in 
 warning me. It is, as you imply, not uncommon for an 
 un wedded Gy to conceive tastes as to the object she 
 covets which appear whimsical to others; but there is no 
 power to compel a young Gy to any course opposed to 
 that which she chooses to pursue. All we can do is to 
 reason with her, and experience tells us that the whole 
 College of Sages would find it vain to reason with a Gy 
 In a matter that concerns her choice in love. I grieve
 
 lOO THE COMING RACE. 
 
 for you, because such a marriage would be against the 
 A-glauran, or good of the community, for the chiUlren 
 of such a marriage would adulterate the race: they might 
 even come into the world with the teeth of carnivorous 
 animals; this could not be allowed: Zee, as a Gy, cannot 
 be controlled; but you, as a Tish, can be destroyed. I 
 advise you, then, to resist her addresses; to tell her plainly 
 that you can never return her love. This happens con- 
 stantly. Many an An, however ardently wooed by one 
 Gy, rejects her, and puts an end to her persecution by 
 wedding another. The same course is open to you." 
 
 "No; for I cannot wed another Gy without equally 
 injuring the community, and exposing it to the chance 
 of rearing carnivorous children." 
 
 "That is true. All I can say, and I say it with the 
 tenderness due to a Tish, and the respect due to a guest, 
 is frankly this — if you yield, you will become a cinder. 
 I must leave it to you to take the best way you can to 
 defend yourself. Perhaps )^ou had better tell Zee that she 
 is ugly. That assurance on the lips of him she woos gen- 
 erally suffices to chill the most ardent Gy. Here we are 
 at my country-house." 
 
 CHAPTER XXni. 
 
 I CONFESS that my conversation with Aph-Lin, and the 
 extreme coolness with which he stated his inability to 
 control the dangerous caprice of his daughter, and 
 treated the idea of the reduction into a cinder to which 
 her amorous flame might expose my too seductive per- 
 son, took away the pleasure I should otherwise have 
 had in the contemplation of my host's country-scat, and 
 the astonishing perfection of the machinery by which his 
 farming operations were conducted. The house differt'd 
 in appearance from the massive and sombre building 
 which Aph-Lin inhabited in the city, and which seemed 
 akin to the rocks out of which the city itself had been 
 hewn into shape. The walls of the country-seat were 
 composed by trees placed a few feet apart from each 
 other, the interstices being filled in with the transparent 
 metallic substance which serves the purpose of glass 
 among the Ana. These trees were all in flower, and the
 
 THE COMING RACE. lOI 
 
 effect was very pleasing, if not in the best tasts. We 
 were received at the porch by life-like automata, who 
 conducted us into a chamber, the like to which I never 
 saw before, but have often on summer days dreamily im- 
 agined. It was a bower — half room, half garden. The 
 walls were one mass of climbing flowers. The open 
 spaces, which we call windows, and in which, here, the 
 metallic surfaces were slided back, commanded various 
 views; some, of the wide landscape with its lakes and 
 rocks; some of small limited expanse answering to our 
 conservatories, filled with tiers of flowers. Along the 
 sides of the room were flower-beds, interspersed with 
 cushions for repose. In the centre of the floor was a cis- 
 tern and a fountain of that liquid light which I have pre- 
 sumed to be naphtha. It was luminous and of a roseate 
 hue; it sufficed without lamps to light up the room with 
 a subdued radiance. All around the fountain was car- 
 peted with a soft deep lichen, not green (I have never 
 seen that color in the vegetation of this country), but a 
 quiet brown, on which the eye reposes with the same 
 sense of relief as that with which in the upper world it 
 reposes on green. In the outlets upon flowers (which I 
 have compared to our conservatories) there were singing- 
 birds innumerable, which, while we remained in the 
 room, sang in those harmonies of tune to which they are, 
 in these parts, so wonderfully trained. The roof was 
 open. The whole scene had charms for every sense — 
 music from the birds, fragrance from the flowers, and 
 varied beauty to the eye at every aspect. About all was 
 a voluptuous repose. What a place, methought, for a 
 honeymoon, if a Gy bride were a little less formidably 
 armed not only with the rights of woman, but with the 
 powers of man! but when one thinks of a Gy, so learned, 
 so tall, so stately, so much above the standard of the 
 creature we call woman as was Zee, no! even if I had 
 felt no fear of being reduced to a cinder, it is not of her 
 I should have dreamed in that bower so constructed for 
 dreams of poetic love. 
 
 The automata reappeared, serving one of those deli- 
 cious liquids which form the innocent wines of the Vril- 
 ya. 
 
 "Truly," said I, " lliis is a charming residence, and I 
 can scarcely conceive wliy you do not settle yourself 
 here instead of amid the gloomier abodes of the city."
 
 I02 THE COMIiYG RACE. 
 
 "As responsible to the community for the administra- 
 tion of liglit, I am compelled to reside chiefly in the city, 
 and can only come hither for short intervals." 
 
 " But since I understand from you that no honors are 
 attached to your office, and it involves some trouble, why 
 do you accept it ?" 
 
 " Each of us obeys without question the command of 
 the Tur. He said, ' Be it requested that Aph-Lin shall 
 be Commissioner of Light,' so I had no choice; but hav- 
 ing held the office now for a long time, the cares, which 
 were at first unwelcome, have become, if not pleasing, 
 at least endurable. We are all formed by custom — 
 even the difference of our race from the savage is but 
 the transmitted continuance of custom, which becomes, 
 through hereditary descent, part and parcel of our na- 
 ture. You see there are Ana who even reconcile them- 
 selves to the responsibilities of chief magistrate, but no 
 one would do so if his duties had not been rendered so 
 light, or if there were any questions as to compliance with 
 his requests." 
 
 "Not even if you thought the requests unwise or un- 
 just ?" 
 
 " We do not allow ourselves to think so, and, indeed, 
 everything goes on as if each and all governed them- 
 selves according to immemorial custom." 
 
 "When the cliief magistrate dies or retires, how do 
 you provide for his successor ?" 
 
 " The An who has discharged the duties of chief mag- 
 istrate for many years is the best person to choose one 
 by whom those duties may be understood, and he gener- 
 ally names his successor." 
 
 " His son, perhaps ?" 
 
 " Seldom that; for it is not an office any one desires or 
 seeks, and a father naturally hesitates to constrain his 
 son. But if tlie Tur himself decline to make a choice, 
 for fear it might be supposed that he owed some grudge 
 to the person on whom his clioice would settle, then 
 there are three of the College of Sages who draw lots 
 among themselves which shall have the power to elect 
 the chief. We consider that the judgment of one An of 
 ordinary capacity is better than the judgment of three 
 or more, however wise they may be; for among tiiree 
 there would probably be disputes, and where lliere Jiie 
 disputes, passion clouds judgment. The worst cIkhcc
 
 THE COMING RACE. IO3 
 
 made by one who lias no motive in choosing wrong, 
 is better tlian the best choice made by many who have 
 many motives for not choosing right." 
 
 " You reverse in your policy the maxims adopted in 
 my country." 
 
 "Are you all, in your country, satisfied with your gov- 
 ernors ?" 
 
 "All! certainly not; the governors that most please 
 some are sure to be those most displeasing to others." 
 
 " Then our system is better than yours." 
 
 " For you it may be; but according to our S3'stem a 
 Tish could not be reduced to a cinder if a female com- 
 pelled him to marry her; and as a Tish I sigh to return 
 to my native world." 
 
 " Take courage, my dear little guest; Zee can't compel 
 you to marry her. She. can only entice you to do so. 
 Don't be enticed. Come and look round my domain." 
 
 We went forth into a close, bordered with sheds; for 
 though the Ana keep no stock for food, there are some 
 animals which they rear for milking and others for shear- 
 ing. The former have no resemblance to our cows, nor 
 the latter to our sheep, nor do I believe such species ex- 
 ist amongst them. They use the milk of three varie- 
 ties of animal: one resembles the antelope, but is' much 
 larger, being as tall as a camel; the other two are smaller, 
 and, though differing somewhat from each other, resem- 
 ble no creature I ever saw on earth. They are very sleek 
 and of rounded proportions; their color that of the dap- 
 pled deer, with very mild countenances and beautiful 
 dark eyes. The milk of these three creatures differs in 
 richness and in taste. It is usually diluted with water, and 
 flavored with the juice of a peculiar and perfumed fruit, 
 and in itself is very nutritious and palatable. The ani- 
 mal whose fleece serves them for clothing and many 
 other purposes, is more like the Italian she-goat than any 
 other creature, but is considerably larger, has no horns, 
 and is free from the displeasing odor of our goats. Its 
 fleece is not thick, but very long and fine; it varies in 
 color, but is never white, more generally of a slate-like 
 or lavender hue. For clothing it is usually worn dyed to 
 suit the taste of the wearer. These animals were exceed- 
 ingly tame, and were treated with extraordinary care 
 and affection by the children (chiefly female) who tended 
 them.
 
 104 THE COMIXG RACE. 
 
 We then went throuiih vast storehouses filled with 
 grains and fruits. I ma)' here observe that the main staple 
 of -food among these people consists — firstly, of a kind of 
 corn much larger in ear than our wheat, and which by 
 culture is perpetually being brought into new varieties 
 of flavor; and, secondly, of a fruit of about the size of a 
 small orange, which, when gathered, is hard and bitter. 
 It is stowed away for many months in their warehouses, 
 and then becomes succulent and tender. Its juice, which 
 is of dark-red color, enters into most of their sauces. 
 They have many kinds of fruit of the nature of the olive, 
 from which delicious oils are extracted. They have a 
 plant somewhat resembling the sugar-cane, but its juices 
 are less sweet and of a delicate perfume. They have no 
 bees nor honey-kneading insects, but they make much 
 use of a sweet gum that oozes from a coniferous plant, 
 not unlike the araucaria. Their soil teems also with 
 esculent roots and vegetables, which it is the aim of their 
 culture to improve and vary to the utmost. And I never 
 remember any meal among this people, however it might 
 be confined to the family household, in which some deli- 
 cate novelty in such articles of food was not introduced. 
 In fine, as I before observed, their cookery is exquisite, 
 so diversified and nutritious that one does not miss 
 animal food; and their own physical forms suffice to show 
 that with them, at least, meat is not required for superior 
 production of muscular fibre. They have no grapes — 
 the drinks extracted from their fruits are innocent and 
 refreshing. Their staple beverage, however, is water, in 
 the choice of which they are very fastidious, distinguish- 
 ing at once the slightest impurity. 
 
 " My younger son takes great pleasure in augmenting 
 our produce," said Aph-Lin as we passed through the 
 storehouses, "and therefore will inherit these lands, 
 which constitute the chief part of my wealth. To my 
 elder son such inheritance would be a great trouble and 
 affliction." 
 
 " Are there many sons among you who think the in- 
 heritance of vast wealth would be a great trouble and 
 affliction ?" 
 
 "Certainly; there are indeed very few of the Vril-ya 
 who do not consider that a fortune much above the aver- 
 age is a heavy burden. We are rather a lazy people after 
 the age of childhood, and do not like undergoing more
 
 THE COMING RACE. IO5 
 
 cares than we can help, and great wealth does give its 
 owner many cares. For instance, it marks us out for 
 public ofifices, which none of us like and none of us can 
 refuse. It necessitates our taking a continued interest 
 in the affairs of any of our poorer countrymen, so that 
 we may anticipate their wants and see that none fall into 
 poverty. There is an old proverb amongst us which .says, 
 ' The poor man's need is the rich man's shame ' " 
 
 ''Pardon me, if I interrupt you for a moment. You 
 allow that some, even of the Vril-ya, know want, and 
 need relief." 
 
 "If by want you mean the destitution that prevails in 
 a Koom-Posh, that is impossible with us, unless an An 
 has, by some extraordinary process, got rid of all his 
 means, cannot or will not emigrate, and has either tired 
 out the affectionate aid of his relations or personal friends, 
 or refuses to accept it." 
 
 "Well, then, does he not supply the place of an infant 
 or automaton, and become a laborer — a servant ?" 
 
 " No; then we regard him as an unfortunate person of 
 unsound reason, and place him, at the expense of the 
 State, in a public building, where every comfort and 
 every luxury that can mitigate his affliction are lav- 
 ished upon him. But an An does not like to be consid- 
 ered out of his mind, and therefore such cases occur so 
 seldom that the public building I speak of is now a de- 
 serted ruin, and the last inmate of it was an An whom I 
 recollect to have seen in my chil<dhood. He did not seem 
 conscious of loss of reason, and wrote glaubs (poetry). 
 When I spoke of wants, I meant such wants as an An 
 with desires larger than his means sometimes entertains 
 — for expensive singing-birds, or bigger houses, or coun- 
 try-gardens; and the obvious way to satisfy such wants 
 is to buy of him something that he sells. Hence Ana 
 like myself, who are very rich, are obliged to buy a great 
 many things they do not require, and live on a ver}^ large 
 scale where they might prefer to live on a small one. For 
 instance, the great size of my house in the town is a 
 source of mucli trouble to my wife, and even to myself; 
 but I am compelled to have it thus incommodiously large, 
 because, as the richest An of the community, I am ap- 
 pointed to entertain the strangers from the other com- 
 munities when they visit us, which they do in great 
 crowds twice a year, when certain periodical entertain-
 
 106 THE COMING RACE. 
 
 ments are held, and when relations scattered throughout 
 all the realms of the Vril-ya joyfully reunite for a time. 
 This hospitality, on a scale so extensive, is not to my 
 taste, and therefore I should have been happier had I 
 been less rich. But we must all bear the lot assigned to 
 us in this short passage through time that we call life. 
 After all, what are a hundred years, more or less, to the 
 ages through which we must pass hereafter? Luckily, 
 I have one son who likes great wealth. It is a rare ex- 
 ception to the general rule, and I own I cannot rjiyself 
 understand it." 
 
 After this conversation I sought to return to the sub- 
 ject which continued to weigh on my heart — viz., the 
 chances of escape from Zee. But my host politely de- 
 clined to renew that topic, and summoned our air-boat. 
 On our way back we were met by Zee, who, having 
 found us gone, on her return from the College of Sages, 
 had unfurled her wings and flown in search of us. 
 
 Her grand, but to me unalluring, countenance bright- 
 ened as she beheld me, and, poising herself beside the 
 boat on her large outspread plumes, she said reproach- 
 fully to Aph Lin — "Oh, father, was it right in you to 
 hazard the life of your guest in a vehicle to which he is 
 so unaccustomed ? He might, by an incautious move- 
 ment, fall over the side; and, alas ! he is not like us, he 
 has no wings. It were death to him to fall. Dear one !" 
 (she added, accosting my shrinking self in a softer voice), 
 "have you no thought of me, that you should thus hazard 
 a life which has become almost a part of mine ? Never 
 again be thus rash, unless I am tliy companion. Wliat 
 terror thou hast stricken into me !" 
 
 I glanced furtively at Aph-Lin, expecting, at least, that 
 he would indignantly reprove his daughter for expres- 
 sions of anxiety and affection which, under all the cir- 
 cumstances, would, in the world above ground, be con- 
 sidered immodest in the lips of a young female, addressed 
 to a male not affianced to Jier, even if of the same rank 
 as herself. 
 
 But so confirmed are the rights of females in that 
 region, and so absolutely foremost among those rights 
 do females claim the privilege of courtship, that Aph-Lin 
 would no more have thought of reproving his virgin 
 daughter than he would have thought of disobeying the 
 Tur. In that country, custom, as he implied, is all in all.
 
 THE COM'IXG RACE. Iu7 
 
 He answered mildly, "Zee, the Tish was in no danger, 
 and it is my belief that he can take very good care of 
 himself." 
 
 "I would rather that he let me charge myself with his 
 care. Oh, heart of my heart, it was in the thought of 
 thy danger that I first felt how much I loved thee I" 
 
 Never did man feel in so false a position as I did. 
 These words were spoken loud in the hearing of Zee's 
 father — in the hearing of the child who steered. I blushed 
 with shame for them, and for her, and could not help re- 
 plying angrily: "Zee, either you mock me, which, as 
 your father's guest, misbecomes you, or the words you 
 utter afe improper for a maiden Gy to address even to 
 an An of her own race, if he has not wooed her with the 
 consent of her parents. How much more improper to 
 addres.s. them to a Tish, who has never presumed to solicit 
 your affections, and who can never regard you with other 
 sentiments than those of reverence and awe^" 
 
 Aph-Lin made me a covert sign of approbation, but 
 said nothing. 
 
 "Be not so cruel!" exclaimed Zee, still in sonorous 
 accents. " Can love command itself where it is truly 
 felt ? Do you suppose that a maiden Gy will conceal a 
 sentiment that it elevates her to feel ? What a country 
 you must have come from !" 
 
 Here Aph-Lin gently interposed, saying, "Among the 
 Tish-a the rights of your sex do not appear to be estab- 
 lished, and at all events my guest may converse with you 
 more freely if unchecked by the presence of others." 
 
 To this remark Zee made no reply, but, darting on me 
 a tender reproachful glance, agitated her wings and fied 
 homeward. 
 
 "I had counted, at least, on some aid from my host," 
 said I, bitterly, "in the perils to which his own daughter 
 exposes me." 
 
 " I gave you the best aid I could. To contradict a Gy 
 m her love affairs is to confirm her purpose She allows 
 no counsel to come between her and her affections."
 
 I08 THE COMING RACE. 
 
 CHAPTER XXIV. 
 
 On alighting from the air-boat, a child accosted Aph~ 
 Lin in the hall with a request that he would be present 
 at the funeral obsequies of a relation who had recently 
 departed from that nether world. 
 
 Now, I had never seen a burial-place or cemetery 
 amongst this people, and, glad to seize even so melan- 
 choly an occasion to defer an encounter with Zee, I asked 
 Aph-Lin if I might be permitted to witness with him the 
 interment of his relation; unless, indeed, it were regarded 
 as one of those sacred ceremonies to which a stranger to 
 their race might not be admitted. 
 
 "The departure of an An to a happier world," an- 
 swered my host, " when, as in the case of my kinsman, 
 he has lived so long in this as to have lost pleasure in it, 
 is rather a cheerful though quiet festival than a sacred 
 ceremony, and you may accompany me if you will." 
 
 Preceded by the child-messenger, we walked up the 
 main street to a house at some little distance, and, enter- 
 ing the hall, were conducted to a room on the ground 
 floor, where we found several persons assembled round 
 a couch on which was laid the deceased. It was an old 
 man, who had, as I was told, lived beyond his 130th 
 year. To judge by the calm smile on his countenance, 
 he had passed away without suffering. One of the sons, 
 who was now the head of the family, and who seemed in 
 vigorous middle life, though he was considerably more 
 than seventy, stepped forward with a cheerful face and 
 told Aph-Lin "that the day before he died his father had 
 seen in a dream his departed Gy, and was eager to be re- 
 united to her, and restored to youth beneath the nearer 
 smile of the All-Good." 
 
 While these two were talking, my attention was drawn 
 to a dark metallic substance at the farther end of the 
 room. It was about twenty feet in length, narrow in 
 proportion, and all closed round, save, near the roof, 
 there were small round lioles through which might be 
 seen a red light. From the interior emanated a rich and 
 sweet perfume; and while I was conjecturing what pur- 
 pose this machine was to serve, all the timepieces in the 
 town struck the hour with their solemn musical chime; 
 and as that sound ceased, music of a more joyous char-
 
 THE COMING RACE. IO9 
 
 acter, but still of a joy subdued and tranquil, rang 
 throughout the chamber, and from the walls beyond, in 
 a choral peal. Symphonious with the melody, those 
 present lifted their voices in chant. The words of this 
 hymn were simple. They expressed no regret, no fare- 
 well, but rather a greeting to the new world whither the 
 deceased had preceded the living. Indeed, in their lan- 
 guage, the funeral hymn is called the "Birth Song." 
 Then the corpse, covered by a long cerement, was ten- 
 derly lifted up by six of the nearest kinsfolk and borne 
 toward the dark thing I have described. I pressed for- 
 ward to see what happened. A sliding door or panel at 
 one end was li^d up — the body deposited within, on a 
 shelf — the door reclosed — a spring at the side touched — 
 a sudden 7vhis/ii/ig, sighing sound heard from within; and 
 lo ! at the other end of the machine the lid fell down, and 
 a small handful of smouldering dust dropped into a 
 patera placed to receive it. The son took up the patera 
 and said (in what I understood afterward was the usual 
 form of words), " Behold how great is the Maker ! To 
 this little dust He gave form and life and soul. It needs 
 not this little dust for Him to renew form and life and 
 soul to the beloved one we shall soon see again." 
 
 Each present bowed his head and pressed his hand to 
 his heart. Then a young female child opened a small 
 door within the wall, and I perceived, in the recess, 
 shelves on which were placed many paterce like that 
 which the son held, save that they all had covers. With 
 such a cover a Gy now approached the son, and placed 
 it over the cup, on which it closed with a spring. On 
 the lid were .engraven the name of the deceased, and 
 these words: "Lent to us' (here the date of birth). 
 "Recalled from us" (here the date of death). 
 
 The closed door shut with a musical sound, and all 
 was over. 
 
 CHAPTER XXV. 
 
 "And this," said I, with my mind full of what I had 
 vitnessed — " this, I presume, is your usual form of 
 burial ?" 
 
 "Our invariable form," answered Aph-Lin. "What is 
 it amongst your people ?"
 
 no THE COMING RACE. 
 
 '• We inter the body whole witliin the earth." 
 
 " What ! to degrade the form you have loved and 
 honored, the wife on whose breast you have slept, to the 
 loathsomeness of corruption ?" 
 
 "But if the soul lives again, can it matter whether the 
 body waste within the earth or is reduced by tliat awful 
 mechanism, worked, no doubt by the agency of vril, into 
 a pinch of dust ?" 
 
 " You answer well," said my host, " and there is no 
 arguing on a matter of feeling; but to me j^our custom 
 is horrible and repulsive, and would serve to invest death 
 with gloomy and hideous associations. It is something, 
 too, to my mind, to be able to preserve the token of 
 what has been our kinsman or friend within the abode 
 in which we live. We thus feel more sensibly that he 
 still lives, though not visibly so to us. But our senti- 
 ments in this, as in all things, are created by custom. 
 Custom is not to be changed by a wise An, any more 
 than it is changed by a wise Community, without the 
 gravest deliberation, followed by the most earnest con- 
 viction. It is only thus that change ceases to be change- 
 ability, and once made is made for good. 
 
 When we regained the house, Aph-Lin sumrhoned 
 some of the children in his service and sent them round 
 to several of his friends, requesting their attendance that 
 day, during the Easy Hours, to a festival in honor of his 
 kinsman's recall to the All-Good. This was the largest 
 and gayest assembly I ever witnessed during my stay 
 among the Ana, and was j)rolonged far into the Silent 
 Hours. 
 
 The banquet was spread in a vast chamber reserved 
 especially for grand occasions. This differed from our 
 entertainments, and was not without a certain resem- 
 blance to those we read of in the luxurious age of the 
 Roman empire. There was not one great table set out, 
 l)ut numerous small tables, each appropriated to eight 
 guests. It is considered that beyond that number con- 
 versation languishes and friendship cools. The Ana 
 never laugh loud, as I have before observed, but the 
 cheerful ring of their voices at the various tables beto- 
 kened gayety of intercourse. As they have no stimulant 
 drinks, and are temperate in food, though so choice and 
 dainty, the banquet itself did not last long. The tables 
 sank through the Aoor, and then came musical entep
 
 THE COMING RACE. Ill 
 
 tainments for those who liked them. Many, however, 
 wandered away: — some of the younger ascended in their 
 wings, for the hall was roofless, forming aerial dances; 
 others strolled through the various apartments, examin- 
 ing the curiosities with which they were stored, or 
 formed themselves into groups for various games, the 
 favorite of which is a complicated kind of chess played 
 by eight persons. I mixed with the crowd, but was pre- 
 vented joining in the conversation by the constant com- 
 panionship of one or the other of my host's sons, ap- 
 pointed to keep me from obtrusive questionings. The 
 guests, however, noticed me but slightly; they had 
 grown accustomed to my appearance, seeing me so often 
 in the streets, and I had ceased to excite much curiosity. 
 
 To my great delight Zee avoided me, and evidently 
 sought to excite my jealousy by marked attentions to a 
 very handsome young An, who (though, as is the modest 
 custom of the males when addressed by females, he an- 
 swered with downcast eyes and blushing cheeks, and 
 was demure and shy as young ladies new to the world 
 are in most civilized countries, except England and 
 America) was evidently much charmed by the tall Gy, 
 and ready to falter a bashful " Yes" if she had actually 
 proposed. Fervently hoping that she would, and more 
 and more averse to the idea of reduction to a cinder 
 after I had seen the rapidity with which a human body 
 can be hurried into a pinch of dust, I amused myself by 
 watching the manners of the other young people. I had 
 the satisfaction of observing that Zee was no singular 
 asserter of a female's most valued rights. Wherever I 
 turned my eyes, or lent my ears, it seemed to me that 
 the Gy was the wooing party, and the An the coy and 
 reluctant one. The pretty innocent airs which an An 
 gave himself on being thus courted, the dexterity with 
 whicli he evaded direct answers to professions of attach- 
 ment, or turned into jest the flattering compliments ad- 
 dressed to him, would have done honor to the most ac- 
 complished coquette. Both my male chaperons were 
 subjected greatly to these seductive influences, and both 
 acquitted themselves with wonderful honor to tlicir tact 
 and self-control. 
 
 I said to the elder son, who preferred mechanical em- 
 ployments to the management of a great property, and 
 who was of an eminently philosophical temperament :
 
 112 THE COMING RACE. 
 
 " I find it difficult to conceive how at your acje, and with 
 all the intoxicating effects, on the senses, of music and 
 lights and perfumes, you can be so cold to that impas- 
 sioned Gy who has just left you with tears in her eyes at 
 your cruelty." 
 
 The young An replied with a sigh, " Gentle Tish, the 
 greatest misfortune in life is to marry one Gy if you are 
 in love with another." 
 
 "Oh! you are in love with another?" 
 
 "Alas! yes." 
 
 "And she does not return your love ?" 
 
 "I don't know. Sometimes a look, a tone, makes me 
 hope so; but she has never plainly told me that she loves 
 me." 
 
 " Have you not whispered in her own ear that vou love 
 her?" 
 
 " Fie! what are you thinking of ? What world do you 
 come from? Could I so betray the dignity of my sex? 
 Could I be so un-Anly — so lost to shame, as to own love 
 to a Gy who has not first owned hers to me ?" 
 
 "Pardon: I was not quite aware that you pushed the 
 modesty of your sex so far. But does no An ever say to 
 a Gy, ' I love you,' till she says it first to him ?" 
 
 "I can't say that no An has ever done so, but if he 
 ever does, he is disgraced in the eyes of the Ana, and 
 secretly despised by the Gy-ei. No Gy, well brought 
 up, would listen to him; she would consider that he au- 
 daciously infringed on the rights of her sex, while out- 
 raging the modesty which dignifies his own. It is very 
 provoking," continued the An, "for she whom I love has 
 certainly courted no one else, and I cannot but think she 
 likes me. Sometimes I suspect that she does not court 
 me because she fears I would ask some unreasonable 
 settlement as to the surrender of her rights. But if so, 
 she cannot really love me, for where a Gy really loves 
 she foregoes all rights." 
 
 " Is this young Gy present ?" 
 
 "Oh, yes. She sits yonder talking to my mother." 
 
 I looked in the direction to which my eyes were thus 
 guided, and saw a Gy dressed in robes of bright red, 
 which among this people is a sign that a Gy as yet pre- 
 fers a single state. She wears gray, a neutral tint, to in- 
 dicate that she is looking about for a spouse; dark pur- 
 ple if she wishes to intimate thjjt she has made a choice;
 
 THE COMING RACE. 113 
 
 purple and orange when she is betrothed or married; 
 light blue when she is divorced or a widow, and would 
 marry again. Light blue is of course seldom seen. 
 
 Among a people where all are of so high a type of 
 beauty, it is difficult to single out one as peculiarly 
 handsome. My young friend's choice seemed to me to 
 possess the average of good looks; but there was an ex- 
 pression in her face that pleased me more than did the 
 faces of the young Gy-ei generally, because it looked less 
 bold — less conscious of female rights. I observed that, 
 while she talked to Bra, she glanced, from time to time, 
 sidelong at my young friend. 
 
 " Courage," said I; " that young Gy loves you." 
 
 "Ay, but if she will not say so, how am I the better 
 for her love ?" 
 
 " Your mother is aware of your attachment ?" 
 
 "Perhaps so. I never owned it to her. It would be 
 un-Anly to confide such weakness to a mother. I have 
 told my father; he may have told it again to his wife." 
 
 "Will you permit me to quit you for a moment and 
 glide behind your mother and your beloved ? I am sure 
 they are talking about you. Do not hesitate. I prom- 
 ise that I will not allow myself to be questioned till I re- 
 join you." 
 
 The young An pressed his hand on his heart, touched 
 me lightly on the head, and allowed me to quit his side. 
 I stole unobserved behind his mother and his beloved. 
 I overheard their talk. 
 
 Bra was speaking ; said she : " There can be no doubt 
 of this: either my son, who is of marriageable age, will 
 be decoyed into marriage with one of his many suitors, 
 or he will join those who emigrate to a distance and we 
 shall see him no more. If you really care for him, my 
 dear Lo, you should propose." 
 
 "I do care for him, Bra; but I doubt if I could really 
 ever win his affections. He is fond of his inventions and 
 timepieces; and I am not like Zee, but so dull that I fear 
 I could not enter into his favorite pursuits, and then he 
 would get tired of me, and at the end of three years di- 
 vorce me, and I could never marry another — never." 
 
 "It is not necessary to know about timepieces to know 
 how to be so necessary to the happiness of an An, who 
 cares for timepieces, that he would rather give \\\) the 
 timepieces than divorce his Gy. You sec, my dear Lo,"
 
 1 14 THE COMING RACE. 
 
 continued Bra, "that precisely because we are the 
 stronger sex, we rule the other, provided we never show 
 our strength. If you were superior to my son in making 
 timepieces and automata, ybu should, as his wife, always 
 let hmi suppcjse you thought him superior in that art to 
 yourself. The An tacitly allows the pre-eminence of the 
 Gy in all except his own special pursuit. But if she 
 either excels him in that, or affects not to admire him 
 for his proficiency in it, he will not love her very long; 
 perhaps he may even divorce her. But where a Gy really 
 loves, she soon learns to love all that the An does." 
 
 The young Gy made no answer to this address. She 
 looked down musingly, then a smile crept over her lips, 
 and she rose, still silent, and went through the crowd 
 till she paused by the young An who loved her. I fol- 
 lowed her steps, but discreetly stood at a little distance 
 while I watched them. Somewhat to my surprise, till I 
 recollected the coy tactics among the Ana, the lover 
 seemed to receive her advances with an air of indifference, 
 lie even moved away, but she pursued his steps, and, a 
 little time after, both spread their wings and vanished 
 iimid the luminous space above. 
 
 Just then I was accosted by the chief magistrate, who 
 mingled with the crowd, distinguished by no signs of 
 deference or homage. It so happened that I had not 
 seen this great dignitary since the day I had entered his 
 dominions, and recalling Aph-Lin's words as to his ter- 
 rible doubt whether or not I should be dissected, a shud- 
 der crept over me at the sight of his tranquil counte- 
 nance. 
 
 "I hear much of you, stranger, from my son Tae," 
 said the Tur, laying his hand politely on my bended 
 head. "He is very fond of your society, and I trust you 
 are not displeased with the customs of our people." 
 
 I muttered some unintelligible answer, which I intend- 
 ed to be an assurance of my gratitude for the kindness 
 I had received from the Tur, and my admiration of his 
 countrymen, but the dissecting-knife gleamed before my 
 mind's eye and choked m)'^ utterance. A softer voice 
 said, " My brother's friend must be dear to me." And 
 looking up I saw a young Gy, who might be sixteen 
 years old, standing beside the magistrate and gazing at 
 mc with a very licnignant countenance. She had not 
 come to her full growth, and was scarcely taller than my-
 
 THE COMING RACE. 115 
 
 self (viz., about 5 feet 10 inches), and, thanks to that 
 comparatively diminutive stature, I thought her the 
 loveliest Gy I had hitherto seen. I suppose something 
 in my eyes revealed that impression, for her countenance 
 grew yet more benignant. 
 
 " Tae tells me," she said, " that you have not yet 
 learned to accustom yourself to wings. That grieves me, 
 for I should have liked to fly with you." 
 
 " Alas !" I replied, " I can never hope to enjoy that hap- 
 piness. I am assured by Zee that the safe use of wings 
 is a hereditary gift, and it would take generations before 
 one of my race could poise himself in the air like a 
 bird." 
 
 " Let not that thought vex you too much," replied this 
 amiable Princess, " for, after all, there must come a day 
 when Zee and myself must resign our wings forever. 
 Perhaps when that day comes we might be glad if the 
 An we chose was also without wings." 
 
 The Tur had left us, and was lost amongst the crowd. 
 I began to feel at ease with Tae's charming sister, and 
 rather startled her by the boldness of my compliment in 
 replying '' that no An she could choose would ever use 
 his wings to "fly away from her." It is so against custom 
 for an An to say such civil things to a Gy till she has 
 declared her passion for him, and been accepted as his 
 betrothed, that the young maiden stood quite dumb- 
 founded for a few moments. Nevertheless she did not 
 seem displeased. At last recovering herself, she invited 
 me to accompany her into one of the less crowded rooms 
 and listen to the songs of the birds. I followed her steps 
 as she glided before me, and she led me into a chamber 
 almost deserted. A fountain of naphtha was playing in 
 the centre of the room; round it were ranged soft divans, 
 and the walls of the room were open on one side to an 
 aviary in which the birds were chanting their artful 
 chorus. The Gy seated herself on one of the divans, and 
 I placed myself at her side. " Tae tells me," she said, 
 " that Aph-Lin has made it the law* of his house that 
 
 * Literally " has said, In this house be it requested." Words syn- 
 onymous wilh law, as implyiiit;- forcible oblijration, are avoided by 
 this sin;;ul;ir people. Even had it been decreed by the Tur that his 
 Collej^e of .Sages should dissect me, the decree would have ran blandly 
 thus. — " He it requested that, for the good of the coninuinitv, the car- 
 nivoroiis Tish be requested to submit himself to dissection."
 
 ii6 THE coMnvG race. 
 
 you are not to be questioned as to the country you come 
 from or tlie reason why you visit us. Is it so ?" 
 
 "It is." 
 
 " May I, at least, \Yithout sinning against that law, ask 
 at least if the Gy-ei in your country ar6 of the same pale 
 color as yourself, and no taller?" 
 
 " I do not think, O beautiful Gy, that I infringe the 
 law of Aj'jh-Lin, which is more binding on myself than 
 any one, if I answer questions so innocent. The Gy-ei 
 in my country are much fairer of hue than I am, and 
 their average height is at least a head shorter than mine." 
 
 "They cannot then be so strong as the Ana amongst 
 you ? But I suppose their superior vril force makes up 
 for such extraordinary disadvantage of size ?" 
 
 "They do not possess the vril force as you know it. 
 But still they are very powerful in my country, and an 
 An has small chance of a happy life if he be not more or 
 less governed by his Gy." 
 
 "You speak feelingly," said Tae's sister, in a tone of 
 voice half sad, half petulant. " You are married, of 
 course ?" 
 
 "No — certainl}' not." 
 
 "Nor betrothed ?" 
 
 " Nor betrothed." 
 
 "Is it possible that no Gy has proposed to you ?" 
 
 "In my country the Gy does not propose; the An 
 speaks first." 
 
 "What a strange reversal of the laws of nature!" said 
 the maiden, "and what want of modesty in your sex! 
 But have you never proposed, never loved one Gy more 
 than another ?" 
 
 I felt embarrassed by these ingenuous cjuestionings, 
 and said, "Pardon me, but I think we arc beginning to 
 infringe upon Aph-Lin's injunction. This much only will 
 I say in answer, and then, I implore you, ask no more. 
 I did once feel the preference you speak of; I did pro- 
 pose, and the Gy would willingly have accepted me, but 
 her parents refused their consent." 
 
 " Parents ! Do you mean seriously to tell me that 
 parents can interfere with the ciioice (jf their daughters ?" 
 
 "Indeed they can, and do very often." 
 
 "I should not like to live in that country," said the 
 Gy, simply; "but I hope you will never go back to it." 
 
 I bowed mv head in silervce. The Gv gently raised
 
 THE COMING RACE. 11/ 
 
 my face with her right hand, and looked into it tenderly. 
 "Stay with us," she said; "stay with us, and be loved." 
 
 What I might have answered, what dangers of becom- 
 ing a cinder I might have encountered, I still tremble to 
 think, when the light of the naphtha fountain was ob- 
 scured by the shadow of wings; and Zee, flying through 
 the open roof, alighted beside us. She said not a word, 
 but, taking my arm v^'ith her mighty hand, she drew me 
 away, as a mother draws a naughty child, and led me 
 through the apartments to one of the corridors, on which, 
 by the mechanism they generally prefer to stairs, we as- 
 cended to my own room. This gained. Zee breathed on 
 my forehead, touched my breast with her staff, and I was 
 instantly plunged into a profound sleep. 
 
 When I awoke some hours later, and heard the songs 
 of the birds in the adjoining aviary, the remembrance of 
 Tae's sister, her gentle looks and caressing words, vividly 
 returned to me; and so impossible is it for one born and 
 reared in our upper world's state of society to divest 
 himself of ideas dictated by vanity and ambition, that I 
 found myself instinctively building proud castles in the 
 air. 
 
 "Tish though I be," thus ran my meditations — " Tish 
 though I be, it is then clear that Zee is not the only Gy 
 whom my appearance can captivate. Evidently I am 
 loved by a Princess, the first maiden of this land, the 
 daugliter of the absolute monarch whose autocracy they 
 so idly seek to disguise by the republican title of chief 
 magistrate. But for the sudden swoop of that horrible 
 Zee, this royal lady would have formally proposed to 
 me; and though it may be very well for Aph-Lin, who is 
 only a subordinate minister, a mere commissioner of light, 
 to threaten me with destruction if I accept his daughter's 
 hand, yet a sovereign, whose word is law, could compel 
 the community to abrogate any custom that forbids in- 
 termarriage with one of a strange race, and which in 
 itself is a contradiction to their boasted equality of 
 ranks. 
 
 " It is not to be su[-)posed that his daughter, who spoke 
 witii such incredulous scorn of the interference of par- 
 ents, would not have suflicient influence with her royal 
 father to save me from the combustion to which Aph-Lin 
 would condemn my form. And if I were exalted by 
 such an alliance, who knows but what the monarch misfht
 
 Il8 THE COMING RACE. 
 
 elect me as his successor? Why not? Few anions:; this 
 indolent race of philosophers like the burden of such 
 greatness. All might be pleased to see the supreme 
 power lodged in the hands of an accomplished stranger 
 who has experience of other and livelier forms of exist- 
 ence; and, once chosen, what reforms I would institute ! 
 What additions to the really pleasant but too monoto- 
 nous life of this realm my familiarity with the civilized 
 nations above ground would effect ! I am fond of the 
 sports of the field. Next to war, is not the chase a king's 
 pastime? In what varieties of strange game does this 
 nether world abound ? How interesting to strike down 
 creatures that were known above ground before the Del- 
 uge ! But how ? By that terrible vril, in which, from want 
 of hereditary transmission, I could never be a proficient? 
 No, but by a civilized handy breech-loader, which these in- 
 genious mechanicians could not ovAy make, but no doubt 
 improve; nay, surely I saw one in the museum. Indeed, 
 as absolute king, I should discountenance vril altogether, 
 except in cases of war. Apropos of war, it is perfectly 
 absurd to stint a people so intelligent, so rich, so well 
 armed, to a petty limit of territory sufilcing for 10,000 or 
 12,000 families. Is not this restriction a mere philosoph- 
 ical crotchet, at variance with the aspiring element in 
 liuman nature, such as has been partially, and with com- 
 plete failure, tried in the upper v.orld by the late Mi; 
 Robert Owen ? Of course one would not go to war with 
 neighboring nations as well armed as one's own subjects; 
 but then, wliat of those regions inhabited by races unac- 
 quainted with vril, and apparently resembling, in their 
 democratic institutions, my American countrymen? 
 One might invade them without otfence to the vril na- 
 tions, our allies, appropriate their territories, extending, 
 I'crliaps, to the most distant regions of the nether earth, 
 and thus rule over an empire in which the sun never sets. 
 (I forgot, in my enthusiasm, that over those regions 
 there was no sun to set.) As for the fantastical notion 
 against Conceding fame or renown to an eminent indi- 
 vidual, because, forsooth, bestowal of honors insures 
 contest in the |iursuit of them, stimulates angry passions, 
 and mars the felicity of peace — it is opposed to the very 
 elements, not only of the human but the brute creation, 
 which are all, if tamable, participators in the sentiment 
 of praise and emulation. What renown would be given
 
 THE COMIXG RACE. IIQ 
 
 to a king who thus extended his empire ! I should be 
 deemed a demigod." Thinking of that, the otlier fanat- 
 ical notion of regulating this life by reference to one 
 which, no doubt, we Christians firml}' believe in, but 
 never take into consideration, I resolved that enlightened 
 philosophy compelled me to abolish a heathen religion 
 so superstitiously at variance with modern thought and 
 practical action. Musing over these various projects, 
 I felt how much I should have liked at that moment to 
 brighten my wits by a good glass of whisky-and-water. 
 Not that I am habitually a spirit-drinker, but certainly 
 there are times when a little stimulant of alcoholic nature, 
 taken with a cigar, enlive-ns the imagination. Yes; cer- 
 tainly among these herbs and fruits there would be a 
 liquid from which one could extract a pleasant vinous 
 alcohol; and witli a steak cut off one of those elks (ah! 
 what offence to science to reject the animal food which 
 our first medical men agree in recommending to the 
 gastric juices of mankind!) one would certainly pass a 
 more exhilarating hour of repast. Then, too, instead of 
 those antiquated dramas performed by childish ama- 
 teurs, certainly, when I am king, I will introduce our 
 modern opera and a corps de ballet., for which one might 
 find, among the nations I shall conquer, young females 
 of less formidable height and thews than the Gy-ei — 
 not armed with vril, and not insisting upon one's marry- 
 ing them. 
 
 I was so completely rapt in these and similar reforms, 
 political, social, and moral, calculated to bestow on the 
 people of the nether world the blessings of a civiliza- 
 tion known to the races of the upper, that I did not per- 
 ceive that Zee had entered the chamber till I heard a 
 deep sigh, and, raising my eyes, beheld her standing by 
 my couch. 
 
 I need not say that, according to the manners of this 
 people, a Gy can, without indecorum, visit an An in his 
 chamber, though an An would be considered forward 
 and immodest to the last degree if he entered the cham- 
 of a Gy without previously obtaining her permission to 
 do so. Fortunately I was in the full habiliments I had 
 worn when Zee had deposited me on the couch. Never- 
 theless I felt much irritated, as well as shocked, by her 
 visit, and asked in a rude tone what she wanted. 
 
 " Speak gently, beloved one, I entreat you," said she,
 
 120 THE COMING RACE. 
 
 "for I am very unhappy. I have not slept since we 
 parted." 
 
 "A due sense of your shameful conduct to me as your 
 father's guest might well suffice to banish sleep from 
 your eyelids. Where was the affection you pretended to 
 have for me, where was even that politeness on which 
 the Vril-ya pride themselves, when, taking advantage 
 alike of that physical strength in which 3'our sex, in this 
 extraordinary region, excels our own, and of those de- 
 testable and unhallowed powers which the agencies of 
 vril invest in your eyes and finger-ends, you exposed me 
 to humiliation before your assembled visitors, before Her 
 Royal Highness — I mean the daughter of your own chief 
 magistrate — carrying me off to bed like a naughty in- 
 fant, and plunging me into sleep, without asking my 
 consent ?" 
 
 " Ungrateful ! Do you reproach me for the evidences 
 of my love? Can you think that, even if unstung by 
 the jealousy which attends upon love till it fades away 
 in blissful trust when we know that the heart we have 
 wooed is won, I could be indifferent to the perils to which 
 the audacious overtures of that silly little child might 
 expose you ?" 
 
 "Hold! Since you introduce the subject of perils, it 
 perhaps does not misbecome me to say that my most 
 imminent perils come from yourself, or at least would 
 come if I believed in your love and accepted your ad- 
 dresses. Your father has told me plainly that in that 
 case I should be consumed into a cinder with as little 
 compunction as if I were the reptile whom Tae blasted 
 into ashes with the flash of his wand." 
 
 " Do not let that fear chill your heart to me," exclaimed 
 Zee, dropping on her knees and absorbing my right hand 
 in the space of her ample palm. " It is true, indeed, that 
 we two cannot wed as those of the same race wed; true 
 that the love between us must be pure as that which, in 
 our belief, exists between lovers who reunite in the new 
 life beyond that boundary at which the old life ends. But 
 is it not happiness enough to be together, wedded in 
 mind and in heart? Listen: I have just left my father. 
 He consents to our union on those terms. I have sufTi- 
 cient influence with the College of Sages to insure their 
 request to the Tur not to interfere with the free ciioice of 
 a Gy, provided that her wedding with one of another
 
 THE COMING RACE. 121 
 
 race be but the wedding of souls. Oh, think you that 
 true love needs ignoble union ? It is not that I yearn 
 only to be by your side in this life, to be part and parcel 
 of your joys and sorrows here: I ask here for a tie which 
 will bind us forever and forever in the world of immor- 
 tals. Do you reject me ?" 
 
 As she spoke, she knelt, and the whole character of her 
 face was changed; nothing of sternness left to its gran- 
 deur; a divine light, as that of an immortal, shining out 
 from its human beauty. But she rather awed me as an 
 angel than moved me as a woman, and after an embar- 
 rassed pause, I faltered forth evasive expressions of grat- 
 itude, and sought, as delicately as I could, to point out 
 how humiliating would be my position amongst her race 
 in the light of a husband who might never be permitted 
 the name of father. 
 
 " But," said Zee, " this community does not constitute 
 the whole world. No; nor do all the populations com- 
 prised in the league of the Vril-ya. For thy sake I will 
 renounce my country and my people. We will fly to- 
 gether to some region where thou shalt be safe. I am 
 strong enough to bear thee on my wings across the 
 deserts that intervene. I am skilled enough to cleave 
 open, amidst the rocks, valleys in which to build our 
 home. Solitude and a hut with thee would be to me 
 society and the universe. Or wouldst thou return to 
 thine own world, above the surface of this, exposed to 
 the uncertain seasons, and lit but by the changeful orbs 
 which constitute by thy description the fickle character of 
 those savage regions ? If so, speak the word, and I will 
 force the way for thy return, so that I am thy companion 
 there, though, there as here, but partner of thy soul, and 
 fellow-traveller with thee to the world in which there is 
 no parting and no death." 
 
 I could not but be deeply affected by the tenderness, 
 at once so pure and so impassioned, with which these 
 words were uttered, and in a voice that would have ren- 
 dered musical the roughest sounds in the rudest tongue. 
 And for a moment it did occur to me that I might avail 
 myself of Zee's agency to effect a safe and speedy return 
 to the upper world. But a very brief space for reflection 
 sufficed to show me how dishonorable and base a return 
 ict\- such devotion it would be to allure thus away, from 
 her own people and a home in wiiicli I had been so hos-
 
 122 THE COMING RACE. 
 
 pitablv treated, a creature to whom our world would be 
 so abhorrent, and for whose barren, if spiritual love, I 
 could not reconcile myself to renounce the more human 
 affection of mates less exalted above my erring self. 
 With this sentiment of duty toward the Gy combined 
 another of duty toward the whole race I belonged to. 
 Could I venture to introduce into the upper world a 
 being so formidably gifted — a being that with a move- 
 ment of her staff could in less than an hour reduce New 
 York and its glorious Koom-Posh into a pinch of snuff? 
 Rob her of one staff, with her science she could easily 
 construct another; and with the deadly lightnings that 
 armed the slender engine her whole frame was clrarged. 
 If thus dangerous to the cities and populations of the 
 whole upper earth, could she be a safe comi^anion to 
 myself in case her affection should be subjected to change 
 or embittered by jealousy ? These thoughts, which it 
 takes so many words to express, passed rapidly through 
 my brain and decided my answer. 
 
 "Zee," I said, in the softest tones I could command, 
 and pressing repectful lips on the hand into whose clasp 
 mine had vanished — "Zee, I can find no words to say 
 how deeply I am touched, and how highly I am honored, 
 by a love so disinterested and self-immolating. My best 
 return to it is perfect frankness. Each nation has its 
 customs. The customs of yours do not allow you to wed 
 me; the customs of mine are equally opposed to such a 
 union between those of races so widely differing. On 
 the other hand, though not deficient in courage among 
 my own people, or amid dangers with which I am fa- 
 miliar, I cannot, without a shudder of horror, think of 
 constructing a bridal home in the heart of s(jme dismal 
 chaos, with all the elements of nature, fire and water and 
 mephitic gases, at war with each other, and with the 
 probability that at some moment, while you were busied 
 in cleaving rocks or conveying vril into lamps, I should 
 be devoured by a krek which your operations disturbed 
 from its hiding-place. I, a mere Tish, do not deserve 
 the love of a Gy, so brilliant, so learned, so potent as 
 yourself. Yes, I do not deserve that love, for I cannot 
 return it." 
 
 Zee released my hand, rose to her feet, and turned hcf 
 face away to hide her emotions; then she glided nois(^« 
 lessly along the room, and paused at the threshold. Sud-
 
 THE COMFXG RACK. I 23 
 
 denly, impelled as by a new thought, she returned to my 
 side and said, in a whispered tone: 
 
 "You told me you would speak with perfect frankness. 
 With perfect frankness, then, answer me this question. 
 If you cannot love me, do you love another?" 
 
 "Certainly I do not." 
 
 "You do not love Tae's sister?" 
 
 "I never saw her before last night." 
 
 "That is no answer. Love is swifter than vril. You 
 hesitate to tell me. Do not think it is only jealousy that 
 prompts me to caution you. If the Tur's daughter 
 should declare love to you — if in her ignorance she con- 
 fides to her father any preference that may justify his 
 belief that she will woo you, he will have no option but 
 to request your immediate destruction, as he is specially 
 charged with the duty of consulting the good of the 
 community, which could not allow a daughter of the 
 Vril-ya to wed a son of the Tish-a, in that sense of 
 marriage which does not confine itself to union of 
 the souls. Alas ! there would then be for you no escape. 
 She has no strength of wing to uphold you through the 
 air; she has no science wherewith to make a home in the 
 wilderness. Believe that here my friendship speaks, and 
 that my jealousy is silent." 
 
 Wirh those words Zee left me. And recalling those 
 words, I thought no more of succeeding to the throne of 
 the Vril-ya, or of the political, social, and moral reforms 
 I should institute in the capacity of Absolute Sovereign. 
 
 CHAPTER XXVI. 
 
 After the conversation with Zee just recorded, I fell 
 into a profound melancholy. The curious interest with 
 which I had hitherto examined the life and habits of 
 this marvellous community was at an end. I could not 
 banish from my mind the consciousness that I was 
 among a people who, however kind and courteous, could 
 destroy me at any moment without scruple or compunc- 
 tion. The virtuous and peaceful life of the people which, 
 while new to me, had seemed so holy a contrast to the 
 contentions, the passions, the vices of the upper world, 
 now began to oppress me with a sense of dulkiess and
 
 124 THE COM IXC A'.ICE. 
 
 monotonj'. Even the serene tranquillity of the lustrous 
 air preyed on my spirits. I longed for a change, even to 
 winter, or storm, or darkness. I began to feel that, 
 whatever our dreams of perfectibility, our restless aspira- 
 tions toward a better, and higher, and calmer sphere of 
 being, we, the mortals of the upper world, are not trained 
 or fitted to enjoy for long the very happiness of which 
 we dream or to which we aspire. 
 
 Now, in this social state of the Vril-ya, it was sin- 
 gular to mark how it contrived to unite and to har- 
 monize into one system nearl}^ all the objects which the 
 various philosophers of the upper world have placed 
 before human hopes as the ideals of a Utopian future. 
 It was a state in Vv'hich war, with all its calamities, was 
 deemed impossible — a state in whix:h the freedom of all 
 and each was secured to the uttermost degree, without 
 one of those animosities which make freedom in the up- 
 per world depend on the perpetual strife of hostile par- 
 ties. Here the corruption which debases democracies 
 was as unknown as the discontents which undermine the 
 thrones of monarchies. Equality here was not a name; 
 it was a reality. Riches were not persecuted, because 
 they were not envied. Here those problems connected 
 with the labors of a working class, hitherto insoluble 
 above ground, and above ground conducing to such bit- 
 terness between classes, were solved by a process the 
 simplest — a distinct and separate working class was dis- 
 pensed with altogether. Mechanical inventions, con- 
 structed on principles that baffled my research to ascer- 
 tain, worked by an agency infinitely more powerful and 
 infinitely more eas)'^ of management than aught we have 
 yet extracted from electricity or steam, with the aid of 
 children whose strength was never overtasked, but who 
 loved their employment as sport and pastime, sTufliced to 
 create a Public-wealth so devoted to the general use 
 that not a grumbler was ever heard of. The vices that 
 rot our cities, here had no footing. Amusements 
 abounded, but they were all innocent. No merry- 
 makings conduced to intoxication, to riot, to disease. 
 Love existed, and was ardent in pursuit, but its object, 
 once secured, was faithful. The adulterer, the profligate, 
 the harlot, were phenomena so unknown in this common- 
 wealth, that even to find the words by which they were 
 designated one would have had to search throughout an
 
 THE COMING RACE. \2% 
 
 obsolete literature composed thousands of years before. 
 They who have been students of theoretical philosophies 
 above ground, know that all these strange departures 
 from civilized life do but realize ideas which have been 
 broached, canvassed, ridiculed, contested for; sometimes 
 partially tried, and still put forth in fantastic books, but 
 have never come to practical result. Nor were these all 
 the steps toward theoretical perfectibility which this 
 community liad made. It had been the sober belief of 
 Descartes that the life of man could be prolonged, not, 
 indeed, on this earth, to eternal duration, but to what he 
 called the age of the patriarchs, and modestly defined to 
 be from loo to 150 years average length. Well, even 
 this dream of sages was here fulfilled — nay, more than 
 fulfilled; for the vigor of middle life was preserved even 
 after the term of a century was passed. With this lon- 
 gevity was combined a greater blessing than itself — that 
 of continuous health. Such diseases as befell the race 
 were removed with ease by scientific applications of that 
 agency — life-giving as life-destroying — which is inher- 
 ent in vril. Even this idea is not unknown above ground, 
 though it has generally been confined to enthusiasts or 
 charlatans, and emanates from confused notions about 
 mesmerism, odic force, etc. Passing by such trivial con- 
 trivances as wings, which every school-boy knows have 
 been tried and found wanting, from the mythical or pre- 
 historical period, I proceed to that very delicate ques- 
 tion, urged of late as essential to the perfect happiness 
 of our human species by the two most disturbing and 
 potential influences on upper-ground society — Woman- 
 kind and Philosophy. I mean the Rights of Women. 
 
 Now, it is allowed by jurisprudists that it is idle to 
 talk of rights where there are not corresponding powers 
 to enforce them; and above ground, for some reason or 
 other, man in his physical force, in the use of weapons 
 offensive and defensive, when it comes to positive per- 
 sonal contest, can, as a rule of general application, mas- 
 ter women. But among tliis people there can be no 
 doubt about the rights of women, because, as I have be- 
 fore said, the Gy, physically speaking, is bigger and 
 stronger than the An; and her will being also more res- 
 olute than his, and will being essential to the direction 
 of the vril force, she can bring to bear upon him, more 
 potently than he on herself, the mystical agency which
 
 126 THE COMING RACE. 
 
 art can extract from ttie occult properties of nature. 
 Therefore all that our female philosophers above ground 
 contend for as to rip^hts of women, is conceded as a mat- 
 ter of course in this happy commonwealth. Besides sucli 
 physical powers, the Gy-ei have (at least in youth) a keen 
 desire for accomplishments and learning which exceeds 
 that of the male; and thus they are the scholars, the pro- 
 fessors — the learned portion, in short, of the community. 
 
 Of course, in this state of society the female establishes, 
 as I have shown, her most valued privilege, that of choos- 
 ing and courting her wedding partner. Without that 
 privilege she would despise all the others. Now, above 
 ground, we should not unreasonably apprehend that a 
 female, thus potent and thus privileged, when she had 
 fairly hunted us down and married us, would be very 
 imperious and tyrannical. Not so with the Gy-ei: once 
 married, the wings once suspended, and more amiable, 
 complacent, docile mates, more sympathetic, more sink- 
 ing their loftier capacities into the study of their hus- 
 bands' comparatively frivolous tastes and whims, no poet 
 could conceive in his visions of conjugal bliss. Lastly, 
 among the more important characteristics of the Vril-ya, 
 as distinguished from our mankind — lastly, and most im- 
 portant on the bearings of their life and the peace of their 
 commonwealths, is their universal agreement in the exist- 
 ence of a merciful beneficent Deity, and of a future world 
 to the duration of which a century or two are moments 
 too brief to waste upon thoughts of fame and power and 
 avarice; while with that agreement is combined another 
 — viz., since they can know nothing as to the nature of 
 that Deity beyond the fact of His supreme goodness, nor 
 of that future world beyond the fact of its felicitous ex- 
 istence, so their reason forbids all angry disputes on in- 
 soluble questions. Thus they secure for that stale in 
 the bowels of the earth what no community ever secured 
 under the light of the stars — all the blessings and conso- 
 lations of a religion without any of the evils and calami- 
 ties which are engendered by strife between one religion 
 and another. 
 
 It would be, then, utterly impossible to deny that the 
 state of existence among the Vril-ya is thus, as a whole 
 immeasurably more felicitous than that of super-terres* 
 trial races, and, realizing the dreams of our most san* 
 guinc philanthropists, almost approaches to a poet's con-
 
 THE COMING RACE. 12/ 
 
 Ception of some angelical order. And yet, if you would 
 tHKc a thousand of the best and most philosophical of 
 human beings you could find in London, Paris, Berlin, 
 New York, or even Boston, and place them as citizens in 
 this beautiful community, my belief is, that in less than 
 a year they would either die of ennui, or attempt some 
 revolution by which they would militate against the 
 good of the community, and be burnt into cinders at the 
 request of the Tur. 
 
 Certainly I have no desire to insinuate, through the 
 medium of this narrative, any ignorant disparagement 
 of the race to which I belong. I have, on the contrary, 
 endeavored to make it clear that the principles which 
 regulate the social system of the Vril-ya forbid them to 
 produce those individual examples of human greatness 
 which adorn the annals of the upper world. Where there 
 are no wars there can be no Hannibal, no Washington, 
 no Jackson, no Sheridan; where states are so happy 
 that they fear no danger and desire no change, they can- 
 not give birth to a Demosthenes, a Webster, a Sumner, a 
 Wendell Holmes, or a Butler; and where a society at- 
 tains to a moral standard in which there are no crimes 
 and no sorrows from which tragedy can extract its ali- 
 ment of pity and sorrow, no salient vices or follies on 
 which comedy can lavish its mirthful satire, it has lost 
 the chance of producing a Shakespeare, or a Moliere, or a 
 pilrs. Beecher Stowc. But if I have no desire to dispar- 
 age my fellow-men above ground in showing how much 
 the motives that impel the energies and ambition of indi- 
 viduals in a society of contest and struggle — become 
 dormant or annulled in a society which aims at securing 
 for the aggregate the calm and innocent felicity which 
 we presume to be the lot of beatified immortals — neither, 
 on the other hand, have I the wish to represent the com- 
 monwealths of the Vril-ya as an ideal form of political 
 society, to the attainment of which our own efforts of re- 
 form should be directed. On the contrary, it is because 
 we have so combined, throughout the series of ages, the 
 elements which compose human character, that it would 
 be utterly impossible for us to adopt the modes of life 
 or to reconcile our passions to the modes of thought 
 among the Vril-ya, that I arrived at the conviction that 
 tJjis people — though originally not only of our human 
 race, but, as seems to me clear by the roots of their Ian-
 
 125 THE COMING RACE. 
 
 guage, descended from the same ancestors as the Girat 
 Aryan family, from which in varied streams has flowed 
 the dominant civilization of the world, and having, ac- 
 cording to their mytlis and their histor}', passed througli 
 phases of society familiar to ourselves — had yet now de- 
 veloped into a distinct species with which it was impos- 
 sible that any community in the upper world could amal- 
 gamate, and that if they ever emerged from these nether 
 recesses into the light of day, they would, according to 
 their own traditional persuasions of their ultimate des- 
 tiny, destroy and replace our existent varieties of man. 
 
 It may, indeed, be said, since more than one Gy could 
 be found to conceive a partiality for so ordinary a type 
 of our super-terrestrial race as myself, that even if the 
 Vril-ya did appear above ground, we might be saved 
 from extermination by intermixture of race. But this is 
 too sanguine a belief. Instances of such mesalliance would 
 be as rare as those of intermarriage between the Anglo- 
 Saxon emigrants and the Red Indians. Nor would time 
 be allowed for the operation of familiar intercourse. The 
 Vril-ya, on emerging, induced by the charm of a sunlit 
 heaven to form their settlements above ground, would 
 commence at once the work of destruction, seize upon 
 the territories already cultivated, and clear off, without 
 scruple, all the inhabitants who resisted that invasion. 
 And considering their contempt for the institutions of 
 Koom-Posh or Popular Government, and the pugnacious 
 valor of my beloved countrymen, I believe that if the 
 Vril-ya first appeared in free America — as, being the 
 choicest portion of the hal)ital)le earth, tliey woidd 
 doubtless be induced to do — and said, "This quarter of 
 the globe we take; Citizens of a Koom-Posh, make way 
 for the development of species in the Vril-ya," my brave 
 compatriots would show fight, and not a soul of them 
 would be left in this life, to rally round the Stars and 
 Stripes, at the end of a week. 
 
 I now saw but little of Zee, save at meals, when the 
 family assembled, and she was then reserved and silent. 
 My apprehensions of danger from an affection I had so 
 little encouraged or deserved, therefore, now faded away, 
 but my dejection Cf)ntinued to increase. I jiinod for es- 
 cape to the upper world, but I racked my brains in vain 
 for any means to effect it. I was never permitted to 
 wander forth alone, so that I could not even visit the
 
 THE COMING RACE. 1 29 
 
 spot on which I had alighted, and see if it were possible 
 to reascend to the mine. Nor even in the Silent Hours, 
 when the household was locked in sleep, could I have let 
 myself down from the lofty floor in which my apartment 
 was placed. I knew not how to command the automata 
 who stood mockingly at my beck beside the wall, nor 
 could I ascertain the springs by which were set in move- 
 ment the platforms that supplied the place of stairs. The 
 knowledge how to avail myself of these contrivances had 
 been purposely withheld from me. Oh, that I could but 
 have learned the use of wings, so freely here at the ser- 
 vice of every infant; then I might have escaped from the 
 casement, regained the rocks, and buoyed myself aloft 
 through the chasm of which the perpendicular sides for- 
 bade place for human footing ! 
 
 CHAPTER XXVII. 
 
 One day, as I sat alone and brooding in my chamber, 
 Tae flew in at the open window and alighted on the 
 couch beside me. I was always pleased with the visits 
 of a child, in whose society, if humbled, I was less 
 eclipsed than in that of Ana who had completed their 
 education and matured their understanding. And as I 
 was permitted to wander forth with him for my compan- 
 ion, and as I longed to revisit the spot in which I had 
 descended into the nether world, I hastened to ask him 
 if he were at leisure for a stroll beyond the streets of the 
 city. His countenance seemed to me graver than usual 
 as he replied, " I came hither on purpose to invite you 
 forth." 
 
 We soon found ourselves in the street, and had not got 
 far from the house when we encountered five or six 
 young Gy-ei, who were 'returning from the fields with 
 baskets full of flowers, and chanting a song in chorus as 
 they walked. A young Gy-ei sings more often than she 
 talks. Tliey stopped on seeing us, accosting Tae with 
 familiar kindness, and me witli the courteous gallantry 
 which distinguishes the Gy-ei in their manner toward 
 our weaker sex. 
 
 And here I may observe that, though a virgin Gy is so 
 frank in her courtship to the individual she favors, there 
 9
 
 I30 THE COMING RACE. 
 
 is nothing tliat approaches to that general breadth ai'.d 
 loudness of manner which those young lailies of the 
 Anglo-Saxon race, to wliom the distinguished epithet of 
 "fast" is accorded, exhibit toward young gentlemen 
 whom they do not profess to love. No: the bearing of 
 the Gy-ei toward males in ordinary is ver}^ much that 
 of high-bred men in the gallant societies of the upper 
 world toward ladies whom they respect but do not woo; 
 deferential, complimentary, exquisitely polished — what 
 we should call "chivalrous," 
 
 Certainly I was a little put out by the number of civil 
 tilings addressed to my amour proprc, which were said to 
 me by these courteous young Gy-ei. In the world I 
 came from, a man would have thought himself aggrieved, 
 treated with irony, " chaffed" (if so vulgar a slang word 
 may be alloWed on the authority of the ])o[)ular novelists 
 who use it so freely), when one fair Gy complimented 
 me on the freshness of my complexion, another on the 
 choice of colors in my dress, a third, with a sly smile, on 
 the conquests I had made at Aph-Lin's entertainment. 
 But I know already that all such language was what the 
 French call banal, and did but express in the female 
 mouth, below earth, that sort of desire to pass for amia- 
 ble with the opposite sex which, above earth, arbitra- 
 ry custom and hereditary transmission demonstrate by 
 the mouth of the male. And just as a high-bred young 
 lady, above earth, habituated to such compliments, feels 
 that she cannot, without impropriety, return them, nor 
 evince any great satisfaction at receiving them, so I, who 
 had learned polite manners at the house of so wealthy 
 and dignified a Minister of that nation, could but smile 
 and try to look pretty in bashfully disclaiming the compli- 
 ments showered upon me. While we were thus talking, 
 Tae's sister, it seems, had seen us from the upper rooms 
 of the Royal Palace at the entrance of the town, and, 
 precipitating herself on her wings, alighted in the midst 
 of the group. 
 
 Singling me out, she said, though still with the inimi- 
 table deference of manner wh.ich I have called "chival- 
 rous," yet not without a certain abruj)tness of lone wliich, 
 as addressed to the weaker sex. Sir Philip Sidney might 
 have termed " rustic," " Why do you never come to see 
 us ?" 
 
 While I was deliberating on the right answer to give
 
 THE COMING RACE. I3I 
 
 to this unlooked-for question, Tae said quickly and 
 sternly, "Sister, you forget — the stranger is of my sex. 
 It is not for persons of my sex, having due regard for 
 reputation and modesty, to lower themselves by running 
 after the society of yours." 
 
 This speech was received with evident approval by the 
 young Gy-ei in general; but Tae's sister looked greatly 
 abashed. Poor thing! — and a Princess too ! 
 
 Just at this moment^a shadow fell on the space between 
 me and the group; and, turning round, I beheld the 
 chief magistrate coming close upon us, with the silent 
 and stately pace peculiar to the Vril-ya. At the sight of 
 his countenance, the same terror which had seized me 
 when I first beheld it returned. On that brow, in those 
 eyes, there was that same indefinable something which 
 marked the being of a race fatal to our own — that 
 strange expression of serene exemption from our com- 
 mon cares and passions, of conscious superior power, 
 compassionate and inflexible as that of a judge who pro- 
 nounces doom. I shivered, and, inclining low, pressed 
 the arm of my child-friend, and drew him onward si- 
 lently. The Tur placed himself before our path, regarded 
 me for a moment without speaking, then turned his eye 
 quietly on his daughter's face, and, with a grave saluta- 
 tion to her and the other Gy-ei, went through the midst 
 of the group, still without a word. 
 
 CHAPTER XXVIII. 
 
 When Tae and I found ourselves alone on the broad 
 road that lay between the city and the chasm through 
 which I had descended into this region beneath the light 
 of the stars and sun, I said under my breath, " Child and 
 friend, there is a look in your father's face which appalls 
 me. I feel as if, in its awful tranquillity, I gazed upon 
 death." 
 
 Tae did not immediately reply. He seemed agitated, 
 and as if debating with himself by what words to soften 
 some unwelcome intelligence. At last he said, "None 
 of the Vril-ya fear death: do you ?" 
 
 " The dread of death is implanted in the breasts of the 
 race to which I belong. We can conquer it at the call of
 
 132 THE COMING RACE. 
 
 duty, of honor, of love. We can die for a truth, for a 
 native land, for those who are dearer to us than our- 
 selves. But if death do really threaten me now and here, 
 where are such counteractions to the natural instinct 
 which invests with awe and terror the contemplation of 
 severance between soul and body ?" 
 
 Tae looked surprised, but there was j^^reat tenderness 
 in his voice as he replied, "I will tell my father what you 
 say. I will entreat him to spare your life." 
 
 " He has, then, already decreed to destroy it ?" 
 
 '' 'Tis my sister's fault or folly," said Tae, with some 
 petulance. " But she spoke this morning to my father; 
 and, after she had spoken, he summoned me, as a chief 
 among the children who are commissioned to destroy 
 such lives as threaten the community, and he said to me, 
 " Take thy vril staff, and seek the stranger who has made 
 himself dear to thee. Be his end painless and prompt." 
 
 "And," I faltered, recoiling from the child — "and it is, 
 then, for my murder that thus treacherously thou hast 
 invited me forth ? No, I cannot believe it. I cannot 
 think thee guilty of such a crime." 
 
 "It is no crime to slay those who threaten the good of 
 the community; it would be a crime to slay the smallest 
 insect that cannot harm us." 
 
 "If you mean that I threaten the good of the commu- 
 nity because your sister honors me with the sort of pre- 
 ference which a child may feel for a strange plaything, 
 it is not necessary to kill me. Let me return to the 
 people I have left, and by the chasm through which I 
 descended. With a slight help from you I might do so 
 now. You, by the aid of your wings, could fasten to the 
 rocky ledge within the chasm the cord that you found, 
 and have no doubt preserved. Do but that; assist me 
 but to the spot from which I alighted, and I vanish from 
 your world forever, and as surely as if I were among the 
 dead." 
 
 "The chasm tlirougli which you descended! Look 
 round; we stand now on the very place where it yawned. 
 What see you ? Only solid rock. The chasm was closed, 
 by the order of Aph-Lin, as soon as communication be- 
 tween him and yourself was established in your trance, 
 and he learned from your own lips the nature of the 
 world from which you came. Do you not remember when 
 Zee bade me not question you as to yourself or your
 
 THE COMING A' ACE. 133 
 
 race ? On quitting you that day, Aph-Lin accosted me, 
 and said, ' No patii between the stranger's home and 
 ours should be left unclosed, or the sorrow and evil of 
 his home may descend to ours. Take with thee the 
 children of thy band, smite the sides of the cavern with 
 your vril staves till the fall of their fragments fills up 
 every chink through which a gleam of our lamps could 
 force its way.' " 
 
 As the child spoke, I stared aghast at the blind rocks be- 
 fore me. Huge and irregular, the granite masses, show- 
 ing by charred discoloration where they had been shat- 
 tered, rose from footing to roof-top; not a cranny ! 
 
 "All hope, then, is gone," I murmured, sinking down 
 on the craggy wayside, "and I shall nevermore see the 
 sun." I covered my face with my hands, and prayed to 
 Him whose presence I had so often forgotten when the 
 heavens had declared His handiwork. I felt His pres- 
 ence in the depths of the nether earth, and amidst the 
 world of the grave. I looked up, taking comfort and 
 courage from my prayers, and gazing with a quiet smile 
 into the face of the child, said, " Now, if thou must slay 
 me, strike." 
 
 Tae shook his head gently. " Nay," he said, " my 
 'father's request is not so formally made as to leave me 
 no choice. I will speak with him, and I may prevail to 
 save thee. Strange that thou shouldst have that fear of 
 death which we thought was only the instinct of the in- 
 ferior creatures, to whom the conviction of anotiier life 
 has not been vouchsafed. With us, not an infant knows 
 such a fear. Tell me, my dear Tish," he continued, after 
 a little pause, " would it reconcile thee more to depart- 
 ure from this form of life to that form which lies on the 
 other side of the moment called ' death,' did I share tliy 
 journey? If so, I will ask my father whether it be al- 
 lowable for me to go with thee. I am one of our gen- 
 eration destined to emigrate, when of age for it, to some 
 regions unknown within this world. I would just as 
 soon emigrate now to regions unknown, in another 
 world. The All- Good is no less there than here. Where 
 is He not ?" 
 
 "Child," said I, seeing by Tae's countenance that he 
 spoke in serious earnest, " it is crime in thee to slay me; 
 it were a crime not less in me to say, ' Slay thyself.' The 
 All-Good chooses His own time to give us life, and His
 
 I 34 THE COMING RACE. 
 
 own time to take it away. Let us go back. If, on speak- 
 ing witli thy father, lie decides on my death, give me the 
 longest warning in thy power, so that I may pass the in- 
 terval in self-preparation." 
 
 We walked back to the city, conversing but by fits and 
 starts. We could not understand each other's reasonings, 
 and I felt for the fair child, with his soft voice and beau- 
 tiful face, much as a convict feels for the executioner 
 who walks beside him to the place of doom. 
 
 CHAPTER XXIX. 
 
 In the midst of those hours set apart for sleep and 
 constituting the night of the Vril-ya, I was awakened 
 from the disturbed slumber into which I had not long 
 fallen, by a hand on my shoulder. I started, and beheld 
 Zee standing beside me. 
 
 "Hush," she said, in a whisper; "let no one hear us. 
 Dost thou think that I have ceased to watch over thy 
 safety because I could not win thy love ? I have seen 
 Tae. He has not prevailed with his father, who had 
 meanwhile conferred with the three sages who, in doubt- 
 ful matters, he takes into counsel, and by their advice he 
 has ordained thee to perish when the world reawakens 
 to life. I will save thee. Rise and dress. 
 • Zee pointed to a table by the couch, on which I saw 
 the clothes I had worn on quitting the upper world, and 
 which I had exchanged subsequently for the more pictur- 
 esque garments of tlie Vril-ya. The young Gy then moved 
 toward the casement and stepped into the balcony, 
 while hastily and wonderingly I donned my own habili- 
 ments. When I joined her on the balcony, her face was 
 pale and rigid. Taking me by the hand, she said softly, 
 "See how brightly the art of the Vril-ya has lighted up 
 the world in which they dwell. To-morrow that world will 
 be dark to me." She drew me back into the room with- 
 out waiting for my answer, thence into the corridor, from 
 which we descended into the hall. We passed into the 
 deserted streets and along the broad upward road which 
 wound beneath the rocks. Here, where there is neither 
 day nor night, the Silent Hours are unutterably solemn, 
 the vast 'space illumined by mortal skill is so wholly
 
 THE COMIXG KACE. 135 
 
 without the sight or stir of mortal life. Soft as were our 
 footsteps, their sounds vexed the ear, as out of harmony 
 with the universal repose. I was aware in my own mind, 
 though Zee said it not, that she had decided to assist my 
 return to the upper world, and that we were bound to- 
 ward the place from which I had descended. Her 
 silence infected me, and commanded mine. And now 
 we approached the chasm. It had been reopened; not 
 presenting, indeed, the same aspect as when I had 
 emerged from it, but, through that closed wall of rock 
 before which I had last stood with Tae, a new cleft had 
 been riven, and along its blackened sides still glimmered 
 sparks and smouldered embers. My upward gaze could 
 not, however, penetrate more than a few feet into the 
 darkness of the hollow void, and I stood dismayed, and 
 wondering how that grim ascent was to be made. 
 
 Zee divined my doubt. " Fear not," said she, with a 
 faint smile; your return is assured. I began this work 
 when the SilentHours commenced and all else were asleep; 
 believe that I did not pause till the path back into thy 
 world was clear. I shall be with thee a little while yet. 
 We do not part until thou sayest, ' Go, for I need thee no 
 more.' ' 
 
 My heart smote me with remorse at these words. 
 " Ah !" I exclaimed, " would that tliou wert of my race or 
 I of thine, then I should never say, 'I need thee no 
 more.' " 
 
 " I bless thee for those words, and I shall remember 
 them when thou art gone," answered the Gy, tenderly. 
 
 During this brief interchange of words. Zee had turned 
 away from me, her form bent and her head bowed over 
 her breast. Now she rose to the full height of her grand 
 stature, and stood fronting me. While she had been thus 
 averted from my gaze, she had lighted up the circlet that 
 she wore round her brow, so that it blazed as if it were a 
 crown of stars. Not only her face and her form, but the 
 atmosphere around, were illumined by the effulgence of 
 the diadem. 
 
 "Now," said she, "put thine arms around me for the 
 first and last time. Nay, thus; courage, and cling firm." 
 
 As she spoke her form dilated, the vast wings ex- 
 panded. Clinging to her, I was borne aloft through the 
 terrible chasm. The starry light from her forehead shot 
 around and before us through the darkness. Brightly
 
 I3<5 THE COMFXG RACE. 
 
 and steadfastly, and swiftly as an angel may soar heaven- 
 ward Willi the soul it rescues from the grave, went the 
 flight of the Gy, till I heard in the distance the hum of 
 human voices, the sounds of human toil. We halted on 
 the flooring of one of the galleries of the mine, and be- 
 yond, in the vista, burned the dim, rare, feeble lamps of 
 the miners. Then I released my hold. The Gy kissed 
 me on my forehead passionately, but as with a mother's 
 passion, and said, as the tears gushed from her eyes, 
 " Farewell forever. Thou wilt not let me go into thy 
 world — thou canst never return to mine. Ere our house- 
 hold shake off slumber, the rocks will have again closed 
 over the chasm, not to be reopened by me, nor perhaps 
 by others, for ages yet unguessed. Think of me some- 
 times, and with kindness. When I reach the life that 
 lies beyond this speck in time, I shall look round for 
 thee. Even there, the world consigned to 'thyself and 
 thy people may have rocks and gulfs which divide it from 
 that in which I rejoin those of my race that have gone 
 before, and I may be powerless to cleave way to regain 
 thee as I have cloven way to lose." 
 
 Her voice ceased. I heard the swan-like sough of her 
 wings, and saw the rays of her starry diadem receding 
 far and farther through the gloom. 
 
 I sat myself down for some time, musing sorrowfully; 
 then I rose and took my way with slow footsteps toward 
 the place in which I heard the sounds of men. The 
 miners I encountered were strange to me, of another 
 nation than my own. They turned to look at me with 
 some surprise, but finding that I could not answer 
 their brief questions in theirown language, they returned 
 to their work and suffered me to pass on unmolested. In 
 fine, I regained the mouth of the mine, little troubled by 
 other interrogatories, save these of a friendly oflicial to 
 whom I was known, and luckily he was too busy to talk 
 much with me. I took care not to return to my former 
 lodging, but hastened that very day to quit a neighbor- 
 hood where I could not long have esca[)ed inquiries to 
 which I could have given no satisfactory answers. I re- 
 gained in safety my own countr}', in which I have been 
 long peacefully settled, and engaged in practical busi- 
 ness, till I retired on a competent fortune, three years 
 ago. I have been little invited and little tempted to talk 
 of the rovings and adventures of my youth. Somewhat
 
 THE COMING RACE. Xl'] 
 
 disappointed, as most men are, in matters connected 
 with household love and domestic life, I often think of 
 the young Gy as I sit alone at night, and wonder how I 
 could have rejected such a love, no matter what dangers 
 attended it, or by what conditions it was restricted. 
 Only, the m.ore I think of a people calmly developing, 
 in regions excluded from our sight and deemed unin- 
 habitable by our sages, powers surpassing our most dis- 
 ciplined modes of force, and virtues to which our life, 
 Social and political, becomes antagonistic in proportion 
 as our civilization advances — the more devoutly do I pray 
 that ages may yet elapse before there emerge into sun- 
 light our inevitable destroyers. Being, however, frankly 
 told by my physician that I am afflicted by a complaint 
 which, though it gives little pain and no perceptible no- 
 tice of its encroachments, may at any moment be fatal, 
 I have thought it my daty to my fellow-men to place on 
 record these forevvarnings of The Coming Race. 
 
 THE ENO,
 
 LEILA; 
 
 OR, 
 
 THE SIEGE OF GRANADA, 
 
 Sir EDWARD BULWER LYTTON, Bart. 
 
 CHICAGO AND NEW YORK: 
 BELFORD, CLARKE & COMPANY, 
 
 PUHLISIIERS.
 
 TROW'9 
 
 PBINTINO *ND OOOKDINOINO COMPANy, 
 
 NEW YORK.
 
 LEILA: 
 
 OR, 
 
 THE SIEGE OF GRENADA. 
 
 BOOK I. 
 
 CHAPTER I. 
 
 THE ENCHANTER AND THE WARRIOR. 
 
 It was the summer of the year 1491, and the armies 
 of Ferdinand and Isabella invesled the city of Grenada. 
 
 The night was not far advanced; and the moon, which 
 broke through the transparent air of Andalusia, shone 
 calmly over the immense and murmuring encampment 
 of the Spanish foe, and touched with a hazy light the 
 snow-capped summits of the Sierra Nevada, contrasting 
 the verdure and luxuriance which no devastation of man 
 ccald utterly sweep from the beautiful vale below. 
 
 In the sJreets of the Moorish city many a group still 
 lingered. Some, as if unconscious of the beleaguering 
 war without, were listening in quiet indolence to the 
 strings of the Moorish lute or the lively tale of some 
 Arabian improvisatore; others were conversing with such 
 eager and animated gestures as no ordinary excitement
 
 2 LEILA. 
 
 could wring from the st;itcly calm habitual to every 
 Uricnial people. But the mure public phices, \\\ which 
 gathered these different groups, only the more impres- 
 sively heightened the desolate and solemn repose that 
 brooded over the rest of the ciiy. 
 
 At this time, a man, with downcast eyes, and arms 
 folded within the sweeping gown which descended to 
 his feet, was seen passing through the streets alone, and 
 apparently unobservant of all around him. Vet .this in- 
 difference was by no means shared by the straggling 
 crowds through which, from time to time, he musingly 
 swept. 
 
 " G(jd is great !" said one man, " it is the enchanter 
 Almamen." 
 
 " 1 le haih locked up the manhood of Boabdil el Chico 
 with the key cjf liis spells," quoth another, stroking his 
 beard. " 1 would cui-se him if I dared." 
 
 " But they say that he hath promised that when man 
 fails, the genii will fight for Grenada," observed a 
 fourth, doubtingly. 
 
 "Allah Akbar ! what is, is ! what shall be, shall be !" 
 said a fifth, with all the solemn sagacity of a propliet. 
 
 Whatever their feelings, whether of awe or execration, 
 terror or hope, each group gave way as Almamen passed, 
 and hushed the murmurs not intended for his ear. Pass- 
 ing through the Zacatin (the street which traversed the 
 Great Bazar), the (so styled) enchanter ascended a narrow 
 and winding street, and arrived at last before the walls 
 that encircled the palace and ft^rtress of the Alhambra. 
 
 The sentry at the gate saluted and admitted him in 
 silence; and in a few moments his form was lost in the 
 solitude of groves, amidst which, at frequent openings, 
 the spray of Arabian fountains glittered in the moon- 
 light, while above rose the castled heights of the Alham- 
 bra and (jn tiie right those Vermillion Towers, whose 
 origin vails itself in the furthest ages of Phoenician en- 
 terprise. 
 
 Almamen paur^ed and surveyed the scene. 
 
 "Was Aden more lovely?" he muttered; "and shall 
 so fair a sjjot be trodden by the victor Nazarene? What 
 matters ? creed chases creed — race, race — until lime comes 
 back to its starting place, and beholds the reign rest(jred 
 to the eldest faith and the eldest tribe. The horn of our 
 strength shall be exalted."
 
 LEILA. 3 
 
 Ai these tliouglits ihe seer relapsed into silence, and 
 gazed long iind intently upon the stars, as, more numer 
 ousand brilliant with every step of the advancing night, 
 their rays broke on the playful waters, and tinged with 
 silver the various and breathless foliage. So earnest was 
 his gaze and so absorbed his thoughts, that he did not 
 perceive the approichof a Moor, whose glittering weap- 
 ons, and snow-white turban rich with emeralds, cas. a 
 gleam through the wood. 
 
 The new-comer was above the common size of his 
 race, generally small and spare, but without attaining 
 the lofty stature and large proportions (A the more re- 
 doubted of the warriors of Spain. But in his presence 
 and mien there was something which, in the haughtiest 
 conclave of Christian chivalry, would have seemed to 
 tower and command. He walked with a step at once light 
 and stately, as if it spurned the earth ; and in the carriage 
 of the small erect head and stag-like throat there was that 
 indefinable and imposing dignity which accords so well 
 with our conception of a heroic lineage, and a noble 
 though imperious spirit. The stranger approached Alma- 
 men, and paused abruptly when witiiin a few steps of the 
 enchanter. He gazed upon him in silence for some mo- 
 ments ; and, when at length he spoke, it was with a cold 
 and sarcastic tone. 
 
 " Pretender to the dark secrets," said he, "is it in the 
 stars that thou art reading those destinies of men and na- 
 tions which the prophet wrought by the chieftain's brain 
 and the soldier's arm .''" 
 
 "Prince," replied Almamen, turning slowly, and rec- 
 ognizing the intruder on his medi'.ations, " I was but 
 considering how many revolutions, which have shaken 
 the earth to its renter, those orbs have witnessed, unsym- 
 pathizing and unchanged." 
 
 " Unsympalhizing !" repeated the Moor: "yet thou 
 believest in their effect upon the earth ? " 
 
 " You wrong me," answered Almamen, with a slight 
 smile ; " you confound your servant with that vain race, 
 the astrologers." 
 
 '■ I deemed astrology a part of the science of the two 
 angels, Harut and Marut."* 
 
 * The science of magic. It was taught by the angels named in the 
 text, for which olFense they are still supposed to be confined in the
 
 4 LEILA 
 
 "Possibly; but I know not tliat science, though I 
 have wandered at midniglit by tiie ancient Babel." 
 
 " Fame lies to us, then," answered tlie Moor, with 
 some surprise. 
 
 "Fame never made pretense to truth," said Alma- 
 men, calmly, and proceeding- on his way; "Allah be 
 with you, prince ! I seek ihe king." 
 
 "Stay ! I have just left his presence, and left him, I 
 trust, with thoughts worthy of tiie sovereign of Gre- 
 nada, which I would not have a stranger, and a man 
 whcjse arms are not spears or shields, break in upon and 
 disturb." 
 
 "Noble Muza," returned Almamen, "fear not that 
 my voice will weaken the inspirations which thine hath 
 breathed into the breast of Boabdil. Alas ! if my coun- 
 cil were heeded, thou wouldst hear the warriors of Gre- 
 nada talk less of Muza and more of tlie king. But fate 
 or Allah hath placed upon tlie throne of a tottering dy- 
 nasty one who, though brave, is weak ; though wise, a 
 dreamer ; and you suspect the adviser when you find 
 the influence of nature on the advised. Is this just ? " 
 
 Muza gazed long and sternly on the face of Alma- 
 men ; then, putting his hand gently on the enchanter's 
 shoulder, he said : 
 
 "Stranger, if thou playest us false, think that this 
 arin hath cloven the casque of many a foe and will not 
 spare the turban of a traitor !" 
 
 "And think thou, proud prince," returned Almamen, 
 unquailing, " that I answer alone to Allah for my mo- 
 tives, and that against man my deeds I can defend I" 
 
 With these words, the enchanter drew his long robe 
 round him, and disappeared amidst the foliage. 
 
 CHAPTER II. 
 
 THE KING WITHIN HIS PALACE. 
 
 In one of those apartments, the luxury of which is 
 known only to the inhabitants of a genial climate (half 
 
 ancient Habcl. Tliere they may yet he consulted, though they are 
 rarely seen. — Yallal'odin Va/iya. — Sale's Koran.
 
 LEILA. 
 
 5 
 
 chamber and half grotto), reclined a young IMoor in a 
 thoughtful and musing attitude. 
 
 The ceiling of cedar- wood, glowing with gold and 
 azure, was supported by slender shafts of the whitest 
 alabaster, between whicli were open arcades, light and 
 graceful as the arched vineyards of Italy, and wrought in 
 that delicate filigree-work common to the Arabian archi- 
 tecture ; through these arcades was seen at intervals the 
 hipsing fall of waters, lighted by alabaster lamps ; and 
 their tinkling music sounded with a fresh and regular 
 murmur upon the ear. The whole of one side of this 
 apartment was open to a broad and extensive balcony, 
 which overhung the banks of the winding and moon- 
 lighted Darro ; and in the clearness of the soft night 
 might be distinctly seen the undulating hills, the woods, 
 and orange groves, which still form the unrivaled land- 
 scapes of Grenada. 
 
 The pavement was spread with ottomans and couches 
 of the richest azure, prodigally enriched with quaint de- 
 signs in broideries of gold and silver ; and over that on 
 which the Moor reclined, facing tlie open balcony, were 
 suspended, on a pillar, the round shield, the light javelin, 
 and tlie curving scimeter of Moorish warfare. So studded 
 were these arms with jewels of rare cost, that they might 
 alone have sufficed to indicate the rank of the evident 
 owner, even if his own gorgeous vestments had not be- 
 trayed it. An open manuscript on a silver table lay 
 unread before the Moor, as, leaning his face upon his 
 hand, he looked with abstracted eyes along the mountain 
 summits, dimly distinguished from the cloudless and far 
 horizon. 
 
 No one could have gazed without a vague emotion of 
 interest, mixed with melancholy, upon the countenance 
 of the inmate of that luxurious cliamber. There was in 
 it much of that ineffable presentiment of doom and disas- 
 ter which we think to recognize on the features of our 
 own Ciuirles the First. 
 
 Its beauty was singularly stamped with a grave and 
 stately sadness, which was made still more impressive by 
 its air of youth and the unwonted fairness of the com- 
 plexion ; unlike the attributes of the Moorish race, the 
 hair and curling beard were of a deep golden color, and 
 on the broad forehead and in the large eyes was that set- 
 tled and contemplative mildness which rarely softens the
 
 6 LEILA. 
 
 swart lineaments of tlie fiery children cf the sun. Such 
 was the personal appearance of Buabclil el Chico, the last 
 of the Moorish dynasty in Spain. 
 
 "These scrolls of Arabian learning," said Boabdil to 
 himself, " what do they teach ? to despiss wealth and 
 power; to hold the heart to be the true empire. This, 
 llien, is wisdom. Yet, if I follow tliese maxims, am I 
 wise ? Alas ! the whole world would call me a driveler and 
 a madman. Thus is it ever; the wisdom of the intellect 
 fills us with precepts which it is the wisdovi of action to 
 despise. Oh, Holy Prophet ! what fools men would be 
 if their knavery did not eclipse their folly !" 
 
 The y-'Ung king listlessly threw himself back on his 
 cushions as he uttered these words, too philosophical for 
 a king whose crown sat so loosely on his brow. 
 
 After a few moments of thought, that appeared to dis- 
 satisfy and disquiet him, Boabdil again turned impatiently 
 round. " My soul wants the bath of music," said he ; 
 " these journeys into a pathless realm have wearied it, 
 and the streams of sound supple and relax the travailed 
 pilgrim." 
 
 He clapped his hands, and from one of the arcades a 
 boy, hitherto invisible, started into sight ; at a slight and 
 scarce perceptible sign from the king the boy again 
 vanished, and, in a few moments afterward, glancing 
 through the fairy pillars and by the glittering waterfalls, 
 came the small and twinkling feet of the maids of Araby. 
 As, with their transparent tunics and white arms, they 
 gleamed, without an echo, through that cool and volup- 
 tuous chamber, they might well have seemed the Peris of 
 the Eastern magic, summoned to beguile the sated leisure 
 of a youtiiful Solomon. With them came a maiden of 
 more exquisite beauty, thc^ugh smallci stature, than the 
 rest, bearing the liglit Moorish lute , and a faint and 
 languid smile broke over the beautiful fi^ce of Boabdil 
 as his eyes rested upon her graceful fornj and the dark 
 yet glowing luster of her Oriental countenance. She 
 alone approached the king, timidly kissed his hand, and 
 then, joining her comrades, commenced the following 
 song, to the air and very words of which the feel of the 
 dancing-girls kept time, while, with the ciiorus, rang tlie 
 silver bells of the musical iustrumenl which each of the 
 dancers carried.
 
 LEILA. 
 
 AMINE S SONG. 
 
 I. 
 
 Softly, oh, softly glide, 
 Gentle Music, thou silver tide, 
 Bearing, the lull'd air along. 
 This leaf from the Rose of Song ! 
 
 To its port in his soul let it float. 
 
 The frail but the fragrant boat — 
 Bear it, soft Air, along ! 
 
 II. 
 
 With the burden of Sound we are ladea. 
 Like the bells on the trees of Aden,* 
 When tliey thrill with a tinkling tone 
 At the wind from the II0I3' Throne. 
 
 Ilark 1 as we move around, 
 
 Wc shake ofTthe buds of Sound — 
 Thy presence, beloved, is Aden ! 
 
 III. 
 
 Sweet chime that I hear and wake . 
 1 would, for my loved one's sake. 
 That I were a sound like thee, 
 To the depths of his heart to flee. 
 
 If my breath had its senses bless'd, 
 
 If my voice in his heart could rest, 
 What pleasure to die like thee ! 
 
 The music ceased ; the dancers remained motionless 
 in their graceful postures, as if arrested into statues of 
 alabaster; and tlie young songstress cast herself on a 
 cuo'Iiion at the feet of the monarch, and looked up fond- 
 ly, but silently, into his yet melancholy eyes, when a man, 
 whose entrance had not been noticed, was seen to stand 
 wkiiin llie chamber. 
 
 lie was about the middle stature ; lean, muscular, 
 and strongly though sparely built. A plain black robe, 
 something in the fashion of the Armenian gown, hung 
 long and loosely over a tunic of bright scarlet, girded 
 by a broad belt, from the center of which was suspended 
 a sinall golden key, while at the left side appeared the 
 jeweled hilt of a crooked dagger. II is features were 
 cast in a larger and grander mold than was common 
 among the Moors of Spain : the forehead was broad, 
 massive, and singularly high, and the dark eyes of un- 
 usual size and brilliancy; his beard, short, black, and 
 
 *The Mohammedans believe that musical bells hang on the trees 
 of Paradise, and are put in motion by a wind from the throne of God.
 
 S LEILA. 
 
 glossy, curled upward, and concealed all the lower part 
 of the face save a firm, compressed, and resolute expres- 
 sion in the lips, which were large and full; the nose was 
 high, aquiline, and well shaped; and the whole char- 
 acter of the head (which was, for symmetry, on too large 
 and gigantic a scale as proportioned to the form) was 
 indicative of extraordinary energy and power. At the 
 first glance the stranger might have seemed scarce on 
 the borders of middle age; but on a more careful ex- 
 amination, the deep lines and wrinkles marked on tiie 
 forehead and round the eyes betrayed a more advanced 
 period of life. With arms folded on his breast he stood 
 by the side of the king, waiting in silence the moment 
 when his presence should be perceived. 
 
 He did not wait long ; the eyes and gestures of the 
 girl nestled at the feet of Boabdil drew the king's atten- 
 tion to the spot where the stranger stood : his eye bright- 
 ened when it fell upon him. 
 
 " Almamen," cried Boabdil, eagerly, "you are wel- 
 come." As he spoke he motioned to the dancing-girls 
 to withdraw. 
 
 '• May I not rest ? Oh, core of my heart, thy bird is in 
 its home," murmured the songstress at the king's feet. 
 
 "Sweet Amine," answered Boabdil, tenderly smooth- 
 ing down her ringlets as he bent to kiss her brow, "you 
 should witness only my hours of delight. Toil and busi- 
 ness have naught with thee ; I will join thee ere yet the 
 nightingale hymns his last music to the moon." Amine 
 sighed, rose, and vanished with her companions. 
 
 " My friend," said the king, when alone with Alma- 
 men, "your counsels often soothe me into quiet, yet in 
 such hours quiet is a crime. But what do? how 
 struggle? how act? Alas ! at the hour of his birth rightly 
 did they affix to the name of Boabdil the epithet of El 
 Zogoybi* Misfortune set upon my brow her dark and 
 fated stamp ere yet my lips could shape a prayer against 
 her power. My fierce father, whose frown was as the 
 flown of Azrael, hated me in my cradle; in my youth 
 n.y name was invoked by rebels against my will : im- 
 prisoned by my father, with the poison-bowl or the dag- 
 ger hourly before my eyes, I was saved only by the arti- 
 fice of my mother. When age and infirmity broke the 
 
 * The Unlucky.
 
 LEILA. 
 
 iron scepter of the king-, my claims to the throne were 
 set aside, and my uncle. El Zagal, usurped my liirthright. 
 Amidst open war and secret treason I wrestled for my 
 crown : and now, the sole sovereign of Grenada, when, 
 as I fondly imagined, my uncle had lost all claim on the 
 affections of my people by succumbing to tlie Christian 
 king and accepting a fief under his dominion, I find that 
 the very crime of El Zagal is fixed upon me by my un- 
 happy subjects ; that they deem he would not have yield- 
 ed but for my supincness. At tlie moment of my delivery 
 from my rival, I am received with execration by my sub- 
 jects, and, driven into this my fortress of the Alhambra, 
 dare not venture to head my armies or to face my people; 
 yet am 1 called weak and irresolute when strength and 
 courage are forbid me. And as the water glides from 
 yonder rock, that liath no power to retain it, I see the 
 tide of empire welling from my hands." 
 
 The young king spoke warmly and bitterly ; and, in 
 the irritation of his thoughts, strode, while he spoke, 
 with rapid and irregular strides along the chamber. 
 Almamen marked his emotion with an eye and lip of 
 rigid composure. 
 
 "Light of the faithful," said he, when Boabdil had 
 concluded, "the powers above never doom man to per- 
 petual sorrow or perpetual joy ; the cloud and the sun- 
 shine are alike essential to the heaven of our destinies ; 
 and if thou hast suifercd in thy 3'outh, thou hast ex- 
 hausted the calamities of fate, and tliy manliood will be 
 ^hjrious and iliine acre serene." 
 
 "Thou speakcst as if the armies of Ferdinand were 
 not already around my walls," said Boabdil impatiently. 
 
 " The armies of Sennacherib were as mighty, " an- 
 swered Almamen. 
 
 " Wise seer," returned the king, in a tone half sarcas- 
 tic and half solemn, " We, the Mussulmans of Spain, are 
 nt)t the blind fanatics of the eastern world. Un us have 
 fallen the ligiits of philosophy and science ; and if tiie 
 more clear-sighted among us yet outwardly reverence 
 the forms and fables worshiped by the multitude, it is 
 from the wisdom of policy, not the folly of belief. Talk 
 not to me, then, of thine examples of the ancient and 
 elder creeds ; the agents of God for this worUlare now, 
 at least, in men, not angels; and if I wait till Ferdinand 
 share tlie destiny of Sennacherib, I wait only till th»
 
 lO ' LEILA. 
 
 Standard of the Cross wave above the Vermilion Tow- 
 ers." 
 
 "Yet," said Almamen, "while my lord the king- re- 
 jects the fanaticism of belief, doth he reject the fanat- 
 icism of persecution. You disbelieve the stories of the 
 Hebrews ; yet you suffer the Hebrews themselves, that 
 ancient and kindred Arabian race, to be ground to the 
 dust, condemned and tortured by your judges, your in- 
 formers, your soldiers, and your subjects." 
 
 "The base misers ! they deserve their fate," answered 
 Boabdil, loftily. "Gold is their god and the market- 
 place tiieir country ; amidst the tears and groans of na- 
 tions, they sympathise only with the rise and fall of 
 trade ; and, the thieves of the universe ! while their hand 
 is against every other man's coffer, why wonder that they 
 provoke the hand of every man against their throats 1 
 Worse than the tribe of Hanifa, who eat their god only 
 in time of famine;* the race of Moisaf would sell the 
 seven heavens for the dcntj on the back of the date 
 stone." 
 
 "Your laws leave them no ambition but that of ava- 
 rice," replied Almamen ; "and, as the plant will crook 
 and distort its trunk to raise its head, through every ob- 
 stacle, to the sun' so the mind of man twists and per- 
 verts itself, if legitimate openings arc denied it, to find 
 its natural clement in the gale of power or tlie sunshine 
 of esteem. These Hebrev/s were not traffickers and misers 
 in their own sacred land when they routed your ancestors, 
 the Arab armies of old, arid gnawed the llesh from their 
 bones in famine rather than yield a weaker city than 
 Grenada to a mightier force than the holiday lords of 
 Spain. Let this pass. My lord, wIkj rejects the belief 
 in the agencies of the angels, doth he still retain belief 
 in the wisdom of mortal men ?" 
 
 "Yes!" returned Boabdil, quickly ; " for of the one 
 I know naught, of the other mine own senses can be the 
 judge. Almamen, my fiery kinsman, Muza, has this even- 
 ing been with me. He hath urged me to reject the 
 fears against my people, tJiat chain my panting spirit 
 
 *Tlie tribe of llanifa worshiped a lump of dough. 
 I Moisa, Moses. 
 
 I A (irovcrb used in the Koran, signifying the smallest possible 
 trifle.
 
 LEILA. II 
 
 within these walls ; he liath urged me to gird on yonder 
 shield and sci meter, and to appear in tlie V'ivaram'ola .it 
 the head of the nobles of Grenada. My heart leaps higli 
 at the thought ! and, if I cannot live, at least I will die— 
 a king !" 
 
 " It is nobly spoken," said Almamen, coldly. 
 
 " You approve, then, my design ?" 
 
 " The friends of the king cannot approve the ambi- 
 tion of the king to die." 
 
 "Ha!" said Boabdil, in an altered voice; "thou 
 thinkest, then, that I am doomed to perish in this Strug- 
 gle?" 
 
 "As the hour shall be chosen, wilt thou fall or tri- 
 umph." 
 
 "And that hour?" 
 
 " Is not yet come." 
 
 "Dost tliou read the hour in the stars?" 
 
 " Let Moorish seers cultivate that frantic credulity ; 
 thy servant sees but in the stars worlds mightier than 
 this little earth, whose light would neither wane nor 
 wink if earth itself were swept from the infinities of 
 space." 
 
 " Mysterious man !" said Boabdil, "whence, then, is 
 thy power ? whence thy knowledge of the future?" 
 
 Almamen approached the king, as he now stood b/ 
 the open balcony. 
 
 "Behold!" said he, pointing to the waters of the 
 Darro ; "yonder stream is of an element in which man 
 cannot live or breathe ; above, in the thin and impalpable 
 air, our steps cannot find a footing, the armies of all 
 earth cannot build an empire. And yet, by the exercise 
 of a little art, the fishes and the birds, the inhabitants of 
 the air and the water, minister to our most humble 
 wants, the most common of our enjoyments ; so is it 
 with the true science of enchantment. Thinkst thou 
 that, while the petty surface of the world is crowded 
 with living things, there is no life in the vast center 
 within the earth, and the immense ether that surrounds 
 il ? As the fisherman snares his prey, as the fowler en- 
 ti aps the bird, so, by the art and genius of our human 
 mind, we may thrall and command the subtler beings of 
 realms and elements which our material bodies cannot 
 enter, our gross senses cannot survey. This, then, is 
 my lore. Of other worlds know I naught ; but of the
 
 12 LEILA. 
 
 '■.hings of this world, wlicLher men, or, as your legends 
 term them, gliouls and genii, I iiavc learned something. 
 To the future, I, myself, am blind ; but I can invoke and 
 conjure up those wiiose eyes are more piercing, whose 
 natures arc more gifted." 
 
 " Prove to me thy power," said Boabdil, awed less by 
 the words than by the thrilling voice and the impressive 
 aspect of the enchanter. 
 
 " Is not the king's will my law ?" answered Almamen ; 
 "be his will obeyed. To-morrow night I await thee." 
 
 " Where .?" 
 
 Almamen paused a moment, and then whispered a 
 sentence in the king's ear : Boabdil started and turned 
 pale. 
 
 " A fearf-ul spot !" 
 
 "So is the Alhambra itself, great Boabdil, while 
 Ferdtnand is without the walls and Muza within the 
 city ' ' 
 
 "Muza! Barest thou mistrust my bravest warrior .?" 
 
 '' What wise king will trust the idol of the king's army ? 
 Did Boabdil fall to-morrow by a chance javelin in the 
 fi'^)d, whom would the nobles and the warriors place 
 upon his throne? Doth it require an enchanter's lore 
 t) whisper to thy heart the answer in the name of 
 •Muza'.?' 
 
 " Oh, wretched state ! oh, miserable king !" exclaimed 
 Boabdil, in a tone of great anguish. " I never had a 
 father ; I have now no people : a little while, and I shall 
 have no country. Am I never to have a friend ?" 
 
 " A friend ! what king ever had ?" returned Almamen, 
 r'ryly. 
 
 " Away, man, away !" cried Boab''',l, as the impatient 
 «ipirit of his rank and race shot dangerous fire from his 
 eyes; "your cold and bloodless wisdom freezes up all 
 the veins of my manhood ! Glory, confidence, human 
 sympathy, and feeling — your counsels anniliilatc them 
 all. Leave me ! I would be alone." 
 
 "We meet t(i-morrow at midnight, mighty Boabdil," 
 said Almamen, with his usual unmoved and passionless 
 tones. " May the king live forever!" 
 
 The king turned, but his monitor had already disap- 
 peared. He went as he came, noiseless and sadden as a 
 ghost.
 
 LEILA. 13 
 
 CHAPTER III. 
 
 THE LOVERS. 
 
 When Muza parted from Almamen, he bent his steps 
 towards the hill that rises opposite the ascent crowned 
 with the towers of the Alhambra, the sides and summit 
 of which eminence were tenanted by the luxurious popu- 
 lation of the city. He selected the more private and 
 secluded paths ; and, half-way up the hill, arrived at last 
 before a low wall of considerable extent, which girded 
 the gardens of some wealthier inhabitant of the city. He 
 looked long and anxiously round : all was solitary ; nor 
 was the stillness broi<en, save as an occasional breeze 
 from the snowy heights of the Sierra Nevada rustled the 
 fragrant leaves of the citron and pomegranate, or as 
 the silver tinkling of waterfalls chimed melodiously 
 within the gardens. The Moor's heart beat high ; a 
 moment more, and he had scaled the wall, and found 
 himself upon a greensward, variegated by the rich colors 
 of many a sleeping flower, and shaded by groves and 
 alleys of luxuriant foliage and golden fruits. 
 
 It was not long before he stood beside a house that 
 seemed of a construction anterior to the Moorish 
 dynasty. It was built over low cloisters, formed by 
 heavy and time-worn pillars, concealed, for the most 
 part, by a profusion of roses and creeping shrubs : the 
 lattices above the cloisters opened upon large gilded bal- 
 conies, the super-addition of Moriscan taste. In one 
 only of the casements a lamp was visible ; the rest of the 
 mansion was dark, as if, save in that chamber, sleep kept 
 watch over the inmates. It was to this window that the 
 Moor stole, and, after a moment's pause he murmured 
 rather than sung, so low and whispered was his voice, 
 the following simple verses, slightly varied from an old 
 Arabian poet : 
 
 SERENADE. 
 
 Light of my soul, arise, arise ! 
 Tliy sister liglits are in the skieti ; 
 
 We want thine eyes. 
 
 Thy joyous eyes :
 
 1^ LEILA. 
 
 The Nipfht is mourning for thine eyes I 
 The sacred verse is on my sword, 
 
 But on my heart thy name : 
 The words on each alike adored ; 
 
 The truth of each the same. 
 The same : — alas ! too well I feel 
 The heart is truer than the steel ! 
 Light of my soul, upon me shine ; 
 Night wakes her stars to envy mine. 
 
 Those eyes of thine, 
 
 Wild eyes of thine, 
 What stars are like those eyes of thine? 
 
 As he concluded, the lattice softly opened, and a fe- 
 male form appeared on the balcony. 
 
 "Ah, Leila!" said the Moor, "I see thee, and I an 
 blessed !" 
 
 "Hush!" answered Leila; "speak low, nor tarry 
 long; I fear that our interviews are suspected; and this," 
 she added, in a trembling voice, " may, perhaps, be tlie 
 last time we shall meet." 
 
 " Holy Prophet !" exclaimed Miiza, passionately, 
 "what do I hear? Why this mystery? Wiiy cannot I 
 learn thine origin, thy rank, thy parents? Tliink you, 
 beautiful Leila, that Grenada holds a house lofty enough 
 to disdain the alliance of Muza Ben Abil Gazan ? And 
 oh !" he added, sinking the haughty tones of his voice 
 into accents of the softest tenderness, " if not too high to 
 scorn me, wliat sliould war against our loves and our 
 bridals? For worn equally on my heart were the flower 
 of thy sweet self, whether the mountain top or the valley 
 gave birth to the odor and the bloom." 
 
 " Alas !" answered I^eila, weeping, " the mystery thou 
 complainest of is as dark to myself as thee. How often 
 have I told thee that I know nothing of my birth or 
 childish fortunes, save a dim memory of a more distant 
 and burning clime, where, amidst sands and wastes, 
 springs the everlasting cedar, and the camel grazes on 
 lUiinted herbage, withering in the fiery air? Then it 
 seemed to me that I had a mother ; fond eyes looked cm 
 me, and soft songs hushed me into sleep." 
 
 " Thy mother's soul has passed into min'')," said the 
 Moor, tenderly. 
 
 Leila continued : " Borne hither, I passed from child- 
 hood into youth within these walls. Slaves minister to 
 my slightest wish ; and those who have seen both state
 
 LEILA. 
 
 15 
 
 and poverty, which I have not, tell me that treasures and 
 splendor that might glad a monarch are prodigalized 
 around me: but of ties and kindred know I little. My 
 fatlier, a stern and silent man, visits me but rarely ; some 
 limes months pass, and I see him not ; but I feel he loves 
 me; and, till I knew thee, Muza, my briglitest hours 
 were in listening to the footsteps and flying to the arms 
 of that solitary friend." 
 
 " Know you not his name ?" 
 
 " Nor I nor any one of the household, save, perhaps, 
 Ximen, the chief of the slaves, an old and withered man, 
 whose very eye cliills me into fear and silence." 
 
 "Strange!" said the Moor, musingly; "yet why 
 think you our love is discovered or can ^e thwarted ?" 
 
 " Hush ! Ximen sought me this day : ' Maiden,' said 
 he, 'men's footsteps have been tracked within the gar- 
 dens ; if your sire know this, you will have looked your 
 last upon Grenada. Learn,' he added in a softer voice, 
 as he saw me tremble, 'that permission were easier given 
 to thee to wed the wild tiger than to mate with the 
 loftiest noble of Morisca ! Beware !' He spoke and left 
 me. Oh, Muza !" she continued, passionately wringing 
 her hands, " my heart sinks within me, and omen and 
 doom rise dark before my sight !" 
 
 " By my father's head, these obstacles but fire my 
 love ; and I would scale to thy possession though every 
 step in the ladder were the corpses of a hundred foes !" 
 
 Sc;\rcely had the fiery and high-souled Moor uttered 
 his boast, than, from some unseen hand amidst the 
 groves, a javelin whirred past him, and, as the air it 
 raised came sharp upon his cheek, half buried its quiver- 
 ing shaft in the trunk of a tree beliind him. 
 
 " Fly, fly, and save thyself ! Oh God, protect him !" 
 cried Leila, and she vanished within the chamber. 
 
 The Moor did not wait the result of a deadlier aim : 
 he turned, yet, in the instinct of his fierce nature, not 
 Irom, but against his foe; the drawn scimeter in his 
 hand, the half-suppressed cry of wrath trembling on his 
 lips, he sprang forward in the direction whence the 
 javelin had sped. With eyes accustomed to the ambus- 
 cades of Moorish warfare, he searched eagerly, yet 
 warily, through the dark and sighing foliage. No sign 
 of life met his gaze ; and at length, grimly and reluctant- 
 ly, he retraced his steps and left the demesnes ; but, just
 
 l6 LEILA. 
 
 as he had cleared the wall, a voice, low, but sharp and 
 shrill, came from the gardens. 
 
 " Thou art spared," it said, " but, haply, for a more 
 miserable doom !" 
 
 CHAPTER IV. 
 
 THE FATHER AND DAUGHTER,'. 
 
 The chamby" into which Leila retreated bore out the 
 character she Tiad given of the interior of her home. 
 The fashion of its ornament and decoration was foreign 
 to that adopted by the Moors of Grenada. It had a more 
 massive, and, if we may use the term, Egyplian gorgeous- 
 ness. The walls were covered with the stuffs of the East, 
 stiff with gold, embroidered upon ground of the deepest 
 purple ; strange characters, apparently in some foreign 
 tongue, were wrought in the tesselated cornices and on 
 the heavy ceiling, which was supported by square pillars, 
 round which were twisted serpents of gold and enamel, 
 with eyes to which enormous emeralds gave a green and 
 life-like glare. Various scrolls and musical instruments 
 lay scattered upon marble tables, and a solitary lamp of 
 burnished silver cast a dim and subdued liglit around the 
 chamber. The effect of the whole, though splendid, was 
 glocmy, strange and oppressive, and rather suited either 
 to the cold climate of the Norman, or to the thick and 
 cave-like architecture which of old protected the inhab- 
 itants of Thebes and Memphis from tiie rays of the African 
 sun, than the transparent heaven and light pavilions of 
 the graceful Orientals of Grenada. 
 
 Leila stood within this chamber, pale and breathless, 
 with her lips apart, her hands clasped, her very sou) in 
 her cars ; nor was it possible to conceive a more perfect 
 ideal of some delicate and brilliant peri captured in the 
 palace of a hostile and gloomy genius. Iler form was 
 of the lightest shape consistent with the roundness of 
 womanly beauty ; and there was something in it of that 
 elastic and fawn-like grace which a scul|)tor seeks to 
 embody in his dreams of a being more aerial than those 
 of earth. Her luxuriant hair was dark indeed, but a
 
 LEILA. 
 
 17 
 
 purple and glossy hue redeemed il from that heaviness 
 of shade loo common in the tresses of the Asiatics ; -^nd 
 her complexion, naturally pale, but clear and lustrous, 
 would have been deemed fair even in the North. Her 
 features, slightly aquiline, were formed in the rarest mold 
 of symmetry, and lier full rich lips disclosed teeth that 
 might have shamed the pearl. But the chief charm of 
 that exquisite countenance was in an expression of soft- 
 ness, and purity, and intellectual sentiment that seldom 
 accompanies tiiat cast of loveliness, and was wholly for- 
 eign to the voluptuous and dreamy languor of Moorish 
 maidens ; Leila had been educated, and the statue had 
 received a soul. 
 
 After a few minutes of intense suspense, she again 
 stole to the lattice, gently unclosed it, and looked forth. 
 Far, through an opening amidst the trees, she descried, 
 for a single moment, the erect and stately figure of her 
 lover darkening the moonshine on the sward, as now, 
 leaving his fruitless search, he turned his lingering gaze 
 toward tlie lattice of his beloved : the thick and inter- 
 lacing foliage quickly hid him from her eyes ; but Lelia 
 had seen enough ; she '.urned within, and said, as grate- 
 ful tears trickled down her cheeks, and she sank upon 
 her knees on the piled cushions of the chamber, "God 
 of my fathers ! I bless thee — he is safe !" 
 
 " And yet," she added, as a painful thought crossed 
 her, " liow may I pray for him? we kneel not to the 
 same Divinity ; and I have been taught to loathe and 
 shudder at his creed ! Alas ! how will this end? Fatal 
 was the hour when he first beheld me in yonder gardens ; 
 more fatal still the hour in which he crossed the barrier, 
 and told Leila that she was beloved by the hero whose 
 arm was the shelter, whose name was the blessing, of 
 Grenada. Ah, me ! Ah, me !" 
 
 The young maiden covered her face with her hands, 
 and sunk into a passionate reverie, broken only by her 
 sobs. Some time had passed in this undisturbed indul- 
 gence of her grief, when the arras was gently put aside, 
 and a man of remarkable garb and mien advanced into 
 the chamber, pausing as he beheld her dejected attitude, 
 and gazing on her with a look in which pity and tender- 
 ness seemed to struggle against habitual severity and 
 sternness. 
 
 " Leila !" said the intruder.
 
 1 8 LEILA. 
 
 Leila started, and a deep blush suffused her counte- 
 nance ; she dashed the tears from her eyes, and came 
 forward with a vain attempt to smile. 
 
 " My father, welconie !" 
 
 The stranger seated himself on the cushions, and mo- 
 tioned Leila to his side. 
 
 "These tears are fresh upon thy cheek," said he 
 gravely ; " they are the witness of thy race ! our daugh- 
 ters are born to weep, and our sons to groan ; ashes are 
 on the liead of the mighty, and the Fountains of the 
 Beautiful run with gall ! Oh ! that we could but strug- 
 gle — that we could but dare — that we could raise up our 
 heads, and unite against the bondage of the evil-doer ! 
 It may not be — but one man shall avenge a nation !" 
 
 The dark face of Leila's father, well fitted to express 
 powerful emotion, became terrible in its wrath and pas- 
 sion ; his brow and lip worked convulsively ; but the 
 paroxysm was brief, and scarce could she shudder at its 
 intensity ere it had subsided into calm. 
 
 " Enough of these thoughts, wliich thou, a woman 
 and a child, are not formed to behold. Leila, thou hast 
 been nurtured with tenderness and schooled with care. 
 Harsh and unloving may I have seemed to thee, but I 
 would have shed the best drops of my heart to save" thy 
 young years from a single pang. Nay, listen to nie 
 silently. That thou mightest one day be worthy of thy 
 race, and that thine hours might not pass in indolent and 
 weary lassitude, thou hast been taught the lessons of a 
 knowledge rarely given to thy sex. Not thine the 
 lascivious arts of the Moorish maidens, not thine their 
 harlot songs and their dances of lewd delight ; thy 
 delicate limbs were but taught the attitude that Nature 
 dedicates to the worsliip of a God, and the music of thy 
 voice was tuned to the songs of thy fallen country, sad 
 with the memory of her wrongs, animated with the 
 names of her heroes, holy with the solemnity of her 
 p layers. These scrolls and the lessons of our seers have 
 imparted to thee such of our science and our history as 
 may fit thy mind to aspire and thy heart to feel for a 
 sacred cause. Thou listenest to me, Leila ?" 
 
 Perplexed and wondering, for never before had her 
 father addressed her in such a strain, the maiden answered 
 with an earnestness of manner that seemed to content
 
 LEILA. 19 
 
 the questioner ; ani he resumed, with an altered, hollow, 
 solemn voice : 
 
 " Then curs3 the persecutors ! Dau^^hter of the o^rcat 
 Hebrew race, arise and curse the Moorish task-master 
 and spoiler !" 
 
 As he spoke the adjurer himself rose, liftinj^ his ris^ht 
 hand on hii^h, while his left touched the shoulder of the 
 maiden. But she, after gazing a moment in wild and 
 terrified amazement upon his face, fell cowering at his 
 knees ; and, clasping them imploringly, exclaimed, in 
 scarce articulate murmurs : 
 
 " Oh, spare me ! spare me !" 
 
 The Hebrew, for such he was, surveyed her, as she 
 thus quailed at his feet, with a look of rage and scorn ; 
 his hand wandered to his poniard, he half unsheathed it, 
 thrust it back with a muttered curse, and then deliberately 
 drawing it forth, cast it on the ground beside her. 
 
 "Degenerate girl!" he said, in accents that vainly 
 struggled for cafm, " if thou hast admitted to thy heart 
 one unworthy thought toward a Moorish infidel, dig 
 deep and root it out, even with the knife, and to the 
 death— so wilt thou save this hand from that degrading 
 task." 
 
 He drew himself hastily from her grasp, and left the 
 unfortunate girl alone and senseless. 
 
 CHAPTER V. 
 
 AMBITION DISTORTED INTO VICE BY LAW. 
 
 On descending a broad (light of stairs from the apart- 
 ment, the Hebrew encountered an old man, habited in 
 loose garments of silk and tur, upon whose withered and 
 wrinkled face life seemed scarcely to struggle against 
 the advance of death, so haggard, wan, and corpse-like 
 was his aspect. 
 
 "Ximen," said the Israelite, "trusty and beloved serv- 
 ant, follow me to t!ie cavern." He did not tarry for an 
 answer, but continued his way with rapid strides ilnxMigh
 
 20 
 
 LEILA. 
 
 various courts and alleys, till. he came at length into a 
 narrow, dark, and damp gallery, that seemed cut from 
 the living rock. At its entrance was a strong grate, 
 which gave way to the Hebrew's touch upon the spring, 
 thuugli the united strength of a hundred men could ncjt 
 have moved it from its hinge. Taking up a brazen lamp 
 ihat burned in a niche within it, the Hebrew paused im- 
 patiently till the feeble steps of the old man reached the 
 spot ; and then, reclosing the gate, pursued his winding 
 way for a considerable distance, till he stopped suddenly 
 by a part of the rock which seemed in no respect differ- 
 ent from the rest ; and so artfully contrived and con- 
 cealed was the door which he now opened, and so sud- 
 denly did it yield to his hand, that it appeared literally 
 the effect of enchantment when the rock yawned, and 
 discovered a circular cavern, lighted with brazen lamps, 
 and spread with hangings and cushions of thick furs. 
 Upon rude and seemingly natural pillars of rock various 
 antique and rusty arms were suspended ; in large niches 
 were deposited scrolls, clasped and bound with iron ; 
 and a profusion of strange and uncouth instruments and 
 machines (in which modern science might, periiaps, dis- 
 cover the tools of chemical invention) gave a magical 
 and ominous aspect to the wild abode. 
 
 The Hebrew cast himself on a couch of furs ; and as 
 the old man entered and closed the door, " Ximen," said 
 he, "fill out wine — it is a soothing counselor, and I need 
 it." 
 
 Extracting from one of the recesses of the cavern a 
 flask and goblet, Ximen proffered to his lord a copious 
 draught of the sparkling vintage of the Vega, which 
 seemed to invigorate and restore him. 
 
 "Old man," said he, concluding the potation with a 
 deep-drawn sigh, " fill to thyself — drink till thy veins 
 feel young." 
 
 Ximen obeyed the mandate but imperfectly ; the wine 
 just touched his lips, and the goblet was put aside. 
 
 "Ximen," resumed the Israelite, "how many of our 
 race have been butchered by the avarice of the Moorish 
 kings since first thou didst set foot within the city?" 
 
 "Three thousand — the number was complcied last 
 winter by the order of Jusef, the vizier ; and their goods 
 and coffers arc transformed into shafts and scimcters 
 against the dogs of Galilee."
 
 LEILA. 21 
 
 "Three thousand ; no more! three thousand only? 
 I would the number had been tripled, for tiie interest is 
 becoming due." 
 
 " My brother, and my son, and my grandson are 
 among the number," said the old man, and his face grew 
 more deat'h-like. 
 
 "Their monuments shall be in hecatombs of their 
 tyrants. They shall not, at least, call the Jews niggards 
 in revenge." 
 
 *' But pardon me, noble chief of a fallen people ; 
 thinkst thou we shall be less despoiled and trodden 
 under foot by yon haughty and stiff-necked Nazarenes 
 than by the Arabian misbelievers.''" 
 
 "Accursed, in truth, are both," returned the Hebrew; 
 "but the one promises more fairly than the other. I 
 have seen this Ferdinand and his proud queen ; they are 
 pledged to accord us rights and immunities we have 
 never known before in Europe." 
 
 " And they will not touch our traffic, our gains, our 
 gold ?" 
 
 " Out on thee !" cried the Gery Israelite, stamping on 
 the ground. "I would all the gold of earth were sunk 
 into cue everlasting pit ! It is this mean, and miserable, 
 and loathsome leprosy of avarice that gnaws away from 
 our whole race, the heart, the soul, nay, tlie very form of 
 man ! Many a time, when I have seen the lordly features 
 of che descendants of Solomon and Joshua (features that 
 stamp the nobility of the Eastern world born to mastery 
 and command) sharpened and furrowed by petty cares ; 
 when I have looked upon the frame of the strong man 
 bowed, like a crawling reptile, to some huckstering bar- 
 gainer of silk and unguents ; and heard the voice that 
 should be raising the b.ittle-cry smoothed into fawning 
 accents of base fear or yet baser hope, I have asked my- 
 self if I am indeed of the blood of Israel ! and thanked 
 the great Jehovah that he hath spared me, at least, the 
 curse tliat hath blasted my brotherhood into usurers and 
 slaves." 
 
 Ximen prudently forbore an answer to enthusiasm 
 which he neitlicr shared nor understood ; but after a 
 brief silence, turned back the stream of the conversation: 
 
 "You resolve, then, upon prosecuting vengeance ow 
 the Moors, at wliatsocver hazard of the broken faith (ji 
 these Nazarenes?"
 
 22 LEILA. 
 
 " Ay, the vapor of human blood hath risen unto 
 hcjA'en, and, collected into thunder-clouds, hangs over 
 the dooi.ied and guilty city. And now, Xiaicn, 1 have a 
 new cause for hatred to the Moors ; the llower that I 
 have reared and watched, the spoiler hath sought to 
 pluck it from my hearth. Leila — thou hast guarded her 
 ill, Ximen ; and wert thou not endeared to me by thy 
 very malice and vices, the rising sun should have seen 
 thy trunk on the waters of the Darro." 
 
 " My lord," replied Ximen, "if thou, the wisest of 
 our people, canst not guard a maiden from love, how 
 canst thou see crime in the dull eyes and numbed senses 
 of a miserable old man?" 
 
 Tlie Israelite did not answer or seem to hear this dep- 
 recatory remonstrance. He ajipeared rather occupied 
 with his own thoughts ; and, speaking to himself, he 
 muttered, "It must be so; the sacrifice is hard — the 
 danger great : but here, at least, it is more immediate. 
 It shall be done. Ximen," he continued, speaking aloud 
 "dost thou feel assured that even mine own country- 
 men, mine own tribe, know me not as one of them ? 
 Were my despised birth and religion published, my 
 limbs would be torn asunder as an impostor, and all the 
 arts of the Cabala could not save me." 
 
 "Doubt not, great master; none in Grenada, save 
 thy faithful Ximen, know thy secret." 
 
 " So let me dream and hope. And now to my work, 
 for this night must be spent in ttjil." 
 
 The Hebrew drew before him some of the strange 
 instruments we have described, and took from the re- 
 cesses in the rock several scrolls. The old man lay at 
 his feet, ready to obey liis behests, but, to all appear- 
 ance, rigid and motionless as the dead, whom his 
 blanched hue and shriveled form resembled. It was. 
 indeed, as the picture of the enchanter at his work and 
 the corpse of some man of old, revived from tlie grave to 
 minister to his spells and execute his commands. 
 
 Enough in the preceding conversation has tran- 
 spired to convince the reader that the Hebrew, in whom 
 he has already detected the Almainen of the Alhambia, 
 was of H") character common to his tribe. Of a lineage 
 that shrouded itself in the darkness of his mysterious 
 people in their day of power, and possessed of immense 
 wealth, which threw into poverty the resouro3S of
 
 LEILA. 
 
 23 
 
 Gothic princes, the youth of that remarkable man had 
 been spent, not in traffic and merchandise, but travel 
 and study. 
 
 As a child, his home had been in Grenada. He had 
 seen his father butchered by the late king, Muley Abul 
 Hassan, without otlier crime than liis reputed riches ; 
 and his body literally cut (jpen to search for the jewels 
 it was supposed he had swallowed. He saw, and, buy as 
 he was, he vowed revenge. A distant kinsman bore the 
 orphan to lands more secure from persecution ; and the 
 art with which the Jews conceal their .wealth, scattering 
 it over various cities, had secured to Almamen the 
 treasures the tyrant of Grenada had failed to grasp. 
 
 He had visited the greater part of the world then 
 known, and resided for many )'ears in the court of the 
 sultan of that hoary Egypt which still retained its fame 
 for abstruse science and magic lore. He had not in vain 
 c-pplied liimself to such tempting and wild researches, 
 and had acquired many of those secrets now, perhaps, 
 lost forever to the world. We do not mean to intimate 
 that he attained to what legend and superstition impose 
 upon our faith as the art of sorcery. He could neither 
 command the elements nor pierce the vail of the future ; 
 scatter armies with a word, nor pass from spot to spot 
 by the utterance of a charmed formula. But men who 
 for ages had passed their lives in attempting all the ef- 
 fects that can astonish and awe the vulgar, could not 
 but learn some secrets which all the more sober wisdom 
 of modern times would search ineffectually to solve or 
 to revive. And many of such arts, acquired mechani- 
 cally (their invention often the work of a chemical acci- 
 dent), those who attained to them could not always 
 explain nor account for the phenomena they created, so 
 that the mightiness of their own deceptions deceived 
 themselves : and tliey often believed they were the mas- 
 ters of the nature to which they were, in reality, but 
 erriitic and wild disciples. Of such was the student in 
 that grim cavern. He knew himself an impostor, but 
 yet he was, in some measure, the dupe, partly of his own 
 bewildered wisdom, partly of the fervor of an imagina- 
 tion exceedingly high-wrought and enthusiastic. His 
 own gorgeous vanity intoxicated him ; and, if it be a 
 historical truth that the kings of the ancient world. 
 blinded by their own power, had moments in which they
 
 24 
 
 LEILA. 
 
 believed themselves more than men, it is not incredible 
 that sages, elevated even above kings, should conceive a 
 frenzy as weak, or, it may be, as sublime, and imagine 
 that they did not claim in vain the awful dignity with 
 which the iaitli of the multitude invested their faculties 
 and gifts. 
 
 But, though the accident of birth, which excluded 
 him from all lield for energy and ambition, had thus di- 
 rected the powerful mind of Almamen to contemplation 
 and study, nature liad never intcuucd passions so fierce 
 for the calm thougli visionary pursuits to which he was 
 addicted. Amidst scrolls and seers, he had pined for 
 action and glory ; and, baffled in all wholesome egress 
 by the universal exclusion which, in every laud and from 
 every faith, met the religion he belonged to, the facul- 
 ties within him ran riot, producing gigantic but baseless 
 schemes, which, as one after the other crumbled away, 
 left behind feelings of dark misanthropy and intense re- 
 venge. 
 
 Perhaps, had his religion being prosperous and pow- 
 erful, he might have been a skeptic ; persecution and 
 affliction made him a fanatic. Yet, true to that promi- 
 nent characteristic of the old Hebrew race which made 
 them look to a Messiah only as a warrior and a prince, 
 and which taught them to associate all their hopes ancl 
 schemes with worldly victories and power, Almamen de- 
 sired rather to advance than to obey his religion, lie 
 cared little for its precepts, he thought little for its doc- 
 trines ; but, night and day, he revolved his schemes for 
 its earthly restoration and triumph. 
 
 At that time the Moors in Spain were far more deadly 
 persecutors of tlie Jews than the Christians were. 
 Amidst the Spanish ciiies on the coast, that merchant 
 tribe had formed commercial connections with the Chris- 
 tians, sulFiciently beiie(ic»'al, both to individuals as to 
 communities, to obtain them not only toleration, but 
 bomelhing of personal friendship, wherever men bought 
 and sold in the market-place. And the gloomy fanati- 
 cism which afterward stained the fame of the great 
 Ferdinand, and introduced tiie horrors of the Incpiisi- 
 tion, had not yet made itself more than fitfully visible. 
 But the Moors had treated this unhappy people with a 
 wiiolesale and relentless barbarity. At Grenada, under 
 the reign of the fierce father of Boabdil — "that king with
 
 LEILA 
 
 ^5 
 
 the tiger heart" — the Jews had been literally piiccd 
 without t.ie pale of humanity ; and, even under that niiic 
 and contemplative Boabdil himself, they had been plun- 
 dered without mercy, and, if suspected of secreting their 
 treasures, massacred without scruple ; the wants of the 
 state continued their unrelenting accusers — their wealth, 
 their inexpiable crime. 
 
 It was in the midst of these barbarities that Almanen, 
 for the first time since the day when the deatli-shriek of 
 his agonized father rung in his ears, suddenly returned 
 to Grenada. He saw the unmitigated miseries of his 
 bretiiren, and heremembered and repeated his vow. His 
 name changed, his kindred dead, none remembered, in the 
 mature Almamen, the beardless child of Issacher the Jew. 
 He had long, indeed, deemed it advisable to disguise his 
 faith ; and was known througiiout the African kingdoms 
 but as the potent sant(^n or the wise magician. 
 
 This fame soon lifted him, in Grenada, high in the 
 councils of the court. Admitted to the intimacy of 
 Muley Hassan, with Boabdil, and the queen mother, he 
 had conspired against that monarch ; and had lived, at 
 least, to avenge his father upon the royal murderer. He 
 was no less intimpje with Boabdil ; but, steeled against 
 fellowship or affection for all men out of the pale of his 
 faith, he saw, in the confidence of the king, only the 
 blindness of a victim. 
 
 Serpent as he was, he cared not through what mire of 
 treachery and fraud he trailed his baleful folds, so that, 
 at last, he could spring upon his prey. Nature had 
 given him sagacity and strength. The curse of circum- 
 stance had humbled, but reconciled him to the dust. He 
 had the crawl of a reptile ; he had, also, its poison and 
 its fangs. 
 
 CHAPTER VI. 
 
 THE LION IN THE NET. 
 
 It was the next night, not long before daybreak, that 
 the King of Grenada abruptly summoned to his council 
 luscf, his vizier. The old man found Boabdil in great 
 
 %
 
 26 LEILA. 
 
 disorder and exilement ; but lie almost deemed his sov- 
 ereign mad when he rccciv'cd from liim the order to seize 
 upon the person of Miizu Ben Abil Gazan, and to lodge 
 him in liie strongest dungeon of the Vermilion Tower. 
 Presuming upt)n Boabdil's natural mildness, the vizier 
 ventured to remonstrate ; to suggest the danger of lay- 
 ing violent hands upon a chief &o beloved ; and to in- 
 quire what cause sliould be assigned for the outrage. 
 
 The veins swelled like cords upon Boabdil's brow as 
 he listened to the vizier, and Iiis answer was short and 
 peremptory. 
 
 "Am I yet a king, that I should fear a subject or ex- 
 cuse my will ? Thou hast my orders; there are my signet 
 and the firman : obedience or the bowstring!" 
 
 Never before had Boabdil so resembled his dread 
 father in speech and air ; the vizier trembled to the soles 
 of his feet, and withdrew in silence. Boabdil watched 
 him depart; and then, clasping his hands in great emo- 
 tion, "Oh, lips of the dead ! ye have warned me ; and 
 to you I sacrifice the friend of my youth." 
 
 On leaving Boabdil, the vizier, taking with him some 
 of those foreign slaves of a seraglio who know no sym- 
 pathy with human passion outside its walls, bent his way 
 to the palace of Muza, sorely puzzled and perplexed. 
 He did not, however, like to venture upon the hazard 
 of the alarm it might occasion throughout the neighbor- 
 hood, if lie endeavored, at so unreasonable an hour, to 
 force an entrance. He resolved, rather, with his train, 
 to wait at a liitlc distance, till, with the growing dawn, 
 the gates should be unclosed and the inmates of the pal- 
 ace astir. 
 
 Accordingly, cursing his stars and wondering at his 
 mission, Jusef and his silent and ominous attendants 
 concealed themselves in a small copse adjoining the pal- 
 ace until the daylight fairly broke over the awakened 
 city. lie then passed into the palace, and was con- 
 ducted to a hall, where he found the renowned Moslem 
 already astir, and conferring with some zegri captains 
 upon the tactics of a sortie designed for that day. 
 
 It was with so evident a reluctance and apprehension 
 that Jusef approaciicd the prince, that tlie fierce and 
 quick-sighted zcgris instantly suspected some evil inten- 
 tion in his visit ; and when Muza, in surprise, yielded to 
 the prayer of the vizier for a private audience, it was
 
 LEILA. 
 
 27 
 
 with scowling brows and sparkling eyes that the Moorish 
 wuniurs left the darling of the nobles alone with the 
 messenger of their king. 
 
 " By the tomb of the prophet !" said one the zegris, 
 as lie leit the hull, " the timid Boabdil suspects our Ben 
 Abil Gazan. I learned of this before." 
 
 "Hush!" said anotlier of the band; "let us watch. 
 If tlie king touch a hair of INIuza's beard, Allah have 
 mercy on his sins !" 
 
 Meanwhile the vizier, in silence, showed to Muza the 
 firman and the signet ; and then, without venturing to 
 announce the place to which he was commissioned to 
 conduct the prince, besought him to follow him at once. 
 Muza changed color, bat not with fear. 
 
 •'Alas !" said he, in a tone of deep sorrow, ''can it be 
 that I have fallen under my royal kinsman's suspicion 
 or displeasure? But no matter; proud to set to Gre- 
 nada an example of valor in her defense, be it mine to set, 
 also, an example of obedience to her king. Go on ; I 
 will follow thee. Yet stay, you will have no need of 
 guards; let us depart by a private egress: the zegris 
 niiglit misgive did they see me leave the palace with you 
 at the very time the army are assembling in the Viva- 
 ram bla and awaiting my presence. This way." 
 
 Thus saying, Muza, who, fierce as he was, obeyed 
 every impulse that the Oriental loyalty dictated from a 
 subject to a king, passed from the hall to a small door 
 that admitted into tlie garden, and in thoughtful silence 
 accompanied the vizier toward the Alliambra. As they 
 passed the copse in which Muza, two niglits before, had 
 met with Almamen, the Moor, lifting his head suddenly, 
 beheld fixed upon him the dark eyes of the magician as 
 he emerged frcjm the trees. Muza thought there was in 
 those eyes a malign and hostile exultation ; but Alma- 
 men, gravely saluting him, passed on through the grove : 
 the prince did not deign to look back, or he might once 
 moie have encountered that withering gaze. 
 
 '■ Proud heathen!" muttered Almamen to himself, 
 " thy father filled his treasures from the gold of many a 
 tortured Hebrew ; and even thou, too haughty to be the 
 miser, hast been savage enough to play the bigot. Thy 
 JCame is a curse in Israel ; yet dost thou lust after the 
 »i'.iughter of our despised race, and, could defeated pas- 
 *.on sting thee, I were avenged. Ay, sweep on, with
 
 28 LEILA. 
 
 thy stately step and lofty crest ; thou goest to chains^ 
 perhaps to death." 
 
 As Alniamen thus vented his bitter spirit, the last 
 gleam of the white robes of Muza vanished from iiis 
 gaze. He paused a moment, turned away abruptly, and 
 said half aloud, " Vengeance, not on one man only, but 
 a whole race ! Now for the Nazarene." 
 
 BOOK II. 
 
 CHAPTER I. 
 
 THE ROYAL TENT OF SPAIN — THE KING AND THE DOMIN- 
 ICAN — THE VISITOR AND THE HOSTAGE. 
 
 Our narrative now summons us to the Christian army, 
 and to the tent in which the Spanish king held nocturnal 
 counsel with some of his more confidential warriors and 
 advisers. Ferdinand had taken the field with all the 
 pomp and circumstance of a tournament ratlier than of 
 a campaign ; and his pavilion literally blazed with pur- 
 ple and cloth of gold. 
 
 The king sat at the head of a table on which were 
 scattered maps and papers; nor in countenance and 
 mien diJ thac great and politic monarch seem unworthy 
 of the brilliant chivalry by which he was surrounded. 
 His black hair, richly perfumed and anointed, fell in 
 long locks on either side of a his^h imperial brow ; upon 
 whose calm though not unfurrowed surface the physiog- 
 nomist would in vain have sought to read the inscrutable 
 lieart of kings. His features were regular and majestic; 
 and his mantle, clasped with a single jewel of rare price 
 and luster, and wrought at the breast with a silver cross, 
 waved over a vigorous and manly frame, which derived 
 from tiie comp(jsed and tranquil dignity of habitual 
 command that imposing effect which many of the re- 
 nowned knights and heroes in his presence took from
 
 LEILA. 
 
 29 
 
 loftier stature and ampleiv proportions. At his right 
 hand sat Prince Juan, his son, in the first bloom of youth; 
 at his left, the celebrated Rodrigo Ponce de Leon, Mar- 
 quis of Cadiz ; along the table in the order of their mil- 
 itary rank, were seen the splendid Duke of Medina Sid- 
 onia, equally noble in aspect and in name ; the worn 
 and tlioughtful countenance of the Marquis de Villena 
 (the Bayard of Spain); the melancholy brow of the 
 heroic Alonzo de Aguilar ; and the gigantic frame, the 
 animated features, and sparkling eyes of that fiery 
 Kernando del Pulgar, surnamed '"the knight of the ex- 
 ploits." 
 
 "You see, senores," said the king, continuing an ad- 
 dress to which his chiefs seemed to listen with reveren- 
 tial attention, " our best hope of speedily gaining the city 
 is rather in the dissensions of the Moors than our own 
 sacred arms. The walls are strong, the population still 
 numerous ; and, under Muza Ben Abil Gazan, the tactics 
 of the hostile army are, it must be owned, administered 
 with such skill, as to threaten very formidable delays to 
 the period of our conquest. Avoiding the hazard of a 
 fixed battle, the infidel cavalry harass our camp by per- 
 petual skirmishes; and in the mountain defiles our detach- 
 ments cannot cope with their light-horse and treacherous 
 ambuscades. It is true that, by dint of time, by the com- 
 plete devastation of the Vega, and by vigilant preven- 
 tion of convoys from the sea-towns, we might starve the 
 city into yielding ; but, alas ! my lords, our enemies are 
 scattered and numerous, and Grenada is not the only 
 place before which the standard of Spain should be un- 
 furled. Thus situated, the lion does not disdain to serve 
 himself of the fox ; and, fortunately, we have now in 
 Grenada an ally that fights for us. I have actual knowl- 
 edge of all that passes within the Alhambra ; the king 
 yet remains in his palace, irresolute and dreaming ; and T 
 trust that an intrigue, by which his jealousies arc aroused 
 against his general, Muza, may end either in the loss of 
 that able leader, or in the commotion- of open rebellion 
 or civil war. Treason within Grenada will open its 
 gates to us." 
 
 " Sire," said Ponce de Leon, after a pause, "under 
 your counsels I no more doubt of 'seeing our banner 
 floating above the Vermilion Towers '.han I doubt the 
 rising of the sun over yonder hills ; it matters little
 
 yy LEILA. 
 
 whether we win by stratagem or force. But I need not 
 say to your higlmess that we should carefully beware, 
 lest we be amused by iuveiitions of the enemy, and trust 
 to conspiracies which may be but l>'ing tales to blunt 
 our sabers and paralyze our action." 
 
 "Bravely spoken, wise Dc Leon!" exclaimed Her- 
 nando del Pulgar, hotly; "and against these infidels, aitlcd 
 by the cunning of the Evil One, methinks our best wis- 
 dom lies in the sword-arm. Well says our Castilian 
 proverb, 
 
 ' Curse them devoutly, 
 Hammer them stoutly.'" 
 
 The king smiled slightly at the ardor of the favorite 
 of his army, but looked round for more deliberate coun- 
 sel. 
 
 "Sire," said Villena, "far be it from us to inquire the 
 grounds upon which your majesty builds your hope of 
 dissension among the foe ; but, placing the most san- 
 guine confidence in a wisdom never to be deceived, it is 
 clear that we should relax no energy within our means, 
 but fight while we plot, and seek to conquer while we do 
 not neglect to undermine." 
 
 "You speak well, my lord," said Ferdinand, thought- 
 fully ; "and you yourself shall head a strong detachment 
 to lay waste the Vega. Seek me two hours hence ; the 
 council for the present is dissolved." 
 
 The knights rose, and withdrew with the usual grave 
 and stately ceremonies of respect, which Ferdinand ob- 
 served to and exacted from his court ; the young prince 
 remained. 
 
 "Son," said Ferdinand, when they were alone, "early 
 and betimes should the infants of Spain be lessoned in 
 the science of kingcraft. These nobles are among the 
 brightest jewels of the crown ; but still it is in the crown 
 and for tiie crown that their light should sparkle. Thou 
 seest how hot, and fierce and warlike are the chiefs of 
 Spain ; excellent virtues when manifested against our 
 foes; but, had we no foes, Juan, such virtues might 
 cause us exceeding trouble. By St. .Tago, I have found- 
 ed a mighty monarchy ! observe how it should be main- 
 tained : by science, Juan, by science! and science is as 
 far removed from brute force as this sword from a crow- 
 bar. Thou seemest bewildered and amazed, my son ; thou
 
 LEILA. 31 
 
 hast heard that I seek to conquer Grenada by dissensions 
 among the Moors ; when Grenada is conquered, remem- 
 ber that tlie nobles themselves are a Grenada. Ave Ma- 
 ria ! blessed be the Holy Mother, under whose eyes are 
 the hearts of kings." 
 
 Ferdinand crossed himself devoutly ; and then, rising, 
 drew aside a part of the drapery of the pavilion, and 
 called, in a low voice, tb.e name of Perez. A grave 
 Spaniard, somewhat past the verge of middle age, ap- 
 peared. 
 
 "Perez," said the king, reseating himself, "has the 
 person we expected from Grenada yet arrived ?" 
 
 "Sire, yes, accompanied by a maiden." 
 
 " He hath kept his word ; admit them. Ha, holy 
 father ! thy visits are always as balsam to the heart." 
 
 " Save you, my son !" returned a man in the robes of 
 a Dominican friar, who had entered suddenly and with- 
 out ceremony by another part of the tent, and who now 
 seated himself with smileless composure at a little dis- 
 tance from the king. 
 
 There was a dead silence for some moments ; and 
 Perez still lingered within the tent, as if in doubt 
 whether the entrance of the friar would not prevent or 
 delay obedience to the king's command. On the calm 
 face of Ferdinand himself appeared a slight shade of dis- 
 composure and irresolution, when the monk thus re- 
 sumed : 
 
 " My presence, my son, will not, I trust, disturb your 
 conference with the infidel, sith you deem worldly pol- 
 icy demands your parley with the men of Belial ?" 
 
 " Doubtless not — doubtless not," returned the king, 
 quickly; then, muttering to himself, "how wondrously 
 doth this holy man penetrate into all our movements 
 and designs!" he added, aloud, "let the messenger 
 enter," 
 
 Perez bowed and withdrew. 
 
 During this time the young prince reclined in listless 
 silence on his seat ; and on his delicate features was an 
 expression of weariness which augured but ill of his fit- 
 ness for the stern business to which the lessons of his 
 wise father were intended to educate his mind. His, in- 
 deed, was tiie age, and his the soul, for pleasure ; the 
 tumult of the camp was to him but a holiday exhibition ; 
 the march of an army, the exhilaration of a spectacle;
 
 32 
 
 LEILA. 
 
 the court \"as a banquet, the tlirone the best seat at the 
 entertainment. The life of the heir-apparent to the life 
 of the king possessive is as the distinction between en- 
 chanting hope and tiresome satiety. 
 
 The small gray eyes of the friar wandered over each 
 of his royal companions with a keen and penetrating 
 glance, and then settled in the aspect of humility on the 
 rich carpets that bespread the floor ; nor did he again lift 
 them till Perez, reappearing, admitted to the tent the 
 Israelite Almamen, accompanied by a female figure, 
 whose long vail, extending from head to foot, could con- 
 ceal neither the beautiful proportions nor the trembling 
 agitation of her frame. 
 
 " When last, great king, I was admitted to thy pres- 
 ence," said Almamen, " thou didst make question of the 
 sincerity and faith of thy servant ; thou didst ask me for 
 a surety of my faith ; thou didst demand a hostage ; and 
 didst refuse further parley wiiiiout such pledge were 
 yielded to thee. Lo ! I place under thy kingly care this 
 maiden — the sole child of my house — as surety of my 
 truth ; I intrust to tliee a life dearer than my own." 
 
 " You have kept faith with us, stranger," said the 
 king, in that soft and musical voice which well disguised 
 his deep craft and his unrelenting will ; " and the maiden 
 whom you intrust to our charge shall be ranked with 
 the ladies of our royal consort." 
 
 "Sire," replied Almamcn, with touching earnestness, 
 "you now hold the power of life and death over all for 
 whom this heart can breathe a prayer or cherish a hope, 
 save for my countrymen and my religion. This solemn 
 pledge between thee and me I render up without scruple, 
 without fear. To thee I give a hostage, //-(^w thee I have 
 but a promise." 
 
 " But it is the promise of a king, a Christian, and a 
 knight," said the king with dignity rather mild than ar- 
 rogant ; "among monarchs, what liostage can be more 
 sacred 1 Let this pass ; how proceed affairs in the rebel 
 city ?" 
 
 '• Maj this maiden withdraw ere I answer my lord the 
 king?" said Almamen. 
 
 The young prince started to his feet. " Shall I con- 
 duct this new charge to my mother.-"' he asked, in a low 
 voice, addressing Ferdinand. 
 
 The ki?ng half smiled : "The holy father were a bet-
 
 LEILA. 
 
 33 
 
 ter guide," he returned, in the same tone. But though 
 the Dominican heard the hint, he retained his motionless 
 posture ; and Ferdinand, after a momentary gaze on the 
 friar, turned away. "Be it so, Juan," said lie, with a 
 look meant to convey caution to the prince ; " Perez sliall 
 accompany you to the queen ; return the moment your 
 mission is fulfilled — we want your presence." 
 
 While the conversation was carried on between the 
 father and son, the Hebrew was whispering, in his sacred 
 tongue, words of comfort and remonstrance to the 
 maiden ; but they appeared to have but little of the de- 
 sired effect ; and suddenly falling on his breast, she 
 wound her arms around the Hebrew, whose breast shook 
 with strong emotions, and exclaimed passionately, in the 
 same language, " Oh, my father ! what have I done ? why 
 send me from thee ? why intrust thy child to the stranger? 
 Spare me, spare me ! " 
 
 " Child of my heart !" returned the Hebrew, with sol- 
 emn but tender accents, "even as Abraham offered up 
 his son, must I offer thee upon the altars of our faith; 
 but oh, Leila ! even as the angel of the Lord forbade the 
 offering, so sliall thy youth be spared, and thy years re- 
 served for the gl-ry of generations yet unborn. King of 
 Spain !" he continued, in the Spanish tongue, suddenly 
 and eagerly, "you are a father, forgive my weakness, and 
 speed this parting." 
 
 Juan approached ; and, with respectful courtesy, at- 
 tempted to take the hand of the maiden. 
 
 "You," said the Israelite, with a dark frown. "Oh, 
 king! the prince is young. " 
 
 " Honor knoweth no distinction of age," answered the 
 king, " What ho, Perez ! accompany this maiden and 
 the prince to the queen's pavilion." 
 
 Tlie sight of the sober years and grave countenance of 
 the attendant seemed to re-assure the Hebrew. He 
 strained Leila in his arms ; printed a kiss upon her fore- 
 head without removing her vail ; and then, placing her 
 almost in the arms of Perez, turned aw\ay to the farther 
 end of the tent, and concealed his face with his hands. 
 The king appeared touched ; but the Dominican gazed 
 upon the whole scene with a sour scowl. 
 
 Leila still paused for a moment ; and then, as if recov- 
 ering her self-possession, said aloud and distinctly, " Man 
 deserts me ; but I will not forget that God is over all."
 
 34 
 
 LEILA. 
 
 Shaking off the hand of the Spaniard, she cor. tinned, 
 " Lead on ; I follow thee ! " and left the tent with a steady 
 and even majestic step. 
 
 " And now," said the king, when alone with the 
 Dominican and Almamen, " how proceed our hopes ?" 
 
 "Boabdil," replied the Israelite, "is aroused against 
 both his army and their leader Muza ; the king will no! 
 leave the Alliambra ; and this morning, ere I left the city 
 Muza himself was in the prisons of the palace." 
 
 ■' How !" cried the king, starting from his seat. 
 
 " This is my work," pursued the Hebrew, coldly. " It 
 is these hands that are shaping for Ferdinand of Spain 
 the keys of Grenada." 
 
 " And right kingly shall be your guerdon," said the 
 Spanish monarch; "meanwhile, accept this earnest of 
 our favor." 
 
 So saying, he took from his breast a chain of massive 
 gold, the links of which wee curiously inwrought with 
 gems, and extended it to the Israelite. Almamen moved 
 not. A dark flush upon the countenance bespoke the 
 feelings he with difficulty restrained. 
 
 " I sell not my foes for gold, great king," said he, with 
 a stern smile ; " I sell my foes to buy the ransom of my 
 friends." 
 
 " Churlish !" said Ferdinand, olTended ; ** but speak 
 on, man ! speak on !" 
 
 " If I place Grenada, ere two weeks are passed, with- 
 in thy power, what shall be my reward ?" 
 
 " Thou didst talk to me, when last we met, of immu- 
 nities to the Jews." 
 
 The calm Dominican looked up as the king spoke, 
 crossed himself, and resumed his attitude of humility, 
 
 " I demand for the people of Israel," returned Alma- 
 men, " free leave t(^ trade and abide within the city, and 
 follow their callings, subjected only to the same laws 
 and the same imposts as the Christian population." 
 
 "The same l.iws and the same imposts! Humph! 
 there arc difficulties in the concession. If we refuse?" 
 
 " Our treaty is ended. Give me back the maiden ; 
 you will have no further need of the hostage you de- 
 manded ; I return to the city, and renew our interviews 
 no more." 
 
 Politic and cold-bloodedas was the temperament of the 
 great Ferdinand, he had yet the imperious and haughty
 
 LEILA. 
 
 35 
 
 nature of a prosperous and long-descended king; and 
 he bit nis lip in deep displeasure at the tone of tiic dic- 
 tatorial and stately stranger. 
 
 " Thou usest plain language, my friend," said he; " my 
 words can be as rudely spcjken. Thou art in my power, 
 and canst return not save at my permission." 
 
 " I have your royal word, sire, fcjr free entrance and 
 safe egress," answered Almamen. '' Break it, and Gre- 
 nada is with the Moors till the Darro runs red with the 
 blood of her heroes, and her people strew the vales as 
 the leaves in autumn." 
 
 " Art thou, tlien, thyself of the Jewish faith ?" asked 
 the king. " If thou art not, wherefore are the outcasts of 
 the world so dear to thee ?" 
 
 " My fathers were of that creed, royal Ferdinand ; and 
 if I m3'self desert their creed, I do not desert their cause. 
 Oh, king ! are my terms scorned or accepted ?" 
 
 "I accept them : provided, first, that thou obtainest 
 the exile or death of Muza; secondly, that within two 
 weeks of this date, thou bringest me, along with the 
 cliief councilors of Grenada, the written treaty of the 
 capitulation and the keys of the city. Do this, and, 
 though the sole king in Christendom who dares the 
 hazard, I offer to the Israelites throughout Andalusia the 
 common laws and rights of citizens of Spain ; and to 
 thee I will accord such dignity as may content thy am- 
 bition." 
 
 The Hebrew bowed reverently, and drew from his 
 breast a scroll, which he placed an the table before the 
 king. ^ 
 
 "This writing, mighty Ferdinand, contains the arti- 
 cles of our compact." 
 
 "How, knave! wouldst thou have us commit our 
 royal signature to conditions with such as thou art, to 
 the chance of the public eye? The king's word is the 
 king's bond !" 
 
 The Hebrew took up the scroll with imperturbable 
 composure. " My child !" said he ; " will your majesty 
 summon back my child ? we would depart." 
 
 "A sturdy mendicant this, by the Virgin !" muttered 
 the king; and tlien, npeaking aloud, "Give me the 
 paper, I will scan it." 
 
 Running his eyes hastily over the words, Ferdinand 
 paused a moment, and then drew toward him the imple-
 
 36 
 
 LEILA. 
 
 merits of writing, signed the scroll, and returned it to 
 Almamen. 
 
 Tlie Israelite kissed it thrice with Oriental venera- 
 tion, and replaced it in his breast. 
 
 Ferdinand looked at him hard and curiously. lie 
 was a profound reader of men's characters, but that of 
 his guest baffled and perplexed him. 
 
 "And how, stranger," said lie, gravely, "how can I 
 trust that man who tlius distrusts one king and sells an- 
 other ? 
 
 "Oh, king !" replied Almamen (accustomed from his 
 youth to commune with and command the possessors of 
 thrones yet more absolute)": "oh king! if thou believest 
 me actuated by personal and selfish interests in this our 
 compact, thou hast but to make my service minister to 
 my interest, and the lore of human nature will tell thee 
 that thou hast won a ready and submissive slave. But 
 if thou thinkst I have avowed sentiments less abject, and 
 developed qualities higlier than those of the mere bar- 
 gainer for sordid power, oughtst thou not to rejoice that 
 chance has thrown into thy way one whose intellect and 
 faculties may be made thy tool ? If I betray another, 
 that other is my deadly foe. Dost not thou, the lord of 
 armies, betray thine enemy? the Moor is an enemy bit- 
 terer to myself than to thee. Because I betray an enemy, 
 am I unworthy to serve a friend? If I, a single nian, 
 and a stranger to the Moor, can yet command the secrets 
 of palaces, and render vain the counsels of armed men, 
 have I not in that attested that I am one of whom a wise 
 king can make an able servant ?" 
 
 "Thou art a subtle reasoner, my friend," said Ferdi- 
 nand, smiling gently. " Peace go with thee ! our confer- 
 ence for the time is ended. Wliat ho, Perez !" 
 
 The attendant appeared. 
 
 " Thou hast left the maiden with the queen ?" 
 
 " Sire, you have been obeyed." 
 
 "Conduct this stranger to the guard who led him 
 through the camp. He quits us under the same j rotec- 
 tion. Farewell ! Yet stay ; thou art assured that Muza 
 Ben Abil Gazan is in the prisons of the Moor?" 
 
 "Yes." 
 
 " Blessed be the Virgin !" 
 
 " Thou hast heard our conference, Father Tamas?"
 
 LEILA. 
 
 37 
 
 said the king, anxiously, when the Hebrew had with- 
 drawn. 
 
 " I have, son." 
 
 "Did thy veins freeze with horror ?" 
 
 " Only when my son signed the scroll. It seemed to 
 me then that T saw the cloven foot of the tempter." 
 
 "Tush, father ! the tempter would have been more 
 wise than to reckon upon a faith which no ink and no 
 parchment can render valid, if tlie Churcii absolve tlie 
 compact. Thou understandest me, father?" 
 
 "I do. I know your pious heart and well-judging 
 mind." 
 
 "Thou wert right," resumed the king, musingly, 
 "when tliou didst tell us that these caitiiff Jews were 
 waxing strong in the fatness of their substance. They 
 would have equal laws — the insolent blasphemers." 
 
 " Son," said tlie Dominican, with earnest adjuration, 
 "God, who hath prospered your arms and councils, will 
 require at your hands an account of the power intrusted 
 to you. Shall there be no difference between his friends 
 and his foes — his disciples and his crucificrs .''" 
 
 " Priest," said the king, laying his hand on the monk's 
 shoulder, and with a saturnine smile upon his counte- 
 nance, "were religion silent in this matter, policy has a 
 voice loud enough to make itself heard. The Jews de- 
 mand equal rights : when men demand equality with 
 their masters, treason is at work, and justice sharpens 
 her sword. Equality ! these wealthy usurers ! Sacred 
 Virgin ! they would soon be buying up our kingdoms." 
 
 The Dominican gazed hard on the king. "Son, I 
 trust thee," he said, in a low voice, and glided from the 
 tent. 
 
 CHAPTER II. 
 
 THE AMBUSH, THE STRIFE AND THE CAPTURE. 
 
 The day was slowly breaking over the wide valley of 
 Grenada as Almamen pursued his circuitous and solitary 
 path back to the city. He was now in a dark and en- 
 tangled hollow, covered with brakes and bushes, from
 
 38 LEILA. 
 
 amidst wliicli tall forest trees arose in frequent intervals, 
 gloomy and breathless in the still morning air. As, 
 emerging from this jungle, if so it may be called, the 
 towers of Grenada gleamed upon him, a human counte- 
 nance peered from the shade, and Almamen started to see 
 two dark eyes fixed upon his own. 
 
 lie halted abruptly and put his hand on his dagger, 
 when a low, sharp whistle from the apparition before 
 him was answered around, behind; and, ere he could 
 draw breath, the Israelite was begirt by a group of Moors 
 in the garb of peasants. 
 
 "Well, my masters," said Almamen, calmly, as he en- 
 countered the wild, savage countenances that glared upon 
 him, "think you that there is aught to fear from the sol- 
 itary santon ?" 
 
 " It is the magician," whispered one man to his neigh- 
 bor ; " let him pass." 
 
 " Nay," was the answer, " take him before the captain ; 
 "we have orders to seize on all we meet." 
 
 This counsel prevailed ; and gnashing his teeth with 
 secret rage, Almamen found himself hurried along by 
 the peasants through the thickest part of the copse. At 
 length the procession stopped in a semicircular patch of 
 rank sward, in which several head of cattle were quietly 
 grazing, and a yet more numerous troop of peasants re- 
 clined upon the grass. 
 
 "Who have we here?" asked a voice which started 
 back the blood from Almamen's cheek ; and a Moor of 
 commanding presence rose from the midst of his breth- 
 ren. " By the beard of the prophet, it is the false santon ! 
 What dost thou from Grenada at this hour?" 
 
 "Noble Muza," returned Almamen, who, though in- 
 deed amazed that one whom he had imagined his victim 
 was thus unaccountably become his judge, retained at 
 least the semblance of composure, "my answer is to be 
 given only to my lord the king ; it is his commands that 
 I obey." 
 
 "Thou art aware," said Muza, frowning, "that thy 
 life is forfeited without appeal? Whasoever inmate of 
 Grenada is found without the walls between sunset and 
 sunrise dies the death of a traitor and deserter." 
 
 "The servants of the Alhambra are excepted," an- 
 swered the Israelite, without changing his countenance. 
 
 "Ah!" muttered Muza, as a painful and sudden
 
 LEILA. 
 
 39 
 
 thouglit seemed to cross him, "can it be possible that 
 the rumor of the city hath truth, and that the monarch of 
 Grenada is in treaty with the foe?" He mused a little ; 
 and then, motioning the Moors to withdraw, he contin- 
 ued aloud, "Almamen, answer me truly; hast thou 
 sought the Christian camp with any message from the 
 king?" 
 
 " I have not." 
 
 " Art thou without the walls on the mission of the 
 king ?" 
 
 " If I be so, I am a traitor to the king should I reveal 
 his secret." 
 
 " I doubt thee much, santon," said Muza, after a pause. 
 " I know thee for my enemy, and I do believe thy coun- 
 sels have poisoned the king's ear against me, his people, 
 and his duties. But no matter, thy life is spared awhile ; 
 thou remainest with us, and with us shalt thou return to 
 the king." 
 
 " But, noble Muza — " 
 
 " I have said ! guard the santon ; mount him upon 
 one of our chargers ; he shall abide with us in our am- 
 bush." 
 
 While Almamen chafed in vain at his arrest, all in 
 the Christian camp was yet still. At length, as the sun 
 began to lift himself above the mountains, first a mur- 
 mur, and then a din, betokened warlike preparations. 
 Several parties of horse, under gallant and experienced 
 leaders, formed themselves in different quarters, and 
 departed in different ways, on expeditions of forage or 
 in the hope of skirmish with the straggling detachments 
 of the enemy. Of these, the best equipped was conduct- 
 ed by the Marquis de Villena and his gallant brother 
 Don Ahjuzo de Pacheco. In this troop, too, rode many 
 of t!ie best blood of Spain ; for in that chivalric army tlie 
 officers vied with each t)ther who sliould most eclipse the 
 meaner soldiery in feats of personal valor, and the name 
 of Villena drew around him the eager and ardent spirits 
 that pined at the general inactivity of Ferdinand's politic 
 campaign. 
 
 The sun, now high in heaven, glittered on the splendid 
 arms and goi-geous pennons of Villena's company, as, 
 leaving the camp behind, it entered a rich and wooded 
 district that skirts the mountain barrier of the Vega ; the 
 brilliancy of the day, the beauty of the scene, the hope
 
 40 
 
 LEILA. 
 
 and excitement of enterprise, animated the spirits of the 
 whole party. In these expeditions strict discipline was 
 often abandoned, from the certainty that it could be 
 resumed at need. Conversation, gay and loud, inter- 
 spersed with snatches of song, was heard among the 
 soldiery ; and in the nobler group that rode with Villena 
 there was even less of the proverbial gravity of Span- 
 iards. 
 
 " Now, Marquis," said Don Estevon de Suzon, " what 
 wager shall be between us as to which lance this day 
 robs Moorish beauty of the greatest number of its wor- 
 shipers?" 
 
 "My falchion against your jennet," said Don Alonzo 
 de Pacheco, taking up the challenge. 
 
 "Agreed. But, inking of beauty, were you in the 
 queen's pavilion last night, noble marquis ? It was 
 enriched by a new maiden, whose strange and sudden 
 apparition none can account for. Her eyes would have 
 eclipsed the fatal glance of Cava; and had I been Rodrigo, 
 I might have lost a crown for her smile." 
 
 "Ay," said V^illena, "I heard of her beauty; some 
 hostage from one of the traitor Moors, with wiiom" the 
 king (the saints bless him !) bargains for the city. They 
 tell me the prince incurred the queen's grave rebuke for 
 his attentions to the maiden." 
 
 "And this morning I saw that fearful Father Tomas 
 steal into the prince's tent. I wish Don Juan well through 
 the lecture. The monk's advice is like the algarroba ;* 
 when it is laid up to dry it may be reasonably whole- 
 some, but it is harsh and bitter enough when taken 
 fresh." 
 
 At this moment one of the sabaltern officers rode up 
 to the marquis, and whispered in his ear. 
 
 " Ila !" said Villena, " the Virgin be praised ! Sir 
 knights, booty is at hand. Silence! Close up the ranks." 
 
 With that, mounting a little eminence, and shading 
 hi? eyes with his hand, the marquis surveyed the plain 
 belcjw ; and, at some distance, he beheld a horde of 
 Moorish peasants driving some cattle into a thick copse. 
 The word was hastily given, the troop dashed on, every 
 voice was hushed, and the clatter of mail and the sound 
 of hoofs alone broke the delicious silence of the noon- 
 
 *The algarroba is a sort of leguminQus plant common io Spain.
 
 LEILA. 
 
 41 
 
 day landscape. Ere they reached the copse the peasants 
 had disappeared within it. The marquis marshaled his 
 men in a semicircle round the trees, and sent on a de- 
 tachment to the rear to cut off every egress from the 
 wood. This done, the troop dashed with n. For the 
 first few yards the space was more open tUan they had 
 anticipated ; but the ground soon grew uneven, rugged, 
 and almost precipitous ; and the soil and the interlaced 
 trees alike forbade any rapid motion to tlie horse. Don 
 Alonzo de Pacheco, mounted on a charger whose, agile 
 and docile limbs had been tutored to every description 
 of warfare, and himself of little weight and incompar- 
 able horsemanship, dashed on before the rest. The trees 
 hid him for a moment ; when, suddenly, a wild yell was 
 heard, and, as it ceasud, up rose the solitary voice of the 
 Spaniard, shouting, '■^ Santiago, y cierra, Espana ; St. Jago, 
 and charge, Spain !" 
 
 Each cavalier spurred forward, when suddenly a 
 shower of darts and arrows rattled on their armor; and 
 up sprung, from bush, and reeds, and rocky cliff, a num- 
 ber of Moors, and with wild shouts swarmed around the 
 Spaniards. 
 
 " Back for your lives !" cried Villena ; " we are beset ; 
 make for the level ground !" 
 
 He turned, spurred from the thicket, and saw the 
 Paynim foe emerging through the glen, line after line of 
 man and horse ; each Moor leading his slight and fiery 
 steed by the bridle, and leaping on it as he issued from 
 the wood into the plain. Cased in complete mail, liis vi- 
 zor down, his lance in rest, Villena (accompanied by 
 such of his knights as could disentangle themselves from 
 the Moorish foot) charged upon the foe. A moment of 
 fierce shock passed : on the ground l;.v many a Moor, pierc- 
 ed through by the Christian lance; and on the other side of 
 the foe was heard the voice of Villena — " St. Jago to the 
 rescue !" But the brave marquis stood almost alone, save 
 his faithful chamberlain, Solier. Several of his knights 
 were dismounted, and swarms of Moors, with lifted 
 knives, gatiiered around them as they lav, searching for 
 the joints of the armor which might admit a mortal 
 wound. Gradually, one by one, many of Villena's com- 
 rades joinei their leader ; and now the green mantle of 
 Don Alonzo de Pacheco was seen waving without the 
 copse, and Villena congratulated himself on the safety
 
 42 
 
 LEILA. 
 
 of his brother. Just at tliat moment a Moorish cavalier 
 sparred from his troop, and met Pacheco in full career. 
 The Moor was not clad, as was the common custom of the 
 Paynim nobles, in the heavy Christian armor. He wore the 
 light flexilt mail of the ancient heroes of Araby or Fez. 
 His turban, which was protected by chains of the finest 
 steel interwoven with tlie folds, was of the most dazzling 
 white ; white, also, were his tunic and short mantle ; on 
 his left arm hung a short circular shield ; in his right 
 hand was poised a long and slender lance. As this 
 Moor, mounted on a charger in whose raven hue not a 
 white hair could be detected, dashed forward against 
 Pacheco, both Christian and Moor breathed hard and re- 
 mained passive. Either nation felt it as a sacrilege to 
 thwart the encounter jf champions so renowned. 
 
 "God save my brave brother!" muttered Villcna, 
 anxiously. "Aiiien," said those around him; for all 
 who had ever beheld the wildest valor in that war trem- 
 bled as they recognized the dazzling robe and coal-black 
 charger of Muza Ben Abil Gazan. Nor was that re- 
 nowned infidel mated with an unworthy foe. " Pride of 
 the tournament and terror of the war" was the favorite 
 title which the knights and ladies of Castile had bestowed 
 on Don Alonzo de Pacheco. 
 
 When the Spaniard saw the redoubted Moor approach, 
 he halted abruptly for a moment, and then, wheeling his 
 horse round, took a wider circuit to give additional im- 
 oetus to his charge. The Moor, aware of his purpose, 
 *ialted also, and awaited the moment of his rush ; when 
 once more he darted forward, and the combatants met 
 with a skill which called forth a cry of involuntary ap- 
 plause from the Christians themselves. Muza received 
 on the small surface of his shield the ponderous spear of 
 Alonzo, while his own light lance struck upcxi the hel- 
 met of the Christian, and, by the exactness of the aim 
 rather than the weight of the blow, made Alonzo reel in 
 his saddle. 
 
 The lances were thrown aside ; the long broad fal- 
 chion of the Christian, the curved Damascus scimeter of 
 the Moor, gleamed in the air. They reined their 
 chargers opposite each other in grave and deliberate si- 
 lence. 
 
 "Yield thee, Sir Knight!" at length cried the fierce 
 Moor, "for the motto of my scimeter declares that, if
 
 LEILA. 43 
 
 thou meetest its stroke, thy days are numbered. The 
 sword of the believer is the key of lieaveu and hell."* 
 
 "False Payaim," answered Alonzo, in a voice that 
 rung holhnv through his helmet, "a Christian knight is 
 the equal of a Moorish army !" 
 
 Muza made no reply, but left the rein of his charger 
 on his neck; the noble animal understood the signal, and, 
 with a short, impatient cry, rushed forward at full speed. 
 Alonzo met the charge with his falchion upraised, and 
 his whole body covered with liis shield ; the Moor bent 
 — the Spaniards raised a shout — Muza seemed stricken 
 from his horse. But the blow of the heavy falchion had 
 not touched him ; and, seemingly v/ithout an effort, the 
 curved blade of his own scimeter, gliding by that part of 
 his antagonist's throat where the helmet joins the 
 cuirass, passed unresistingly and silently through the 
 joints; and Alonzo fell at once and without a groan 
 from ills horse, his armor, to all appearance, impene- 
 trated, while the blood oozed slow and gurgling from a 
 mortal wound. 
 
 "Allah il Allah!" shouted Muza, as he joined his 
 friends ; " Lelilies ! Lelilies !" echoed the Moors ; 
 and, ere the Christians recovered their dismay, they were 
 engaged hand to hand wMth their ferocious and swarm- 
 ing foes. It was, indeed, fearful odds ; and it was a 
 marvel to the Spaniards how the Moors had been enabled 
 to harbor and conceal their numbers in so small a space. 
 Horse and foot alike beset the company of VilLna, al- 
 ready sadly reduced ; and while the infantry, with des- 
 perate and savage fierceness, thrust themselves under the 
 very bellies of the chargers, encountering botli the hoofs 
 of the steed and the deadly lance of the rider in tiie hope 
 of finding a vulnerable place lor the sharp Moorisu 
 knife, the horsemen, avoiding the stern grapple of the 
 Spanish warriors, harassed them by the shaft and laxice, 
 now advancing, now retreating, and performing with in- 
 credible rapidity the evolutions of Oriental cavalry. 
 But the life and soul of his party was the indomitable 
 Muza. With a rashness which seemed to the supersti- 
 tious Spaniards like the safety of a man protected by 
 magic, he spurred his ominous black barb into the very 
 
 * Such, says Sale, is the poetical phrase of the Mohammedan di- 
 vines.
 
 44 
 
 LEILA. 
 
 midst of the serried phalanx whice Villena endeavored 
 to form around him, breaking the order by his single 
 charge, and from time to time bringing to the dust some 
 champion of the troop by the noiseless and scarce-seen 
 edge <jf his fatal scimeter. 
 
 Villena, in despair alike of fame and life, and gnawed 
 with grief for his brother's loss, at length resolved to 
 put the last hope of the battle on his single arm. He 
 gave the signal for retreat ; and, to protect his troop, 
 remained himself motionless on his horse, like a statue 
 of iron. Though not of large frame, lie was esteemed 
 the best swordsman, next only to Hernando del Pulgar 
 and Gonsalvo de Cordova, in the army ; practiced alike 
 in the heavy assault of the Christian warfare and the 
 rapid and dexterous exercise of the Moorish cavalry. 
 There he remained, alone and grim, a lion at bay, while 
 his troops slowly retreated down the Vega, and their 
 trumpets sounded loud signals of distress and demands 
 for succor to such of their companions as might be 
 within hearing. Villena's armor defied the shafts of the 
 Moors ; and as one after another darted toward him with 
 whirling scimeter and momentary assault, few escaped 
 with impunity from an eye equally quick and a weapon 
 more than equally formidable. Suddenly a cloud of dust 
 sv/ept toward him, and Muza, a moment before at the 
 farther end of the field, came glittering through that 
 cloud, with his white robe waving and his right arm 
 bare. Villena recognized him, set his teeth hard, and 
 putting spurs to his charger, met the rush. Muza 
 swerved aside just as the heavy falchion swung over iiis 
 head, and, by a back stroke of his own scimeter, cleft 
 through the cuirass-of Villena just above the hip-joint, 
 and tljc blood followed the blade. The brave cavaliers 
 now saw the danger of their chief; three of their num- 
 ber darted forward, and came in time to separate the 
 combatants. 
 
 Muza staid not to encounter the new re-enforcement, 
 but speeding across the plain, was soon seen rallying his 
 own scattered cavalry, and pouring them down, in one 
 general body, upon the scanty remnant of the Spaniards. 
 
 "Our day is come!" said the good knight Villena, 
 with bitter rcsi-j^nation. " Nothing is left for us, my 
 friends, but to give up our lives — an example how Span- 
 ish warriors should live and die. May God and the
 
 LEILA. 
 
 45 
 
 Holy Mother forgive our sins, and shorten our purga- 
 tory !" 
 
 Just as he spoke a clarion was heard at a distance, 
 and the sharpened senses of the knights caught the ring 
 of advancing iioofs. 
 
 " We are saved !" cried Estevon de Suzon, rising on 
 his stirrups. Wiiile he spoke the dashing stream of the 
 Spanish horse broke over the little band ; and Estevon 
 beheld, bent upon himself, the dark eyes and quivering 
 lip of jNIuza Ben Abil Gazan. That noble l^night had 
 never, perliaps, till then, known fear; but he felt his 
 heart stand still as he now stood opposed to that irresist- 
 ible foe. 
 
 "The dark fiend guides his blade!" thought De 
 Suzon; "but I was shriven but yester-morn." The 
 thought restored his wonted courage, and he spurred on 
 to meet the scimeter of the Moor. 
 
 His assault to(jk Muza by surprise. The iNIoor's horse 
 stumbled over the ground, cumbered with the dead and 
 slippery with blood, and his uplifted scimeter could not 
 do more than break the force of the gigantic arm of De 
 Suzon, as the knight's falchion, bearing down the 
 scimeter and alighting on the turban of the Mohamme- 
 dan, cleft midway through its folds, arrested only by the 
 admirable temper of the links of steel which protected 
 it. The shock hurled tlie Moor to the ground. He roU- 
 /id under the saddle-girths of his antagonist. 
 
 "Victory and St, Jago !" cried the knight; "Muza 
 is " 
 
 The sentence was left eternally unfinished. The blade 
 of the fallen Moor had already pierced De Suzon's horse 
 through a mortal but undefended part. It fell, bearing 
 his rider with him. A moment, and the two champions 
 lay together grappling in the dust ; in the next, the short 
 knife which the Moor wore in his girdle had penetrated 
 the Ciiristian's vizor, passing through, the brain 
 
 To remount his steed, that remained at hand humbled 
 and motionless, to apj^ear again amonj^ the thickest of 
 the fray, was a work no less rapidly accomplished than 
 had been the slaughter of the unhappy Estevon de 
 Suzon. But now the fortune of the day was stopped in 
 a progress hitherto so triumphant to the Moors. 
 
 Pricking fast over the plain were seen the glittering 
 horsemen of the Christian re-enforcements ; and, at the
 
 46 
 
 LEILA. 
 
 remoter distance, the royal banner of Spain, indistinctly 
 
 acscried through volumes of dust, denoted that Ferdi- 
 nand himself was advancing to the support of his cava- 
 liers. 
 
 The Moors, however, w'ho had themselves received 
 many an.i mysterious rc-enforcements, which seemed to 
 spring up like magic from the bosom of the earth, so 
 suddenly and unexpectedly had they emerged from copse 
 and cleft in that mountainous and entangled neiglibor- 
 liood, were not prepared for a fresh foe. At the com- 
 mand of the vigilant Muza they drew off, fell into order, 
 and seizing, while vet there was time, the vantage ground 
 which the inequalities of the soil and the shelter of the 
 trees gave to their darts and agile horse, they presented 
 an array which Ponce de Leon himself, who now arrived, 
 deemed it more prudent not to assault. While Villena, 
 in accents almost inarticulate with rage, was urging the 
 Marquis of Cadiz to advance, Ferdinand, surrounded by 
 the llower of his court, arrived at the rear of the troops ; 
 and, after a few words interchanged with Ponce de Leon, 
 gave the signal of retreat. 
 
 When the Moors beheld that noble soldiery slowly 
 breaking ground and retiring toward the camp, even 
 Muza could not control their ardor. They rushed for- 
 ward, harassing the retreat of the Christians, and delay- 
 ing the battle by various skirmishes. 
 
 It was at this time that the headlong valor of Hernando 
 d;l Pulgar, who had arrived with Ponce de Leon, dis- 
 tinguished itself in feats wiiich yet live in the songs of 
 Spain. Mounted upon an immense steed, and himself of 
 colossal strength, he was seen charging alone upon the 
 assailants, and scattering numbers to the ground with 
 the sweep of his enormous and two-handed falchion. 
 With a loud voice lie called on Muza to oppose him ; but 
 the Moor, fatigued with slaughter, and scarcely recov- 
 ered from the shock of his encounter with De Suzon, re- 
 served so formidable a foe for a future contest. 
 
 It was at this juncture, while the field was covered 
 with straggling skirmishers, that a small party of Span- 
 iards, in cutting their way to the main body of their 
 ccnnurymeti through one of the numerous copses held 
 by the enemy, fell in at the outskirts with an equal num- 
 ber of Moors, and engaged them in a desperate conflict, 
 hand to hand. Amidst the infidels was one man who
 
 LEILA. 
 
 47 
 
 took no part, in the affray ; at a little distance he gazed 
 for a few moments upon the fierce and relentless slaughter 
 of Moor and Christian with a smile of stern and com- 
 placent delight ; and then, talking advantage of the gen- 
 eral confusion, rode gently, and, as he hoped, unobserved 
 away from the scene. But he was not destined so quietly 
 to escape. A Spaniard perceived him, and, from some 
 thing strange and unusual in l)is garb, judged him one 
 of the Moorish leaders; and presently Almamen — for it 
 was he — beheld before him the uplifted falciiion of a foe 
 neither disposed to give quarter nor to hear parley. 
 Brave though the Israelite was, many reasons concurred 
 to prevent his taking a personal part against the soldier 
 of Spain ; and, seeing he should have no chance of ex- 
 planation, he fairly put spurs to his horse and galloped 
 across the plain. The Spaniard followed, gained upon 
 him, and Almamen at length turned, in despair and the 
 wrath of his haughty nature. 
 
 " tiave thy will, fool !" said he, between his grinded 
 teeth, as he griped his dagger and prepared for the con- 
 flict. It was long and obstinate ; for the Spaniard was 
 skillful, and the Hebrew, wearing no mail, and without 
 any weapon more formidable than a sharp and well- 
 tempered dagger, was forced to act cautiously on the de- 
 fensive. At length the combatants grappled, and by a 
 dexterous thrust, the short blade of Almamen pierced 
 the throat of his antagonist, who fell prostrate to the 
 ground. 
 
 " I am safe," he thought, as he wheeled round his 
 horse ; when, lo ! the Spaniards he had just left behind, 
 and who had now routed their antagonists, were upon 
 him. 
 
 " Yield or die !" cried the leader of the troop. 
 
 Almamen glared round ; no succor was at hand. 
 " I am not your enemy," said he, sullenly, throwing 
 down his weapon : "bear me to your camp." 
 
 A trooper siczed his rein, and, scouring along, the 
 Spaniards soon reached the retreating army. 
 
 Meanwhile the evening darkened ; the shout and roar 
 grew gradually less loud and loud ; the battle had ceased; 
 the stragglers had joined their several standards ; and, 
 by the light of the first star, the Moorish force, bearing 
 their wounded brethren and elated with success.re-entered
 
 48 LEILA. 
 
 the gates of Grenada, as the black charger of the hero ol 
 the day closing the rear of the cavalry disappeared with- 
 in the gloomy portals. 
 
 CHAPTER III. 
 
 THE HERO IN THE POWER OF THE DREAMER. 
 
 It was in tlie same chamber, and nearly at the same 
 hour in which wc first diescnted to the reader Boabdil el 
 Chica, that we are again admitted to the presence of that 
 ill-starred monarch He was not alone. His favorite 
 slave, Amine, reclined upon the ottomans, gazing with 
 anxious love upon his tiioughiful countenance, as he 
 leaned against tiie glittering wall by the side of the case- 
 ment, gazing abstractedly on the scene below. 
 
 From afar he heard the shouts of tlic populace at the 
 return of Muza, and bursts of artillery confirmed the 
 tidings of triumph which had already been borne to his 
 ear. 
 
 "May the king live forever!" said Amine, timidly ; 
 " his armies have gone forth to conquer." 
 
 " But without their king," replied Boabdil, bitterly, 
 " and headed by a traitor and a foe. I am meshed in the 
 nets of an inexplicable fate !" 
 
 " Oil !" said the slave with sudden energy, as, clasp- 
 ing her hands, she rose from her couch, " oh, my lord ! 
 would that these humble lips dared utter other words 
 than those of love !" 
 
 " And what wise counsel would they give me ?" asked 
 Boabdil, witli a smilo, "speak on." 
 
 " I will obey thee, then, even if it displease," cried 
 Amine; and she rose, her cheeks ghiwing, her eyes 
 sparkling, her beautiful form dilated. " I am a daughter 
 of Grenada ; I am the beloved of a king; I will be true 
 to my birth and to my fortunes. Boabdil el Cliico, the 
 last (jf a line of heroes, shake off these gloomy fantasies 
 — these doubts and dreams that smother the fire of a 
 great nature and a kingly soul ! Awake — arise — rob
 
 LEILA. 
 
 49 
 
 Grenada of her Muza ; be thyself herMuza! Trustest 
 tliou to magic and to spells ? gi-ave them, then, on thy 
 breastplate, write them on thy sword, and live no longer 
 the Dreamer of the Alhambra ; become the savior of thy 
 people !" 
 
 Boabdil turned and gazed on the inspired and beau- 
 tiful form before him with mingled emotions of surprise 
 and shame. "Out of the mouth of woman cometh my 
 rebuke !" said he, sadly. " It is well !" 
 
 " Pardon me, pardon me !" said the slave, falling 
 humbly at his knees ; " but blame me not that I would 
 have thee worthy of thyself. Wert thou not happier, 
 was not thy heart more light and thy hope more strong, 
 when, at the head of thine armies, thine own scimeter 
 slew thine own foes, and the terror of the Hero-King 
 spread, in flame and slaughter, from the mountains to the 
 seas? Boabdil, dear as thou art to me; equally as I 
 would have loved thee hadst thou been born a lowly fish- 
 erman of the Darro, since thou art a king, I would have 
 thee die a king, even if my own heart broke as I armed 
 thee for thy latest battle !" 
 
 " Thou knowest not what thou sayst, Amine," said 
 Boabdil, "nor canst thou tell what spirits that are not of 
 earth dictate to the actions and watch over the destinies 
 of the rulers of nations. If I delay, if I linger, it is not 
 from terror, but from wisdom. The cloud must gather 
 on, dark and slow, ere the moment for the thunder-bolt 
 arrives." 
 
 "On thine house will the thunder-bolt fall, since 
 over thine own house thou sufferest the cloud to gather," 
 said a calm and stern voice. 
 
 Boabdil started ; and in the chamber stood a third 
 person, in the shape of a woman, past middle age, and of 
 commanding port and stature. Upon her long-descend- 
 ing robes of embroidered purple were thickly woven 
 jewels of royal price ; and her dark hair, slightly tinged 
 with gray, parted over a majestic brow, while a small 
 diadem surmounted the folds of the turban. 
 
 "My mother!" said Boabdil, with some haughty re- 
 serve in his tone; "your presence is unexpected." 
 
 "Ay,' answered Ayxa la Hora — for it was indeed 
 that celebrated, and haughty, and high-souled queen — 
 "and unwelcome; so is ever that of your true friends. 
 But not thus unwelcome was the presence of your
 
 50 
 
 LEILA. 
 
 mother when her brain and her hand delivered ycu from 
 the dungeon in which your stern father had cast your 
 youth, and the dagger and the bowl seemed the only keys 
 that would unlock the cell." 
 
 " And better hadst thou left the ill-omened son that 
 tliy womb conceived to die thus in youlii, honored and 
 lamented, than to live to manhood wrestling against an 
 c\ il star and a relentless fate." 
 
 " Son," said the queen, gazing upon him with lofty 
 and half-disdainful compassion, "men's conduct shapes 
 out their own fortunes, and the unlucky are never tlie 
 valiant and the wise." 
 
 " Madam," said Boabdil, coloring with passion, " I 
 am still a king, nor will I be thus bearded — withdraw !" 
 
 Ere the queen could reply a eunuch entered and 
 whispered Boabdil. 
 
 "Ha !" said he, joyfully, stamping his fo(jt, "comes 
 he then to brave the lion in his den ? Let the rebel look 
 to it. Is he alone ?" 
 
 "Alone, great king." 
 
 " Bid my guards wait without ; let the slightest signal 
 summon them. Amine, retire ! Madam " 
 
 "Son!" interrupted Ayxa la Hora, in visible agita- 
 tion, "do I guess aright ? Is the brave Muza — the sole 
 bulwark and hope of Grenada — whom unjustly thou 
 wouldst last night have put in ciiains (cliains! great 
 prophet ! is it thus a king should reward his heroes ?) — 
 is, I say, Muza here.? and wilt thou make him the victim 
 of his own generous trust ?" 
 
 " Retire, woman !" said Boabdil, sullenly. 
 
 " I will not, save by force ! I resisted a fiercer soul 
 than thine when I saved thee from thy father," 
 
 "Remain tlien, if tliou wilt, and learn how kings can 
 punish traitors. Mesnour, admit the hero of Grenada." 
 
 Amine liad vanished. Boabdil seated himself on the 
 cushions — his lace calm, but pale. The queen stood 
 erect at a little distance, her arms folded on her breast, 
 and her asjDcct knit and resolute. In a few moments 
 Muza entered, ahjne. He approached the king with the 
 profound salutation of Oriental obeisance ; and ther\ 
 stood before him, with downcast eyes, in an attitude 
 from which respect could not divorce a natural dignity 
 and pride of mien. 
 
 " Prince," said Boabdil, after a moment's pause.
 
 LEILA. 5 1 
 
 "yester-morn, when I sent for thee, thou didst brave my 
 orders. Even in mine own Alhambra thy minions broke 
 out in mutiny ; they surrounded tlie fortress in which 
 thou wert to wait my pleasure ; they intercepted, they in- 
 sulted, they drove back my guards; they stormed the tow- 
 ers protected by the banner of thy king. The governor, a 
 coward or a traitor, rendered thee to the rebellious 
 crowd. Was this all ? No, by the prophet ! Thou, by 
 right my captive, didst leave thy prison but to head 
 mine armies. And this day, the traitor subject — the se- 
 cret foe — was the leader of the people who defy a king. 
 This night thou comest to me unsought. Thou feelesl 
 secure from my just wratii, even in my palace. Thine 
 insolence blinds and betrays thee, Man, thou art in my 
 power ! Ho, there !" 
 
 As the king spoke he rose; and presently the arcades 
 at the back of the pavilion were darkened by long lines 
 of the Ethiopian guard, each of height which, beside the 
 slight Moorish race, appeared gigantic ; stolid and pas- 
 sionless machines, to execute, without thought, tlie blood- 
 iest or the lightest caprice ofdespotism. There they stood, 
 their silver breastplates and long ear-rings contrasting 
 their dusky skins, and bearing over their shoulders im- 
 mense clubs studded with brazen nails. A little ad- 
 vanced from the rest stood the captain, with the fatal 
 bowstring hanging carelessly on his arm, and his eyes 
 intent to catch the slightest gesture of the king. 
 
 "Behold !" said Boabdil to his prisoner. 
 
 " I do ; and am prepared for what I have foreseen." 
 
 The queen grew pale, but continued silent. 
 
 Muza resumed : 
 
 "Lord of the faithful !" said he, "if yester-morn I had 
 acted otherwise, it would have been to the ruin of thy 
 throne and our common race. The fierce zegris sus- 
 pected and learned my capture. They summoned the 
 troops ; they delivered me, it was true. At that time, 
 had I reasoned with them, it would have been as drops 
 upon a flame. They were bent on besieging tliy pal- 
 ace, perhaps upon demanding thy abdication. I could 
 not stifle their fury, but I could direct it. In the mo- 
 ment of passion I led them from rebellion against our 
 common king to victory against our common foe. That 
 duty done, I conie unscatlied from the sword of the 
 Christian to bare my neck to the bow-string of my
 
 52 
 
 LEILA. 
 
 friend. Alone, untracked, unsuspected, I have entered 
 thy palfice to prove to the sovereign of Grenada that the 
 defendcnt of his throne is not a rebel to his will. Now 
 summon the guards — I have done." 
 
 " Muza!" said Boabdil, in a softened voice, while he 
 shaded his face with his hand, "we played together as 
 children, and I have loved thee well ; my kingdom even 
 now, perchance, is passing from me, but I could almost 
 be reconciled to that loss if I thought thy loyalty had not 
 left me." 
 
 "Dost thou in truth suspect the faith of Muza Ben 
 Abil Gazan ?" said the Moorish prince, in a tone of sur- 
 prise and sorrow. " Unhappy king ! I deemed that my 
 services, and not my defection, made my crime." 
 
 "Why do my people hate me? why do my armies 
 menace?" said Boabdil, evasively ; "why should a sub- 
 ject possess that allegiance which a king cannot obtain ?" 
 
 "Because," replied Muza, boldly, "the king has dele- 
 gated to a subject the command he should himself as- 
 sume. "Oh, Boabdil!" he continued, passionately, 
 " friend of my boyhood, ere the evil days came upon us ; 
 gladly would I sink to rest beneath the dark waves of 
 yonder river, if thy arm and brain would fill up my place 
 among the warriors of Grenada. And think not I 
 say this oniy from our boyish iove ; think not I have 
 placed my life in thy hands only from that servile loyalty 
 to a single man which the false chivalry of Cliristendom 
 imposes as a sacred creed upon its knights and nobles. 
 But I speak and act but from one principle — to save the 
 religion of my father and the land of my birth ; for this I 
 have risked my life against the foe ; for this I surrender 
 my life to the sovereign of my country. Grenada may 
 yet survive, if monarch and people unite together. Gren- 
 ada is lost forever, if her children, at this fatal hour, are 
 divided against themselves. If, then, I, oh Boabdil ! am 
 the true obstacle to thy league witii thine own subjects, 
 give me at once to the bowstring, and my sole prayer 
 shall be for the last remnant of the Moorish name and 
 the last monarch of the Moorish dynasty." 
 
 " My S(jn, my son ! art thou convinced at last ?" cried 
 the queen, struggling with her tears ; for she was one 
 who wept easily at heroic sentiments, but never at the 
 softer sorrows or from the more womanly emotions. 
 
 Boabdil lifted his head with a vain and momentary
 
 LEILA. 
 
 53 
 
 attempt at pride ; his eye glanced from his mother to his 
 friend, and iiis better feelings gushed upon him with ir- 
 resistible force ; he threw himself into Muza's arms. 
 
 "Forgive me," he said, in broken accents, "forgive 
 me! How could I have wronged thee thus? Yes," he 
 continued, as he started from the noble breast on which 
 for a moment he indulged no ungenerous weakness ; 
 "yes, prince, your example shames, but it fires me. 
 Grenada iienceforth shall have two chieftains, and if I 
 be jealous of thee, it shall be from an emulation thou 
 canst not blame. Guards, retire. Mesnour ! ho, Mes- 
 nour ! Proclaim at day-break that I myself will review 
 the troops in the Vivarambla. Yet" — and, as he spoke, 
 his voice faltered and his brow became overcast — "yet, 
 stay ! seek me thyself at day-break, and I will give thee 
 my commands." 
 
 " Oh, my son ! why hesitate .?" cried the queen ; " why- 
 waver ? Prosecute thine own kingly designs, and " 
 
 " Hush, madam," said Boabdil, regaining his custom- 
 ary cold composure ; " and, since you are now satisfied 
 with your son, leave me alone with Muza." 
 
 The queen sighed heavily ; but there was something 
 in the calm of Bcjabdil which chilled and awed her more 
 than his bursts of passion. She drew her vail around 
 her, and passed slowly and reluctantly from the chamber. 
 
 " Muza," said Boabdil, when alone with the prince, and 
 fixing his large and thoughtful eyes upon the dark orbs 
 of his companion, " when, in our younger days; we con- 
 versed together, do you remember how often that con- 
 verse turned upon those solemn and mysterious themes 
 to which the sages of our ancestral land directed their 
 depest lore ; the enigmas of the stars ; the science of 
 fate; the wild researches into the clouded future, which 
 wombs the destinies of nations and of men ? Thou re- 
 nnemberest, Muza, that to such studies mine own vicis- 
 situdes and sorrows, even in childhood — the strange for- 
 tunes wliich gave me in my cradle the epithet of El 
 Zogoybi — the ominous predictions of santons and astrol- 
 ogers as to the trials of my earthly fate, all contributed 
 to incline my soul. Thou didst not despise these earnest 
 musings, nor our ancestral lore, though, unlike me, ever 
 more inclined to action than to contemplation, that which 
 thou mightst believe had little influence upon what thou 
 didst design. With me it hath been otherwise ; every
 
 54 
 
 LEILA. 
 
 event of life hath conspired to feed my early preposses- 
 sions ; and in this awful crisis of my fate I have placed 
 myself and my throne rather under the guardianship of 
 spirits than of men. This alone has reconciled me to in- 
 action ; to the torpor of the Alhambra; to tlie mutinies 
 of my people. I have smiled when foes surrounded and 
 friends deserted me, secure of the aid at Last — if 1 bided 
 but the fortunate hour — of the charms of protecting 
 spirits and tlie swords of the invisible creation. Thou 
 wonderest what this should lead to. Listen ! Two nights 
 since" (and the king shuddered) "I was with the dead! 
 My father appeared before me — not as I knew him in 
 life — gaunt and terrible, full of the vigor of health, and 
 the strength of kingly empire, and of fierce passion — but 
 wan, calm, shadowy. From lips on which Azrael had 
 set his livid seal he bade me beware of ihee .'" 
 
 The king ceased suddenly, and sought to read, on the 
 face of iMuza, the effect his words produced. But the 
 proud and swarthy features of tlie Moor evinced no pang 
 of conscience ; a slight sniile of pity might have crossed 
 his lip for a moment, but it vanished ere the king could 
 detect it. Boabdil continued. 
 
 " Under the influenge of this warning 1 issued the 
 order for thy arrest. Let this pass — I resume my tale. 
 I attempted to throw myself at the specter's feet; it 
 glided from me, motionless and impalpable. I asked th* 
 Dead One if he forgave his unhappy son the sin of re- 
 bellion — alas ! too well requited even upon earth, An^i 
 the voice again came forth, and bade me keep the crown 
 that I had gained as the sole atonement for the past. 
 Then again I asked whether the hour for act' jn kad 
 arrived ; and the specter, while it faded graduady into 
 air, answered, * No !' 'Oh!' I exclaimed, 'ere thou 
 leavest me, be one sign accorded me that I have not 
 dreamed this vision ; and give me, I ]iray thee, note and 
 warning when the evil star of Boabdil shall withhold its 
 inlluehcc, and he may strike, without resistance from the 
 powers above, for his glory and his throne.' 'The sign 
 and tiie warning arc bequeathed thee,' answered the 
 ghostly image. It vanished ; thick darkness fell 
 around ; and when once more the light of the lamps we 
 bore became visible, behold, there stood before me a 
 skeleton, in the regal robe of the kings of Grenada, and 
 on its grisly head was the imocrial diadem. With one
 
 LEILA. 55 
 
 hand raised it pointed to the opposite wall, wherein 
 burned, lilce an orb of gloomy fire, a broad dial-plate, 
 on which were graven these words, 'beware — fear 
 NOT — ARM !' The finger of the dial moved rapidly round, 
 and rested at the word beivare. From that hour to the 
 one in which I last beheld it, it hath not moved, Muza, 
 the tale is done ; wilt thou visit with me this enchanted 
 chamber, and see if the hour be come?" 
 
 " Commander of the faithful," said Muza, " the story 
 is dread and awful. But pardon thy friend — wcrt thou 
 alone, or was the santon Almamen thy companion ?" 
 
 " Why the question ?" said Boabdil, evasively, and 
 slightly coloring. 
 
 "I fear his truth," answered Muza; " the Christian 
 king conquers more foes by craft than force, and his 
 spies are more deadly than his warriors. Wherefore 
 this caution against me but (pardon me) for thine own 
 undoing? Were I a traitor, could Ferdinand himself 
 have endangered thy crown so imminently as the revenge 
 of the leader of thine own armies ? Why, too, this 
 desire to keep thee inactive -" For the brave, every hour 
 hath its chances; but for us, every hour increases our 
 peril. If we seize not the present time, our supplies are 
 cut off, and famine is a foe all our valor cannot resist. 
 The dervish — who is he? a stranger, not of our race and 
 blood. But this morning I found him without the walls, 
 nor far frcjm the Spaniard's camp." 
 
 "Ila!" cried the king, quickly; "and what said 
 he?" 
 
 "Little but in hints; sheltering himself, by those 
 hints, under thy name." 
 
 "He! what dared he own ? Muza, what were these 
 hints?" 
 
 The Moor here recounted the interview with Alma- 
 men, his detention, his inactivity in the battle, and his 
 subsequent cajDture by the Spaniards. The king listened 
 attentively, and regained his composure. 
 
 "It is a strange and awful man," said he, after a 
 pause. " Guards and chains will not detain him. Ere 
 long he will return. But thou, at least, Muza, art hence- 
 forth free, alike from the suspicion of the living and the 
 warnings of the dead. No, my friend." continued Boab- 
 dil, with generous warmth, "it is better to lose a crown, 
 to lose life itself, than confidence in a heart like thine.
 
 56 LEILA. 
 
 Come, let us inspect this magic tablet; perchance — and 
 how my heart bounds as I utter the hope ! — tlie hour may 
 have arrived." 
 
 CHAPTER IV. 
 
 A FULLER VIEW OF THE CHARACTER OF BOABDIL — MUZA 
 IN THE GARDENS OF HIS BELOVED. 
 
 MuzA Ben Abil Gazan returned from his visit to 
 Boabdil wiih a ihoughlful and depressed spirit. [lis 
 arguments luid failed to induce the king to disdain the 
 command of the magic dial, wliich still forbade him to 
 arm against the invaders ; and although the royal favor 
 was no longer withdrawn from himself, the Moor felt 
 that such favor hung upon a capricious and uncertain 
 tenure so long as his sovereign was the slave of super- 
 stition or imposture. But that noble warrior, whose 
 character the adversity of his country had singularly ex- 
 alted and refined, even while increasing its natural fierce- 
 ness, thougiit little of himself in comparison with the 
 evils and misfortunes which the king's continued irreso- 
 lution must bring upon Grenada. 
 
 "So brave, and yet so weak," thought he, "so weak, 
 and yet so obstinate; so wise a reasoner, yet so credu- 
 lous a dupe ! Unhappy Boabdil ! tlie stars, indeed, seem 
 to fight against thee, and their inllucnces at thy birth 
 marred all thy gifts and virtues with counteracting in- 
 firmity and error." 
 
 Muza — more, perhaps, than any subject in Grenada — 
 did justice t(j the real character of the king ; but even he 
 was unable to penetrate all its complicated and latent 
 mysteries. Boabdil el Chico was no ordinary man ; his 
 affections were warm and generous, his nature calm and 
 gentle; and although early power, and the painful experi- 
 ence of a mminous people and ungrateful court, had im- 
 parted to that nature an irascibility of temoer and a 
 quickness of susj)icion foreign to its e;irlier soil, he was 
 easily led back to generosity and justice ; and, if warm 
 in rcscnltneiit, was magnanimous in forgi-eness. Deep- 
 ly accomplished in all the learning of his race and time,
 
 LEILA. 
 
 57 
 
 he was, in books at least, a philosopher ; and, indeed, 
 his attachment to the abstruser studies was one of the 
 main causes which unfitted him for his present station. 
 
 But it was the circumstances attendant on his birth 
 and childhood that had perverted his keen and graceful 
 intellect to morbid indulgence in mystic reveries, and all 
 the doubt, fear, and irresolution of a man who pushes 
 metaphysics into the supernatural world. Dark prophe- 
 cies accumulated omens over his head ; men united in 
 considering him born to disastrous destinies. Whenever 
 he had sought to wrestle against hostile circumstances, 
 some seemingly accidental cause, sudden and unlore- 
 seen, had blasted the labors of his most vigorous 
 energy — the fruit of his most deliberate wisdom. 
 Thus, by degrees, a gloomy and despairing cloud 
 settled over his mind ; but, secretly skeptical of 
 the Mohammedan creed, and too proud and sanguine 
 to resign himself wholly and passively to the doctrine 
 of inevitable predestination, he sought to con- 
 tend against the machinations of hostile demons and 
 boding stars, not by human but spiritual agencies. Col- 
 lecting around him the seers and magicians of Orient 
 fanaticism, he lived in the visions of another world ; and 
 flattered by the promises of impostf)rs or dreamers, and 
 deceived by his own subtle and brooding tendencies of 
 mind, it was among spells and cabals that he sought to 
 draw forth the mighty secret which was to free him from 
 the meshes of the preternatural enemies of his fortune, 
 and leave him the freedom of other men to wrestle, with 
 equal chances, against peril and adversities. It was thus 
 that Almamen had won the mastery of his mind ; and 
 though, upon matters of common and earthly import or 
 solid learning, Boabdil could contend with sages, 
 upon those of superstition lie could be fooled by a 
 child. He was, in this, a kind of Hamlet : formed, un- 
 der prosperous and serene fortunes, to render blessings 
 and reap renown; but over whom the chilling shadow of 
 another world had fallen; whose soul curdled back into 
 itself; whose life had been separated from that oi the 
 iierd ; whom doubts and awe drew back, while circum- 
 stances impelled onward ; whom a su[)ernatural doom 
 invested with a peculiar [)!iilosophy, not of human effect 
 and cause ; and who, with every gift that coidd ennoble 
 and adorn, was suddenly palsied into that moral imbe-
 
 58 
 
 LEILA. 
 
 cility which is almost ever the resu't f mortal visitings 
 into the haunted regions of the Ghostiy and Unknown. 
 The gloomier colorings of his mind had been deepened, 
 too, by secret remorse. For the preservation of his own 
 life, constantly threatened by his unnatural predecessor, 
 he had been early driven into rebellion against his 
 father. In age, infirmity, and blindness that fierce king 
 had been made a prisoner at Salobrena by his brother, 
 El Zagal, Boabdil's partner in rebellion ; and dying sud- 
 denly, El Zagal was suspected of his murder. Though 
 Boabdil was innocent of such a crime, he felt himself 
 guilty of the causes which led to it ; and a dark memory 
 resting upon his conscience served to augment his super- 
 stition and enervate the vigor of his resolves : for, of all 
 things that ma.cen.en ('reamers, none is so effectual as re- 
 morse operating upon a thoughtful temperament. 
 
 Revolving the character of his sovereign, and sadly 
 foreboding tlie ruin of his country, the young hero of 
 Grenada pursued his way, until his steps almost uncon- 
 sciously led him toward the abode of Leila. He scaled 
 the walls of the garden as before ; he neared the house. 
 All was silent and deserted ; liis signal was unanswered ; 
 his murmured song brought no grateful light to the lat- 
 tice, no fairy footstep to the balcony. Dejected and sad 
 of heart, he retired from the spot; and, returning home, 
 sought a couch to which even all the fatigue and excite- 
 ment he had undergone could not win the forgetfulness 
 of slumber. The mystery that wrapped the maiden of 
 his homage, the rareness of their interviews, and the 
 wild and poetical romance that made a very principle of 
 the chivalry of the Spanish Moors, had imparted to 
 Muza's love for Leila a passionate depth, which, at this 
 day and in more enervated climes, is unknown to the 
 Mohammedan lover. His keenest inquiries had been 
 unable to pierce the secret of her birth and station. 
 Little of the inmates of that guarded and lonely house 
 was known in the neighborhood ; the only one ever seen 
 without its walls was an old man of the Jewish faith, sup- 
 posed to be a superintendent of the foreign slaves (for 
 no Mi)hammedan slave would have been subjected to the 
 insult of submission to a Jew), and, thougii there were 
 ruuK^rsof the vast wealth and g(jrgeous lu.xury within 
 the mansi(jn, it was supposed the abode of some .Moorish 
 emir absent from the city ; and the interest of the gos-
 
 LEILA. 5g 
 
 sips was at this time absorbed \\\ more weighty matters 
 than the aflfairs of a neighbor. But when, the next eve 
 and the next, Muza returned to the spot equally in vain, 
 his impatience and alarm could no longer be restrained ; 
 he resolved to lie in watch by the portals of the house 
 night and day, until at least he could discover some one 
 of the inmates whom he could question of his love, a«d, 
 perhaps, bribe to his service. As with this resolution he 
 was hovering round the mansion, he beheld, stealing 
 from a small door in one of the low wings of the house 
 a bended and decrepit form ; it supported its steps upon 
 a stafif ; and, as now entering the garden, it stooped by 
 the side of a fountain -o cull fiowers and herbs by the 
 light of the moon, the Moor almost started to behold a 
 countenance which resembled that of some ghoul or 
 vampire haunting the places of the dead. He smiled at 
 his own fear; and with a quick and stealthy pace has- 
 tened through the trees, and, gaining the spot where the 
 old man bent, placed his hand on his shoulder ere his 
 presence was perceived. 
 
 _ Ximen, for it was he, looked round eagerly, and a 
 faint cry of terror broke from his lips. 
 
 " Hush !" said the Moor ; " fear me not, I am a friend. 
 Thou art old, man — gold is ever welcome to the aged." 
 As he spoke he dropped several broad pieces into the 
 breast of the Jew, whose ghastly features gave forth a 
 yet more ghastly smile as he received the gift and mum- 
 bled forth, ^^ 
 
 "Charitable young man! generous, benevolent, ex- 
 cellent young man !" 
 
 " Now, then," said Muza, "tell me— you belong to 
 this house— Leila, the maiden within, tell me of her— is 
 she well V 
 
 " I trust so," returned the Jew ; " I trust so, noble 
 master." 
 
 " Trust so ! k7io7v you not of her state ?" 
 " Not I ; for many nights I have not seen her, excel- 
 lent sir," answered Ximen; "she hath left Grenada, 
 she hath gone. You waste your time and mar your pre- 
 cious health amidst these nightly dews : they are un- 
 wholesome, very unwholesome at the time of the new 
 moon." 
 
 " Gone !" echoed the Moor : " left Grenada ! woe is
 
 6o LEILA. 
 
 me! and wIiiLlier! iliere, there, more gold for you ; old 
 man, tell me whither?" 
 
 "Alas! I know not, most magnanimous young man ; 
 I am but a servant, I know nothing." 
 
 " When will she return ?" 
 
 " I cannot tell thee." 
 
 " Who is thy master ? who owns yon mansion ?" 
 
 Ximen's countenance fell ; he looked round in doubt 
 and fear, and then, after a short pause, answered, " A 
 wealthy man, good sir; a Moor of Africa: but he hath 
 also gone ; he but seldom visits us ; Grenada is not so 
 peaceful a residence as it was ; I would go too if I could." 
 
 Muza released his hold of Ximen, who gazed at the 
 Moor's working countenance with a malignant smile, 
 for Ximen hated ah Uien. 
 
 " Thou hast done with me, young warrior? Pleasant 
 dreams to thee under the new moon ; thou hadst best 
 retire to thy bed. Farewell ! bless thy charity to tlie 
 poor old man !" 
 
 Muza heard liim not ; lie remained motionless for 
 some moments ; and then, with a heavy sigh, as that of 
 one who has gained the mastery of himself after a bitter 
 struggle, he said, half aloud, " Allah be with thee, Leila ! 
 Grenada now is my only mistress." 
 
 CHAPTER V. 
 
 BOABDIL S RECONCILIATION WITH HIS PEOPLE. 
 
 Several days had elapsed without any encounter 
 between Moor and Christian ; for Ferdinand's cold and 
 sober policy, warned by the loss he had sustauicd in llie 
 ambush of Muza, was now bent on preserving rigorous 
 restraint upon the fiery spirits he commanded. He 
 forbade all parties of skirmish, in whicii the Moors, in- 
 deed, had usually gained the advantage, and contented 
 himself with occupying all the passes through which 
 provisions could arrive at the besieged city. He com- 
 menced strong fortifications around his camp ; and,
 
 LEILA. 6l 
 
 forbidding assault on the Moors, defied it against him- 
 self. 
 
 Meanwhile Almamen had not returned to Grenada. 
 No tidings of his fate reached the king, and his pro- 
 longed disappearance began to produce visible and 
 salutary effect upon the long-dormant energies of Boab- 
 dil. The counsels of Muza, the exhortations of the 
 queen mother, the enthusiasm of his mistress, Amine, 
 uncounteracted by the arts of the magician, aroused the 
 torpid lion of his nature. But still his army and his 
 subjects murmured against him, and his appearance in 
 the Vivarambla might possibly be the signal of revolt. 
 It was at this time that a most fortunate circumstance at 
 once restored to him the confidence and affections of his 
 people. His stern uncle, El Zagal, once a rival for his 
 crown, and vvhobe daring valor, mature age, and military 
 sagacity had won him a powerful party within the city, 
 had been some months since conquered by Ferdinand ; 
 and, in yielding the possessions he held, had been re- 
 warded with a barren and dependent principality. His 
 defeat, far from benefiting Boabdil, had exasperated the 
 Moors against their king. " For," said they, almost with 
 one voice, " the brave El Zagal never would have suc- 
 cumbed had Boabdil properly supported his arms." And 
 it was the popular discontent and rage at El Zagal's 
 defeat which had, indeed, served Boabdil with a reason- 
 able excuse for shutting himself in the strong fortress of 
 the Alhambra. It now happened that El Zagal, whose 
 dominant passion was hatred of his nephew, and whose 
 fierce nature chafed at its present cage, resolved, in his ol i 
 age, to blast all his former fame by a signal treason to 
 his country. Forgetting everything but revenge against 
 his nephew, whom he was resolved siiould share his own 
 ruin, he armed his subjects, crossed the country, and 
 appeared at the head of a gallant troop in the Spanish 
 camp, an ally of Fenlinand against Grenada. When 
 this was heard by the Moors, it is impossible to conceive 
 their indignant wrath ; the crime of El Zagal produced 
 an instantaneous reaction in favor of Boabdil ; the 
 crowd surrounded the Alhambra, and with prayers and 
 tears entreated the forgiveness of the king. This event 
 completed the conquest of Boabdil over his own irreso- 
 lution. He ordained an assembly of the whole army in 
 the broad space of the Vivarambla ; and when, at break
 
 62 LEILA 
 
 of day, he appeared in full arm.->r in the square, with 
 Muza at his rigiit hand, himself in the flower of youthful 
 beauty, and proud to feel once more a hero and a kins;-, 
 the joy of the people knew no limit ; the air was rent 
 with cries of '* Long live Boabdil el Chico !" and the 
 >-oung monarch, turning to Muza, with all his soul upon 
 his brow, exclaimed, "The hour has come; I am no 
 longer El Zogoybi !" 
 
 CHAPTER VI. 
 
 LEILA — HER NEW LOVER — PORTRAIT OF THE FIRST IN- 
 QUISITOR OF SPAIN — THE CHALICE RETURNED 
 TO THE LIPS OF ALMAMEN. 
 
 While thus the state of events within Grenada, the 
 course of our story transports us back to the Christian 
 camp. It was in one of a long line of tents that skirted 
 the pavilion of Isabel, and was appropriated to the ladies 
 attendant on the royal presence, that a young female sat 
 alone. The dusk of evening already gathered around, 
 and only the outline of her form and features was visi- 
 ble. But even that, imperfectly seen — the dejected atti- 
 tude of the form, the drooping head, the hands clasped 
 upon the knees — might have sufficed to denote the mel- 
 ancholy nature of the reverie which the maid indulged. 
 
 "Ah," thought ?he, "to what danger am I exposed ! 
 If my father, if my lover dreamed of the persecution to 
 which their poor Leila is abandoned !" 
 
 A few tears, large and bitter, broke from her eyes and 
 stole unheeded down her cheek. At that moment the 
 deep and musical cliime of a bell was heard sunimoning 
 the chiefs of the army to prayer ; for Ferdinand invested 
 all his worldly schemes with a religious covering, and 
 to his politic war he sought to give the imposing char- 
 acter of a sacred crusade. 
 
 "That sound," thought she, sinking on her knees, 
 "summons the Nazarenes to the presence of their God. 
 It reminds me, a captive by the waters of Babylon, that
 
 LEILA. 
 
 63 
 
 God is ever with the friendless. Oh ! succor and defend 
 me, Thou who didst look cf old upon Ruth standing 
 amidst the corn, and didst watch over thy chosen pc<jple 
 in the hungry wilderness and in the stranger's land." 
 
 Wrapped in her mute and passionate devotions, Leila 
 remained long in her touching pasture. The bell had 
 ceased ; all without was hushed and still ; when the 
 drapery stretched across the opening of the tent was 
 lifted, and a young Spaniard, cloaked from head to foot 
 in a long mantle, stood within the space. He gazed in 
 silence upon the kneeling maiden : nor was it until she 
 rose that he made his presence audible. 
 
 "Ah, fairest," said he then, as he attempted to take 
 her hand, "thou wilt not answer my letters; see me 
 then, at thy feet. It is thou who teachest me to kneel." 
 
 "You, prince !" said Leila, agitated, and in great and 
 evident fear. "Why harass and insult me thus? Am I 
 not that sacred thing, a hostage and a charge? And is 
 name, honor, peace, all that woman is taught to hold 
 most dear, to be thus robbed from me under the name of 
 a love dishonoring to thee and an insult to myself ?" 
 
 "Sweet one," answered Don Juan, with a slight 
 laugh, " thou hast learned within yonder walls a creed 
 of morals little known to Moorish maidens, if fame be- 
 lies them not. Suffer me to teach thee easier morality 
 and sounder logic. It is no dishonor to a Christian 
 prince to adore beauty like thine; it is no insult to a 
 maiden hostage if the Infant of Spain proffer her the 
 homage of his heart. But we waste time. Spies, and en- 
 vious tongues, and vigilant eyes are round us ; and it is 
 not often that I can baffle them as I have done now. 
 Fairest, hear me !" and this time he succeeded in seiying 
 the liand which vainly struggled against his clasp. 
 "Nay, why so coy? what can female heart desire that 
 my love cannot shower upon tliine? Speak but the 
 word, enchanting maiden, and I will bear thee from 
 these scenes, unseemly to thy gentle eyes. Amidst the 
 pavilions of princes shalt thou repose, and amidst c-ar- 
 dens of the orange and the rose shalt thou listen to' the 
 vows of thine adorer. Surely, in these arms thou wilt 
 not pine for a barbarous home and a fated city. And if 
 thy pride, sweet maiden, deafen thee to the voice of na- 
 ture, learn that the haughtiest dames of Spain would 
 bend in envious court to the beloved of their futuia
 
 64 
 
 LEILA. 
 
 kino^. This ingln — listen to n'.c— I say, listen — this night 
 I Will bear thee hence! Be but mine, and no matter 
 whether heretic or infidel or whatever the priests style 
 thee, neither church nor king shall tear thee from the 
 bosom of thy lover." 
 
 "It is well spoken, son of the most Christian mon- 
 arch !" said a deep voice ; and the Dominican, Tomas de 
 Torquemada, stood before the prince. 
 
 Juan, as if struck by a thunder-bolt, released his 
 hold, and, staggering back a few paces, seemed to cower, 
 abashed and humbled, before the eye of the priest as 
 it glared upon him through the gathering darkness. 
 
 "Prince," said the friar, after a pause, "not to thee 
 will our holy church attribute this crime; thy pious 
 heart hath been betrayed by sorcery. Retire." 
 
 " Father," said the prince, in a tone into which, de- 
 spite his awe of that terrible man, the first grand in- 
 quisitor OF Spain, his libertine spirit involuntarily 
 forced itself in a half latent raillery — "sorcery of eyes 
 like those bewitched the wise son of a more pious sire 
 than even Ferdinand of Arragon." 
 
 " He blasphemes !" returned the monk. " Prince, be- 
 ware ! you know not what you do." 
 
 The prince lingered : and then, as if aware that he 
 must yield, gathered his cloak round him and left the 
 tent without reply. 
 
 Pale and trembling with fears no less felt, perhaps, 
 though more vague and perplexed than those from 
 wliicli she had just been delivered, Leila stood before the 
 monk. 
 
 " Be seated, daughter of the faithless," said Torque- 
 mada, " we would converse with thee ; and, as thou val- 
 uest — I say not thy soul, for, alas ! of that precious treas- 
 ure thou art not conscious ; but mark me, woman! as 
 thou prizest the safety of those delicate limbs and that 
 wanton beauty, answer truly what I shall ask thee. The 
 man who brought thee hither — is he, in truth, thy 
 father?" 
 
 "Alas!" answered Leila, almost fainting with terror 
 at this rude and menacing address, " he is, in truth, mine 
 only parent." 
 
 "And his faith — his religion ?" 
 
 " I have never beheld him pray."
 
 LEILA. 65 
 
 *' Hem ! he never prays — a noticeable fact. But of 
 what sect, what creed does he profess himself?" 
 
 "I cannot answer thee." 
 
 " Nay, there be means that may wring from thee an 
 answer. Maiden, be not so stubborn ; speak ! thinkst 
 thou he serves the temple of the Mohammedan .''" 
 
 " No ! oh no !" answered Leila, eagerly, deeming that 
 her reply in this, at least, would be acceptable. " He dis- 
 owns, he scorns, he abhors the Moorish faith ; even," she 
 added, "with too fierce a zeal." 
 
 " Thou dost not share that zeal, then ? Well, wor- 
 ships he in secret, after the Christian rites?" 
 
 Leila hung her head and answered not. 
 
 "I understand thy silence. And in what belief, 
 maiden, wert thou reared beneath his roof ?" 
 
 " I know not what it is called among men," answered 
 Leila, with firmness, " but it is the faith of the one God, 
 who protects his chosen, and shall avenge their wrongs ; 
 the God who made earth and heaven ; and who, in an 
 idolatrous and benighted world, transmitted the knowl- 
 edge of himself and his holy laws from age to age 
 through the channel of one solitary people, in the plains 
 of Palestine and by the waters of the Hebron." 
 
 " And in that faith thou wert trained, maiden, by thy 
 father?" said the Dominican, calmly. "I am satisfied. 
 Rest here in peace ; we may meet again soon." 
 
 The last words were spoken with a soft and tranquil 
 smile ; a smile in which glazing eyes and agonizing 
 hearts had often beheld the ghastly omen of the torture 
 and the stake. 
 
 On leaving the unfortunate Leila the monk took his 
 way toward the neighboring tent of Ferdinand. But, 
 ere he reached it, a new thought seemed to strike the 
 holy man ; he altered the direction of his steps, and 
 gained one of those little shrines common in Catholic 
 countries, and which had been hastily built of wood, in 
 the center of a small copse, and by the side of a brawling 
 rivulet, toward the back of the king's pavilion. But one 
 solitary sentry at the entrance of the copse guarded the 
 consecrated place ; and its exceeding loneliness and quiet 
 were a grateful contrast to the animated world of llifi 
 surrounding camp. The monk entered the shrine, and 
 fell down on his knees before an image of the Virgin, 
 rudely sculptured, but richly decorated.
 
 66 LEILA. 
 
 "Ah, Holy Mother!" groaned this singular man, 
 " support mc in tlie trial to which I am appointed. Thou 
 knowst that the glory of thy blessed Son is I he sole ob- 
 ject for which I live and move, and have my being ; but 
 at times, alas ! tlie spirit is infccled with the weakness of 
 the flesh. Ora pro nobis, oh. Mother of Mercy ! Verily, 
 oftentimes my heart sinks witiiin me when it is mine to 
 vindicate the honor of thy holy cause against the young 
 and the tender, the aged and the decrepit. But, what are 
 beauty and youth, gray hairs and trembling knees, in 
 the eye of the Creator? Miserable worms are we all ; nor 
 is there anytliing acceptable in thy sight but the hearts 
 of the faithful. Youth without faith, age without belief, 
 purity without grace, virtue witliout holiness, are only 
 more hideous by their seeming beauty; whited sepul- 
 chres, glittering rottenness. I kiunv this, I know it ; but 
 the human man is strong within me. Strengthen me, 
 that I pluck it out ; so that, by diligent and constant 
 struggle with the feeble Adam, thy servant may be re- 
 duced into a mere machine, to punish the godless and 
 advance the church." 
 
 Here sobs and tears choked the speech of the Domin- 
 ican ; he groveled in the dust, he tore his hair, he howled 
 aloud ; the agony was fierce upon him. At length he 
 drew from liis robe a whip composed of several thongs, 
 studded with small and sharp nails ; and, stripping liis 
 gown and the shirt of hair worn underneath over his 
 shoulders, applied the scourge to the naked flesh with a 
 fury which so(Hi covered the green sward with the thick 
 and clotted blood. The exhaustion which followed this 
 terrible penance seemed to restore the senses of the stern 
 fanatic. A smile broke over the features that bodily 
 pain only released from the anguished expression of 
 mental and visionary struggles ; and when he rose and 
 drew the hair-cloth shirt over the lacerated and quiver- 
 ing flesh, he said, " Now hast thou deigned to comfort 
 and visit me, oh, pitying Mother; and even as by these 
 austerities against this miserable body is the spirit re- 
 lieved and soothed, so dost thou typify and bet(jken that 
 men's bodies are not to be spared by those who seek to 
 save souls, and bring the nations of the earth into thy 
 fold." 
 
 With that thought the countenance of Torquemada 
 rc-assumed its wonted rigid and passionless composure;
 
 LEILA. 67 
 
 and replacing the scourge, yet clotted w.th blood, into 
 his bosom, he pursued liis way to the royal tent. 
 
 He found Ferdinand poring over the accounts of 
 the vast expenses of his military preparations, which he 
 liad just received from his treasurer ; and the brow of 
 the thrifty though ostentatious monarch was greatly 
 overcast by the examination 
 
 " By the Bulls of Guisando !" said the king, gravely, 
 *' I purchase the salvation of my army, in this holy war, 
 at a marvelous heavy price ; and, if the infidels hold out 
 much longer, we shall have to pawn our very patrimony 
 of Arragon." 
 
 "Son," answered the Dominican, "to purposes like 
 thine, tear not that Providence itself will supply the 
 worldly means. But why doubtest thou ? are not the 
 means within thy reach ? It is just that thou alone 
 shouldst not support the wars by which Christendom is 
 glorified. Aie tliere not others ?" 
 
 "I know what thou wouldst say, father," interrupted 
 the king, quickly; " thou wouldst observe that my brother 
 monarchs should assist me with arms and treasure. 
 Most just. But they are avaricious and envious, Tomas; 
 and Mammon hath corrupted them." 
 
 " Nay, not to kings pointed my thought." 
 
 " Well, then," resumed the king impatiently, "thou 
 wouldst imply that mine own knights and nobles should 
 yield up their coffers and mortgage their possessions. 
 And so they ought; but they murmur already at what 
 they have yielded to our necessities." 
 
 " And, in truth," rejoined the friar, " these noble war- 
 riors should not be shorn of splendor that well becomes 
 the valiant champions of the cliurch. Nay, listen to me, 
 son, and I may suggest a means whereby not the 
 friends, but the enemies of the Catholic faith shall con- 
 tribute to the downfall of the Paynim. In thy dominions, 
 especially those newly won, throughout Andalusia, in 
 the kingdom of Cordova, are men of enormous wealth ; 
 the very caverns of the earth are sown with the impious 
 treasure they have plundered from Christian hands, and 
 consume in the furtherance of their iniquity. Sire, I 
 speak of the race tliat crucified the Lord." 
 
 "The Jews — ay, but the excuse " 
 
 " Is before thee. This traitor with whom thou bold- 
 est intercourse, who vowed to thee to render up Grenada,
 
 68 LEILA. 
 
 and who was found the very next morning fighting witl 
 tlie Moors, with t!:e blood of a Spanish martyr red iipoi 
 his hands, did he not confess that his fathers were o 
 that liateful race? did he not bargain with thee to elevat' 
 liis brethren to the ranlc of Christians? and has he no 
 left witli thee, upon false pretenses, a harlot of his faith 
 who, by sorcery and the help of the Evil One, hath se- 
 duced into frantic passion the heart of the heir of the 
 most Christian king ?" 
 
 "Ha! thus does that libertine boy ever scandalize 
 us !" said the king, bitterly. 
 
 "Well," pursued the Dominican, not heeding the in- 
 terruption, "have you not here excuse enough to wring 
 from the whole race the purchase of their existence? 
 Note the glaring proof of this conspiracy of hell. The 
 outcasts of the earth employed this crafty agent to con- 
 tract with thee for power; and, to consummate tlieir 
 guilty designs, the arts that seduced Solomon are em- 
 ployed against thy son. The beauty of the strange wo- 
 man captivates his senses : so that, through the future 
 sovereign of Spain, the counsels of Jewish craft 
 may establish the domination of Jewish ambition. 
 How knowst thou," iie added, as he observed that Fer- 
 dinand listened to him wiili earnest attention, "how 
 knowst thou but what the next step might have been thy 
 secret assassination, so that tlie victim of witchcraft, the 
 minion of tlie Jewess, might reign in the stead of the 
 mighty and unconquerable Ferdinand ?" 
 
 " Go on, father," said the king, thoughtfully ; " I see, 
 at least, enough to justify an impost upon these servitors 
 of Mammon." 
 
 "But, though common sense suggests to us," contin- 
 ued Torquemada, "that this disguised Israelite could not 
 have acted on so vast a design without tlie instigation 
 of his brethren, not only in Grenada, but tiuoiighout 
 Andalusia, would it not be right to obtain from him his 
 confession and that of the maiden within the camp, so 
 that we may have broad and undeniable evidence where- 
 on to act, and to still all cavil that may come not only 
 from the godless, but even from the too tender scruples 
 of the righteous? Even the queen — whom the saints 
 ever guard ! — hath ever too soft a heart for these infidels; 
 and '■ 
 
 " Right !" cried the king, again breaking upon Tor*
 
 LEILA. 
 
 69 
 
 quemada ; " Isabel, the queen of Castile, must be satis* 
 fied of the justice of all our actions." 
 
 " And should it be proved that thy throne or life were 
 endangered, and that magic was exercised to entrap her 
 royal son into a passion for a Jewish maiden, which 
 the church holds a crime worthy of excommunication 
 itself, surely, instead of counteracting, she would assist 
 our schemes." 
 
 " Holy friend," said Ferdinand, with energy, " ever a 
 comforter, both for this world and the next, to thee and 
 to the new powers intrusted to thee we commit this 
 charge ; see to it at once ; time presses ; Grenada is ob- 
 stinate ; the treasury waxes lov/." 
 
 " Son, tliou hast said enough," replied the Dominican, 
 closing his eyes and muttering a short thanksgiving. 
 " Now, then, to my task." 
 
 " Yet stay," said the king, wnth an altered visaofe ; 
 "follow me to my oratory within ; my heart is heavy, 
 and I would fain seek the solace of the confessional." 
 
 The monk obeyed ; and wliile Ferdinand, whose won- 
 derful abilities were mingled with the weakest supersti- 
 tion — who persecuted from policy, yet believed, in his 
 own heart, that he punished but from piety — confessed, 
 with penitent tears, the grave offenses of aves forgotten 
 and beads untold ; and while the Dominican admonished, 
 rebuked, or soothed, neitlier prince nor monk ever 
 dreamed that there was an erro*- to confess in, or a pen- 
 ance to be adjudged to, the cruelty that tortured a fellow 
 being, or the avarice that sought pretenses for the extor- 
 tion of a whole people. And yet we are told by some 
 philosophers that his conscience is a sufficient guide to 
 man 1 
 
 CHAPTER VII. 
 
 THE TRIBUNAL AND THE MIRACLE. 
 
 It was the dead of night ; the army was hushed 
 in sleep, when four sohliers belonging to the holy 
 brotiierhood, bearing with e whose manacles
 
 70 
 
 LEILA. 
 
 proclaimed him a prisoner, passed in steady silence to a 
 huge lent in the neighborhood of the royal pavilion. 
 A deep dike, formid.ibie barricadocs, and sentries sta- 
 ti jned at freqtient intervals, testiiied the estimation in 
 which the safety of this segment of the camp was held. 
 The tent to which the soldiers approached was, in extent, 
 larger than even the king's pavilion itself ; a mansion of 
 canvas, surrounded by a wide wall of massive stones; 
 and from its summit gloomed, in the clear and shining 
 starlight, a small black pennant, on which was wrought 
 a white broad-pointed cross. Tiie soldiers halted at the 
 gate in the wall, resigned their charge, with a whispered 
 watchword, to two gaunt sentries ; and then (relieving 
 the sentries, who proceeded on with the prisoner) re- 
 mained mute and motionless at the post ; for stern silence 
 and Spartan discipline were the attributes of the brother- 
 hood of St. Hermadad. 
 
 The prisoner, as he now neared the tent, halted a 
 moment, looked round steadily, as if to fix the spot in 
 his remembrance, and then, with an impatient though 
 stately gesture, followed his guards. He passed two 
 divisions of the tent, dimly lighted, and apparently de- 
 serted. A man, clad in long black robes, with a white 
 cross on his breast, now appeared ; there was an inter- 
 ciiange of signals in dumb show, and in another moment 
 Almamen the Hebrew stviod within a large chamber (if 
 so that division of the tent migiit be called) hung with 
 black serge. At the upper part of the space was an <?f- 
 trado or platform, on whicli, by a long table, sat three 
 men, while at tiie head of the board was seen the calm 
 and rigid countenance of Tomas de Torquemada. The 
 tiireshold of the tent was guarded by two men in gar- 
 ments similar in hue and fashion to those of the figure 
 who had usheretl Almamen into the presence of the in- 
 quisitor, each bearing a long lance, and with a long two- 
 edged sword by his side. This made all the inhabitants 
 of tliat melancholy and ominous ajKirtment. 
 
 The Israelite looked round with a pale brow, but a 
 flashing and scornful eye ; and, when he met the gaze of 
 the Dominican, it almost seemed as if those two men, 
 each so raised above his fellows by the sternness of his 
 nature, and the energy of his passions, sought by a look 
 alone to assert his own supremacy and crush his foe. 
 Yet, in truth, neither did justice to the other; and the
 
 LEILA. 71 
 
 indignant disdain of Almamen was retorted by the cold 
 and icy contempt of the Dominican. 
 
 " Prisoner," said Torquemada, the first to withdraw 
 his gaze, "a less haughty and stubborn demeanor might 
 have better suited thy condition ; but no matter ; our 
 meek and humble. We have sent for thee in a charitable 
 and paternal hope; for although, as spy and traitor, thy 
 life is already forfeited, yet would we fain redeem and 
 spare it to repentance. That hope mayst thou not fore- 
 go, for the nature of all of us is weak, and clings to life, 
 that straw of the drowning seaman." 
 
 " Priest, if such thou art," replied the Hebrew, " I 
 have already, when first brouglit to this camp, explained 
 the causes of my detention among the troops of the Moor. 
 It was my zeal for the King of Spain that brought me 
 into that peril. Escaping from tnat peril, incurred in 
 his behalf, is the King of Spain to be my accuser and my 
 judge ? If, however, my life now is sought as the grateful 
 return for the proffer of inestimable service, I stand 
 here to yield it. Do thy 'vorst ; and tell thy master that 
 he loses more by my death than he can win by the lives- 
 of thirty thousand warriors." 
 
 "Cease this idle babble," said the monk-inquisitor, 
 contemptuously, " nor think thou couldst ever deceive, 
 with thy empty words, the mighty intellect of Ferdi- 
 nand of Spain. Thou hast now to defend thyself against 
 still graver charges than those of treachery to the king 
 wliom thou didst profess to serve. Yea, misbeliever as 
 thou art, it is thine to vindicate thyself from blasphemy 
 against the God thou sliouldst adoie. Confess the truth ; 
 thou art of the tribe and faith of Israel ?" 
 
 The Hebrew fi owned darkly. "Man," said he, 
 solemnly, "is a judge of the deeds of men, but not of 
 their opinions. I will not answer thee." 
 
 " Pause ! We have means at hand that the strongest 
 nerves and the stoutest heart have failed to encounter. 
 Pause — confess !" 
 
 "Thy threat awes me not," said the Hebrew ; "but I 
 am human ; and, since thou wouldst know the truth, 
 thou mayst learn it without the torture. I am of the 
 same race as the apostles of thy church — I am a Jew." 
 
 " He confesses — write down the words. Prisoner, 
 thou hast done wisely ; and we pray the Lord that, act- 
 ing thus, thou mayst escape both the torture and the
 
 72 
 
 LEILA. 
 
 death. And in that faith thy daughter was reared? 
 Answer." 
 
 " My daughter ! there is no charge against her ! By 
 the God of Sinai and floreb, you dare not touch a hair 
 of that innocent head !" 
 
 " Answer," repeated the inquisitor, coldly. 
 
 " I do answer. She was brought up no renegade to 
 her father's faith." 
 
 " Write down the confession. Prisoner," resumed 
 the Dominican, after a pause, "but few more questions 
 remain ; answer them truly, and thy life is saved. In 
 thy conspiracy to raise tliy brotlierliood of Andalusia to 
 power and influence ; or, as thou didst craftily term it, 
 to equal laws with the followers of our blessed Lord ; 
 in thy conspiracy (by what dark acts I seek not now to 
 know — proiege /los, beate Doi/iine .') to entangle in wanton 
 affections to thy daughter tlie heart of the Infant of 
 Spain — silence. I say — be still ! in this conspiracy thou 
 wert aided, abetted, or instigated by certain Jews of 
 Andalusia " 
 
 " Hold, priest !" cried Almamen, impetuously ; "thou 
 didst name my child. Do I hear aright? Placed under 
 the sacred charge of a king and a belted knight, has 
 she — oh! answer me, I implore tliee — been insulted by 
 the licentious addresses of one of tliat king's own line- 
 age ? Answer! I am a Jew, but I am a father and a 
 man." 
 
 " This pretended passion deceives us not," said the 
 Dominican, who, himself cut off from the ties of life, 
 knew nothing of their power. " Reply to the question 
 put to thee ; name thy accomplices." 
 
 " I have uAd thee all. Thou hast refused to an- 
 swer me. I scorn and defy thee ; my lips are closed." 
 
 The grand inquisitor glanced to his brethren and 
 raised his hand His assistants whispered each other; 
 one of them rose and disap[)eared behind the canvas at 
 the back of the tent. Presently the hangings were with- 
 drawn, and the prisoner beheld an interior chamber, 
 hung with various instruments, the nature of which was 
 betrayed by their very shape ; while by the rack, placed 
 in the center of that dreary chamber, stoo« a tail and 
 grisly figure, his arms bare, his eyes bent, as by an in- 
 stinct, o\\ the prisoner. 
 
 Almamen gazed at these dread preparations with an
 
 LEILA. 
 
 73 
 
 unflinching aspect. The guards at the entrance of the 
 tent approached ; they struck off the fetters from his 
 feet and hands ; they led him toward the appointed place 
 of torture. 
 
 Suddenly the Israelite paused. 
 
 "Priest,"- said he, in a more humble accent than he 
 had yet assumed, " the tidings that thou didst communi- 
 cate to me respecting the sole daughter of my house and 
 love bewildered and confused me for the moment. Suffer 
 me but for an instant to collect my senses, and I will 
 answer without compulsion all thou mayst ask. Permit 
 thy questions to be repeated." 
 
 The Dominican, whose cruelty to others seemed to 
 himself sanctioned by his own insensibility to fear and 
 contempt for bcxlily pain, smiled with bitter scorn at 
 the apparent vacillation and weakness of the prisoner; 
 but as he delighted not in torture merely for torture's 
 sake, he motioned to the guards to release the Israelite ; 
 and replied, in a voice unnaturally mild and kindly, con- 
 sidering the circumstances of the scene. 
 
 "Prisoner, could we save thee from pain, even by 
 the anguish of our own flesh and sinews, Heaven is our 
 judge that we would willingly undergo the torture 
 which, with grief and sorrow, we ordained to thee. Pause; 
 take breath ; collect thyself. Tiiree minutes shalt thou 
 liave to consider what course to adopt ere we repeat the 
 question. But then beware how thou triflest with our 
 indulgence." 
 
 " It suffices ; I thank thee," said the Hebrew, with a 
 touch of gratitude in his voice. As he spoke he bent his 
 face williin his bosom, which he covered, as in profound 
 meditation, with tiie folds of his long robe. Scarce half 
 the brief time allowed him had expired when he again 
 lifted his countenance, and, as he did so, flung back his 
 garment. Tiie Dominican lUtered a loud cry ; the guards 
 started back in awe. A wonderful change had come over 
 tlie intended victim ; he seemed to stand among them 
 literally wrapped in fire ; flames burst from his lips, and 
 played with his long locks, as, catching the glowing hue, 
 they curled over his shoulders like serpents of buriiing 
 light ; blood-red were his breast and limbs, his haughty 
 crest, and his out-stretched arm ; and as, for a single 
 mometit, he met the shuddering eyes of his judges, he 
 seemed, indeed, to verify all the superstitions of the time;
 
 74 
 
 LEILA. 
 
 no lor:ger the trcm jling captive, but tlie mighty demon 
 or the tenible magician. 
 
 Tl.e Dominican was the first to recover his self-posses- 
 sion. " Seize the enchanter !" he exclaimed ; but no man 
 stirred. Ere yet the exclamation had died on his lip, 
 Almamen took from his breast a phial, and dashed it on 
 the ground ; it broke into a thousand shivers ; a mist 
 rose over the apartment ; it spread, thickened, darkened, 
 as a sudden night ; the lamps could not pierce it. The 
 luminous form of the Ileb.ew grew dull and dim, until 
 it vanished in the shade. On every eye blindness seemed 
 to fall. There was a dead silence, broken by a cry and 
 grt_)an ; and when, after some minutes, the darkness gra- 
 dually dispersed, Almamen was gone. One of the 
 guards lay bathed in blood upon the ground ; they raised 
 him ; he had attempted to seize the prisoner and been 
 stricken with a mortal wound. He died as he faltered 
 forth the explanation. In the confusion and dismay of 
 the scene, none noticed till huig afterward that the pris- 
 oner had paused long enough to strip the dying guard 
 of his long mantle ; a proof iliat lie feai ed his more secret 
 arts might not suffice to bear him safe through the camp 
 without the aid of worldly stratagem. 
 
 " The fiend liath been among us !" said the Dominican, 
 soleJinly, falling on his knees ; " let us pray !" 
 
 BOOK III. 
 
 CHAPTER I. 
 
 ISABEL AND THE JI^WISH MAIDEN. 
 
 While this scene took place before tlie tribunal of 
 Torquenada, Leila had been summoned froin the indul- 
 gence of fears whicii her gem le naiureandher luxurious 
 nurturing had ill fitted lier to contend against, to the
 
 LET LA. 
 
 75 
 
 presence of the queen. That gii'teJ and high-splriicd 
 princess, whose virtues were lier own, wliose faults were 
 of her age, was not, it is true, without the superstition 
 and something of the intolerant spirit of lier royal spouse: 
 but, even where her faith assented to persecution, her 
 heart ever inclined to mercy ; and it was her voice alone 
 that ever counteracted the fiery zeal of Torqueniada, and 
 mitigated the sufferings of the unhappy ones who fell 
 luider the suspicion of iieresy. She had happily, too, 
 within her a strong sense of justice, as well as the senti- 
 ment of compassion ; and often, when she could not 
 save tlie accused, slie prevented the consequences of his 
 imputed crime falling upon the innocent members of his 
 house or tribe. 
 
 In the interval between his conversation with Ferdi- 
 nand and the examination of Almamen, the Dominican 
 had sought the queen, and had placed before her, in 
 glowing colors, not only the treason of Almamen, but 
 the consequences of the impious passion her son had 
 conceived for Leila. In that day any connection between 
 a Cliristian knight and a Jewess was deemed a sin scarce 
 expiable ; and Isabel conceived all that horror of her 
 son's offense which was natural in a pious mother and a 
 haughty queen. But, despite all the arguments of the 
 f I iar, she could not be prevailed upon to renderup Leila 
 to the tribunal of the Inquisition ; and that dread court, 
 but newly established, did not dare, without her consent, 
 to seize upon one under the immediate protection of the 
 queen. 
 
 " Fear not, father," said Isabel, with quiet firmness, 
 " I will take upon myself to examine the maiden ; and, 
 at least, I will see her removed from all chance of tempt- 
 ing or being tempted by this graceless boy. But she 
 was placed under charge of the king and myself as a 
 liostage and a trust ; we accepted the charge, and our 
 royal honor is pledged to tiie safety of the maiden. 
 Heaven forbid that I should deny the existence of sor- 
 cery, assured as we are of its emanation from the Evil 
 One ; but I fear, in this fancy of Juan's, that the maiden 
 is more sinned against than sinning ; and yet my son is, 
 doubtless, not aware of the unhappy faith of the Jewess, 
 ihe knowledge .of which alone will suffice to cure him ol 
 his error. You shake your head, father ; but, I repeat, I 
 will act in this affair so as to merit the confidence I de
 
 76 
 
 I.EIl.A. 
 
 mand. Go, good Tomas. We have not reigned so long 
 wiilioiit belief in our power to control and deal with a 
 simple maiden." 
 
 The queen extended her hand to the monk with a 
 smile so sweet in dignity that it softened even that rugged 
 heart ; and with a reluctant sigh and a murmured prayer 
 that tier counsels might be guided for the best, Torque 
 mada left the royal presence. 
 
 "The poor child !" thought Isabel; "those tender 
 limbs and that fragile form are ill fitted for yon monk's 
 stern tutelage. She seems gentle, and her face has in it 
 all the yielding softness of our sex : doubtless, by mild 
 means, she may be persuaded to abjure her wretched 
 creed ; and tlie shade of some holy convent may hide her 
 alike from the licentious gaze of my son and the iron 
 zeal of the inquisitor. I will see her." 
 
 When Leila entered the queen's pavilion, Isabel, who 
 was alone, marked her trembling step with a compas- 
 sionate eye ; Leila, in obedience to the queen's request, 
 threw up her vail, the paleness of her cheek and ihe 
 traces of recent tears plead to Isabel's heart with more 
 success than had attended all the pious invectives of 
 Torque mada. 
 
 " Maiden," said Isabel, encouragingly, " I fear thou 
 hast been strangely harassed by the thoughtless caprice 
 of the young prince. Think of it no more. But, if thou 
 art wiiat I have ventured to believe, and to assert thee to 
 be, cheerfully subscribe to the means I will suggest for 
 preventing the continuance of addresses which cannot 
 but injure thy fair name." 
 
 " Ah, madam !" said Leila, as she fell on one knee 
 beside the queen, " most joyfully, most gratefully will I 
 accept any asylum which proffers solitude and peace." 
 
 "The asylum to which I would fain lead thy steps," 
 answered Isabel, gently, "is, indeed, one whose soli- 
 tude is holy ; whose peace is that of heaven. But of this 
 hereafter. Thou wilt not hesitate, then, to leave the 
 camp, unknown to the prince, and ere he can again seek 
 thee?" 
 
 " Hesitate, madam ! Ah ! r.ither how shall I express 
 my thanks ?" 
 
 " I did not read that face misjudgingly," thought the 
 queen, as she resumed ; " Be it so ; we will not lose an- 
 other night. Withdraw yonder through the inner tent *
 
 I.EfLA. yy 
 
 the litter sliall be straight prepared for thee; and, ere 
 midnight, thou slialt sleep in safety under the roof of 
 one of the bravest kniglus and noblest ladies that our 
 realm can boast. Thou shalt bear with thee, maiden, a 
 letter that shall commend thee specially to the care of 
 thy hostess : thou wilt find her of a kindly and fostering 
 nature. And oh, maiden !" added the queen, with be- 
 nevolent warmth, "steel not tJiy heart against her: listen 
 with ductile senses to her gentle ministry; and may God 
 and his Son prosper that pious lady's counsel, so that it 
 may win a new strayling to the immortal fold !" 
 
 Leila listened and wondered, but made no answer; 
 until, as she gained the entrance to the interior division 
 of the tent, she stopped abruptly, and said, 
 
 " Pardon me, gracious queen, but dare I ask thee one 
 question ? It is not of myself." 
 
 " Speak, and fear not." 
 
 " My father — hath aught been heard of him ? He prom- 
 ised that, ere the fifth day were past, he would once 
 more see his child ; and, alas ! that date is past, and I 
 am still alone in the dwelling of the stranger." 
 
 " Unhappy child," muttered Isabel to herself, " thou 
 knowst not his treason nor his fate ; yet why shouldst 
 thou ? Ignorant of what would render thee blessed here- 
 after, continue ignorant of what would afflict thee here. 
 Be cheered, maiden," answered the queen, aloud ; "no 
 doubt there are reasons sufficient to forbid your meeting. 
 But thou shalt not lack friends in the dwelling-house of 
 the stranger." 
 
 " Ah, noble queen, pardon me, and one word more. 
 There hath been with me, more than once, a stern old 
 man, whose voice freezes the blood within my veins ; he 
 questions me of my father, and in the tone of a foe 
 who would entrap from the child something to the peril 
 cf the sire. That man — thou knowst him, gracious 
 queen — he cannot have the power to harm my father?" 
 
 "Peace, maiden! tiie man thou speakst of is the 
 priest of God, and the innocent have nothing to dread 
 from his reverend zeal. For thyself, I say again, be 
 cheered ; in the home to vvliich I consign thee thou wilt 
 see him no more. Take comfort, poor child; weep not : 
 all have their cares ; our duty is to bear in this life, re- 
 serving liope only for the next." 
 
 The queen, destined herself to those domestic afflic-
 
 78 
 
 LEILA. 
 
 tions wliicli pomp cannot sootii, nor power allay, spoke 
 with a prophetic sadness which yet more touched a heart 
 that her kindness of look and tone had already softened; 
 and in the impulse of a nature never tutored in the rigid 
 ceremonials of that stately court, Leila suddenly came 
 forward, and, falling on one knee, seized the hand of her 
 protectress, and kissed it warmly through her tears. 
 
 " Are you, too, unhappy ?" she said ; " I will pray for 
 you to viy God !" 
 
 The queen, surprised and moved at an action which, 
 had witnesses been present, would only, perhaps (for 
 such is human nature), have offended her Castilian pre- 
 judices, left her hand in Leila's grateful clasp ; and lay- 
 ing the other upon the parted and luxuriant ringlets of 
 the kneeling maiden, said, gently, "And thy prayers 
 shall avail thee and me when tliy God and mine are the 
 same. Bless thee, maiden ! I am a mother, thou art 
 motherless ; bless thee !" 
 
 CHAPTER II. 
 
 THE TEMPTATION OF THE JEWESS, IN WHICH THE HISTORV 
 PASSES FROM THE OUTWARD TO THE INTERNAL. 
 
 It was about the very hour, almost the very moment, 
 in whicli Almamen effected his mysterious escape from 
 the tent of the Inquisition, that the train accompanying 
 tlie litter wliich bore Leila, and which was composed of 
 some chosen soldiers of Isabel's own body-guard, after 
 traversing tlie camp, winding along that part of the 
 mountainous defile which was in the possession of the 
 Spaniards, and ascending a high and steep acclivity, 
 halted before the gates of a stn^ngly fortified castle rc- 
 ncv.ned in the chronicles of that memorable war. The 
 hoarse challenge of the sentry, the grating of jealous bars, 
 the clank of "hoofs upon the rough pavement of the 
 courts, and the streaming glare iA torches, falling upon 
 stern and bearded visages, and imparting a ruddier glow 
 to tlie moonlighted buttresses and battlements of the
 
 LEILA. 7Q 
 
 fortress, aroused Leila from a kind of torpor rather than 
 sleep, in which the fatigue and excitement of the day had 
 steeped her senses. An old seneschal conducted her 
 through vast and gloomy halls (how unlike the brilliant 
 chambers and fantastic arcades of her Moorish home !) 
 to a huge Gothic apartment, hung with the arras of 
 Flemish looms. In a few moments, maidens, hastily 
 aroused from slumber, grouped around her with a respect 
 which would certainly not have been accorded had her 
 birth and creed been known. They gazed with surprise 
 at her extraordinary beauty and foreign garb, and evi- 
 dently considered the new guest a welcome addition to 
 the scanty scjciety of the castle. Under any other cir- 
 cumstances, the strangeness of all she saw and the frown- 
 ing gloom of the chamber to which she was consigned 
 would have damped the spirits of one whose destiny had 
 so suddenly passed from the deepest quiet into the stern- 
 est excitement. But any change was a relief to the roar 
 of the camp, the addresses of the prince, and the ominous 
 voice and countenance of Torquemada ; and Leila looked 
 around her with the feeling that the queen's promise was 
 fulfilled, and that she was already amidst the blessings 
 of shelter and repose. It was long, however, before sleep 
 revisited her eyelids, and when she woke the noonday 
 sun streamed broadly through the lattice. By the bed- 
 side sat a matron advanced in years, but of a mild and 
 prepossessing countenance, which only borrowed a yet 
 more attractive charm from an expression of placid 
 and habitual melancholy. She was robed in black ; but 
 the rich pearls that were interwoven in the sleeves and 
 stomacher, the jeweled cross that was appended from a 
 chain of massive gold, and, still more, a certain air of 
 dignity and command, bespoke, even to the inexperienced 
 eye of Leila, the evidence of superior station. 
 
 " Thou hast slept late, daughter," said the lady, with 
 a benevolent smile; " may thy slumber have refreshed 
 thee ! Accept my regrets that I knew not till this morn- 
 ing of thine arrival, or I should have been the first to 
 welcome the charge of ni)'- royal mistress." 
 
 There was in the look, much more than in the words, 
 of the Donna Inez de Ouexada, a soothing and tender in- 
 terest that was as balm to the heart of Leila; in truth, she 
 had been made the guest of, perhaps, the only lady in 
 Spain of pure and Cliristian blood who did not despise
 
 80 LF.TLA. 
 
 or execrate the name of Leila's tribe. Donna Inez had 
 herself coiUracled to a Jew a debt of gratitude which 
 slie had sought to return to the whole race. Many 
 years before the time in which our tale is cast, her hus- 
 band and herself had been sojourning at Naples, then 
 closely connected with the politics of Spain, upon an 
 important state mission. They had then an only son, a 
 youth of a wild and desultory character, wliom the spirit 
 of adventure lured to the East. In one of those sultry 
 lands the young Qucxada was saved from the hands of 
 rubbers by the caravanserai of a wealthy traveler. With 
 this stranger he contracted that intimacy which wander- 
 ing and romantic men often conceive for each other, 
 without any other sympathy than that of the same pur- 
 suits. Subsequently he discovered that his companion 
 was of the Jewish faith ; and, with the usual prejudice of 
 his birth and time, recoiled from the friendsliip he iiad 
 solicited, and shrunk from the sense of the obligation 
 he had incurred ; he left his companion. Wearied at 
 length with travel, he was journeying homeward, 
 when he was seized with a sudden and virulent fever, 
 mistaken for plague; all lied from the contagion of the 
 supposed pestilence ; he was left to die. One man dis- 
 covered his condition ; watched, tended, and, skilled in 
 the deeper secrets of the healing art, restored him \.o life 
 and health ; it was the same Jew who had preserved him 
 from the robbers. At this second and more inestimable 
 obligation the prejudices of the Spaniard vanished ; he 
 formed a deep and grateful attachment for his preserver; 
 they lived together for some time, and the Israelite 
 finally accompanied the young Quexada to Naples. 
 Inez retained a lively sense of the service rendered to 
 her only son ; and the impression had been increased, 
 not only by the appearance of the Israelite, whicii, dig- 
 nified and stately, bore no likeness to the cringing serv- 
 ility of his brethren, but also by ,the singular beauty and 
 gentle deportment of his then newly-wed bride, whom he 
 had wooed and won in tliat holy land, sacred equally to 
 the faith of Christian and of Jew. The young Ouexada 
 did not long survive his return ; his consiiiuiion was 
 broken by long travel and the debility which followed 
 his fierce disease. On his death-bed he had besought the 
 mother whom he left childless, and whose Catholic 
 prejudices were less stubborn than those of his sire,
 
 LEILA. 8, 
 
 never to forget the services a Jew had conferred upon 
 him; to make the sole recompense in her power — the sole 
 recompense the Jew himself iiad demanded ; and to lose 
 no occasion to soothe or mitigate the miseries to which 
 the bigotry of the time often exposed the oppressed race 
 of his deliverer. 
 
 Donna Inez had faithfully kept the promise she gave 
 to the last scion of her house ; and, through the power 
 and reputation of her husband and her own connections, 
 and still more through an early friendship with the 
 queen, she had, on her return to Spain, been enabled to 
 ward off many a persecution and many a charge on false 
 pretenses, to which the wealth of some son of Israel 
 made the cause, while his faith made the pretext. Yet, 
 with all the natural feelings of a rigid Catholic, she had 
 earnestly sought to render the favor she had thus obtain- 
 ed among the Jews minister to her pious zeal for their 
 more than temporal warfare. She had endeavored by 
 gentle means to make the conversions which force was 
 impotent to effect ; and, in some instances, her success 
 had been signal. The good senora had thus obtained 
 high renown for sanctity ; and Isabel thought rightly, 
 that she could not select a protectress for Leila who 
 would more kindly shelter her youth or more strenuously 
 labor for her salvation. It was, indeed, a dangerous sit- 
 uation for the adherence of the maiden to that faith 
 which had cost her fiery father so many sacrifices to pre- 
 serve and to advance. 
 
 It was by little and little that Donna Inez sought 
 rather to undermine than to storm the mental fortress 
 'she hoped to man with spiritual allies ; and, in her fre- 
 quent conversations with Leila, she was at once per- 
 plexed and astonished by the simple and sublime nature 
 of the belief upon which she waged war. For, whether it 
 was that, in his desire to preserve Leila as much as pos- 
 sible from contact even with Jews themselves, whose 
 general character (vitiated by the oppression which en- 
 gendered meanness, and the extortion which fostered 
 avarice) Almamen regarded with lofty though concealed 
 repugnance ; or whether it was that his philosophy did 
 not interpret the Jewish formula of belief in tlie same 
 spirit as the herd, the religion inculcated in the breast of 
 Leila was different from that which Inez had ever before 
 encouutered among lier proselytes. It was less mundane
 
 32 LEILA. 
 
 and material ; a kind of passionate ratlier than meta- 
 physical deism, wliich invested the great One, indeed, 
 with many human sympatliies and attributes, but still 
 left him the aui^ust and awful God of Genesis, the 
 Father of a universe, though the individual Protector of 
 a petty and fallen sect, iier attention had been less di- 
 rected to whatever appears, to a superficial gaze, stern 
 and inexorable in the character of the Hebrew God, and 
 which the religion of Christ so beautifully softened and 
 so majestically refined, than to those passages in which 
 his love watched over a chosen peo[)le, and his forbear- 
 ance bore with their transgressions. Her reason had 
 been worked upon t(; its belief by that mysterious and 
 solemn agency, by which, when the whole world besides 
 was bowed to the worship of innumerable deities and 
 the adoration of graven images, in a small and secluded 
 portion of eartli, among a people far less civilized and 
 philosophical than many by which they were surrounded, 
 had been alone preserved a pure and sublime theism, 
 disdaining a likeness in the things of heaven or earth. 
 Leila knew little of the more narrow and exclusive ten- 
 ets of her brethren ; a Jewess in name, she was rather a 
 deist in belief — a deist of such a creed as Athenian 
 schools might have taught to the imaginative pupils of 
 Plato, save only that ti»cj dark a shadow had been cast 
 over the hopes of another world. 
 
 Without the absolute denial of the Sadducee, Almamen 
 had, probably, much of the quiet skepticism which be- 
 longed to many sects t)f the early Jews, and which still 
 clings round the v;isdom of the wisest who reject the 
 doctrine of the Revelation ; and while he had not sought 
 to eradicate from the breast of his daughter any of the 
 vague desire which p(jints to a hereafter, he had never, 
 at least, directed her thoughts or aspirations to that 
 solemn future. Nor in the sacred book which was given 
 \z her survey, and which so rigidly upheld the unity of 
 the Supreme Power, was there that positive and un- 
 equivocal assurance of life beyond "the grave, where all 
 livings are forgotten," that might supply the deficiencies 
 of her mortal instructor. Perhaps, sharing those notions 
 of the different value of the sexes, prevalent, from the 
 remotest period, in his beloved and ancestral East, 
 Almamen might have hopes for himself wliich did not 
 extend to his child. And thus she grew up, with all the
 
 LEILA. 
 
 §3 
 
 beaiitifu. faculties of the soul cherished and unfolded, 
 without Lhou<;ht, without more than dim and shadowy 
 conjectures of the Eternal Bourne to which the sorrow- 
 ing pilgrim of the earth is bound. It was on this point 
 that the quick eye of Donna Inez discovered her fa'th 
 was vulnerable ; wlio would not, if belief were volun- 
 tary, believe in the world to come? Leila's curiosity and 
 interest were aroused ; she willingly listened to her new 
 guide; she willingly inclined to conclusions pressed 
 upon her, not with [iienace; but persuasion. Free from 
 the stubborn associations, the sectarian prejudices, and 
 unversed in the peculiar traditions and accounts of the 
 learned of her race, she found nothing to shock her in 
 the volume whicli seemed but a continuation of the elder 
 writings of her faith. The sufferings of the Messiah, 
 his sublime purity, his meek forgiveness, spoke to her 
 woman's heart; his doctrines elevated, while they charmed, 
 her reason ; and in the heaven tiiata Divine hand opened 
 to all — the humble as the proud, the oppressed as the 
 oppressor, to the woman as to the lords of the eartli — ■ 
 she found a haven for all the doubts slie had known, and 
 for the despair wliich of late had darkened the face of 
 the earth. Her home lost, the deep and beautiful love of 
 her youtn blighted, that was a creed almost irresistible 
 wliich told her that grief was but for a day, that happi- 
 ness was eternal. Far, too, from revolting such of tiie 
 Hebrew pride of association as she had formed, the birth 
 of the Messiah in the land of the Israelites seemed to 
 consummate tlieir peculiar triumph as the elected iA 
 Jehovah ; and while she mourned for the Jews who 
 persecuted the Saviour, she gloried in those wliose belief 
 had carried the name and worship of the descendants of 
 David over the farthest regions of the world. Often she 
 perplexed and startled the wortliy Inez by exclaiming, 
 "This your belief is the same as mine, adding only the 
 assurance of immortal life ; Christianity is but the Reve- 
 lation of Judaism." 
 
 The wise and gentle instrument of Leila's conversion 
 did not, however, give vent to those more Catholic sen- 
 timents which miglit have scared away the wings of the 
 descending dove. She forbore, .too, vehemently to point 
 out the distinctions of the several creeds, and rather suf- 
 fered tlicm to melt insensibly one into the other : Leila 
 was a Christian while she st-M believed herself a Jewess.
 
 84 
 
 LEILA. 
 
 But ill the f(jntl and lovely wciikncss of mortal emotions, 
 there was one bitter tiiought that often and often came 
 to mar the peace that otlierwise would have settled on 
 her soul. That father, tiie sole softener of whose stern 
 heart and mysterious fate she was, with what pangs would 
 he receive the news of her conversion ! And Muza, that 
 bright and hero-vision of her youth — was she not setting 
 the last seal of separation upon all hope of union with 
 the idol of the M(jors ? But, alas ! was she not already 
 separated from him, and iiad not their faiths been from 
 the first at variance ? Frc^m these thouglits she started 
 with sighs and tears ; and before her stood the crucifix, 
 already admitted into her chamber, and — not, perhaps, 
 too wisely — banished so rigidly from the oratories of the 
 Huguenot. For the representation of that divine resig- 
 nation, that mortal agony, that miraculous sacrifice, wh ic 
 eloquence it hath for our sorrows ! what preaching hath 
 the symbol to the vanities of our wishes, to the yearn- 
 ings of our discontent ! 
 
 By degrees, as her new faith grew confirmed, Leila 
 now inclined herself earnestly to tliose pictures of the 
 sanctity and calm of the conventual life which Inez de- 
 lighted to draw. In the reaction of her thoughts, and 
 her despondency of all wc^rkily happiness, there seemed 
 to the young maiden an inexpressible charm in a solitude 
 which was to release her forever from human love, and 
 render her entirely up to sacred visions and imperish- 
 able hopes. And with this selfish there mingled a more 
 generous and sublime sentiment. The prayers of a con- 
 vert might be heard in favor of those yet benighted, and 
 the awful curse upon her outcast race be lightened by the 
 orisons of one humble heart. In all ages, in all creeds, 
 a strange and mystic impression has existed of the elli- 
 cacy of self-sacrifice in working the redemption even of 
 a whole people ; this belief, so strong in the old Orient 
 and classic religions, was yet more confirmed by Chris- 
 tianity — a creed founded upon the grandest of historic 
 sacrifices ; and the lofty doctrine of whicli, rightly un- 
 derstof)d, perpetuates in the heart of every believer the 
 duty of self-immolation, as well as faith in the power of 
 prayer, no matter how great the object, how mean th« 
 siipplicator. On these thcjughts Leila meditated, till 
 thoughts acquired the intensify of passions, and the con- 
 version of the Jewess was completed.
 
 LEILA. 85 
 
 CHAPTER III. 
 
 THE HOUR AND THE MAN. 
 
 It was on the third morning after the King of Gre- 
 nada, reconciled to his people, had reviewed his gallant 
 army in the Vivarambla; and Boabdil, surrounded by his 
 chiefs and nobles, was planning a deliberate and decisive 
 battle, by assault on the Christian camp, when a scout 
 suddenly at rived, breathless, at the gates of the palace, 
 to coniinunicate t'ic unlooked for and welcome intelli- 
 gence that Ferd'nand had in the night broken up his 
 camp and marched across the mountains toward Cor- 
 d(iva. In fact tne outbreak of formidable conspiracies 
 had suddenly rendered the appearance of Ferdinand nec- 
 essary elsewhere ; and, his intrigues with Almamen 
 frustrated, he despaired of a very speedy conquest of the 
 :ity. The Spanish king resolved, therefore, after com- 
 pleting the devastation of the Vega, to defer the formal 
 and proUmged siege, which could alone place Grenada 
 within his power, until his attention was no longer dis- 
 tracted to otiier foes, and until, it must be added, he had 
 replenished an exhausted treasury. He had formed with 
 Torquemada a vast and wide scheme of persecution, not 
 only against Jews, but against Christians whose fathers 
 had been of that race, and who were suspected of relaps- 
 ing into Judaical practices. The two schemers of this 
 grand design were actuated by different motives : the 
 one wished to exterminate the crime, the other to sell 
 forgiveness for it ; and Torquemada connived at the 
 griping avarice of the king because it served to give to 
 himself and to the infant inquisition a power and author- 
 ity which the Dominican ff)resaw would be soon greater 
 even than those of royalty itself, and which, he imagined, 
 by scourguig earth, would redound to the interest of 
 Heaven. 
 
 The strange disappearance of Almamen, which was 
 distorted and exn.ggcrated by the credulity of the Span- 
 iards into an event of the most terrific character, served 
 to complete the chain of evidence against the wealthy 
 Jews and Jew-descended Spaniards of Andalusia ; and 
 while, in imagination, the king already clutched tlie gold
 
 86 LEILA. 
 
 of their redemption here, the Dominican kindled the 
 ftamc tliat was to light them to punishment hereafter. 
 
 Boabdil and his cliiefs recciv-d ilie intelligence of the 
 Spanish retreat wiih a d(jubt which soon yielded to the 
 nn)st trinmphant delight. Boabdil at once resumed all 
 the energy for which, though but by fits and starts, his 
 earlier youth had l)een remarkable. 
 
 "Allah Akbar! God is great !" cried he; "we will 
 not remain here till it suit the foe to confine the eagle 
 again to his eyrie. They have left us — we will burst on 
 them. Summon our alfaquis, we will proclaim, a holy 
 war ! The sovereign of the last possessions of the 
 Moors is in the field. Not a town that contains a Moslem 
 but shall receive our summons, and we will gather round 
 our standard all the children of our faith !" 
 
 " May the king live forever !" cried the council, with 
 one voice. 
 
 "Lose not a moment," resumed Bo;ibdil ; "on to the 
 Vivarambla ; marshal the troops; Muza heads the cavalry, 
 myself our foot. Ere the sun's shadow reach yonder 
 forest, our army shall be on iis march." 
 
 The warriors, hastily and in joy, left the palace ; and, 
 when he was alone, Boabdil again relapsed into his 
 wonted irresolution. After striding lo and fro for some 
 minutes in anxious thought, he abruptly left the hall of 
 council, and passed into the more private chambers of 
 the palace, till he came to a door strongly guarded by 
 plates of iron. It yielded easily, however, to a small key 
 which he carried in his girdle ; and Boabdil stood in a 
 small circular room, apparently without other door or 
 outlet ; but, after looking cautiously round, the king 
 touched a secret spring in the wall, which, giving way, 
 discovered a niche, in which stood a small lamp, burning 
 with the purest najijhtha, and a scroll of yellow parch- 
 ment covered with strange letters and hieroglyphics. 
 He thrust the scroll in his bosom, took the lamp in his 
 hand, and pressing another spring within the niche, the 
 wall receded and showed a narrow and winding staircase. 
 The king reclosed the entrance and descended ; the 
 stairs led at last into damp and rcnigh passages ; and the 
 murmur of waters, that reached his ear through the thick 
 walls, indicated the subterranean nature of the soil through 
 which they were hewn. The lam|) burned clear and steady 
 through the darkness of the place ; and Boabdil proceeded
 
 LEILA. 87 
 
 with such impatient rapidity, that the distance (in reality 
 considerable) which he traversed before he arrived at his 
 destined bourne was quickly measured. He came at last 
 into a wide cavern, guarded by doors concealed and 
 secret as those which had screened the entrance from the 
 upper air. He was in one of the many vaults which 
 made the mighty cemetery of the monarchs of Grenada ; 
 and before him stood the robed and crowned skeleton, 
 and before him glowed the magic dial-plate of which he 
 had spoken in his interview with Muza. 
 
 " Uh, dread and awful image !" cried the king, throw- 
 ing himself on his knees before tiie skeleton ; "shadow 
 of what was once a king, wise in council and terrible in 
 war ; if in those hollow bones yet lurks the impalpable 
 and unseen spirit, hear thy repentant son P'orgive, 
 while it is yet time, the rebellion of his fiery youth, and 
 suffer thy daring soul to animate the doubt and weakness 
 of his own. I go forth to battle, waiting not "^he signal 
 thou didst ordain. Let not the penance for a rashness, 
 to which fate urges me on, attach to my country, but to 
 me ; and if I perish in the field, may my evil destinies be 
 buried with me, and a worthier monarch redeem my er- 
 rors and preserve Grenada !" 
 
 As the king raised his looks, the unrelaxed grin of the 
 grim dead, made yet more hideous by the mockery of 
 the diadem and the royal robe, froze back to ice the pas- 
 sion and sorrow at his heart. He shuddered, and rose 
 with a deep sigh ; when, as his eyes mechanically follow- 
 ed the lifted arm of the skeleton, he beheld, with min- 
 gled delight and awe, the hitherto motionless finger of 
 the dial-plate pass slowly on, and rest at the word so 
 long and so impatiently desired. " Arm ! " cried the 
 king; "do I read aright? are my prayers heard?" A 
 low and deep sound, like that of subterranean thunder, 
 boomed tlirough the chamber ; and in the same instant 
 the wall opened, and the king beheld the long-expected 
 figure of Almamen the magician. But no longer was that 
 stately form clad in the loose and peaceful garb of the 
 Eastern santon. Complete armor cased his broad breast 
 and sinewy limbs ; his head alone was bare, and his 
 prominent and impressive features were lighted, not 
 with mystical enthusiasm, but with warlike energy. In 
 his right hand he carried a drawn sword, his left sup- 
 poiled the staff of a snow-white and dazzling banner.
 
 88 LEILA. 
 
 So su^lden was the apparition and so excited the mind 
 of the .Uing, that the sight of a supernatural being could 
 scarcely have impressed him with more amaze and awe. 
 
 " King of Grenada," said Aimamen, "the hour hath 
 come at last : go forth and conquer ! With the Christian 
 monarch there is no hope of peace or compact. At thy 
 request I sought him, but my spells alone preserved the 
 life of thy herald. Rejoice ! for thine evil destinies have 
 rolled away from thy spirit like a cloud from the glory 
 of the sun. The genii of the East have woven this ban- 
 ner from the rays of benignant stars. It shall beam 
 before thee in the front of battle ; it shall rise over the 
 rivers of Christian blood. As the moon sways the bosom 
 of the tides, it ^iiall sway and direct the surges and the 
 course of war 1" 
 
 " Man of mystery ! thou hast given me a new life." 
 
 " And, fighting by thy side," resumed Aimamen, " I 
 will assist to carve out for thee, from the ruins of Arra- 
 gon and Castile, the grandeur of a new throne. Arm, 
 monarch of Grenada ! — arm ! I hear the neigh of thy 
 charofer in the midst of the mailed thousands ! Arm !" 
 
 BOOK IV. 
 
 CHAPTER I. 
 
 LEILA IN THE CASTLE — THE SIEGE. 
 
 The calmer contemplations and more holy anxieties 
 of Leila were at length broken in upon by intelligence, 
 the fearful interest of which absorbed the whole mind 
 and care of every inhabitant of the castle. Boabdil el 
 Chico had taken the field at the head of a nuinerous 
 army. Raj)idly scouiing the countrv, he had dcsccndefl, 
 one after one, upon the principal fortresses which Ferdi- 
 nand liad left strongly garrisoned in tiie immediate 
 neighborhood. llis success was as immediate as it was 
 signal; the terror of his arms began once more to spread 
 far and wide ; every day swelled his ranks with new re*
 
 LEILA. 8g 
 
 ciuils ; from the snow-clad summits of the Sierra Ne- 
 vada poured down, in wild hordes, the fierce mountain 
 race, who, accustomed to eternal winter, made a strange 
 contrast, in tlieir rui^^ged appearance and shaggy clothing, 
 to the glittering and civilized soldiery of Grenada. 
 
 Moorish towns which had submitted to Ferdinand 
 broke from their allegiance, and sent their ardent youth 
 and experienced veterans to the standard of the Keys 
 and Crescent. To add to the sudden panic of the Span- 
 iards, it went forth that a formidable magician, who 
 seemed inspired rather with the fury of a demon 
 than the valor of a man, had make an abrupt appearance 
 in the ranks of the Moslems. Wherever the Moors 
 shrunk back from wall or tower, down which poured 
 the boiling pitch or rolled the deadly artillery of the be- 
 sieged, this sorcerer, rushing into the midst of the flag- 
 ging force, and waving, wnth wild gestures, a white ban- 
 ner, supposed by both Moor and Christian to be the 
 work of magic and preternatural spells, dared every 
 danger and escaped every weapon ; with voice, with 
 prayer, with example, he fired the Moors to an en- 
 tliusiasm that revived the first days of Mohammedan 
 conquest ; and tower after tower along the mighty range 
 of the mountain chain of fortresses was polluted by the 
 wave and glitter of the ever-victorious banner. The 
 veteran Mendo de Quexada, who, with a garrison of two 
 hundred and fifty men, held the castle of Alhendin, was, 
 however, undaunted by the unprecedented successes of 
 Boabdil. Aware of the approaching storm, he spent the 
 days of peace yet accorded to him in making every pre- 
 paration for tlie siege that he foresaw ; messengers were 
 dispatched to Ferdinand ; new outworks were added to 
 the castle; ample store of provisions laid in; and no pre- 
 caution omitted that could still preserve to the Spaniards 
 a fortress that, from its vicinity to Grenada, its command 
 of the Vega and the valleys of the Alpuxarras, was the 
 bitterest thorn in the side of tlie Moorisli power. 
 
 It was early one morning that Leila stood by the 
 lattice of her lofty chamber, gazing, with many and 
 mingled emotions, on the distant domes of Grenada as 
 they slept in the silent sunshine. Her heart, for the 
 moment, was busy with the thoughts of home, and the 
 chances and peril of the time were forgotten. 
 
 The sound of martial music afar off broke upon her
 
 90 
 
 LEILA. 
 
 reveries ; she started and listened breathlessly; it became 
 more disiiiici and clear. The ciasii ol tliezcll, the boom 
 of the African drum, and ilie wild and barbarous blast 
 of the Moorisli clarion, were now each distin<2;uishable 
 from the other ; and at length, as she gazed and listened, 
 winding along tlie steeps of the mountain were seen the 
 gleaming spears and pennants of the Moslem vanguard. 
 Another moment and the whole castle was astir. 
 
 Mendo de Quexada, hastily arming, repaired himself 
 to the battlements ; and, from her lattice, Leila beheld 
 him, from time to time, stationing to the best advantage 
 his scanty troops. In a few minutes she was joined by 
 Donna Inez and the women of the castle, who fearfully 
 clustered rc>und their mistress ; not the less disposed, 
 however, to gratify the passion of the sex by a glimpse 
 through the lattice at the gorgeous array of tlie Moorish 
 army. 
 
 The casements of Leila's chamber were peculiarly 
 adapted to command a safe nor insufficient view of the pro- 
 gress of the enemy ; and witlia beating heart and Hushing 
 cheek the Jewish maiden, deaf to the voices around her, im- 
 agined she could already descry amidst the horsemen the 
 lion port and snowy garments of Muza Ben Abil Gazan. 
 
 What a situation was hers ! Already a Christian, 
 could she hope for the success of the infidel ? Ever a 
 woman, could she hope for the defeat of her lover ? But 
 the time for meditation on her destiny was but brief ; the 
 detachment of the Moorish cavalry was now just without 
 the walls of the little town that girded the castle, and 
 the loud clarion of the heralds summoned the garrison 
 to surrender. 
 
 " Not while one stone stands upon another !" was the 
 short answer of Quexada; and, in ten minutes after- 
 ward, the sullen roar of the artillery broke from wall 
 and tower over the vales belf)w. 
 
 It was then that the women, from Leila's lattice, be- 
 held, slowly marshaling themselves in order, the whole 
 power and pageantry of the besieging army. Thick — 
 serried — line after line, column upon column — they 
 spread below the frowning steep. The sunbeams lightttd 
 up that goodly arrav, as it swayed, and imnrmured, and 
 advanced, like the billows of a glittering sea. The royal 
 standard was soon descried waving above the pavilion 
 of Boabdil ; and the king himself, mounted on his
 
 LhlLA. 
 
 91 
 
 cream colored charger, which ¥v'as covered with trap- 
 pings of cloth of gold, was recognized among the in- 
 fantry, whose task it was to lead the assault. 
 
 "Pray with us, my daughter !" cried Inez, falling on 
 her knees. Alas ! what could Leila pray for? 
 
 Four days and four nights passed away in that mem- 
 orable siege ; for the moon, then at her full, allowed no 
 respite, even in night itself. Their numbers and 
 their vicinity to Grenada gave the besiegers the advan- 
 tage of constant relays, and troop succeeded to troop; so 
 that the weary had ever successors in the vigor of new 
 assailants. 
 
 On the fifth day all of the town, all of the fortress, 
 save the keep (an immense tower), were in the hands of 
 the Moslems ; and in this last hold the worn-out and 
 scanty remnant of the garrison mustered, in the last 
 hope of a brave despair. 
 
 Quexada appeared, covered with gore and dust ; his 
 eyes bloodshot; his cheek haggard^ and hollow; his 
 locks blanciied with sudden age, in the hall of the tower, 
 where the women, half dead with terror, were assembled. 
 " Food !" cried he, "food and wine ! it may be our 
 last banquet." 
 
 His wife threw her arms about him. " Not yet," he 
 cried, " not yet ; we will have one embrace before we 
 part." 
 
 "Is there, then, no hope?" said Inez, with a pale 
 cheek yet steady eye. 
 
 "None, unless to-morrow's dawn gild the spears of 
 Ferdinand's army upon yonder hills. Till morn we 
 may hold out." As he spoke lie hastily devoured some 
 morsels of food, drained a huge goblet of wine, and 
 abruptly left tlie chamber. 
 
 At that moment the women distinctly heard the loud 
 shouts of the Moors ; and Leila, approaching the grated 
 casement, could perceive the approach of what seemed 
 to her like moving walls. 
 
 Covered by ingeniou3 constructions of wood and 
 thick hides, the besiegers advanced to the foot of the 
 tower in comparative shelter from the burning streams 
 which still poured, fast and seething, from the battle- 
 ments; while in the rear came showers of darts and 
 cross-bolts from the more distant Moors, protecting the 
 work of the engineers, and pit;rcing through almost 
 every looohole an jn the fortress,
 
 92 
 
 LET LA. 
 
 Meanwhile the stalwart gov^ernor beheld, with dismay 
 and despair, tiie preparations of the engineers, whom 
 the wooden screen- works protected from every weapon. 
 
 " By the holy sepulchre !" cried he, gnashing his 
 teeth, " they are mining the tower, and we sliall be buried 
 in its ruins ! Look out, Gonsalvo ! see you not a gleam 
 of spears yonder over the mountains? Mine eyes are 
 dim with watclnng." 
 
 " Alas ! brave Mendo, it is only the sloping sun upoa 
 the snows ; but there is hope yet." 
 
 The S(ildier's words terminated in ashrilLand sudden 
 cry of ag(jny. antl he fell dead by the side of Quexada, 
 the brain crushed by a bi^lt from a Moorish arquebuse. 
 
 " My best warrior !" said Quexada ; '" peace be with 
 him ! flo, there ! see you yon desperate inlidel urging 
 on the miners? By the heavens ab(jve, it is he of the 
 white banner! it is the sorcerer! Fire on him ! he is 
 without the slicker of the wood-works." 
 
 Twenty shafts, from wearied and nerveless arms, fell 
 innocuous round the form of Almamen ; and as, waving 
 aloft his ominous banner, he disappeared again behind 
 the shelter of the screen-works, the Spaniards almost 
 fancied they could hear his exulting and demon laugh. 
 
 The sixth day came, and the work of the enemy was 
 completed. The leaver was entirely undermined ; the 
 foundations rested only on wooden props, which, with a 
 humanity that was characteristic of Boabdil, had been 
 placed there in order that the besieged miglit escape ere 
 the final crash of their last hold. 
 
 It was now noon ; the whole Moorish force, leaving 
 the plain, occupied the steep that spread below the tower 
 in multitudinous array and breathless expectation. The 
 miners stood aloof ; the Spaniards lay prostrate and ex- 
 hausted upon the battlements, like mariners who, after 
 every effort against the storm, await, resigned and almost 
 indifferent, the sweep of the fatal surge. 
 
 Suildenly the lines of the Moors gave way ; and 
 Boabdil himself, with Muza at his right hand and Alma- 
 men on his left, advanced toward the foot of the tower. 
 At the same time the Ethopian guards — each bearing a 
 torch — marched slowly in the rear ; and from the midst 
 of them paced the royal herald, and sounded the last 
 Avarning. The hush of the immense armament ; the 
 glare of the torches, lighting the ebon faces and giant
 
 LEILA. 
 
 93 
 
 forms of their bearers ; the majestic appearance of the 
 king himself ; the heroic aspect of IMuza ; the bare head 
 and glittering banner of Almanien, ail combined with 
 the circumstances of the time to invest the speciacle with 
 something singularly awful, and, perhaps, sublime. 
 
 Quexada turned his eyes mutely round the ghastly 
 faces of his warriors, and still made not the signal. His 
 lips muttered, liis eyes glared ; when, suddenl}-, he heard 
 below the wail of women ; and the thought of Inez, the 
 bride of ids youth, the partner of his age, came upon 
 him ; and, with a trembling hand, he lowered the yet 
 unquailing standard of Spain. Then the silence below 
 broke into a miglity shout, which shook the grim tow- 
 er to its unsteady and temporary base. 
 
 " Arise, my friends," he said, with a bitter sigh, " we 
 have fought like men, and our country will not blush 
 for us." 
 
 He descended the winding stair ; his soldiers follow- 
 ed him with faltering steps ; the gates of the keep un- 
 folded, and these gallant Christians surrendered them- 
 selves to the Moor. 
 
 " Do with lis as you will," said Quexada, as he laid 
 the keys at the hoofs of Boabdil's barb ; " but there are 
 women in the garrison wlio- " 
 
 "Are sacred," interrupted the king. "At once we 
 accord their liberty and free transport whithersoever ye 
 would desire. Speak, then ! To what place of safety 
 shall they be conducted ?" 
 
 " Generous king !" replied the veteran Quexada, 
 brushing away his tears with the back of his hand, "you 
 take away the sting from our shame. We accept your 
 offer in the same spirit in which it is made. Across the 
 mountains, on the verge of the plain of Oifadez, I pos- 
 sess a small castle, ungarrisoned and unfortified. Thence, 
 should the war take that direction, the women can read- 
 ily obtain safe conduct to the queen at Cordova." 
 
 "Be it so," returned Boabdil. Then, with Oriental 
 delicacy, selecting the eldest of the officers round him, 
 he gave him instructions to enter the castle, and, with i 
 strong guard, provide for the safety of the women ac- 
 cording to the directions of Quexada. To another of 
 his officers he confided the Spanish prisoners, and gave 
 the signal to his arm)- to withdraw from the spot, leav'
 
 94 
 
 LEILA. 
 
 ing only a small body to complete the ruin of the for 
 tress. 
 
 Accompanied by Almamcn and his principal officers, 
 Boabdil now hastened toward Grenada ; and while, with 
 slower progress, Quexada and his companions, under a 
 strong escort, took their way across the Vega, a sudden 
 turn in their course brought abruptly before them tlie 
 tower they had so valiantly defended. There it still 
 stood, proud and stern, amidst the blackened and broken 
 wrecks around it, shooting aloft, dark and grim, against 
 the sky. Another moment, and a mighty crash sounded 
 on their ears ; while the tower fell to the earth amidst 
 volumes of wreathing smoke and showers of dust, which 
 were borne by the concussion to the spot on which they 
 took their last gaze of the proudest fortress on which the 
 Moors of Grenada had beheld, from their own walls, the 
 standard of Arragon and Castile. 
 
 At the same time, Leila — thus brought so strangely 
 within the very reach of her father and her lover, and 
 yet, by a mysterious fate, still divided from both — with 
 Donna Inez, and the rest of the females of the garrison, 
 pursued her melancholy path along the ridges of the 
 mountains. 
 
 CHAPTER II. 
 
 ALMAMEN's proposed enterprise — THE THREE ISRAEL- 
 ITES : CIRCUMSTANCE IMPRESSES EACH CHAR- 
 ACTER WITH A VARYING DYE. 
 
 BoARDiL followed up his late success with a series of 
 brilliant assaults on the neighboring fortresses. Gre- 
 nada, like a strong man bowed to the ground, wrenched 
 one after another, the bands that had crippled her liber- 
 ty and strength; and at length, after regaining a consid- 
 erable portion of the surrounding territory, the king re- 
 solved to lay siege to tlie seaport of Salobrena. Could 
 he obtain this town, Boabdil, by establishing communi- 
 catifjn between the sea and Grenada, would both be en- 
 abled to ^vajl himself qf the ^ssist^nce of bis African
 
 LEILA. 
 
 95 
 
 allies, and also prevent the Spaniards from cutting ofi 
 supplies to the city, should they again besiege it 
 Thither, then, accompanied by Muza, the Moorish king 
 bore his victorious standard. 
 
 On the eve of his departure, Almamen sought the 
 king's presence. A great change had come over the 
 santon since the departure of Ferdinand; his wonted 
 siateliness of mien was gone ; his eyes were sunk and 
 lu)llovv ; his manner disturbed and absent. In fact, his 
 love for his daughter made the sole softness of his char- 
 acter ; and that daughter was in the hands of the king 
 who had sentenced the father to the tortures of the In- 
 quisition ! To what dangers might she not be subjected 
 by the intolerant zeal of conversion ! and could that 
 frame and gentle heart brave the terrific engines that 
 might be brought against her fears? "Better," tb.ought 
 he, " that she should perish, even by the torture, than 
 adopt that hated faith." He gnashed his teeth in agony 
 at either alternative. His dreams, his objects, his re- 
 venge, his ambition, all forsook him: one single hope, 
 one thought, completely mastered his stormy" passions 
 and fitful intellect. 
 
 In this mood the pretended santon met Boabdil. He 
 represented to the king, over whom his influence had 
 prodigiously increased since the late victories of the 
 Moors, the necessity of employing the armies of Ferdi- 
 nand at a distance. He proposed, in furtherance of this 
 policy, to venture himself in Cordova; to endeavor strictly 
 to stir up those Moors in their ancient kingdom who 
 had succumbed to the Spanish yoke, and whose hopes 
 might naturally be inflamed by the recent successes of 
 Boabdil ; and, at least, to foment such disturbances as 
 might afford the king sufficient time to complete his 
 designs, and recruit his force by aid of the powers wiih 
 which he was in league. 
 
 The representations of Almamen at length conquered 
 Boabdil's reluctance to part with his sacred guide, and 
 it was finally arranged that the Israelite should at once 
 depart from the city. 
 
 As Almamen pursued homeward his solitary way, he 
 found himself suddenly accosted in the Hebrew tongue. 
 He turned hastily, and saw before him an old man in the 
 Jewish gown ; he recognized Elias, one of the wealthiesi 
 and most eminent of the race of Israel.
 
 96 
 
 LEILA. 
 
 " Pardon ine, wise couniiyman !" said the Jew, bow- 
 ing to the eartli, "but I cannot resist tlie temptation of 
 claiming kindred witii one through whom the horn of 
 Israel may be so triumphantly exalted." 
 
 ''Hush, man !" said Almamen, quickly, and looking 
 sharply round : " I thy countryman ! Art thou not, as 
 thy speech betokens, an Israelite?" 
 
 "Yea," returned tlie Jew, "and of the same tribe as 
 thy honored father — peace be with his ashes ! I re- 
 membered thee at once, boy though thou wert when thy 
 steps shook off the dust against Grenada. I remembered 
 thee, I say, at once, on thy return ; but I have kept thy 
 secret, trusting that, through thy soul and genius, thy 
 fallen brethren might put off sackcloth and feast upon 
 the housetops." 
 
 Almamen looked hard at the keen, sharp, Arab 
 features of the Jew ; and at length he answered : " And 
 how can Israel be restored? wilt thou fight for her?" 
 
 " I am too old, son of Issachar, to bear arms ; but our 
 tribes are many and our youth strong. Amidst these 
 disturbances between dog and dog^ '' 
 
 " The lion may get his own," interrupted Almamen, 
 impetuously ; " let us hope it. Hast thou heard oi the 
 new persecutions against us that the false Nazarene 
 king has already commenced in Cordcjva — persecutions 
 that make the heart sick and the blood cold ?" 
 
 " Alas !" replied Elias, "such woes, indeed, have not 
 failed to reach mine ear; and I have kindred, near and 
 beloved kindred, wealthy and honored men, scattered 
 throughout that land."- 
 
 " Were it not better that they should die on the field 
 than by the rack ?" e.xclaimed Almamen, fiercely. "God 
 of my fathers ! if there be yet a spark of manhood left 
 among thy people, let thy servant fan it to a flame, that 
 shall burn as the fire burns the stubble, so that the earth 
 may be bare before the blaze !" 
 
 " Nay," said Elias, dismayed rather than excited by 
 the vehemence of iiis comrade, " be not rash, son of 
 Issachar, be not rash ; peradventure thou wilt but exas- 
 perate the wrath of the rulers, and our substance there- 
 by will be utterly consumed." 
 
 Almamen drew back, placed his hand quietly on the 
 Jew's shoulder, looked him hard in the face, and gently 
 I-Cihing, turned away.
 
 LEILA. 
 
 97 
 
 Elias did not attempt to arrest his steps. " Imprac« 
 ticabie," he muttered; "impracticable and dangerous! 
 I ahva) s thouglit so. He may do us harm ; were he 
 not so strong- and fierce, I would put my knife under hia 
 left rib. Verily, gold is a great thing ; and — out on 
 me ! the knaves at home will be wasting the oil now 
 they know old Elias is abroad." Thereat the Jew drew 
 his cloak round him and quickened his pace. 
 
 Almamen in the meanwhile sought, through dark and 
 subierranean passages known only to himself, his accus- 
 tomed home. He passed much of the night alone ; but, 
 ere the morning star announced to the mountain tops 
 the presence of the sun, he stood, prepared for his jour- 
 ney, in his secret vault, by the door of the subterranean 
 passages, with old Ximen beside him. 
 
 "I go, Ximen," said Almamen, "upon a doubtful 
 quest ; whether I discover my daughter, and succeed in 
 bearing her in safety from their contaminating grasp, or 
 whether I fall into their snares and perish, there is an 
 equal chance that I may return no more to Grenada. 
 Should this be so, you will be heir to such wealth as I 
 leave in these places ; I know that your age will be con- 
 soled for the lack of children when your eyes look upon 
 the laugh of gold." 
 
 Ximen bowed low, and mumbled out some inaudible 
 protestations and thanks. Almamen sighed heavily as 
 he looked round the room. " I have evil omens in my 
 soul, and evil prophecies in my books," said he, mourn- 
 fully. ■' But the worst is here," he added, putting his 
 finger significantly to his temples ; "the string is stretched 
 — one more blow would snap it." 
 
 As he thus said he opened the door, and vanished 
 through that labyrinth of galleries by which he was en- 
 abled at all times to reach unobserved either the palace 
 of 'he Alhambra or the gardens without the gates of the 
 city. 
 
 Xime« remained behind a few moments in deep 
 thought. " All mine if he dies !" said he, "all mine if he 
 does not return ! All mine, all mine ! and I have not a 
 child or kinsman in the world to clutch it away from 
 me !" With that he locked the vault and returned to 
 the upper air. 
 
 7
 
 gS LEILA. 
 
 CHAPTER III. 
 
 THE FUGITIVE AND THE MEETING. 
 
 In their different directions the rival kings were 
 equally successful. Salobrena, but lately conquered by 
 the Christians, was thrown into a commotion by the 
 first glimpse of Boabdil's banners; the populace rose, 
 beat back their Christian guards, and opened the gates 
 to tlie last of their race of kings. The garrison alone, 
 to which the Spaniards retreated, resisted Boabdil's 
 arms ; and, defended by impregnable walls, promiscil an 
 obstinate and bloody siege. 
 
 Meanwhile, Ferdinand had no sooner entered Cor- 
 dova than his extensive sciieme of confiscation and 
 holy persecution commenced. Not only did more than 
 five hundred Jews perish in the dark and secret gripe 
 of the grand inquisitor, but several hundred of the 
 wealthiest Christian families, in whose blood was de- 
 tected the hereditary Jewish taint, were thrown into 
 prison, and such as were most fortunate purchased life 
 by the sacrifice of half their treasures. At this time, 
 however, there suddenly broke forth a formidable in- 
 surrection among these miserable subjects — the Messen- 
 ians of the Iberian Sparta. The Jews were so far aroused 
 from their long debasement by omnipotent despair, 
 that a single spark, falling on the ashes of their ancient 
 spirit, rekindled the flame of the descendants of the 
 fierce warriors of Palestine. They were encouraged and 
 assisted by the suspected Christians who had ijeen in- 
 volved in the same persecution ; and the whole were 
 headed by a man who appeared suddenly among them, 
 and whose fiery elcjqucnce and martial spirit produced, 
 at such a season, the most fervent enthusiasm. Unhap- 
 pily, the whole details of this singular outbreak are vvitli- 
 held from us; only by wary hints and guarded allusions 
 do the Spanisii chroniclers apprise us of its existence 
 and its perils. It is clear that all narrative of an 
 event that might afford the most dangerous prece- 
 dents, and was alarming to the pride and avarice of the 
 Spanish king, as well as the pious zeal of the church, 
 was strictly forbidden ; and the conspiracy was hushed
 
 LEILA. 
 
 99 
 
 in ihe dread silence of the Inquisition, into whose hands 
 the principal conspirators ultimately fell. We learn, 
 only, that a determined and sanguinary struggle was fol- 
 lowed by the triumph of Ferdinand and the complete 
 extinction of the treason. 
 
 It was one evening that a solitary fugitive, hard chased 
 by an armed troop of the brothers of St. Hermadad, 
 was seen emerging, from a wild and rocky defile, which 
 opened abruptly on the gardens of a small, and, by the 
 absence of fortifications and sentries, seemingly deserted 
 castle. Behind him, in tlie exceeding stillness which 
 characterizes the air of a Spanish twilight, he heard, at a 
 considerable distance, the blast of the horn and the 
 tramp of hoofs. His pursuers, divided into several de- 
 tachments, were scouring the country after him, as the 
 fishermen draw their nets from bank to bank, conscious 
 that the prey they drive before the meshes cannot escape 
 them at the last. The fugitive halted in doubt, and 
 gazed round him ; he was well nigh exhausted ; his eyes 
 were bloodshot ; the large drops rolled fast down his 
 brow ; his whole frame quivered and palpitated like 
 that of a stag when he stands at bay. Beyond the castle 
 spread a broad plain, far as the eye could reach, without 
 shrub or hollow to conceal his form ; flight across a space 
 so favorable to his pursuers was evidently in vain. No 
 alternative was left unless he turned back on the very 
 path taken by the horsemen, or trusted to such scanty 
 and perilous shelter as the copses in the castle garden 
 might afford him. He decided on the latter refuge, 
 cleared the low and lonely wall that girded the demesne, 
 and plunged into a thicket of overhanging oaks and 
 chesnuts. 
 
 At that hour and in that garden, by the s'de of a little 
 fountain, were seated two females ; the one of mature 
 and somewhat advanced years, the other in the flower of 
 viigin youth. But the flower was prematurely faded ; 
 and neither the bloom, nor sparkle, nor undulating play 
 of features that should have suited her age was visible 
 in the marble paleness and contemplative sadness of her 
 beautiful countenance. 
 
 "Alas! my young friend," said the elder of these 
 ladies, " it is in these hours of soltitude and calm that 
 we are most deeply impressed with the nothingness of 
 life. Thou, my sweet convert, are now the object, no
 
 lOO 
 
 LEILA. 
 
 longei of my compassion, hut my envy ; and earnestly 
 do i feel convinced of the blessed repose thy spirit will 
 enjcjy in the lap of the Mother Churcli. Happy are they 
 who die young ; but ihrice happy they who die in the 
 spirit ratlier than the flesh : dead to sin, but not to vir- 
 tue ; to terror, not to hope ; to man, but not to God !" 
 
 " Dear senora," replied the young maiden, mourn- 
 fully, "were I alone on earth, Heaven is my witness 
 with what deep and thankful resignation I should take 
 the holy vows and forswear the past ; but the heart re- 
 mains human, however ('ivine the hope that it may cher- 
 ish. And sometimes I start and think of home, of child- 
 hood, of my strange but beloved father, deserted and 
 childless in his old age." 
 
 " Thine, Leila," returned the elder senora, " are but the 
 sorrows our nature is doomed to. What matter whether 
 absence or death sever the affections ? Thou lamentest 
 a father, I a son, dead in the pride of his youth and 
 beauty ; a husband, languishing in the fetters of the 
 Moor. Take comfort for thy sorrows in the reflection 
 that sorrow is the heritage of all." 
 
 Ere Leila could reply, the orange-boughs that shel- 
 tered the spot where they sat were put aside, an3 between 
 the women and the fountain stood the dark form of Al- 
 mamen the Israelite. Leila rose, shrieked, and flung her- 
 self, unconscious, on his breast. 
 
 "O Lord of Israel !" cried Almamcn, in a tone of deep 
 anguish, "do I, then, at last regain my child? do I press 
 her to my heart ? and is it only for that brief moment 
 when I stand upon the brink of death? Leila, my child, 
 look up ! smile upon thy father ; let him feel on his 
 maddening and burning brow the sweet breath of the last 
 of his race, and bear with him at least one holy and gentle 
 thought to the dark grave." 
 
 " My father ! is it Tndced my father?" said Leila, re- 
 covering herself, and drawing back that she might assure 
 herself of that familiar face; "it is thou! it is — it is ! 
 Oil ! what blessed chance brings us together?" 
 
 " That chance is the destiny which now guides me to 
 niy tomb," answered Almamen, solemnly. "Hark ! hear 
 you not the sound of their rushing steeds — their impatient 
 voices? They are on me now !" 
 " Who ? Uf whom speakst thou ?" 
 " My pursuers — the horsemen of the Spaniard.**
 
 LEILA. 101 
 
 "Oh, senora, save liim !" cried Leila, turning to Don- 
 na Inez, whom both father and child had hitherto forgot- 
 ten, and who now stood gazing upon Almamen with 
 wondering and anxious eyes. "Whither can he fly? 
 The vaults of the castle may conceal him. This way — 
 hasten !" 
 
 " Stay !" said Inez, trembling, and approaching close to 
 Almamen ; " do I see aright ? and, amidst tlie dark changes 
 of years and trial, do I recognize that stately form which 
 once contrasted to the sad eye of a mother the droop- 
 ing and faded form of her only son ? Art thou not he 
 who saved my boy from the pestilence, who accompanied 
 him to the shores of Naples, and consigned him to these 
 arms? Look on me !. dost thou not recall the mother of 
 thy friends ?" 
 
 "I recall thy features dimly and as in a dream," an- 
 swered the Hebrew ; "and, while thou speakst, rush up- 
 on me the memories of an earlier time, in lands where 
 Leila first looked upcm the day, and her mother sung 
 to me at sunset by the rush of the Euphrates and on the 
 sites of departed empires. Thy son I remember now : I 
 had friendship then with a Christian, for I was still 
 young." 
 
 " Waste ncjt the time — father — senora !" cried Leila, 
 impatiently, clinging still to her father's breast. 
 
 "You are right ; nor shall your sire, in whom I thus 
 wonderfully recognize my son's friend, perish, if I can 
 save him." 
 
 Inez then conducted her strange guest to a small door 
 in the rear of the castle ; and, after leading him through 
 some of the principal apartments, left liim in one of the 
 vardrobes or tiring-rooms adjoining her own chamber, 
 and the entrance to which the arras concealed. She right- 
 ly judged tills a safer retreat than the vaults of the castle 
 might afford, since her great name and known intimacy 
 with Isabel vyould preclude all suspicion of her abetting 
 in the escape of the fugitive, and keep those places the 
 most secure in which, without such aid, he could not 
 have secreted himself. 
 
 In a few minutes several of the troop arrived at the 
 castle ; and, on learning the name of its owner, content- 
 ed themselves with searching the gardens, and the lower 
 and more exposed apartments ; and then, recommending 
 to the servants a vigilant look-out, remounted, and pro-
 
 I02 LEILA. 
 
 ceeded to scour the plain, over whic h now slowly fell the 
 siarliolit and shade of night. 
 
 vVlien Leila stole at last tcj the room in which Alma- 
 men was hid, she found him stretched on his mantle in a 
 deep sleep. Exhausted by all he had undergone, and 
 his rigid nerves, at it were, relaxed by the sudden soft- 
 ness of that interview with his child, the slumber of that 
 fiery wanderer was as calm as an infant's. And their 
 relation almost seemed reversed, and the daughter to be 
 as a motiier watching over her otlspring, when Leila 
 seated herself softly by him, fixing her eyes, to which 
 the tears came ever, ever to be brushed away, upon his 
 worn but tranquil features, made yet more serene by the 
 qi'iet light that glimmered through the casement. And 
 so passed the hours of that night ; and the father and 
 the child, the meek convert and the revengeful fanatic, 
 w <i'e under the same roof. 
 
 CHAPTER IV. 
 
 ALMAMEN HEARS AND SEES, BUT REFUSES TO BELIEYE ; 
 
 FOR THE BRAIN, OVERWROUGHT, GROWS DULL 
 
 EVEN IN THE KEENEST. 
 
 The dawn broke slowly upon the chamber, and 
 Almamen still slept. It was the Sabbath of the Chris- 
 tians ; that day on which the Saviour rose from the dead; 
 thence named, so emphatically and sublimely by the 
 early church. The Lord's Uav.* And, as the ray of 
 the sun flashed in the east, it fell like a glory over a 
 crucifix, placed in the deep recess of the .Gothic case- 
 ment, and brought startlingly before the eyes of Leila 
 that face upon wliich the rudest of the Catholic sculptors 
 rarely fail to preserve the mystic and awful union of the 
 expiring anguish of the man with the lofty patience of 
 the God. It looked upon her, that face ; it invited, it en- 
 
 * Before the Cliristian er.i tlie Sunday was, however, called the 
 Lord's day, i.e., the day of the Lord tlic Sun.
 
 LEILA. 
 
 103 
 
 couraged, while it thrilled and subdued. She stole gen- 
 tly from the side of her father ; she crept to the spot, and 
 flung herself on her knees beside the consecrated image. 
 
 "Support me, O Redeemer!" she murmured ; "sup- 
 port thy creature ! strengthen her steps in the blessed 
 path, through it divide her irrevocably from all that on 
 earth she loves ; and if there be a sacrifice in her solemn 
 choice, accept, O Thou the Crucified ! accept it in part 
 atonement fortiie crime of her stubborn race; and here- 
 after let the lips of a maiden of Judea implore Thee, 
 not in vain, lor some mitigation of the awful curse that 
 hath fallen justly upon her tribe." 
 
 As, broken by low sobs, and in a choked and mut- 
 tered voice, Leila poured forth her prayer, she was 
 startled by a deep groan ; and, turning in alarm, she saw 
 that Almamen had awakened, and, leaning on his arm, 
 was now bending upon her his dark eyes, once more 
 gleaming with all their wonted fire. 
 
 " Speak," he said, as she coweringly hid her face ; 
 " speak to me, or I shall be turned to stone by one horrid 
 thought. It is not before that symbol that thou kneelst 
 in adoration ! and my sense wanders if it tell me that 
 thy broken words expressed the worship of an apostate ! 
 In mercy, speak !" 
 
 " Father !" began Leila; but her lips refused to utter 
 more than that touching and holy word. 
 
 Almamen rose, and, plucking the hands from her 
 face, gazed on her some moments as if he would pene- 
 trate iier very soul ; and Leila, recovering her courage 
 in the pause, by degrees met his eyes unquailing ; her 
 pure and ingenuous brow raised to his, and sadness, but 
 not guilt, speaking from every line of that lovely face. 
 
 "Thou dost not tremble," said Almamen, at length, 
 breaking the silence, "and I have erred. Thou art not 
 the criminal I deemed thee. Come to my arms !" 
 
 " Alas !" said Leila, obeying the instinct, and casting 
 herself upon that rugged bosom, " I will dare, at least, 
 not to disavow my God. Father ! by that dread anathe- 
 ma which is on our race, which has made us homeless 
 and powerless, outcasts and strangers in the land ; by 
 the persecuticjn and anguish we have known, teach thy 
 lordly heart that we are rightly punished for the persecu- 
 tion and the anguish we doomed to Him whose footstep 
 hallowed our native earth ' First, in the history of
 
 104 
 
 LEILA. 
 
 THE WORLD, DID THE STERN HEBREWS INFLICT UPON 
 MANKIND THE AWFUL CRIME OF PERSECUTION FOR 
 
 opinion's sake. The seed we sowed hath brought forth 
 ihe Dead Sea fruit upon which we feed. I asked for 
 resignation and for hope. I looked upon yonder cross 
 and I found both. Harden not thy heart; listen to thy 
 child; wise though thou be, and weak though her woman 
 spirit, listen to me." 
 
 "Be dumb !" cried Almamen, in such a voice as rnight 
 have come from thecharnel, so ghostly and deathly sound- 
 ed its hollow tone ; then, recoiling some steps, he placed 
 both his hands up(jn his temples, and muttered, "Mad, 
 mad! yes, yes, this is but a delirium, and I am tempted with 
 a devil ! Oh, my child !" he resumed, in a voice that be- 
 came, on the sudden, inexpressibly tender and imploring, 
 " I have been sorely tried, and I dreamed a feverish dream 
 of passion and revenge. Be thine the lips and thine the 
 soothing hand that shall wake me from it. Let us fly for- 
 ever from these hated lands ; let us leave to these miser- 
 able infidels their bloody contest, careless which shall fall. 
 To a soil on which the iron heel does not clang, to an air 
 where man's orisons rise in solitude to the great Jehovah, 
 let us hasten our wearied steps. Come ! while the castle 
 yet sleeps, let us forth unseen — the father and the child. 
 We will hold sweet commune by the way. And hark ye, 
 Leila," he added, in a low and abrupt wiiispcr, *' talk not 
 to me of yonder symbol : for thy God is a jealous God, 
 and hath no likeness in the graven image." 
 
 Had he been less exhausted by long travail and rack- 
 ing thoughts, far different, perhaps, would have been the 
 language of a man so stern. But circumstance im- 
 presses the hardest substance ; and despite his native in- 
 tellect and atfected superiority over others, no one, per- 
 haps, was more human in his liiful moods, his weakness 
 and his strength, his passion and his purpose, than that 
 sirange man, wlio had dared, in his dark studies and ar- 
 rogant self-will, to aspire beyond humanity. 
 
 That was, indeed, a perilous moment for the young 
 convert. The unexpected softness of her father utterly 
 subdued her ; nor was she yet sufficiently possessed of 
 that all-denying zeal of the Catholic enthusiast, to which 
 every human tie and earthlier duty has been often sacri- 
 ficed on the shrine of a rapt and metaphysical piety. 
 Whatever her opinions, her new creed, her secret desire
 
 LEILA. 
 
 los 
 
 of the cloister — fed, as it was, by the sublime though fal- 
 lacious notion, that in her conversion, her sacrifice, the 
 crimes of her race might be expiated in the eyes of Him 
 whose death had been the _fi;reat atonement of a world ; 
 whatever such higher thoughts and sentiments, they gave 
 way at that moment to the irresistible impulse of house- 
 hold nature and of filial duty. Should she desert her 
 father, and could that desertion be a virtue? her heart 
 put ar ii answered both questions in a breath. She ap. 
 proached Almamen, placed her hand in his, and said, 
 steadily and calmly, " Father, wheresoever thou goest, I 
 will wend with thee." 
 
 But Heaven ordained to each another destiny than 
 might have theirs had the dictates of that impulse been 
 f jltilled. 
 
 Ere Almamen could reply, a trumpet sounded clear 
 and loud at the gate. 
 
 " Hark !" he said, griping his dagger and starting 
 back to a sense of the dangers round him. "They come 
 — my pursuers and my murderers ! but these limbs are 
 sacred from the rack." 
 
 Even that sound of ominous danger was almost a re- 
 lief to Leila ; " I will go," she said, " and learn what 
 the blast betokens ; remain here — be cautious — I will re- 
 turn." 
 
 Several minutes, however, elapsed before Leila re- 
 appeared : she was accompanied by Donna Inez, whose 
 paleness and agitation betokened her alarm. A courier 
 had arrived at the gate to announce the approach of the 
 queen, who, with a considerable force, was on her way to 
 join Ferdinand, then, in the usual rapidity of his move- 
 ments, before one of the IMoorisli towns that had 
 revolted from his allegiance. It was impossible for Al- 
 mamen to remain in safety in the castle ; and the only 
 hope of escape was departing immediately and in dis- 
 guise. 
 
 " I have," she said, " a trusty and faithful servant with 
 me in tlie castle, to whom I can, without anxiety, con- 
 fide the charge of your safety ; and, even if suspected by 
 the way, my name and the companionship of my servant 
 will remove all obstacles ; it is not a long journey 
 hence to Guadix, which has already revolted to the 
 Moors : there, till the armies of Ferdinand surround 
 the walls, your refuge may be secure."
 
 I06 LEILA. 
 
 Alinani-n remained for some moments plunged in a 
 gloomy si 2nce. But at length he signified his assent 
 to the pls" proposed, and Donna Inez hastened to give 
 thedirec' jns to his intended guide. 
 
 "Ld'i," said the Hebrew, when left alone with his 
 daugl'.t , "think not that it is for mine own safety 
 ^hat ^. /'cOop to this flight from thee. No : but never 
 ^.ill ',J".'a wert lost to me by my own rash confidence 
 'p '.nother, did I know how dear to my lieart was 
 fV'i last scion of my race, tlie sole memorial left to me 
 of thy mother's love. Regaining thee once more, a 
 new and a soft existence opens upon my eyes ; and the 
 earth seems to change as by a sudden revolution from 
 winter into spring. For thy sake I consent to use all 
 the means that man's intellect can devise for preserva- 
 tion from my foes. Meanwhile, here will rest my soul; 
 to this spot, within one week from this period — no 
 matter through what danger I pass — I shall return : 
 then I shall claim thy promise. I will arrange all things 
 for our flight, and no stone shall harm thy footstep by 
 the way. The Lord of Israel be with thee, my daughter, 
 and strengthen thy heart ! But," he added, tearing 
 himself from her embrace as he heard steps ascend- 
 to the chamber, "deem not that, in this most fond and 
 fatherly affection, I forget what is due to me and tliee. 
 Think not tliat my love is only the brute and insensate 
 feeling of the progenitor to the offspring : I love thee 
 for thy mother's sake ; I love thee for thine own ; I love 
 thee yet more tor the sake of Israel. If thou perish, if 
 thou art lost to us, thou, the last daughter of the house 
 of Issachar, then the haughtiest family of God's great 
 people is extinct." 
 
 Here Inez appeared at tlie door, but withdrew at the 
 impatient and lordly gesture of Almamen, who, without 
 further heed of the interruption, resumed : 
 
 " I look to thee and thy seed for the regeneration 
 which I once trusted, fool that I was, mine own day 
 might see effected. Let this pass. Thou art under the 
 roof of the Nazarcnc. I will not believe that the arts 
 we have resisted against fire and sword can prevail with 
 thee. But, if I err, awful will be the jjenalty ! Could I 
 once know that thou hadst forsaken thy ancestial creed, 
 though warrior and priest stood by thee, though thou- 
 sands and ten thousands were by thy right hand, this
 
 LEILA. 
 
 107 
 
 steel shall save the race of Issachar from dishonor, 
 Beware ! Thou weepesi ; but, child, I warn, not threaten. 
 God be witli thee !" 
 
 He wrung the cold hand of his child, turned to the 
 door, and, after such disguise as the brief time allowed 
 him could afford, left the castle with his Spanish guide, 
 who, accustomed to the benevolence of his mistress, 
 obeyed her injunction without wonder, though not with- 
 out suspicion. 
 
 The third part of an hour had scarcely elapsed, and 
 the sun was yet on the mountain tops, when Isabel ar- 
 rived. 
 
 She came to announce that the outbreaks of the 
 Moorish towns in the vicinity rendered the half-fortified 
 castle of her friend no longer a secure abode ; and she 
 honored the Spanish lady with a command to accom- 
 pany her, with her female suite, to the camp of Ferdi- 
 nand. 
 
 Leila received the intelligence with a kind of stupor. 
 Her interview with lier father, the strong and fearful 
 contests of emotion wliich that interview occasioned, 
 left her senses faint and dizzy ; and when she found her- 
 self, by the twilight star, once more with the train of 
 Isabel, the onl}- feeling that stirred actively through her 
 stunned and bewildered mind was, that the hand of 
 Providence conducted her from a temptation that, the 
 Reader of all hearts knew, the daughter and the woman 
 would have been too feeble to resist. 
 
 On the fifth day from his departure, Almamen re- 
 ^turned to find the castle deserted and his daughter gone. 
 
 CHAPTER V. 
 
 IN THE FERMENT OF GREAT EVENTS THE DREGS RISJl 
 
 The Israelites did not limit their struggles to tiic 
 dark conspiracy to whicii allusion has been made. In 
 some of the Moorish towns that revolted from Ferdi- 
 nand they renounced the neutrality they had hitherto
 
 I08 LEILA. 
 
 maintained between Chiistian and Moslem. Whether it 
 was that they were inlhuned by the fearful a^d whole- 
 sale barbarities enforced by Ferdinand and the Inquisi- 
 tion against their tribe ; or whether they were stirred up 
 by one of their own orde**, in whom was recognized the 
 head of their most sacred family ; or whether, as is most 
 probable, both cause^i combined, certain it is that they 
 manifested a feeling that was thoroughly unknown to 
 the ordinary habits raid policy of that peaceable people. 
 They bore great treasure to the public stock ; they de- 
 manded arms, and, under their own leaders, were admit- 
 ted, though with rnucli jealousy and precaution, into the 
 troops of the arrogant and disdainful Moslems. 
 
 In this conjunction of liostile planets, Ferdinand had 
 recourse to his favorite policy of wile and stratagem. 
 Turning againot the Jews tlic very treaty Almamen had 
 once souglit to obtain in the-r favor, he caused it to be 
 circulated, privately, that th-? Jews, anxious to purchase 
 their peace with him, had promised to betray the Moor- 
 ish towns, and Grenada itself, into his hands. The 
 paper which Ferdinuno himself had signed in his inter- 
 view with Almamen, and oS which, on the capture of the 
 Hebrew, he had taken care to repossess himself, he gave 
 to a spy, whom he sent, disguised as a Jew, into one of 
 the revolted cities. 
 
 Private intelligence reiched the Moorish ringleader 
 of the arrival of this envoy. He was seized, and the 
 document found on his person. The form of the words 
 drawn up by Almamen (who had carefully omitted men- 
 tion of his own name, whether that which he assumed, 
 or that which, by birth, he should have borne) merely 
 conveyed the compact that if, by a Jew, within two weeks 
 from the date therein specified, Grenada was delivered 
 to the Christian king, the Jews should enjoy certain im- 
 munities and rip^iits. 
 
 The discovery of this document filled the Moors of 
 the city to v/hich the spy had been sent, with a fury 
 that no words can describe. Always distrusting their 
 allies, they now imagined tliey perceived tlie sole reason 
 of their sudden enthusiasm, of their demand for arms. 
 The mob rose : the principal Jews were seized and mas- 
 sacred without trial ; some by the wrath of the multi 
 tude, some by the slower tortures of the magistrate. 
 Messengers were sent to the different revolted town%
 
 LEILA. 
 
 109 
 
 and, above all, to Grenada itself, to put the Moslems on 
 their guard against these unhappy enemies of either 
 party. At once covetous and ferocious, the Moors rival- 
 ed the Inquisition in their cruelty and Ferdinand in their 
 extortion. 
 
 It was the dark fate of Almamen, as of most prema- 
 ture and heated liberators of the enslaved, to double the 
 terrors and the evils he had sought to cure. The warn- 
 ing arrived at Grenada at a time in which the vizier, Jus- 
 ef, had received the commands of his royal master, still 
 at the siege of Salobrena, to use every exertion to fill the 
 was.ing treasuries. Fearful of new exactions against 
 the lloors, the vizier hailed as a message from Fleaven 
 so just a pretext for a new and sweeping impost on the 
 Jews. The spendthrift violence of the mob was restrained, 
 because it was headed by the autliorities, who were wisely 
 anxious that the state should have no rival in the plunder 
 it required ; and the work of confiscation and robbery 
 was carried on wiih a majestic and calm regularity, 
 which redounded no 'ess to the credit of Jussuf than it 
 contributed to the coffers of the king. 
 
 It was late one evening when Ximen was making his 
 usual round through the chambers of Almamen's house. 
 As he glanced around at the various articles of wealth 
 and luxury, he ever and anon burst into a low, fitful 
 chuckle, rubbed his lean hands, and mumbled out, " If 
 my master sliould die ! if my master should die !" 
 
 While thus engaged he heard a confused and distant 
 shout, and, listening attentively, he distinguished a cry, 
 grown of late sufiiciently familiar, of, " Live Jusef the 
 just ! perish the traitor Jews ! " 
 
 " Ah ! " said Ximen, as the whole character of his face 
 clianged, "some new robbery upon our race ! And this is 
 thy work, son of Issachar ! Madman that thou wert, to 
 be wiser than thy sires, and seek to dupe the idolaters in 
 the council-chamber and the camp, their field, their van- 
 tage-ground, as the bazar and the market-place are ours. 
 None suspect that the potent santon is the traitor Jew ; 
 but I know it ! I could give thee to the bowstring ; and, 
 if thou wert dead, all thy goods and gold, even to the 
 mule at tlie manger, would be old Ximen's." 
 
 He paused at that thought, shut his eyes, and smiled 
 at the prospect his fancy conjured up ; and, completing 
 his survey, retired to his own chamber, which opened by
 
 J 10 LEILA. 
 
 a small door upon one of the back courts. He had scarcely 
 reached the room when he heard a low tap at the outer 
 door, and when it was ihrice repeated he knew that it 
 was one of his Jewish brethren ; for Ximen, as years, 
 isolation and avarice gnawed away whatever of virtue 
 (jnce put forth some meager fruit from a heart naturally 
 bare and rocky, still preserved one human feeling toward 
 his countrymen. It was the bond which unites all the 
 persecuted ; and Ximen loved them because he could not 
 envy their happiness. The power, the knowledge, the 
 lofty though wild designs of his master, stung and hum- 
 bled him : he secretly hated, because he could not com- 
 passionate or contemn him. But the bowed frame, and 
 slavish yoke, and timid nerves of his crushed brother- 
 hood presented to the old man the likeness of things that 
 could not exult over him. Debased and aged, and soli- 
 tary as he was, he felt a kind of wintry warmth in the 
 thought that even he had tlie power to protect ! 
 
 He thus maintained an intercourse with his fellow 
 Israelites ; and often, in their dangers, had afforded them 
 a, refuge in the numerous vaults and passages, the ruins 
 of which may be still descried beneath the moldering 
 foundations of that mysterious mansion. And, as the 
 house was generally supposed the property of an absent 
 emir, and had been especially recommended to the care 
 of the cadis by Boabdil, who alone of the Moors knew 
 it as one of the dwelling-places of the santon, whose os- 
 tensible residence was in apartments allotted to him 
 within the paLace, it was, perhaps, the sole place within 
 Grenada which afforded an unsuspected and secure 
 refuge to the hunted Israelites. 
 
 When Ximen recognized the wonted signal of his 
 brethren, he crawled to the door ; and, after the pre- 
 caution of a Hebrew watch-word, replied to in the same 
 tongue, he gave admittance to the tall and stooping frame 
 of the rich Elias. 
 
 "Worthy and excellent master!" said ^imen, after 
 again securing the entrance; "what can bring the 
 hf^nored and wealthy Elias to the chamber of the poor 
 hireling ?" 
 
 " My friend," answered the Jew, "call me not wealthy 
 or honored. For years I have dwelt within the city safe 
 and respected, even by the Moslemin ; verily and because 
 I have purchased, with jewels and treasure, the protec*
 
 LEILA. 1 1 1 
 
 tion of tie king and the great men. But now, alas ! in 
 the sudden wralii of the heathen, ever imagining vain 
 tliirigs, I have been summoned into ilie presence of their 
 chief rabbi, and only escaped the torture by a sum that 
 ten years of labor and the sweat of my brow cannot re- 
 place. Ximen ! the bitterest thought of all is, that the 
 frenzy of one of our own tribe has brought this desola- 
 tion upon Israel." 
 
 " My lord speaks riddles," said Ximen, with well- 
 feigned astonishment in his glassy eyes. 
 
 "Why dost thou wind and turn, good Ximen ?" said 
 the Jew, shaking his head ; " thou knowest well what 
 my words drive at. Thy master is the pretended Alma- 
 men ; and that recreant Israelite (if Israelite, indeed, still 
 be one who hath forsaken the customs and the forms of 
 his forefathers) is he who hath stirred up the Jews of 
 Cordova and Guadix, and whose folly hath brought 
 upon us these dread things. Holy Abraham ! this Jew 
 hath cost me more than fifty Nazarenes and a hundred 
 Moors." 
 
 Ximen remained silent ; q,nd the tongue of Elias be- 
 ing loosed by the recollection of his sad loss, the latter 
 continued: "At the first, when the son of Issachar re- 
 appeared and became a counselor in the king's court, I 
 indeed, who had led him, then a child, to the synagogue 
 — for old Issachar was to me dear as a brother — rec- 
 ognized him by his eyes and voice ; but I exulted in his 
 craft and concealment; I believed he would work mighty 
 things for his poor brethren, and would obtain for his 
 father's friend the supplying of the king's wives and 
 concubines with raiment and cloth of price. But years 
 have passed ; he hath not lightened our burdens ; and, 
 by the madness that hath of late come over him, heading 
 the heathen armies, and drawing our brethren into 
 ilanger and death, he hath deserved the curse of the syn- 
 agogue and the wrath of our whole race. I find, from 
 our brethren who escaped the Inquisition by the sur- 
 render of their substance, that his unskillful and frantic 
 schemes were the main pretext for the sufferings of the 
 righteous under the Nazarene ; and again the same 
 schemes bring on us the same oppression from the Moor. 
 Accursed be he, and may his name perish !" 
 
 Ximen sighed, but remained silent, conjecturing to 
 what end the Jew would bring his invectives. He was
 
 112 LEILA. 
 
 not lontT in suspense. After a pause, Elias recommenced 
 in an altered and more serious tone, " He is rich, tliis son 
 of Issachar — wondrous ricli." 
 
 " He has treasures scattered over half the cities of 
 Africa and the Orient," said Ximen. 
 
 " Thou seest, then, my friend, that thy master hath 
 doomed me to a heavy loss. I possess his secret; I could 
 give h.im up to the king's wrath; I could bring him to the 
 tieath. But I am just and meek ; let him pay my for- 
 leiture, and I will forego mine anger." 
 
 "Thou dost not know him," said Ximen, alarmed at 
 the thought of a repayment which might grievously di- 
 minish his own heritage of Aimamcn's effects in Gre- 
 nada. 
 
 " But if I threaten him with exposure?" 
 
 " Thou wouldst feed the fishes of the Darro," inter- 
 rupted Ximen. " Nay, even now, if Almamen learn that 
 tliou knowst his birth and race, tremble ! for thy days in 
 the land will be numbered." 
 
 "Verily," exclaimed the Jew, in great alarm, "then 
 have I fallen into the snare ; for these lips revealed to 
 him that knowledge." 
 
 " Then is the righteous Elias a lost man within ten 
 days from that in which Almamen returns to Grenada. 
 I know my master ; he is a dread man, and blood is to 
 him as water." 
 
 " Let the wicked be consumed !" cried Elias, furiously, 
 stamping his foot while fire flashed from his dark eyes, 
 for the instinct of self-preservation made him tierce. 
 "Not from me, however," he added, more calmly, " will 
 come his danger. Know that there be more than a hun- 
 dred Jews in this city who have sworn his death ; Jews 
 who, flying hither from Cordova, have seen their parents 
 murdered and their substance seized, and who behold in 
 the son of Issachar the cause of the murder and the 
 spoil. They have detected the impostor, and a hun- 
 dred knives are whetting even now for his blood ; let 
 him look to it. Ximen, I have spoken to thee as the 
 foolish speak ; thou mayst betray me to thy lord ; but, 
 from what I have learned of thee from our brethren, I 
 liavc poured my heart into thy bosom without fear. 
 Wilt thou betray Israel, or assist us to smite the traitor,?" 
 
 Ximen mused a moment, and his meditation conjured
 
 LEILA. 
 
 113 
 
 up the treasures of liis master. He stretched forth his 
 rigJit hand to Eiias, and when the Israelites parted they 
 were friends. 
 
 CHAPTER VI. 
 
 BOABDIL's return — THE REAPPEARANCE OF FERDINAND 
 
 BEFORE GRENADA. 
 
 The third morninj^ from this interview a rumor 
 reached Grenada that Boabdil had been repulsed in his 
 assault on the citadel of Salobrena with a severe loss ; 
 that Hernando del Pulj^ar had succeeded in conducting 
 to its relief a considerable force ; and that the army of 
 Ferdinand was on its march against the Moorish king. 
 In the midst of the excitement occasioned by these re- 
 ports, a courier arrived to confirm their truth, and to an- 
 nounce the return of Boabdil. 
 
 At nightfall the king, preceding his army, entered 
 the city, and hastened to bury himself in the Alhambra. 
 As he passed dejectedly into the women's apartments, 
 his stern mother met liim. 
 
 " My son," she said, bitterly, " dost thou return, and 
 not a conqueror ?" 
 
 Before Boabdil could reply, a light and rapid step 
 sped through the glittering arcades ; and weeping with 
 joy, and breaking all the Oriental restraints. Amine fell 
 upon his bosom. "My beloved ! my king! light of my 
 eyes ! thou hast returned. Welcome, for thou art safe." 
 
 The different form of these several salutions struck 
 Boabdil forcibly. "Thou seest, my mother," said he, 
 "how great the contrast between those who love us from 
 affection and those who love us from pride. In adversity, 
 God keep me, O my mother, from thy tongue." 
 
 " But I love thee from pride too," murmured Amine ; 
 "and for that reason is thine adversity dear to me, for it 
 takes thee from the world to make thee more mine own ; 
 and I am proud of the afflictions tiiat my hero shares 
 with his slave." 
 
 "Lights there and the banquet!" cried the king,
 
 114 LEILA. 
 
 turning from his hai.ghty molher ; "we will feast and 
 be merry while we may. My adored Amine, kiss me !" 
 
 Proud, melancholy, and sensitive as he was, in 
 that hour of reverse Boabdil felt no grief ; such balm 
 has love for our sorrows, when its wings are borrowed 
 from the dove! And although the laws of the Eastern 
 life confined to the narrow walls of a harem the sphere 
 of Amine's gentle inlluence ; although, even in romance, 
 THE NATURAL compels US to portray her vivid and rich 
 colors only in a faint and hasty sketch ; yet still are left 
 to the outline the loveliest and the noblest features of 
 the sex ; the spirit to arouse us to exertion, the softness 
 to console us in our fall ! 
 
 While Boabdil and the body of the army remained in 
 the city, ]Mu;ia, with a chosen detachment of tlie horse, 
 scoured the country to visit the newly-acquired cities 
 and sustain their courage. 
 
 From this charge he was recalled by the army of 
 Ferdinand, which once more poured down into the Vega, 
 completely devastated its harvests, and then swept back 
 to consummate the conquests of the revolted towns. To 
 this irruption succeeded an interval of peace — the calm 
 before the storm. From every part of Spain, the most 
 chivalric and resolute of the Moors, taking advantage of 
 the pause in the C(jntest, flocked to Grenada, and that 
 city became the focus of all that paganism in Europe 
 possessed of brave and determined spirits. 
 
 At length Ferdinand, completing his conquests and 
 having relilled his treasury, mustered tiie whole force of 
 his dominions, forty thousand foot and ten thousand 
 horse ; and once more, and for the last time, appeared 
 before the walls of Grenada. A solemn and prophetic 
 determination filled both besiegers and besieged ; each 
 felt that the crowning: crisis was at hand.
 
 LEILA. 115 
 
 CHAPTER VII. 
 
 THE CONFLAGRATION — THE MAJESTY OF INDIVIDUAL PAS- 
 SION IN THE MIDST OF HOSTILE THOUSANDS. 
 
 It was the eve of a great and general assault upon 
 Grenada, deliberately planned by the chiefs of the 
 Christian army. The Spanish camp (the most gorgeous 
 Christendom had ever l<no\vn) gradually grew calm and 
 hushed. The shades deepened, the stars burned forth 
 more serene and clear. Bright in that azure air streamed 
 the silken tents of the court, bl-azoned with heraldic de- 
 vices, and crowned with gaudy banners, which, filled by 
 a brisk and murmuring wind from the mountains, 
 flaunted gayly on their gilded staves. In the center of 
 the camp rose the pavilion of the queen ; a palace in 
 itself. Lances made its columns ; brocade and painted 
 arras its walls ; and the space covered by its numerous 
 compartments would have contained the halls and out- 
 works of an ordinary castle. The pomp of that camp 
 realized the wildest dreams of Gothic, coupled with 
 Oriental, splendor ; something worthy of a Tasso to have 
 imagined or a Beckford to create. Nor was the exceed- 
 ing costliness of the more courtly tents lessened in 
 effect by those of the soldiery in the outskirts, many of 
 which were built from boughs still retaining their leaves. 
 — savage and picturesque huts; as if, realizing old 
 legends, wild men of the woods had taken up the cross, 
 and followed the Cliristian warriors against the swarthy 
 followers of Termagaunt and Mahound. There, then, 
 extended that mighty camp in profound repose, as the 
 midnight threw deeper and longer shadows over the 
 sward from the tented avenues and canvas streets. It 
 was at that hour that Isabel, in the most private recess of 
 her pavilion, was employed in prayer for the safety of 
 the king and the issue of the Sacred War. Kneeling 
 before the altar of that warlike oratory, her spirit be- 
 came rapt and absorbed from earth in the intensity of 
 her devotions ; and in the whole camp (save the sentries) 
 the eyes of that pious queen were, perhaps, the only ones 
 unclosed. All was profoundly still ; her guards, her 
 attendants, were gone to rest ; and the tread of ihc sen-
 
 Il6 LEILA. 
 
 tinel without that immense pavilion was not heard 
 througli the silken walls. 
 
 It was then that Isabel suddenly felt a strong grasp 
 upon her shoulder as she still knelt by the altar. A 
 faint shriek burst from her lips ; she turned, and the 
 broad curved knife of an Eastern warrior gleamed close 
 before her eyes. 
 
 "Hush ! ulter a cry, breathe but more loudly than 
 thy wont, and queen though thou art, in the center of 
 swarming thousands, thou diest !" 
 
 Such were the words that reached the ear of the royal 
 Castilian, whispered by a man of stern and commanding, 
 though haggard aspect. 
 
 "What is thy purpose? wouldst thou murder me?" 
 fiaid the queen, trembling, perhaps for the first time, be- 
 fore a mortal presence. 
 
 " Fear not ; thy life is safe if thou strivest not to 
 elude or to deceive me. Our time is short — answer me. 
 I am Almamen the Hebrew. Where is the hostage ren- 
 dered to thy hands? I claim my child. Siie is with thee 
 — I know it. In what corner of thy camp ?" 
 
 "Rude stranger !" said Isabel, recovering somewhat 
 f. om her alarm, "thy daughter is removed, I trust for- 
 ever, from thine impious reach. She is not within the 
 camp." 
 
 *■ Lie not, Queen of Castile," said Almamen, raising 
 his knife ; " for days and v.-eeks I have tracked thy steps, 
 followed thy march, haunted even thy slumbers, though 
 men of mail stood as guards around them ; and I know 
 that my daughter i)as been with thee. Think not I brave 
 this danger without resolves the most fierce and dread. 
 Answer me ! where is my child ?" 
 
 "Many days since," said Isabel, awed, despite lierself, 
 by her strange position, "thy daughter left the camp for 
 the house of God. It was her own desire. The Saviour 
 hath received her into his fold." 
 
 Had a thousand lances pierceil his heart, the vigor and 
 energy of life could scarce mcjre suddenly have deserted 
 Almamen. Th© rigid muscles of his countenance re- 
 laxed at once from resolve and menace into unutterable 
 horror, anguish and despair. He recoiled several steps; 
 his knees trembled violently ; he seemed stunned by a 
 deathblow. Isabel, the boldest and haughtiest of her sex, 
 seized that moment of reprieve; she sprung forward, darted
 
 LEILA 1 1 7 
 
 through the draperies into the apartments occupied b\ 
 her train, and in a moment the pavilion resounded with 
 her cries for aid. The sentinels were aroused ; retainers 
 sprang from their pillows; they heard the cause of the 
 alarm ; they made to the spot ; when, ere they reached 
 its partition of silk, a vivid and startling blaze burst 
 forth upon them. The tent was on fire. The materials 
 fed the flame like magic. Some of the guards had yet 
 the courage to dash forward ; but the smoke and the 
 glare drove them back blinded and dizzy. 
 
 Isabel herself had scarcely time for escape, so rapid 
 was the conflagration. Alarmed for her husband, she 
 rushed to his tent, to find him already awakened by the 
 noise, and issuing from its entrance, his drawn sword in 
 his hand. The wind, which had a few minutes before 
 but curled the triumphant banners, now circulated the 
 destroying flame. It spread from tent to tent almost as 
 a flash of lightning that shoots along close-neighboring 
 clouds. The camp was in one blaze ere any man could 
 even dream of checking the conflagration. 
 
 Not waiting to hear the confused tale of his royal 
 consort, Ferdinand, exclaiming. " The Moors have done 
 this ; they will be on us !" ordered the drums to beat and 
 the trumpets to sound, and hastened in person, wrapped 
 merely in his long mantle, to alarm his chiefs. While 
 that well-disciplined and veteran army, fearing every 
 moment the rally of the foe, endeavored rapidly to 
 form themselves into some kind of order, the flame con- 
 tinued to spread till the wliole heavens presented an 
 illumination, tlie intense and dazzling splendor of which 
 even a Dante might be unable to describe. By its light 
 cuirass and helmet glowed as in a furnace, and the armed 
 men seemed rather like life-like and lurid meteors 
 than human forms. The city of Grenada was brought 
 near to them by the intensity of the glow ; and as a de- 
 tachment of cavalry spurred from the camp to meet the 
 anticipated surprise of the Paynims, they saw, upon the 
 walls and roofs of Grenada, the Moslems clustering and 
 tlieir spears gleaming. But, equally amazed with the 
 Christians, and equally suspicious of craft and design, 
 the Moors did not issue from their gates. Meanwhile 
 the conflagration, as rapid to die as to begin, grew fitful 
 and feeble ; and the night seemed to fall with a melaa- 
 choly darkness over the ruin of that silken city.
 
 Il8 LEILA. 
 
 Ferdinand summoned his council. He had now per- 
 ceived it was no ambush of the Moors. The account of 
 Isabel, which at last he comprehended ; the strange and 
 almost miraculous manner in which Almamen had 
 baflied his guards and penetrated to the royal tent, 
 might have aroused his Gothic superstition, while it re- 
 lieved his more earthly apprehensions, if lie had not re- 
 membered the singular but far from supernatural dex- 
 terity with which Eastern warriors, and even robbers, 
 continued, then as now, to elude the most vigilant pre- 
 cautions and baffle the most wakeful guards ; and it was 
 evident that the fire whicii burned the camp of an army 
 had been kindled merely to gratify the revenge or 
 favor the escape of an individual. Shaking, therefore, 
 from his kingly spirit the thrill of superstitious awe 
 that the greatness of the disaster, when associated with 
 the name of a sorcerer, at first occasioned, he resolved to 
 make advantage out of misfortune itself. The ex- 
 citement, the wrath of the troops, produced the temper 
 most fit for action. 
 
 *'And God," said the King of Spain to his knights 
 and chiefs as they assembled around him, "has, in this 
 contlagration, announced to the warriors of the cross 
 that henceforth their camp shall be the palaces of 
 Grenada! Woe to the Moslem with to-morrow's sun!" 
 
 Arms clanged and swords leaped from their sheaths as 
 the Christian knights eciioed the anathema — " Woe to 
 THE Moslem !" 
 
 BOOK V. 
 
 CHAPTER I. 
 
 THE GREAT RATTLE. 
 
 The day slowly dawned upon that awful night •. an-j 
 the Moors still upon the battlements of Grenada, beheld 
 the whole army of Ferdinand on its march towaid their
 
 LEILA. 
 
 119 
 
 walls. At a distance lay the wrecks of tlie blackened 
 and smoldering camji ; while before them, gaudy and 
 2^1i[tering pennants waving and trumpets sounding, came 
 the exultant legions of the foe. The Moors could 
 scarcely believe their senses. Fondly anticipating the 
 retreat of the Christians after so signal a disaster, the gay 
 and dazzling spectacle of their march to the assault filled 
 them with consternation and alarm. 
 
 While yet wondering and inactive, the trumpet of 
 Boabdil was heard behind ; and they beheld the Moorish 
 king, at the head of his guards, emerging down the 
 avenues that led to the gate. The sight restored and ex- 
 hilarated the gazers ; and when Boabdil halted in the 
 space before the portals, the shout of twenty thousand 
 warriors rolled ominously to the ears of the advancino- 
 Christians. 
 
 " Men of Grenada !" said Boabdil, as soon as the deep 
 and breathless silence had succeeded to that martial ac- 
 clamation, "the advance of the enemy is to thfxr de- 
 struction ! In the fire of last night the hand of Allah 
 wrote their doom. Let us forth, each and all ! "N/e will 
 leave our homes unguarded ; our hearts shall to their 
 wall ! True, that our numbers are thinned by famine 
 and by slaughter, but enough of us are yet left for the 
 redemption of Grenada. Nor are the dead departed 
 from us ; the dead fight with us, their souls aninxate our 
 own ! He who has lost a brother becomes twice a man. 
 On this battle we will set all ! Liberty or chains ! 
 empire or exile ! victory or death ! Forward !" 
 
 He spoke, and gave the rein to his barb. It bounded 
 forward, and cleared the gloomy arch of thepoitals, and 
 Boabdil el Chico was the first Moor who issjed from 
 Grenada to that last and eventful field. Out then poured, 
 as a river that rushes from caverns into day, the 
 buinished and serried files of the Moorish cavalry, 
 Muza came tiie last, closing the array. Upon his dark 
 and stern countenance there spoke not the ardent en- 
 thusiasm of the sanguine king. It was locked and rigid; 
 and the anxieties of the last dismal weeks \\w^) thinned 
 his cheeks and plowed deep lines around tht firm lips 
 and iron jaw which bespoke the obstinate and unconquer- 
 able resolution of his ciiaracter. 
 
 As Muza now spurred for.vard, and, riding along the 
 wheeling ranks, marshalled them in order, aiose th^ ac-
 
 1 20 LEILA. 
 
 clamalion of female voices ; and the warriors, who 
 looked back at the sound, saw that their women, their 
 wives and daughters, their mothers and their beloved 
 (released from their seclusion by a policy which bespoke 
 the desperation of the cause), were gazing at them with 
 outstretched arms from the battlements and towers. The 
 Moors felt that they were now to fight for their hearths 
 and altars in the presence of those who, if they failed, 
 became slaves and harlots ; and each Moslem felt hi' 
 heart harden like the steel of his own saber. 
 
 While the cavalry formed themselves into regular 
 squadrons, and the tramp of the foemen came more near 
 and near, the Moorish infantry, in miscellaneous, eager, 
 and undiscipled bands, poured out, until, spreading wide 
 and deep below the w^alls, Boabdil's charger was seen 
 rapidly careering among them, as, in short but distinct 
 directions or fiery adjuration, he sought at once to regu- 
 late their movements, and confirm their hot but capri- 
 cious valor. 
 
 Meanwhile the Christians had abruptly halted ; and 
 the politic Ferdinand resolved not to incur the full brunt 
 of a whole population in the first flush of tlieir enthusi- 
 asm and despair. He summoned to his side Hernando 
 del Pulgar, and bade him with a troop of the most ad- 
 venturous and practiced horsemen, advance toward the 
 Moorish cavalry, and endeavor to draw tlie fiery valor of 
 Muza away from the main army. Tlien, splitting up his 
 force into several sections, he dismissed each to different 
 stations ; some to storm the adjacent towers, others to 
 fire the surrounding gardens and orchards ; so that the 
 action miglit consist rather of many battles than of one, 
 and the Moors might lose the concentration and union 
 which made at present their most formidable strength. 
 
 Thus, while the Mussulmans were waiting in order 
 for the attack, they suddenly beheld the main body of 
 Christians dispersing; and, while yet in surprise and 
 perplexed, they saw the fires breaking out from the'r 
 delicious gartlens to the right and left of the walls, and 
 heard the btjoin of the Christian artillery against the 
 scattered bulwarks that guarded the approaches of that 
 city. 
 
 At that moment a cloud of dust rolled rapidly to- 
 ward the post occupied in the van by Muza, and th«
 
 LEILA. 121 
 
 shock of ihe Christian knights, in their mighty mail, 
 broke upon the center of the prince's squadron. 
 
 Higher by several inches than the plumage of his 
 companions, waved tlie crest of tlie gigantic Dei Pulgai; 
 nnd as Moor after Moor went down before his headlong 
 lance, his voice, sounding deep and sepulclu'al through 
 las visor, shouted out, " Deatli to the infidel !" 
 
 The rapid and dexterous horsemen of Grenada were 
 not, however, discomfited by this fierce assault ; open- 
 ing their ranks with extraordinary celerity, they suffered 
 the charge to pass, comparatively harmless, through 
 their center ; and then, closing in one long and bristling 
 line, cut off the knights from retreat. The Christians 
 wheeled round and charged again upon their foe. 
 
 " Where art tnou, O Moslem dog ! that wouldst play 
 the lion ? Where art thou, Muza Ben Abil Gazan ?" 
 
 "Before thee. Christian!" cried a stern and clear 
 voice; and from among the helmets of his people gleamed 
 the dazzling turban of the Moor. 
 
 Hernando checked his steed, gazed a moment at his 
 foe, turned back for greater impetus to his charge, and, 
 in a moment more, the bravest warriors of the two ar- 
 mies met lance to lance. 
 
 The round shield of Muza received the Christian's 
 weapon ; his own spear shivered harmless upon the 
 breast of tlie giant. He drew his sword, whirled it rapidly 
 over his head, and for some minutes the eyes of the by- 
 standers could scarcely mark the marvelous rapidity with 
 which strokes were given and parried by those redoubted 
 swordsmen. 
 
 At length Hernando, anxious to bring to bear his 
 superior strength, spurred close to Muza; and, leaving 
 his sword pendent by a thong to his wrist, seized the 
 shield of Muza in his formidable grasp, and plucked it 
 away witli a force tliat the Moor vainly endeavored to 
 resist ; Muza, therefore, suddenly released his hold ; and, 
 ere the Spaniard recovered his balance (which was lost 
 by the success of his own strength, put forth to the 
 utmost), he dashed upon him the hoofs of his black 
 charger, and, with a short but heavy mace which he 
 caught up from the saddle-bow, dealt Hernando so thund- 
 ering a blow upon the helmet that the giant fell to the 
 ground stunned and senseless. 
 
 To dismount, to repossess himself of his shield, to 
 resume his saber, to put one knee to the breast of his fal-
 
 122 LEILA. 
 
 len foe, was the work of a moment ; and then had Don 
 Hernando del Pulgar been sj)ed, without priest or surgeon, 
 but that, al.uined by tiie peril of their most valiant com- 
 rade, twenty knights spurred at once to the lescue, and 
 the points of twenty lances kept the Lion of Grenada 
 from his prey. Thitiier with similar speed rushed the 
 Moorish champions ; and the fight became close and 
 deadly round tlie body of the still unconscious Christian 
 Not an instant of leisure to unlace the helmet of Her- 
 nando, by removing which alone the Moorish blade could 
 find a mortal place, was permitted to Muza; and, what 
 with the spears and trampling hoofs aroand him, 
 the situation of the Paynim was more dangerous 
 than that of the Christian. Meanwhile Hernando 
 recovered his dizzy senses ; and, made aware of 
 his state, watclied his occasion, and suddenly shook 
 off the knee of the Moor. With another effort he 
 was on his feet ; and the twt) champions stood confront- 
 ing each other, neither very eager to renew the combat. 
 But on foot, Muza, daring and rash as he was, could not 
 but recognize his disadvantage against the enormous 
 strength and impenetrable armor of the Christian ; he 
 drew back, whistled to his barb, that, piercing the ranks 
 of the horsemen, was by his side on the instant, re- 
 mounted, and was in the midst of the foe almost ere the 
 slower Spaniard was conscious of his disappearance. 
 
 But Hernando was not delivered from his enemy. 
 Clearing a space around him as three knights, mortally 
 wounded, fell beneath his sabei, Muza now drew from 
 beliind his shoulder his short Arabian bow ; and shaft 
 after shaft came lattling upon the mail of the dismotint 
 ed Christian with so marvelous a celerity, that, encum- 
 bered as he was with his heavy accoutrements, he was 
 unable either to escape from the spot or ward oft that 
 arrowy rain ; and felt that nothing but chance or our 
 Lady could prevent the death wliich one such arrow 
 would occasion if it should find the opening of the visor 
 or the joints of the hauberk. 
 
 " Mother of mercy !" groaned the knight, perplexed 
 and enraged, "let not thy servant be shot down like a 
 hart by this cowardly warfare ; but if I must fall, be it 
 with mine enemy grappling hand to liand." 
 
 Wliilc yet muttering this short invocation, the war- 
 cry of Spain was heard hard by, and the gallant company 
 o^ Villena was seen scouring across tlie plair to the
 
 LEILA. 
 
 123 
 
 succor of their comrades. The deadly attention cf Muza 
 was distracted from individual foes, however eminent ; 
 he wheeled round, re-collected his men, and, in a serried 
 charge, met the new enemy in midway. 
 
 While the contest thus fared in that part of the field, 
 the sclieme of Ferdinand had succeeded so far as to 
 Dreak up the battle into detached sections. Far and 
 near, plain, grove, garden, tower, presented each the 
 scene of oDstinaie and determined conilict. Boabdil, at 
 the head of his chosen guard, the llower of the haughtier 
 tribe of nobles, who were jealous of the fame and blood 
 of the tribe of Muza, and followed also by his gigantic 
 Ethiopians, exposed his person to every peril, with the 
 desperate valor of a man who feels his own stake is 
 greatest in the field. As he most distrusted the infantry, 
 so among the infantry he chiefly bestowed his presence ; 
 and, wherever he appeared, he sufficed for a moment to 
 turn the chances of the engagement. At length, at mid- 
 day. Ponce de Leon led against the largest "detachment 
 of the Moorish foot a strong and numerous battalion of 
 the best-disciplined and veteran soldiery of Spain. He 
 had succeeded in winning a fortress from which his artil- 
 lery could play with effect ; and the troops he led were 
 composed partly of men flushed with recent triumph, 
 and partly of a fresh reserve now first brought into the 
 field. A comely and a breathless spectacle it was to be- 
 hold this Christian squadron emerging from a blazing 
 copse which they fired oa their march ; the red light 
 gleaming on their complete armor as, in steady and sol- 
 emn order, they swept on to the swaying and clamor- 
 ous ranks of the Moorish infantry. Boabdil learned the 
 danger from his scouts ; and hastily leaving a tower 
 from which he had for awhile repulsed a hostile legion, 
 he threw himself into the midst of the battalions men- 
 aced by the skillful Ponce de Leon. Almost at the same 
 moment the wild and ominous apparition of Almamen, 
 long absent from the eyes of the Moors, appeared in the 
 same quarter so suddenly and unexpectedly that none 
 knew whence he had emerged ; the sacred standard in 
 his left hand ; his saber, bared and dripping gore, in his 
 right ; his face exp^ocd, and his powerful features work- 
 ing with an excitement that seemed inspired, his abrupt 
 presence breathed a new soul into the Moors. 
 
 " They come ! they come !" he shrieked aloud. ' The
 
 124 
 
 LEILA. 
 
 God of the East had delivered the Goth into your 
 hands !" 
 
 From rank to rank, from line to line, sped the santon ; 
 and as the mystic banner gleamed before the soldiery, 
 each closed his eyes and muttered an amen to his adjura- 
 tions. 
 
 And now, to the cry of Spain and St. lago, came 
 trampling down the relentless cliargc of the Christian war. 
 At the same instant, from the fortress lately taken by 
 Ponce de Leon, the artillery opened upon the Moors, and 
 did deadly havoc. The Moslems wavered a moment, 
 when before them gleamed the while banner of Alma- 
 men, and they beheld him rusljing alone and on foot 
 amidst the foe. Taught to belieVe the war itself depend- 
 ed on the preservation of the enchanted banner, thePay- 
 nims could not see it thus rashly adventured without 
 anxietv and shame ; they rallied, advanced firmly, and 
 Boabdil himself, with waving scimetcr and fierce excla- 
 mations, dashed impetuously at the head of his guards 
 and Ethiopians into the affray. The battle became 
 obstinate and bloody. Thrice the white banner disap- 
 peared amidst the closing ranks ; and thrice, like a moon 
 from the clouds, it shone forth again, the light and guide 
 of the pagan power. 
 
 The day ripened, and the hills already cast lengthen- 
 ing shadows over the blazing groves and the still Darro, 
 whose waters in every creek where the tide was arrested, 
 ran red Vv^ith blood, when Ferdinand, collecting his 
 whole reserve, descended from the eminence on which 
 hitherto he had posted himself. With iiim moved three 
 thousand foot and a thousand Iiorse, fresh in their vigor 
 and panting for a share in that glorious day. The king 
 himself, who, though constitutionally fearless, from 
 motives of policy rarely periled his person save on im- 
 minent occasions, was resolved not to be outdone by 
 Boabdil ; and, armed cap-a-pie in mail, so wrought with 
 gold that it seemed nearly all of that costly metal, with 
 his snow-white plumage waving above a small diadem 
 that «:urmounted his lofty helm, he seemed a fit leader to 
 that armament of heroes. Behind him flaunted the great 
 gonfalon of Spain, and trump and cymbal heralded hi« 
 approach. The Count de Tcndilla rode by his side. 
 
 "Senor," said Ferdinand, "the infidels fight hard;
 
 LEILA. 
 
 125 
 
 but they are in the snare ; we are about to close the nets 
 upon them. But what cavalcade is this '" 
 
 The group that thus drew the king's attention con- 
 sisted of six squires, bearing on a martial litter, ccmposed 
 of shields, the stalwart form of Hernando del Pulgar. 
 
 "Ah, the dogs !" cried the king, as he recognized the 
 pale features of the darling of the army ; " have they 
 murdered the bravest knight that ever fought for Chris- 
 tendom ?" 
 
 "Not that, your majesty," quoth he of the exploits, 
 faintly, "but I am sorely stricken." 
 
 " It must have been more than man who struck thee 
 down," said the king. 
 
 " It was the mace of Muza Ben Abil Gazan, an 
 please you, sire," said one of the squires ; "but it came 
 on the good knight unawares, and long after his own 
 arm had seemingly driven awav the pagan." 
 
 "We will avenge thee well," said the king, setting 
 his teeth : " let our own leeches tend thy wounds. For- 
 ward, sir knights ! St. lago and Spain!" 
 
 The battle had now gathered to a vortex ; Muza and 
 his cavalry had joined Boabdil and the Moorish foot. 
 On the other hand, Villena had been re-enforced by de- 
 tachments that, in almost every quarter of the field, had 
 rou'^ed the foe. The Moors had been driven back, 
 though inch by inch ; they were now in the broad space 
 before the very walls of the city which were still crowded 
 with the pale and anxious faces of the aged and the 
 women, and at every pause in the artillery the voices 
 that spoke of home were borne by that lurid air to the 
 ears of the infidels. The shout that ran through the 
 Christian force, as Ferdinand now joined it, struck like 
 a death-knell upon the last hope of Boabdil. But the 
 blood of his fierce ancestry burned in his veins, and the 
 cheering voice of Almamen, whom nothing daunted, in- 
 spired him with a kind of superstitious frenzy. 
 
 " King against king — so be it ! let Allah decide be- 
 tween us," cried the Moorish monarch. " Bind up this 
 wound — 'tis well ! A steed for tlie santon ! Now, my 
 prophet and my friend, mount by the side of thy king — 
 let us, at least, fall together. Lelilies ! lelilies !" 
 
 Throughout the brave Christian ranks went a thrill 
 of reluctant admiration as they beheld the Paynim king, 
 conspicuous by his fair beard and the jewels of his har*
 
 1 26 LEILA. 
 
 ness, lead the scanty guard yet left to him once more 
 into the tliickcst of their lines. Simultaneously Muza 
 and his zeg^ris made their fiery charg^e ; and the Moorish 
 infantry, excited by the example of their leaders, fvjl- 
 lowed witli unslackened and dogged zeal. The Ciiristians 
 gave way — tiiey were beaten back : Ferdinand spurred 
 forward, and, ere either party were well aware of it, both 
 kings met in the same vielee ; all order and discipline for 
 the moment lost, general and monarch were, as common 
 soldiers, (igluing hand to hand. 
 
 It was tlien that Ferdinand, after bearing down before 
 his lance Naim Reduon, second only to Muza in the 
 songs of Grenada, beheld opposed to him a strange form, 
 that seemed to that royal Christian rather fiend than 
 man: his raven hair and beard, clotted with blood, hung 
 like snakes about a countenance whose features, natur- 
 ally formed to give expression to the darkest passions, 
 were distorted with the madness of despairing rage 
 Wounded in many places, the blood dabbled his mail ; 
 while over his head lie waved the banner wrought with 
 mystic characters, which Ferdinand had already been 
 taught to believe the workmansliip of demons. 
 
 " Now, perjured king of the Nazarenes !" shouted this 
 formidable champion, "we meet at last ! — no longer host 
 and guest, monarch and dervi.sh, but man to man I I am 
 Almamen ! Die !" 
 
 He spoke, and his sword descended so fiercely on that 
 anointed head, that Ferdinand bent to his saddle-bow. 
 But the king quickly recovered his seat and gallantly 
 met the encounter ; it was one that might Iiave tasked to 
 the utmost the prowess of his bravest knight. Passions, 
 which, in their number, their nature, and their excess, 
 animated no other champion on cither side, gave to the 
 arm of Almamen the Israelite a preternatural strength ; his 
 blows fell like rain upon the harness of the king ; and 
 the fiery eyes, the gleaming banner of the mysterious 
 sorcerer who had eluded the tortures of his Inquisition ; 
 who had walked unscatlied through the midst of his 
 army ; whose sing'e hand iiad consumed the encampment 
 of a host, filled the stout heart of the king with a belief 
 that he encountered no earthly foe. Fortunately, per- 
 haps, for Ferdinand and Spain, the contest did not last 
 long. Twenty horsemen spurred into the ynelee to the 
 rescue of the plumed diadem ; Tendilla arrived the first ;
 
 LEILA. 
 
 127 
 
 with a stroke of his two-handed sword the white banner 
 was cleft from its staff and feL to the earth. At that 
 sight the jMoors around broke forth in a wild and de- 
 spairing cry: tliat cry spread from rank to rank, Irom 
 horse to foot: the Moorish infantry, sorely pressed on all 
 sides, no sooner learned the disaster than they turned to 
 fly: the rout was as fatal as it was sudden. The Chris- 
 tian reserve, just brought into the field, poured dcjwn 
 upon them with a simultaneous charge. Boabdd, too 
 much engaged to be the first to learn the downfall of the 
 sacred insignia, suddenly saw himself almost alone, with 
 his diminished Ethiopians and a handful of his cavaliers. 
 
 " Yield thee, Boabdil el Chico !" cried Tendilla, from 
 his rear, "or thou canst not be saved." 
 
 " By the Prophet, never !" exclaimed the king ; and 
 he dashed his barb against the wall of spears behind 
 him ; and, with but a score or so of his guard, cut his 
 way through the ranks that were not unwilling, perhaps, 
 to spare so brave a foe. As he cleared the Spanish bat- 
 talions, the unfortunate monarch checked his horse for 
 a moment and gazed along the plain : he beheld his 
 army flying in all directions, save in that single spot 
 where yet glittered llie turban of Muza Ben Abil Gazan. 
 As he gazed, he heard the panting nostrils of the charg- 
 ers behind, and saw the leveled spears of a company dis- 
 patched to take liim, alive or dead, by the command of 
 Ferdinand ; he laid the reins upon his horse's neck and 
 galloped into the city ; three lances quivered against 
 the portals as he disappeared through the shadows of 
 the arch. But, while Muza remained, all was not yet 
 lost ; he perceived the llight of the infantry and the king, 
 and with his followers galloped across the plain ; he 
 came in time to encounter and slay, to a man, the pur- 
 suers of Boabdil ; he then threw himself before the fly- 
 ing Moors. 
 
 " Do ye fly in the sight of your wives and daughters ? 
 would ye not rather they beheld ye die ?" 
 
 A thousand voices answered him. "The banner is 
 in the hands of the infidel — all is lost !" They swept by 
 him, and stopped not till they gained the gates. 
 
 " Accursed be these spells !" cried Muza. " Were our 
 country our only charm, that never would have been 
 lost !" 
 
 But still a small and devoted remnant of the Moorish
 
 128 L£n.A. 
 
 cavaliers remained to shed a last glory over defeat itself. 
 With Muza, their soul and center, they fought every 
 atom of ground ; it was, as the chronicler expresses it, 
 as if they grasped the soil with their arms. Twice they 
 charged into the midst of the foe; the slaughter they 
 made doubled their own number ; but, gathering on and 
 closing in, squadron upon squadron, came the whole 
 Christian army ; they were encompassed, wearied out, 
 beaten back as by an ocean. Like wild beasts driven, 
 at length, to their lair, they retreated with their faces to 
 the foe ; and when Muza came, the last, his scimeter 
 shivered to the hilt, he had scarcely breath to command 
 the gates to be closed and the portcullis lowered, ere he 
 fell from his charger in a sudden and deadly swoon, 
 caused less by his exhaustion than his agony and shame. 
 So ended the last battle fought for the monarchy of 
 Grenada ! 
 
 CHAPTER II. 
 
 THE NOVICE. 
 
 It was in one of the cells of a convent renowned for 
 the piety of its inmates and the wholesome austerity of 
 its laws that a young novice sat alone. The narrow 
 casement was placed so high in the cold gray wall as to 
 forbid to the tenant of the cell the solace of sad or the 
 distraction of pious thoughts, which a view of the world 
 without might afford. Lovely indeed was the landscape 
 that spread below ; but it was barred from those youth- 
 ful and melancholy eyes ; for Nature migiit tempt to a 
 thousand thoughts not of a tenor calculated to reconcile 
 the heart to an internal sacrifice of the sweet human 
 ties. But a faint and partial gleam of sunshine broke 
 through the aperture, and made yet more cheerless the 
 dreary aspect and gloomy appurtenances of the cell. 
 And the young novice seetned to carry on within herself 
 that struggle of emotions without which there is no 
 victory in the resolves of virtue ; sometimes she wept 
 bitterly, but with a low, subdued sorrow, which spoke
 
 LEILA. 
 
 129 
 
 rather of despondency than passion ; sometimes she 
 raised her head from lier breast, and smiled as she looked 
 upward, or as her eyes rested on the crucifix and the 
 death's head that were placed on the rude table by the 
 pallet on which she sat. They were emblems of death 
 here and life hereafter, which, perhaps, afforded to her 
 the sources of a twofold consolation. 
 
 She was yet musing when a sliglit tap at the door was 
 heard, and the abbess of the convent appeared. 
 
 " Daughter," said she, " I have brought thee the com- 
 fort of a sacred visitor. The Queen of Spain, whose 
 pious tenderness is materially anxious for thy full con- 
 tentment with thy lot, has sent hither a holy friar, whom 
 siie deems more soothing in his counsels than our brother 
 Tomas, whose ardent zeal often terrifies those whom his 
 honest spirit only desires to purify and guide. I will 
 leave him with thee. May the saints bless his ministry !" 
 So saying, the abbess retired from the threshold, making 
 way for a form in the garb of a monk, with the hood 
 drawn over the face. The monk bowed his head meekly, 
 advanced into the cell, closed the door, and seated him- 
 self on a stool, which, save tiic table and the pallet, 
 seemed the sole furniture of the dismal chamber. 
 
 " Daughter," said he, after a pause, " it is a rugged 
 and a mournful lot, this renunciation of earth and ail its 
 fair destinies and soft affections, to one not wholly pre- 
 pared and armed for the sacrifice. Confide in me, my 
 child ; I am no dire inquisitor, seeking to distort the 
 words to thine own peril. I am no bitter and morose 
 ascetic. Beneath these robes still beats a human heart 
 that can sympathize with human sorrows. Confide in 
 me without fear. Dost thou not dread the fate they 
 would force upon thee ? Dost thou not shrink back ? 
 Wouldst thou not be free?" 
 
 " No," said the poor novice; but the denial came faint 
 anil irresolute from her lips. 
 
 "Pause," said the friar, growing more earnest in his 
 tone; " pause, there is yet time." 
 
 " Nay," said the novice, looking up with some surprise 
 in her countenance, " nay, even were I so weak, escape 
 now is impossible. What hand could unbar the gates of 
 the convent ?" 
 
 "Mine !" cried the monk, with impetuosity. "Yes, I
 
 130 
 
 LEILA. 
 
 have that power. In all Spain but one man can save 
 thee, and I am he." 
 
 " Voii !" faltered the novice, gazing at her strange vis- 
 itor with mingled astonishment and alarm. "And wlio 
 are you, that could resist the liat of that Tomas de Tor- 
 quemuda, before whom, they tell me, even the crowned 
 lieads of Castile and Arragon veil low ?" 
 
 The monk half rose, with an impatient and almost 
 haughty start at this interrogatory ; but, reseating him- 
 self", replied, in a deep and half-whispered voice, 
 " Daughter, listen to me ! It is true that Isabel of Spain 
 (whom the Mother of Mercy bless ! for merciful to all is 
 her secret heart, if not her outward policy), it is true 
 that Isabel of Spain, fearful that the path to heaven 
 might be made rougher to thy feet tlian it well need be" 
 (there was a slight accent of irony in the monk's voice as 
 he thus spoke), "selected a friar of suasive eloquence 
 and gentle manners to visit thee. He was charged with 
 letters to yon abbess from the queen. Soft though the 
 friar, he was yel a hypocrite. Nay, hear me out ! he 
 loved to worship the rising sun ; and he did not wish al- 
 ways to remain a simple friar while the Church had 
 higher dignities of this earth to bestow. In the Chris- 
 tian camp, daughter, there was one who burned for tid- 
 ings of thee ; whom thine image haunted ; who, stern as 
 thou wert to him, loved thee with a love he knew not of 
 till thou wert lost to him. Why dost thou tremble, 
 daughter ? listen yet ! to that lover, for he was one of 
 high rank, came the monk ; to that lover the monk sold 
 his mission. The monk will have a ready tale, that he 
 was waylaid amidst the mountains by armed men, and 
 robbed of his letters to the abbess. The lover took his 
 j^arb, and he took the letters and hastened hither. Leila ! 
 beloved Leila ! behold him at thy feet !" 
 
 The monk raised his cowl ; and, dropping on his 
 knees beside her, presented to her gaze the features of 
 the Prince of Spain. 
 
 " You !" said Leila, averting her countenance, and 
 vainly endeavoring to extricate the hand which he had 
 seized. "This is, indeed, cruel. You, the author of so 
 many sufferings, such calumny, such reproach !" 
 
 " I will repair all," said Don Juan, fervently. " I 
 alone, I repeat it, have the power to set you free. You 
 are no longer a Jewess ; you are one of our faith ; there
 
 LEILA. 
 
 131 
 
 is now no bar upon our loves. Imperious though tny 
 father, all dark and dread as is this new power which he 
 is rashly erecting in his dominions, the heir of two 
 monarciiies is not so poor in inlliience and in friends as 
 to be unable to offer the woman of his love an inviolable 
 shelter, alike from priest and despot. Fly with me ! 
 leave this dreary sepulcher ere the last stone close over 
 thee forever ! I have horses, I have guards at hand. This 
 night it can be arranged. This night — oh, bliss ! thou 
 mayst be rendered up to earth and love !" 
 
 "Prince," said Leila, who had drawn herself from 
 Juan's grasp during this address, and who now stood at 
 a little distance, erect and proud, " you tempt me in vain; 
 or, rather, you offer me no temptation. I have made my 
 choice ; I abide by it." 
 
 " Oh ! bethink thee," said the prince, in a voice of 
 real and imploring anguish ; " bethink thee well of the 
 consequences of thy refusal. Thou canst not see them 
 yet; thine ardor blinds thee. But, when hour after hour, 
 day after day, year after year steals on in the appalling 
 monotony of ttiis sanctified prison ; when thou shalt see 
 thy youth withering v^vthout love, thine age without 
 honor ; when thy hearL shall grow as stone within thee 
 beneath the looks of yon icy specters ; when nothing 
 shall vary thy aching dullness of wasted life save a longer 
 fast or a severer penance ; then, tiien will thy grief be 
 rendered tenfold by the despairing and remorseful 
 thought that thine own lips sealed thine own sentence. 
 Thou mayst think," continued Juan, with rapid eager- 
 ness, " tliat my love to thee was at first light and dis- 
 ho[Joring. Be it so 1 own that my youth has passed 
 in idle wooings and the mockeries of affection. But, 
 for the first time in my life, I feel that I love. Thy dark 
 eyes, thy noble beauty, even thy womanly scorn, have 
 fascinated me. I, never yet disdained where I have been 
 a suitor, acknowledge at last that tliere is a triumph in 
 the conquest of a woman's heart. Oh, Leila ! do not, 
 do not reject me. You know not how rare and how deep 
 a love you cast away." 
 
 The novice was touched : the present language of 
 Don Juan was so different from what it had been before; 
 the earnest love that breathed in his voice, that looked 
 from his eyes, struck a chord in her breast ; it reminded 
 her of her own unconquered, unconquerable love for the
 
 133 
 
 Lt'JLA. 
 
 lost Muza; for there is that in a woman, that, when she 
 loves one, the honest wooing of another slie may reject, 
 but cannot disdain ; she feels, by her own heart, the 
 agony his must endure; and, by a kind of egotism, 
 pities the mirror of herself. She was touched, then 
 touclicd to tears ; but her resolves were not shaken. 
 
 " Oh, Leila !" resumed the prince, fondly mistaking 
 the nature of her emotion and seeking to pursue the ad- 
 vantage he imagined he had gained; "look at yonder 
 sunbeam struggling through the loophole of thy cell. 
 Is it not a messenger from ilic happy world ? does it not 
 plead for me? does it not whisper to thee of the green 
 tields, and the Inugliing vineyards, and all the beautiful 
 prodigality of that earth thou art about to renounce for- 
 ever ? Dost thou dread my love? Are the forms around 
 thee, ascetic and lifeless, fairer to thine eyes than mine? 
 Dost thou doubt my power to protect thee? I tell thee 
 that the proudest nobles of Spain would Hock around my 
 banner were it necessary to guard thee by force of arms. 
 Yet, speak the word — be mine — and I will fly hence with 
 thee to climes where the Church has not cast out its 
 deadly roots, and, forgetful of crowns and cares, live 
 alone for thee. Ah, speak !" 
 
 " My lord," said Leila, calmly, and rousing herself to 
 the necessary effort, " I am deeply and sincerely grateful 
 for the interest you express, for the affection you avow. 
 But you deceive yourself. I have pondered well over the 
 alternative I have taken. I do not regret nor repent, 
 much less would i retract it. The earth that you speak of, 
 full of affections and of bliss to otliers, has no tics, no 
 allurements forme. I desire only peace, repose, and an 
 early death." 
 
 "Can it be possible," said the prince, growing pale, 
 " that thou lovest aiu)ther ? Then, indeed, and then only, 
 would my wooing be in vain." 
 
 Theciicek of the novice grew deeply flushed, but the 
 color soon subsided ; she murmured to herself, " Why 
 should I blush to own it now?" and then spoke aloud: 
 "Prince, I trust I have done with the world ; and bitter 
 the pang I feel when you call me back to it. But you 
 merit my candor : I have loved another ; and in that 
 thought, as in an urn, lie the ashes of all affection. That 
 other is of a different faith. We may never, never meet 
 again below, but it is a solace to pray that we may meet
 
 LEILA. 133 
 
 above. That solace and these cloisters arc dearer to mc 
 than all the pomp, all the pleasures of the world." 
 
 The prince sunk down, and, covering his face with his 
 hands, groaned aloud, but made no reply. 
 
 " Go, then, Prince of Spain," continued the novice; 
 "son of the noble Isabel, Leila is not unworthy of her 
 cares. Go and pursue the great destinies that await you. 
 And if you forgive, if you still cheristi a thought of the 
 poor Jewish maiden, soften, alleviate, mitigate the 
 wretched and desperate doom that awaits the fallen race 
 she has abandoned for thy creed." 
 
 "Alas, alas!" said the prince, mournfully, "thee 
 alone, pcrcliance, of all thy race, I could have saved from 
 the bigotry that is fast covering tb.is knightly land like 
 the rising of an irresistible sea, and thou rejectest me! 
 Take time, at least, to pause, to consider. Let me see 
 thee again to-morrow." 
 
 " No, prince, no — not again! Iwill keep thy secret only 
 if I see thee no more. If thou persist in a suit that I feel 
 to be that of sin and shame, tlien, indeed, mine hon- 
 or " 
 
 " Hold " interrupted Juan, with haughty impatience ; 
 " I torment, I harass you no more. I release you from 
 my importunity. Perhaps already I have stooped too 
 low." tie drew the cowl over his features, and strode 
 sullenly to the door ; but, turning for one last gaze on 
 the form that had so strangely fascinated a heart capable 
 of generous emotions, the meek and despondent posture 
 of the novice, her tender youth, her gloomy fate, melted 
 his momentary pride and resentment. "God bless and 
 reconcile thee, poor child !" he said, in a voice choked 
 with contending passions, and triie door closed upon his 
 form. 
 
 " I thank thee, Heaven, that it was not Muza !" mut- 
 tered Leila, breaking from a reverie in which she seemed 
 to be communing with her own soul ; "I feel that I 
 could not have resisted him." With that tliought she 
 knelt down in humble and penitent self-reproach, and 
 prayed for strength. 
 
 Ere siie had risen from her supplications, her solitude 
 was again invaded by Torquemada, tlie Dominican. 
 
 This strange man, though the author of cruelties at 
 which nature lecoils, had some veins of warm and gen- 
 tle feeling streaking, as it were, the marble of his hard
 
 134 
 
 LEILA. 
 
 character , and when he had ih(jroiighly convinced him- 
 self of tlie pure and earnest zeal of the young convert, 
 he relaxed from tlie grim sternness he had at first exhib- 
 ited toward her. lie loved to exert the eloquence he 
 possessed in raising her spirit, in reconciling her doubts. 
 He prayed T^r her, and he prayed beside her, with passion 
 and with tears. 
 
 He staid long with the novice ; and, when he left 
 her, she was, if not happy, at least contented. Her 
 warmesi wish now was to abridge the period of her no- 
 vitiate, which, at her desire, tlie Churcii had already ren- 
 dered merely a nominal probation. She longed to put 
 irresolution out of her power, and to enter at once upon 
 the narrow road tlirough the strait gate. 
 
 The gentle and modest piety of the young novice 
 touched the sisterhood : she was endeared to all of them. 
 Her conversion was an event that broke the lethargy 
 of their stagnant life. She became an object of general 
 interest, of avowed pride, of kindly compassion : and 
 their kindness to her, who from her cradle had seen 
 little of her own sex, had a great effect toward calming 
 and soothing her mind. But at night, her dreams brought 
 before her the dark and menacing countenance of her 
 father. Sometimes he seemed to pluck her from the 
 gates of heaven, and to sink with her into the yawning 
 abyss below. Sometimes she saw him with her beside 
 the altar, but imploring her to forswear the Saviour, be- 
 fore whose crucifix she knelt. Occasionally her visions 
 were haunted also with Muza, but in less terrible guise. 
 She saw his calm and melancholy eyes fixed upon her, 
 and his voice asked, " Canst thou take a vow that makes 
 it sinful to remember me ?" 
 
 The night, that usually brings balm and oblivion to 
 the sad, was thus made more dreadful to Leila than the 
 day. Her health grew feebler and feebler, but her mind 
 still was firm. In happier time and circumstance that 
 poor novice would have been a great character ; but she 
 was one of the countless victims the world knows not of, 
 whose virtues arc in silent motives, whose struggles are 
 in the solitary heart. 
 
 Of the prince slie heard and saw no more. There 
 were times when she fancied, from oblique and obscure 
 liints, that the Dominican had been aware of Don Juan's 
 disguise and visit. But, if so, that knowledge appeared
 
 LEILA. 135 
 
 only to increase the gentleness, almost the respect, which 
 Torquemada manifested toward her. Certainly, since 
 that day, from some cause or other, the priest's manner 
 liad been softened when he addressed her ; and he who 
 seldom had recourse to other arts than those of censure 
 and of menace, often uttered sentiments half of pity and 
 half of praise. 
 
 Thus consoled and supported in the day, thus haunted 
 and terrified by night, but still not repenting her resolve, 
 Leila saw the time glide on to that eventful day when her 
 lips were to pronounce that irrevocable vow which is the 
 epitaph of life. While in this obscure and remote con- 
 vent progressed the history of an individual, we are sum- 
 moned back to behold the crowning fate of an expiring 
 dynast)'. 
 
 CHAPTER III. 
 
 THE PAUSE BETWEEN DEFEAT AND SURRENDER. 
 
 The unfortunate Boabdil plunged once more amidst 
 the recesses of the Alhambra. Whatever his anguish or 
 his despondency, none were pcrniiLted to share, or even 
 to behold, his emotions. But he especially resisted the 
 admission to his solitude, demanded by his piotlier, im- 
 plored by his faithful Amine, and sorrowfully urged by 
 Muza; those most loved and respected were, above all, 
 the persons from whom he most shrunk. 
 
 Almamen was heard of no more. It was believed 
 that he had perished in the battle. But he was one of 
 those who, precisely as they are effective when present, 
 are forgotten in absence. And, in the meanwhile, as the 
 Vega was utterly desolated, and all supplies were cut off, 
 famine, daily made more terrifically severe, diverted the 
 attention of each humbler Moor from the fall of the city 
 to his individual sufferings. 
 
 New persecutions fell upon the miserable Jews. Not 
 having taken any share in the conflict (as was to be ex- 
 pected from men who had no stake in the country which 
 they dwelt in, and whose brethren had been taught so 
 severe a lesson uoon the lollv of interference'), no senti-
 
 13^ 
 
 LEILA 
 
 ment »f fellowship in danger mitigated the hatred and 
 loathing with which they were held ; and as, in their 
 lust of gain, many of them continued, amidst the agony 
 and starvation of the citiiiens, to sell food at enormous 
 prices, the excitement of the multitude against them — 
 released, by the state of the city, from all restraint and 
 law — made itself felt by the most barbarous excesses. 
 Many of tlie houses of the Israelites were attacked by 
 the mob, plundered, razed to the ground, and the owners 
 tortured to death to extort confession of imaginary 
 wealth. Not to sell what was demanded was a crime ; 
 to sell it was a crime also. These miserable outcasts 
 fled to whatever secret places the vaults of their houses 
 or the caverns in the hills within the city could yet 
 afford them, cursing their fate, and almost longing even 
 for the yoke of the Christian bigots. 
 
 Thus passed several days — the defense of the city 
 abandoned to its naked walls and mighty gates. The 
 glaring sun looked down upon closed shops and depopu- 
 lated streets, save when some ghostly and skeleton band 
 of the famished poor collected, in a sudden paroxysm of 
 revenge or despair, around the stormed and fired man- 
 sion of a detested Israelite. 
 
 At length Boabdil aroused himself from his seclusion, 
 and Muza, to his own surprise, was summoned to the 
 presence of the king. He found Boabdil in one of the 
 most gorgeous halls of his gorgeous palace. 
 
 Within the Tower of Comares is a vast chamber, still 
 called the Hall of the Ambassadors. Here it was that 
 Boabdil now held his court. On the glowing walls 
 hung trophies and banners, and here and there an 
 Arabian portrait of some bearded king. By the win- 
 dows, which overlooked the most lovely banks of the 
 Darro, gathered tlie santons and alfaquis, a little apart 
 fnjm tlie main crowd. Beyond, though half-vailing 
 draperies, might be seen the great court of the Alberca, 
 whose peristyles were hung with flowers ; while, in the 
 center, the gigantic basin which gives its name to the 
 court caught the sunlight obliquely, and its waves glit- 
 tered on the eye from amidst the roses that then clustered 
 over it. 
 
 In the audience-hall itself, a canopy, over the royal 
 cushions on which Boabdil reclined, was blazoned with 
 the heraldic insignia of Grenada's monarchs. His guards,
 
 LEILA. 
 
 137 
 
 and his mutes, and his eunuchs, and his courtiers, and 
 his counselors, and his captains, were ranged in long 
 files on either side the canopy. It seemed the last flicker 
 of the lamp of Mo-jrish empire, that hollow and unreal 
 pomp ! As Muza approached the monarch, he was star- 
 tled by the change of his countenance : the young and 
 beautiful Boabdil seemed to have grown suddenly old; 
 his eyes were sunken, his countenance sown with wrin- 
 kles, and his voice sounded broken and hollow on the 
 ears of his kinsman. 
 
 "Come hither, Muza," said he ; "seat thyself beside 
 me, and listen as thou best canst to the tidings we are 
 about to hear." 
 
 As Muza placed himself on a cushion a little below 
 the king, Boabdil motioned to one among the crowd. 
 
 " Hamet," said he, "thou hast examined the state of 
 the Christian camp : what news dost thou bring ?" 
 
 "Light of the Faithful," answered the Moor, "it is a 
 camp no longer; it has already become a city. Nine 
 towns of Spain were charged with the task, stone has 
 taken the place of canvas ; towers and streets arise like 
 the buildings of a genius ; and the misbelieving king 
 hath sworn that this new city shall not be left until 
 Grenada sees his standard on its walls," 
 
 " Go on," said Boabdil, calmly. 
 
 "Traders and men of merchandise flock thither daily ; 
 the spot is one bazar ; all that should supply our fam- 
 ishing country pours its plenty into their mart." 
 
 Boabdil motioned to the Moor to withdraw, and an 
 alfaqui advanced in his stead. 
 
 " Successor of the Prophet and darling of the world !" 
 said the reverend man. "the alfaquis and seers of Gren- 
 ada implore thee on their knees to listen to their voice. 
 They have consulted the Books of Fate ; they have im- 
 plored a sign from the Prophet ; and they find that the 
 glory has left thy people and thy crown. The fall of 
 Grenada is predestined — God is great !" 
 
 "You shall have my answer forthwith," said Boabdil. 
 "Abdelemic, approach." 
 
 From the crowd came an aged and white-bearded 
 man, the governor of the city. 
 
 "Speak, old man," said the king. 
 
 " Oh, Boabdil !" said the veteran, with faltering 
 tones, while the tears rolled down his cheeks ; " son of
 
 138 LEILA. 
 
 a race of king's and heroes ! would that tliy servant had 
 fallen dead on thy threshold this day, and tliat the lips of 
 a Moorish noble had never been polluted by the words 
 that I now utter. Our state is hopeless ; our granaries 
 are as the sands of the deserts ; there is in them life 
 neither for beast or man. The war-horse that bore the 
 hero is now consumed for his food ; and the population 
 of thy city, with one voice, cry for chains and — bread ! 
 I have spoken." 
 
 '* Admit the ambassador of Egypt," said Boabdil, as 
 Abdelemic retired. There was a pause ; one of the 
 draperies at the end of the hall was dra-wn aside, and 
 with the slow and sedate majesty of their tribe and land 
 paced forth a dark and swarthy train, the envoys of the 
 Egyptian soldan. Six of the band bore costly presents 
 of gems and weapons, and the procession closed with 
 four vailed slaves, whose beauty had been the boast of 
 the ancient valley of the Nile. 
 
 " Sun of Grenada and day-star of the faithful !" said 
 the chief of the Egyptians, " my lord, the Soldan of 
 Egypt, delight of the world, and rose tree of the East, 
 thus answers to the letters of Boabdil. He grieves that 
 he cannot send the succor thou demandest, and, inform- 
 ing himself of the condition of thy territories, iie finds 
 that Grenada no longer holds a sea-port by which his 
 forces (could he send them) might find an entrance into 
 Spain. He implores thee to put thy trust in Allah, who 
 will not desert his chosen ones, and lays these gifts, in 
 pledge of amity and love, at the feet of my lord the 
 king." 
 
 "It is a gracious and well-timed offering," said 
 Boabdil, with a writhing lip; "we thank him." There 
 was now a long and dead silence as the ambassadors 
 swept from the liall of audience, when Boabdil suddenly 
 raised his head from his breast, and looked around his 
 hall with a kingly and majestic look : " Let the heralds 
 of Ferdinand of Spain approach." 
 
 A groan involuntary broke from the breast of Muza ; 
 it was echoed by a murmur of abhorrence and despair 
 from the gallant captains who stood around ; but to that 
 momentary burst succeeded a breathless silence, as, from 
 another drapery opposite the royal couch, gleamed the 
 burnished mail of the knights of Spain. Foremost of 
 those haughty visitors, whose iron heels clanked loudly
 
 LEILA. 
 
 139 
 
 on the tesselated floor, came a noble and stately iorm, in 
 full armor, save the helment, and with a mantle of 
 azure velvet, wrought with the silver cross that made the 
 badge of the Christian war. Upon his manly counte- 
 nance was visible no sign of undue arrogance or exulta- 
 tion, but something of that generous pity which brave 
 men feel for conquered foes dimmed the luster of his 
 commanding eye and softened the wonted sternness of 
 tiis martial bearing. He and his train approached tiie 
 king with a profound salutation of respect, and, falling 
 back, motioned to the herald that accompanied him, and 
 whose garb, breast and back, was wrought with the arms 
 of Spain, to deliver himself of his mission. 
 
 "To Boabdil !" said the herald, with a loud voice, 
 that filled the wIkjIc cx[)anse, and thrilled, with various 
 emotions the dumb assembly. "To Boabdil el Cliico, 
 King of Grenada, Ferdinand of Arragon and Isabel of 
 Castile send royal greeting. They command me to ex- 
 press their liope that the war is at length concluded ; 
 and they offer to the King of Grenada sucli terms of 
 capitulation as a king without dishonor may receive. In 
 the stead of tiiis city, whish their most Christian majes- 
 ties will restore to their own dominion, as is just, they 
 offer, O King, princely territories in the Alpuxarras 
 mountains to your sway, holding them by oath of fealty 
 to the Spanish crown. To the people of Grenada their 
 most Christian majesties promise full prijtection of prop- 
 erty, life, and faith, under a government by their own 
 magistrates and according to tiicir own laws ; exemption 
 from tribute for three years, and taxes thereafter regu- 
 lated by the custom and ratio of their present imposts. 
 To such Moors as, discontented with these provisions, 
 would abandon Grenada, are promised free passage for 
 themselves and their wealth. In return for these marks of 
 their royal bounty, their most Christian majesties sum- 
 mon Grenada to surrender (if no succor meanwhile ar- 
 rive) within seventy days. And these offers are now 
 solemnly recorded in the presence and through the mis- 
 sion of the noble and renowned knight Gonzalvo of 
 Cordova, deputed by their most Christian majesties from 
 their new city of Santa Fe." 
 
 When the herald had concluded Boabdil cast his eye 
 over his thronged and splendid court. Noglance of fire 
 met his own ; amidst the silent crowd a resigned content
 
 140 
 
 LEILA. 
 
 was alone to be perceived ; the proposals exceeded the 
 hope of the besiey;ed. 
 
 "And," asked Boabdil, with a deep-drawn sigh, "if 
 we reject these offers ?" 
 
 "Noble prince," said Gonzalvo, earnestly, "ask us 
 not to wound thine ears with the alternative. Pause, and 
 consider of our offers, and, if thou doubtest, O brave 
 king! mount the towers of thine Alliambra, survey our 
 legions marshaled beneath thy walls, and turn thine eyes 
 upon a brave people, defeated not by human valor, but 
 by famine and the inscrutable will of God !" 
 
 "Your monarchs sliall h:ivc oxxx answer, gentle Ciiris- 
 tian, perchance ere nightfall. And you. Sir Knight, 
 who hast delivered a message bitter for kings to hear, 
 receive at least our thanks for such bearing as might best 
 mitigate the import. Our vizier will bear to your apart- 
 ment those tokens of remembrance that are yet left to 
 the monarch of Grenada to bestow." 
 
 " Muza," resumed the king, as the Spaniards left the 
 presence, " thou hast heard all. What isthe last counsel 
 thou canst give thy sovereign ?" 
 
 The fierce Moor had with difficulty waited this license 
 to utter such sentiments as death only could banish from 
 that unconquerable heart. He rose, descended from the 
 couch, and, standing a little below the king, and facing 
 the motley throng of all of wise or brave yet left to 
 Grenada, thus spoke : 
 
 " Why should we surrender ? two hundred thousand 
 inhabitants are yet within our walls ; of these twenty 
 thousand, at least, are Moors who have hands and swords. 
 Why should we surrender ? Famine presses us, it is true ; 
 but hunger, that makes the lion more terrible, shall it 
 make the man more base? Do ye despair? so be it; 
 desi:)air, in the valiant, ought to have an irresistible force. 
 Despair has made cowards brave ; shall it sink the brave 
 to cowards ? Let us arcnise the people ; hitherto we 
 have depended too much upon the nobles. Let us col- 
 lect our whole force, and march upon this new city while 
 tiie soldiers of Spain are cmjihiyed in their new profes- 
 sion of architects and builders. Hear me, O God and 
 Prophet of the Moslem ! hear one who never was fore- 
 swcirn ! If, Moor? of Grenada, ye adopt my counsel, I 
 cannot promise ye victory, but I promise ye never to live 
 without it ; I promise ye, at least your inde^^endence, for
 
 LEILA. 
 
 141 
 
 the dead know no chains ! Let us die, if we cannot live, 
 so that we may leave to remotest ages a glory that shall 
 be more durable than kingdoms. King of Grenada, this 
 is the counsel of Muza Ben Abil Gazan." 
 
 The prince ceased. But he whose faintest word had 
 once breathed fire into the dullest had now poured out 
 his spirit upon frigid and lifeless matter. No man 
 answered, no man moved. 
 
 Boabdil alone, clinging to the shadow of hope, turned 
 at last toward the audience. 
 
 " Warriors and sages !" he said, " as Muza's counsel 
 is your king's desire, say but the word, and, ere the hour- 
 glass shed its last sand, the blast of our trumpet shall be 
 ringing through the Vivarambla." 
 
 "O king ! light not against the will of fate — God is 
 great !" replied the chief of the alfaquis. 
 
 "Alas I" said Abdclemic, " if the voice of Muza and 
 your own fall thus coldly upon us, how can ye stir the 
 breadless and heartless multitude?" 
 
 " Is such your general thought and your general will ?" 
 said Boabdil. 
 
 A universal murmur answered "Yes." 
 
 "Go then, Abdelemic," resumed the ill-starred king, 
 "go with yon Spaniards to the Christian camp, and 
 bring us back the best terms you can obtain. The crown 
 has passed from the head of El Zogoybi ; Fate sets her 
 zeal upon my brow. Unfortunate was the commence- 
 ment of my reign — unfortunate its end. Break up the 
 divan." 
 
 The words of Boabdil moved and penetrated an audi- 
 ence never till then so alive to his gentle qualities, hij 
 learned wisdom, and his natural valor. Many flung 
 themselves at his feet with tears and sighs, and the 
 crowd gathered round to touch the hem of his robe. 
 
 Muza gazed at them in deep disdain, with folded arms 
 and heaving breast. 
 
 "Women, not men !" he exclj^in^ed, "ye weep as if 
 ye had not blood still left to shed ! Ye ^re reconciled to 
 the loss of liberty because ye are told ye shall lose noth- 
 ing else. Fools and dupes } I see from the spot where 
 my spirit stands above ye, the dark and dismal future to 
 which you are crawling on your knees ; bondage and 
 rapine; the violence of lawless lust ; the persecution of 
 hostile faith ; your gqlc^ wrung from ye by torture ; your
 
 142 
 
 LEILA. 
 
 national name rooted from tlie soil. Bear this, and re- 
 member me ! Farewell, Boabdil ! you I pity not ; for 
 your gardens have yet a poison and your armories a 
 sword. Farewell, nobles and santons of Grenada ! I 
 leave my country while it is yet free." 
 
 Scarcely had he ceased ere he had disappeared from 
 the hall. It was as the parting genius of Grenada ! 
 
 CHAPTER IV. 
 
 THE ADVENTURE OF THE SOLITARY HORSEMAN. 
 
 It was a burning and sultry noon when, through a 
 small valley skirted by rugged and precipitous hills, at 
 a distance of several leagues from Grenada, a horseman 
 in complete armor wound his solitary way. His mail 
 was black and unadorned; on his visor waved no plume. 
 But there was something in his carriage and mien, and 
 the singular beauty iA his coal-black steed, which ap- 
 peared to indicate a liigher rank tlian the absence of page 
 and squire, and the plainness of his accouterments, 
 would have denoted to a careless eye. lie rode very 
 slowly ; and his steed, with the license of a spoiled fav- 
 orite, often halted lazily in his sultry path as a tuft of 
 herbage or the bough of some overhanging tree offered 
 its temptation. At length, as he thus paused, a noise 
 was hoard in a copse that clothed the descent of a steep 
 mountain ; and the horse started suddenly back, forcing 
 the traveler from his reverie. He looked mechanically 
 upward, and beheld the figure of a man bounding 
 through the trees with rapid and irregular steps. It was 
 a form that suited well the silence and solitude of the 
 spot, and might have passed for one of those stern re- 
 cluses, half hermit, half soldier, who, in earlier crusades, 
 fixed their wild homes amidst the sands and caves of 
 Palestine. The stranger supported his steps by a long 
 staff. His hair and beard hung long and malted over 
 his broad shoulders. A rusted mail, (^ncc splendid with 
 arabesque enrichments, protected his breast ; but the
 
 LEILA. 
 
 Hj 
 
 loose gown, a sort of tartan, which descended below the 
 cuirass, was rent and and tattered, and his feet bare ; in 
 his girdle was a sliort curved scimeter, a knife or dagger, 
 a parchment roll, clasped and bound with iron. 
 
 As the horseman gazed at this abrupt intruder on the 
 solitude, his frame quivered with emotion ; and, raising 
 himself to liis full height, he called aloud, " Fiend or 
 santon, whatsoever thou art, what seekest thou in these 
 lonely places, far from the king thy counsels deluded, 
 and the city betrayed by thy false prophecies and unhal- 
 lowed charms?" 
 
 " lla !" cried Almamen, for it was indeed the Israel- 
 ite ; " by thy black charger and the tone of thy haughty 
 voice, I know tlie hero of Grenada. Rather, Muza Ben 
 Abil Gazan, why art thou absent from the last hold of 
 the Moorish empire ?" 
 
 " Dost thou pretend to read the future, and art thou 
 blind to the present.? Grenada has capitulated to the 
 Spaniard. Ahjne I have left a land of slaves, and shall 
 seek, in our ancestral Africa, some spot where the foot- 
 step of the misbeliever hath not trodden." 
 
 "The fate of one bigotry is then sealed," said Alma- 
 men, gloomily ; " but tiiat which succeeds it is yet more 
 dark." 
 
 " Dog !" cried Muza, couching his lance, "what art 
 thou that thus blasphemest ?" 
 
 "A Jew !" replied Almamen, in a voice of thunder, 
 and drawing his scimeter; "a despised and despising 
 Jew ! Ask you more? I am the son of a race of kings. 
 I was tiie worst enemy of the Moors till I found the 
 Nazarene more hateful than the Moslem ; and then even 
 Muza himself was not their more renowned champion. 
 Come on, if thou wilt, man to man : I defy thee !" 
 
 "No, no," muttered Muza, sinking his lance; "thy 
 mail is rusted with the blood of the Spaniard, and this 
 arm cannot smite the slayer of the Christian. Part we 
 in peace." 
 
 " Hold, prince !" said Almamen, in an altered voice ; 
 * is thy country the sole thing dear to thee ? Has the 
 smile of woman ncvc- stolen beneath thine armc^r? Has 
 thy heart never beat for softer meetings than the en- 
 counter of a foe ?" 
 
 " Am I human and a Moor?" returned Muza. " For 
 once you divine aright ; and, could thy spells bestow on
 
 144 
 
 LEILA. 
 
 these eyes but one more sight of the last thing left to me 
 on eaiih, I sliould be as credulous of thy sorcery as 
 Boabdil." 
 
 " Thou lovest her still, then — this Leila?" 
 " Dark necromancer, hast thou read my secret ? and 
 knowst thou the name of my beloved one? Ah ! let me 
 believe thee indeed wise, and reveal to me the spot of 
 earth which holds the treasure of my soul ! Yes," con- 
 tinued the Moor, witii increased emotion, and throwing 
 up Ills visor as if for air ; " yes, Allah forgive me ! but, 
 when ail was lost at Grenada, I had still one consolation 
 in leaving my fated biniiplace ; I had license to search 
 for Leila ; I had the hope to secure to my wanderings in 
 distant lands one to whose glance the eyes of the houris 
 would be dim. But I waste words. Tell me where is 
 Leila, and conduct me to her feet." 
 
 *' Moslem, I will lead thee to lier," answered Almamen, 
 gazing on the prince with an expression of strange and 
 fearful exultation in his dark eyes ; " I will lead thee to 
 her — follow me. It was only yester-night that I learned 
 the walls that confined her ; and from that hour to this 
 have I journeyed over mountain and desert, without rest 
 or food." 
 
 " Yet what is she to thee ?" asked Muza, suspiciously. 
 " Thou slialt learn full soon. Let us on." 
 So saying Almamen sprang forward with a vigor 
 which the excitement of his mind supplied to the ex- 
 haustion of his body. Muza wonderingly pushed on his 
 charger, and endeavored to draw his mysterious guide 
 into conversation ; but Almamen scarcely lieeded him. 
 His long fast, his solitary travels, his anxieties, his vicis- 
 situdes, and, more than all, his own fiery and consuming 
 passions, were fast lipening into confirmed frenzy the 
 l)alf delirious emotions which had for months marred 
 the natural keenness of his intellect ; and, when he broke 
 from his gloomy silence, it was but in incoherent and 
 brief exclamatiijus, often in a tongue foreign to the ear 
 of his companion. The hardy Moor, though steeled 
 against the superstitions of his race, less by the philos- 
 ophy of the learned than the contempt of the brave, 
 felt an awe gather over him as he glanced, from time to 
 time, froiTi the giant rocks and lonely valleys to the un- 
 earthly aspect and glittering eyes of the reputed sorcerer; 
 and more than once he muttered such verses of the
 
 LEILA. 145 
 
 Koran as he remembered, and were esteemed by his 
 countiymen the counterspell of the machinations of tiie 
 evil genii. 
 
 It might be an hour that they had thus journeyed to- 
 gether, when Almamen paused abruptly. " I am wearied," 
 said he, faintly ; " and, though time presses, I fear that 
 my strength will fail me." 
 
 "Mount then, behind me," returned the Moor, after 
 some natural hesitation ; "Jew though thou art, I will 
 brave the contamination for the sake of Leila." 
 
 " Moor !" cried the Hebrew, fiercely, " the contamina- 
 tion would be mine. Things of the yesterday, as thy 
 prophet and thy creed arc, thou canst not stjund the un- 
 fathomable loathing which each heart, faithful to the 
 Ancient of Days, feels for such as thou and thine." 
 
 " Now, by the Kaaba !" said Muza, and his brow be- 
 came dark, " another such word, and the hoofs of my 
 steed shall trample the breath of blasphemy from thy 
 body. " 
 
 " I would defy thee to the death," answered Almamen, 
 disdainfully ; " but I reserve the bravest of the Moors to 
 behold a deed worthy of the descendant of Jephtha. But, 
 hist ! I hear hoofs." 
 
 Muza listened ; and, at a distance beyond them, his 
 sharp ear caught a distinct ring upon the hard and rocky 
 soil. He turned round, and saw Almamen gliding away 
 through the thick underwood until the branches con- 
 cealed his form. Presently a curve in the path brought 
 in view a Spanish cavalier, mounted on an Andalusian 
 jennet : the horseman was gayly singing one of the pop- 
 ular ballads of the time ; and as it related to the feats of 
 the Spaniards against the Moors, Muza's haughty blood 
 was already stirred, and his mustache quivered on his lip. 
 " I will change the air," muttered the Moslem, grasping 
 his lance ; when, as the thought crossed him, he beheld 
 the Spaniard suddenly reel in his saddle and fall pros- 
 trate on the ground. In the same instant Almamen had 
 darted from his hiding-place, seized the steed of the cav- 
 alier, mounted, and, ere Muza recovered from his sur- 
 prise, was by the side of the Moor. 
 
 " By what cliarm," said Muza, curbing his barb, 
 " didst thou fell the Sj)aniard, seemingly without a blow?" 
 
 "As David felled Goliath— by the pebble and the
 
 146 
 
 LEILA. 
 
 sling," answered Almamcn, carelessly. "Now, then, 
 spur forward, if thou art eager to sec thy Le'.la." 
 
 The horsemen dashed over the body of the stunned 
 and insensible Spaniard. Tree and mountain glided by ; 
 gradually the valley vanished, and a thick forest gloomed 
 upc;n their path Siill they made on, though the inter- 
 laced boughs and tiie ruggcdness of the footing some- 
 what obstructed their way ; until, as the sun began 
 slowly to decline, they entered a broad and circular 
 space, round which trees of the eldest growth spread 
 their motionless and shadowy boughs. In the midmost 
 sward was a rude and antique stone, resembling the 
 altar of sonic barbarous and departed creed. Here AI- 
 marien abruptly halted, and muttered inaudibly to him- 
 self. 
 
 " What moves thee, dark stranger?" said the Moor ; 
 "and why dost thou mutter and gaze on space'" 
 
 Almamen answered not, but dismounted, hung his 
 bridle to a branch of a scathed and riven elm, and ad- 
 vanced alone into the middle of the space. " Dread and 
 prophetic power that art within me !" said the Hebrew, 
 aloud ; " this, then, is the spot that, by dream and vision, 
 tiiou hast foretold me wherein to consummate and re- 
 ccird the vow that shall sever from the spirit the last 
 weakness of tiie flesh. Night after night hast thou 
 brought before mine eyes, in darkness and in slumber, 
 the solemn solitude that I now survey. Be it so ; I am 
 prepared !" 
 
 Thus speaking, he retired for a few moments into the 
 wood ; collected in his arms the dry leaves and withered 
 branches which cumbered the desolate clay, and placed 
 the fuel upon the altar. Then, turning to the east, and 
 raising his hands on Ingb, he exclaimed, "Lolupon 
 this altar, once worshiped, perchance, by the heathen 
 savage, the last bold spirit of thy fallen and scattered 
 race dedicates, O Ineffable One! that precious offering 
 thou didst demand of a sire of old. Accept the sacri- 
 fice !" 
 
 As the Hebrew et\ded this adjuratif)n he drew a phial 
 from his bosom, and sprinkled a few drops upon the arid 
 fuel. A pale blue 11 ime suddenly leaped up ; and, as it 
 lighted the haggard but earnest countenance of the Isra- 
 elite, Muza felt his Moorish blood congeal in his veins, 
 and shuddered, tiiough he scarce knew why. Almamcn
 
 LEILA. 
 
 H7 
 
 then, with his dagger, severed from his head one of his 
 long locks, and cast it upon the flame. He watclied it 
 till it was consumed ; and then, with a stifled cry, fell 
 upon the earth in a dead swoon. The Moor hastened to 
 raise him ; he chafed liis hands and temples ; he unbuck- 
 led the vest upon his bosom ; he forgot that his comrade 
 was a sorcerer and a Jew, so much had the agony of that 
 excitement moved his sympathy. 
 
 It was not till several minutes had elapsed that Al- 
 mamen, with a deep-draun sigh, recovered from his 
 fwoon. " Ah, beloved one ! bride of my heart !" he 
 .nurmured, " was it for this that thou didst commend to 
 me the only pledge of our youthful love ? Forgive me ! 
 I restore her to the earth, untainted by the Gentile." He 
 closed his eyes again, and a strong convulsion shook his 
 frame. It passed ; and he rose as a man from a fearful 
 dream, composed, and almost, as it were, refreshed, by 
 the terrors he had undergone. The last glimmer of the 
 ghastly light was dying away upon that ancient altar, 
 and a low wind crept sigliing through the trees. 
 
 " Mount, prince," said Almamen, calmly, but avert- 
 ing his eyes from the altar ; " we shall have no more 
 delays." 
 
 " Wilt thou not explain thy incantations ?" asked 
 Muza ; "or is it, as my reason tells me, but the mum- 
 mery of a juggler ?" 
 
 " Alas ! alas !" answered Almamen, in a sad and al- 
 tered tone, " thou wilt soon know all." 
 
 CHAPTER V. 
 
 THE SACRIFICE. 
 
 The sun was now sinking slowly through those 
 masses of purple cloud which belong to Iberian skies, 
 when, emerging from the forest, the travelers saw before 
 them a small and lovely plain, cultivated like a garden. 
 Rows of orange and citron trees were backed by the dark 
 green foliage of vines ; and these, again, found a barrier
 
 148 
 
 LEILA. 
 
 in girdling copses of chestnut, oak, am. the deeper ver- 
 dure of pines ; while far to the horizon rose the distant 
 and dim outline of the mountain range, scarcely distin- 
 guishable from the mellow colorings of the heaven. 
 Through this charming spot went a slender and spark- 
 ling torrent, that collected its waters in a circular basin, 
 over which the rose and orange hung their contrasted 
 blossoms. On a gentle eminence above this plain or 
 garden rose the spires of a convent ; and, though it was 
 still daylight, the long and pointed lattices were illum- 
 ined within ; and as the horsemen cast iheir eyes upon 
 the pile, tlie sound of the holy chorus, made more sweet 
 and solemn from its own indistinctness, from the quiet 
 of the hour, from t)ie sudden and sequestered loveliness 
 of that spot, suiting so well the ideal calm of the conven- 
 tual life, rolled its music through the odorous and lu- 
 cent air. 
 
 But that scene and that sound, so calculated to soothe 
 and harmonize the thoughts, seemed to arouse Almamen 
 into agony and passion. lie smote his breast with his 
 clenched hand ; and shrieking, rather than exclaiming, 
 " God of my fathers ! have 1 come too late .''" buried his 
 spurs to the rowels in the sides of his panting steed. 
 Along the sward, through the fragrant shrubs, athwart 
 the pebbly and shallow torrent, up the ascent to the con- 
 vent sped the Israelite. Muza, wondering and half 
 reluctant, followed at a little distance. Clearer and 
 nearer came the voices of the choir ; broader and redder 
 glowed the tapers from the Gothic casements ; the porch 
 of the convent chapel was reached ; the Hebrew sprang 
 from his horse. A small group of the peasants depend- 
 ent on the convent loitered reverently round the thresh- 
 old ; pushing through them as one frantic, Almamen 
 entered the chapel and disappeared. 
 
 A minute elapsed. Muza was at the door; but the 
 Moor paused irresolutely ere he dismounted. " What is 
 the ceremony ?" he asked of the peasants. 
 
 "A nun is about to take the vows," answered one of 
 them. 
 
 A cry of alarm, of indignation, of terror, was heard 
 within. Muza no longer delayed ; he gave his steed to 
 the bystander, pushed aside tlie heavy curtain that 
 screened the threshold, and was within the chapel. 
 
 By the altar crathered a confused and disordered
 
 LEILA. 
 
 149 
 
 group — the sisterhood with their abbess. Round the 
 consecrated rail floclced the spectators, breathless and 
 amazed. Conspicuous above th.e rest, on the elevation 
 of the holy place, stood Almamen, with his drawn dagger 
 in his right hand, his left arm clasped around the form of 
 a novice, whose dress, not yet replaced by the serge, 
 bespoke her the sister fated to the vail ; and on the op- 
 posite side of that sister, one hand on her shoulder, the 
 other rearing on high the sacred crucifix, stood a stern, 
 calm, commanding form in the white robes of the 
 Dominican order ; it was Tomas de Torquemada. 
 
 "Avaunt, Abaddon!" were the first words which 
 reached Muza's car, as he stood, unnoticed, in the middle 
 of the aisle ; "here thy sorcery and thine arts cannot 
 avail thee. Release the devoted one of God !" 
 
 "She is mine ! she is my daughter ! I claim her from 
 thee as a father, in the name of the great Sire of Man !" 
 
 " Seize the sorcerer! seize him!" exclaimed the in- 
 quisitor, as, with a sudden movement, Almamen cleared 
 his way through the scattered and dismayed group, and 
 stood with his daughter in his arms on the first step of 
 the consecrated platform. 
 
 But not a foot stirred, not a hand was raised. The 
 epithet bestowed on the intruder had only breathed a 
 supernatural terror into the audience ; and they would 
 have sooner rushed upon a tiger in his lair tlian on the 
 lifted dagger and savage aspect of that grim stranger. 
 
 " Oh, my father !" then said alow and faltering voice, 
 that startled Muza as a voice from the grave, " wrestle 
 not against the decrees of Heaven. Thy daughter is not 
 compelled to her solemn choice. Humbly, but devoted- 
 ly, a convert to the Christian creed, her only wish on 
 earth is to take the consecrated and eternal vow." 
 
 " Ha !" groaned the Hebrew, suddenly relaxing his 
 hold as his daughter fell on her knees before him, "then 
 have I indeed been told, as I have foreseen, the worst 
 The vail is rent — the spirit hath left the temple. Thy 
 beauty is desecrated ; thy form is but unhallowed clay. 
 Dog !" he cried more fiercely, glaring round upon the 
 unmoved face of the inquisitor, "this is thy work : but 
 thou shalt not triumph. Here, by thine own shrine, I 
 spit at and defy thee, as once before, amidst the tortures 
 of thy inhuman court. Thus — thus — thus — Almamen
 
 [50 
 
 LEILA. 
 
 the Jew delivers the last of his house from the curse ol 
 Galilee !" 
 
 " Hold, murderer !" cried a voice of thunder ; and an 
 armed man burst through the crowd and stood upon the 
 platform. It was too late: thrice the blade of the He- 
 brew had passed through that innocent breast ; thrice 
 was it reddened with that virgin blood. Leila fell in the 
 arms of her lover ; her dim eyes rested upon his counte- 
 nance as it shone upon her beneath his lifted visor ; a 
 faint and tender smile played upon lier lips ; Leila was 
 no more. 
 
 One hasty glance Almamen cast upon his victim, and 
 then, with a wild laugh that woke every echo in tlie 
 dreary aisles, he leaped from the place. Brandishing his 
 bloody weapon above his head, he dashed through the 
 coward crowd ; and, ere even the startled Dominica'^ 
 had found a voice, the tramp of his headlong steed rang 
 upon the air: an instant, and all was silent. 
 
 But over that murdered girl leaned the Moor, as )-et 
 incredulous of her death ; her head, still unshorn of its 
 purple tresses, pillowed on his lap ; her icy hand clasped 
 in his, and her blood weltering fast over his armor. 
 None disturbed him ; for, habited as the knights of 
 Christendom, none suspected his faith ; and all, even 
 the Dominican, felt a thrill of sympathy at his distress. 
 With the quickness of comprehension common to those 
 climes, they understood at once that it was a lover wiio 
 sustained that beautiful clay. How he came hither, with 
 what object, what hope, tiieir thoughts were too much 
 locked in pity to conjecture. There, voiceless and motion- 
 less, betit the Moor ; until one of the monks approached 
 and felt the pulse to ascertain if life was, indeed, utterly 
 gone. 
 
 The Moor, at first, waved him haughtily away ; but, 
 when he divined the monk's purpose, suffered him in 
 silence to take the beloved hand. He fixed on him his 
 dark and imploring eyes ; and when the father dropped 
 the hand, and, gently shaking his head, turned away, a 
 deep and ag(jnizing groan was all that the audience heard 
 from that iicart in which the last iron of fate had entered. 
 Passionately he kissed the brow, the cheeks, the lips of 
 the luished and angel face, and rose from the spot. 
 
 " What dost thou here ? and what knowst thou of yon
 
 LEILA. 
 
 151 
 
 murderous enemy of God and man?" asked the Domin- 
 ican, approaching. 
 
 Muza made no reply as he stalked slowly through 
 the chapel. The audience was touched to sudden tears. 
 " Forbear !" said they, almost with one accord, to the 
 harsh inquisitor; " he hath no voice to answer thee." 
 
 And thus, amidst the oppressive grief and sympathyji 
 of the Christian throng, the unknown Paynim reached! 
 the door, mounted iiis steed, and, as he turned once more, 
 and cast a hurried glance upon the fatal pile, the by- 
 standers saw the large tears rolling down his swarthy 
 cheeks. 
 
 Slowly that coal-black charger wound down the hil- 
 lock, crossed the quiet and lovely garden, and vanished 
 amidst the forest. And never was known, to Moor or 
 Christian, the future fate of the hero of Grenada. 
 Whether he reached in safety the shores of his ancestral 
 Africa, and carved out new fortunes and a new name ; 
 or whether death, by disease or strife, terminated ob- 
 scurely his glorious and brief career, mystery, deep and 
 unpenetrated, even by the fancies of the thousand bards 
 who have consecrated his deeds, wraps in everlasting 
 shadow the destinies of Muza Ben Abil Gazan, from 
 that hour when the setting sun threw its parting ray 
 over his stately form and his ebon barb, disappearing 
 amidst the breathless shadows of the forest. 
 
 CHAPTER VI. 
 
 THE RETURN — THE RIOT — THE TREACHERY — AND THE 
 DEATH. 
 
 It was the eve of the fatal day on which Grenada was 
 to be delivered to the Spaniards, and in that subterranean 
 vault beneath the house of Almamen, before described, 
 three elders of the Jewish persuasion were met. 
 
 ** Trusty aad well-beloved Ximen," cried one, a weal- 
 thy and usurious merchant, with a twinkling and humid 
 eye, and a sleek and unctuous aspect, which did not,
 
 152 
 
 LEILA. 
 
 however, sufTice to dis,2;iiise something fierce and crafty 
 in his low brow and pinched lips ; "trusty and weli-be- 
 hjved Ximcn," said this Jew, "truly thou hast served us 
 well in yielding to the persecuted brethren this secret 
 shelter. Here, indeed, may ihe heathen search for us in 
 vain. Verily, my veins grow warm again ; and thy serv- 
 ant hungcreih, and hath thirst." 
 
 *' Eat, Isaac, eat ; yonder are viands prepared fcr 
 thee ; eat and spare not. And tliou, Elias, wilt thou not 
 draw near the board ? The wine is old and precious, and 
 will revive thee." 
 
 "Ashes and hyssop, hyssop and ashes, are food and 
 drink for me !" answered Elias, with passionate bitter- 
 ness ; "they have razed my house, they have burned my 
 granaries, they have molten down my gold, I am a 
 ruined man !" 
 
 " Nay," said Ximen, who gazed at him with a malevo- 
 lent eye (for so utterly had years and sorrows mixed 
 with gall even the one kindlier S3'mpathy he possessed, 
 that he could not resist an inward chuckle over the very 
 afflictions he relieved and the very impotence he pro- 
 tected), " nay, Elias, thou hast wcalih yet left in the sea- 
 port towns sufficient to buy up half Grenada." 
 
 "The Nazarene will seize it all !" cried Elias ; "I see 
 it already in his grasp !" 
 
 "Nay, thinkst thou so? and wherefore?" asked 
 Ximen, startled into sincere, because selfish anxiety, 
 
 " Mark me ! Under license of the truce, I went last 
 night to the Christian camp ; I had an interview with the 
 Christian king; and when he heard my name and faith, 
 his very beard curled with ire. ' Hound of Belial !' he 
 roared forth, 'has not thy comrade carrion, the sorcerer 
 Almamen, sufficiently deceived and insulted the majesty 
 of Spain? P'or his sake ye shall have no quarter. Tarry 
 here another instant, and thy corpse shall be swinging 
 to the winds ! Go, and count over thy misgotten wealth ; 
 just census shall be taken of it ; and if tliou defraudest 
 our holy impost by one piece of copper, tliou shalt sup 
 with Dives !' Such was my mission and mine answer. 
 I return home to see the ashes of mine house ! Woe is 
 me!" 
 
 " And this we owe to Almamen, the pretended Jew !" 
 cried Isaac, from his solitary but not idle place at the 
 boarH.
 
 LEILA. 
 
 153 
 
 " I would this knife were at his false throat !" growled 
 Elias, clutching his poniard with his long bony fingers. 
 
 "No chance of that," muttered Ximen ; "he will re- 
 turn no more to Grenada. The vulture and the worm 
 have divided his carcass between tliem ere this ; and," 
 he added inly, with a hideous smile, " his house and his 
 gold have fallen into the hands of old, childless Ximen." 
 
 " This is a strange and fearful vault," said Isaac, 
 quaffing a large goblet of the hot wine of the Vega ; 
 " here might the Witch of Endor have raised the dead. 
 Yon door, whither doth it lead ?" 
 
 "Through passages none that I know of, save my 
 master, hath trodden," answered Ximen. " I have heard 
 that they reach even to the Alhambra. Come, worthy 
 Elias ! thy form trembles witli the cold ; take this wine." 
 
 " Hist !" said Elias, shaking from limb to limb, " our 
 pursuers are upon us ; I hear a step !" 
 
 As he spoke, the door to which Isaac had pointed 
 slowly opened, and Almamen entered the vault. 
 
 Had, indeed, a new Witch of Endor conjured up the 
 dead, the apparition would not more have startled and 
 appalled that goodly trio. Elias, gripping his knife, re- 
 treated to the farthest end of the vault. Isaac dropped 
 tlie goblet he was about to drain, and fell on his knees. 
 Ximen alone, growing, if possible, a shade more ghastly, 
 retained something of self-possession as he muttered to 
 himself, " He lives ! and his gold is not mine ! Curse 
 him !" 
 
 Seemingly unconscious of the strange guests his 
 sanctuary shrouded, Almamen stalked on like a man 
 walking in his sleep. 
 
 Ximen roused himself, softly unbarred the door whicli 
 admitted to the upper apartments, and motioned to his 
 comrades to avail themselves of tlie opening ; but as 
 Isaac, the first to accept the hint, crept across, Almamen 
 fixed upon him his terrible eye ; and appearing suddenly 
 to awake to consciousness, shouted out, " Thou mis- 
 creant, Ximen ! whom hast thou admitted to the secrets 
 of thy lord ? Close the door ; these men must die !" 
 
 " Mighty master!" said Ximen, calmly, "is thy serv- 
 ant to blame that he believed the rumo- that declared 
 thy death ? These men are of our holy faitli, whom I have 
 snatched from the violence of the sacrilegious and mad-
 
 154 
 
 LEILA. 
 
 dened mob. No spot but this seemed safe from the pop- 
 ular frenzy." 
 
 "Are )-e Jews ?" said Almamcn. "Ah, yes! I know 
 ye now — things of the market-phice and bazar ! Oli, ye 
 are Jews, indeed ! Go, go ! Leave me !" 
 
 Waiting no further license, the three vanished ; but, 
 ere he left the vault, Elias turned back his scowlinfg 
 countenance on Almamen, who had sunk again into an 
 absorbed meditation, with a glance of vindictive ire — 
 Almamen was alone. 
 
 In less than a quarter of an hour Ximen returned to 
 seek his master, but the place was again deserted. 
 
 It was midnight in the streets of Grenada; midnight, 
 but not repose. The multitude, roused into one of their 
 paroxysms of wrath and sorrow by the reflection that 
 the morrow was indeed the day of tlieir subjection to ihf 
 Christian foe, poured forth tlirough the streets to the, 
 number of twenty thousand. It was a wild and stormy 
 night ; those formidable gusts of wind, which sometimes 
 sweep in sudden winter from the snows of the Sierra 
 Nevada, howled through the tossing groves and along 
 the winding streets. But the tempest seemed to heighten, 
 as if by the sympathy of the elements, the popular storm 
 and whirlwind. Brandisliing arms and torches, and 
 gaunt with hunger, the dark forms of the frantic Moors 
 seemed like ghouls or specters rather than mortal men ; 
 as, apparently without an object, save that of venting 
 their own disquietude or exciting the fears of earth, they 
 swept through the desolate city. 
 
 In the broad space of the Vivarambla the crowd halt- 
 ed ; irresolute in all else, but resolved, at least, tliat 
 something for Grenada should yet be done. They were, 
 for the most part, armed in their Moorish fashion; but they 
 were wholly without leaders ; not a noble, a magistrate, 
 an officer would have dreamed of the hopeless enterprise 
 of violating the truce with Ferdinand. It was a mere 
 popular tumult — the madness of a mob ; but not the less 
 formidable, for it was an Eastern mob, and a mob with 
 swords and shafts, with buckler and mail ; the mob by 
 which Oriental empires have been built and overthrown! 
 There, in tlie splendid space that had witnessed the 
 gam.es and tournaments of that Arab and African chiv- 
 alry ; there, where for many a lustrum kings had re- 
 viewed devoted and conqu'^riii';^ .T-mics, assembled these
 
 LEILA. 
 
 155 
 
 desperate men ; the loud winds agitating their tossing 
 torches, that struggled against the moonless night. 
 
 '' Let us storm the Alhambra !" cried one of the band; 
 Met us seize Boabdil, and place him in the midst of us ; 
 let us rush against the Christians, buried in their proud 
 repose !" 
 
 "Leiilies ! Lelilies ! the Keys and the Crescent!" 
 shouted the mob. 
 
 The shout died, and at the verge of the space was 
 suddenly heard a once familiar and ever-thrilling voice. 
 
 The Moors who heard it turned round in amaze and 
 awe, and beheld, raised upon the stone upon which the 
 criers or heralds had been wont to utter the royal procla- 
 mations, the form of Almamen the santon, whom they 
 had deemed already with the dead. 
 
 " Moors and people of Grenada !" he said, in a solemn 
 but hollow voice, " I am with ye still. Your monarch 
 and your heroes have deserted ye, but I am with ye to 
 the last ! Go not to the Alhambra ; the fort is impene- 
 trable, the guard faithful. Night will be wasted, and 
 the day bring upon you the Christian army. March to 
 the gates ; pour along the Vega ; descend at once upon 
 the foe !" 
 
 He spoke, and then drew forth his saber ; it gleamed 
 in the torchlight; the Moors bowed their heads in fanatic 
 reverence ; the santon sprang from the stone and passed 
 into the center of the crowd. 
 
 Then once more arose joyful shouts. The multitude 
 had found a leader worthy of their enthusiasm, and in 
 regular order they formed themselves rapidly, and swept 
 down the narrow streets. 
 
 Swelled by several scattered groups of desultory 
 marauders (the /uffians and refuse of the city), tlie infidel 
 numbers were now but a few furlongs from the great 
 gate whence they had been wont to issue on the foe. 
 And then, perhaps, had the Moors passed these gates and 
 readied the Christian encampment, lulled as it was in 
 security and sleep, that wild army of twenty thousand 
 desperate men might have saved Grenada: and Spain 
 might at this day possess the only civilized empire 
 which the faith of Mohammed ever founded. 
 
 But the evil star of Boabdil prevailed. The news of the 
 insurrection in the city reached him. Two aged men 
 from the lower city arrived at the Alhambra; demanded
 
 1 56 LEILA. 
 
 and obtained an audience; and the effect of that inter- 
 view was instantaneous upon Boabdil. In the popular 
 frenzy he saw only a justifiable excuse for the Christian 
 king to break the conditions of the treaty, raze the city, 
 and exterminate the inhabitants. Touched by a gener- 
 ous compassicjn for his subjects, and actuated no less by 
 a high sense of kingly honor, which led him to preserve 
 a truce solemnly sworn to, he once more mounted his 
 cream-colored charger, with the two elders who had 
 sought liim by liis side, and at the head of his guard rode 
 from tlie Alhambra. The sound of his trumpets, the tramp 
 of his steeds, the voice of his heralds, simultaneously 
 reached the multitude; and, ere they had leisure to de- 
 cide their course, the king was in the midst of them. 
 
 " What madness is this, O my people ?" cried Boabdil, 
 spurring into the midst of the throng ; "whither would 
 ye go ?" 
 
 " Against the Christian ! against the Goth !" shouted 
 a thousand voices. " Lead us on ! The santon is risen 
 from the dead, and will ride by thy right hand !" 
 
 " Alas !" resumed the king, "ye would march against 
 the Christian king ! Remember that our hostages are in 
 his power ; remember that he will desire no better excuse 
 to level Grenada with the dust, and put you and your 
 children to tne sword. We have made such treaty as 
 never yet was made between foe and foe. Your lives, 
 laws, wealth, all are saved. Nothing is lost save the 
 crown of Boabdil. I am the only sufferer. So be it. 
 My evil star brought on you tliese evil destinies; with- 
 out me you may revive and be once more a nation. Yield 
 to fate to-day, and yc^u may grasp her proudest awards 
 to-morrow. To succumb is not to be subdued. But go 
 forth against the Christians, and if ye win one battle, it 
 is but to incur a more terrible war: if you lose, it is not 
 honorable capitulation, but certain extermination, to 
 which you rush ! Be persuaded, and listen once again 
 to your king." 
 
 The crowd were moved, were softened, were lialf con- 
 vinced. They turned in silence toward their santon, and 
 Almamcn did not shrink the appeal. Little as he cared 
 for the Moors, his hatred for the Christians spurred him 
 on to any measure that might redden the earth with their 
 abhorred blood. He stood fcrth confronting the king.
 
 LEILA. J-- 
 
 "King of Grenada!" he cried aloud, "behold thy 
 friend— thy prophet ! Lo ! I assure you victory '" 
 
 "Hold!" interrupted Boabdil, "thou hast deceived 
 and betrayed me too long ! Moors ! know ye this pre- 
 tended santon ! He is of no Moslem creed He is a 
 houndof Israel, who would sell you to the best bidder 
 blay him ! 
 
 " Ha !" cried Almamen, " and who is my accuser ?" 
 "Thy servant— behold him !" At these words the 
 
 royal guards lifted their torches, and the glare fell redly 
 
 on the death-like features of Ximen. 
 
 V,. ",^^S.^^ ?^ ^^"^ '^'^''^d • t'lere be other Jews that know 
 nim, said the traitor. 
 
 "Will ye suffer a Jew to lead you, O race of the 
 Prophet ? cried the king. 
 
 The crowd stood confused and bewildered ; Alma- 
 men lelt his hour was come; he remained silent, his 
 arms folded, his brow erect. 
 
 "Be there any of the tribe of Moisa among the 
 crowd ? cried Boabdil, pursuing his advantage ; "if so 
 let them approach and testify what they know " Forth 
 came, not from tlie crowd, but from among Boabdii's 
 train, a well-known Israelite. 
 
 "We disown this man of blood and fraud," said Elias 
 bowing to the earth ; " but he was of our creed." 
 
 _ " Speak, false santon ! art thou dumb ?" cried the 
 king, 
 
 "A curse light on thee, dull fool !" cried Almamen 
 fiercely. What matters who the instrument that would 
 have restored to thee thy throne ? Yes ; I, who have 
 ruled thy councils, who have led thine armies, I am of 
 the race of Joshua and of Samuel ; and the Lord of 
 Hosts is the God of Almamen !" 
 
 A shudder ran through thai mighty multitude; but' 
 the looks, the mien, and the voice of the man awed them- - 
 and not a weapon was raised against him. He mio-ht' 
 even then, have passed scathless through the crowd -he 
 might have borne to other climes his burning passions 
 and iHs torturing woes ; but his care for life was past • 
 he desired but to curse his dupes and to die. He paused' 
 Isoked round, and burst into a laugh of such bitier and 
 haughty scorn, as the tempted of earth may hear, in the 
 nails below, from the lips of Eblis. 
 
 J' Yes," he exclaimed, " such \ am ! I have been your
 
 158 
 
 LEILA. 
 
 idol and your lord ; I may be your victim, but in death 
 I am your vanquisher. Christian and Moslem alike my 
 foe, I would have trampled upon both. But the Chris- 
 tian, wiser than you, gave me smooth words, and I would 
 have sold ye to liis power; wickeder .than you, he de- 
 ceived me, and I would have crushed him, that I might 
 have continued to deceive and rule the puppets that ye 
 call your chiefs. But they for whom I toiled, and la- 
 bored, and sinned ; for whom I surrendered peace and 
 ease, yea, and a daughter's person and a daughter's blood, 
 they have betrayed me to your hands, and the Curse of 
 Old rests with them evermore, Amen ! The disguise is 
 rent ; Almamen the santon is the son of Issachar the 
 Jew !" 
 
 More he might have said, but the spell was broken. 
 With a ferocious yell those living waves of the multitude 
 rushed over the stern fanatic ; six scimeters passed 
 through him, and he fell not ; at the seventh he was a 
 corpse. Trodden in the clay, then whirled aloft, limb 
 torn from limb ; ere a man could have drawn breath 
 nine times, scarce a vestige of the human form was left 
 to the mangled and bloody clay. 
 
 One victim sufficed to slake the wrath of the crowd. 
 They gathered, like wild beasts, wliose hunger is ap- 
 peased, around tlieir monarch, who in vain had endeav- 
 ored to stay their summary revenge, and who now, pale 
 and breathless, shrunk from the passions he had excited. 
 He faltered forth a few words of remonstrance and ex- 
 hortation, turned the head of his steed, and took his way 
 to his palace. 
 
 The crowd dispersed, but not yet to their homes. 
 The crime of Almamen worked against his whole race. 
 Some rushed to the Jews' quarter, which they set on fire ; 
 others to the lonely mansion of Almamen. 
 
 Ximen, on leaving the king, had been before the 
 mob. Not anticipating such an effect of the popular 
 rage, he had hastened to the house, which he now deemed 
 at length his own. He had just reached the treasury of 
 his dead lord ; he had just feasted his eyes on the massive 
 ingots and glittering gems : in the lust c<f his heart, he 
 had just cried aloud, " And these are mine !" when he 
 heard the roar of the mob below the wall — when he saw 
 the glare of their torches against the casement. It was in 
 vain that he shrieked aloud, " I am the man that cxposeJ
 
 LEILA. 
 
 159 
 
 the Jew !" the wild winds scattered his words over a 
 deafened audience. Driven from his chamber by rhe 
 smoke and flame, afraid to venture fortli among the 
 crowd, the miser loaded himself with the most precious 
 of the store ; he descended tlie steps, lie bent his way to 
 the secret vault, when suddenly the floor, pierced by the 
 flames, craslied under him, and the fire rushed up in a 
 fiercer and more rapid volume as his death-shriek broke 
 through that lurid shroud. 
 
 Such were the principal events of the last night of the 
 Moorish dynasty in Grenada. 
 
 CHAPTER VII. 
 
 THE END. 
 
 Day dawned upon Grenada : the populace had sought 
 their homes, and a profound quiet wrapped the streets, 
 save where, from the fires committed in the late tumult, 
 was yet heard the crash of roofs, or the crackle of the 
 light and fragrant timber employed in those pavilions of 
 the summer. The manner in which the mansions of 
 Grenada were built, each separated from the other by 
 extensive gardens, fortunately prevented the flames from 
 extending. But the inhabitants cared so little for the 
 hazard, that not a single guard remained to watch the 
 result. Now and then some miserable forms in the 
 ITewish gown might be seen cowering by the ruins of 
 their iiouse, like the souls that, according to Plato, 
 watch in charnels over their own moldering bodies. Day 
 dawned, and the beams of the winter sun, smiling away 
 the clouds of the past night, played clieerily on the mur- 
 muring waves of the Xcnil and the Darro. 
 
 Alone, upon a balcony commanding that stately land- 
 scape, stood the last of the Moorish kings. He had 
 sought to bring to his aid all the lessons of the philo- 
 sophy he had cultivated. 
 
 " What are we," thought the musing prince, " that we 
 should fill the world with ourselves — we kinsrs? Earth
 
 l6o LEILA. 
 
 resounds with the crash of my falling throne ; on the ear 
 of races unborn the echo will live prolonged. But what 
 have I lost ? nothing that was necessary to my happiness, 
 my repose ; nothing save the source of all my wretched- 
 ness, the Marah of my life ! Shall I less enjoy heaven 
 and earth, or thought or action, or man's more material 
 luxuries of food and sleep — the common and the cheap 
 desires of all? At the worst, I sink but to a level with 
 chiefs and princes : I am but leveled with those whom 
 tlie multitude admire and envy. Arouse thee, then, O 
 heart within me ! many and deep emotions of sorrow or 
 of joy are yet left to break the monotony of existence." 
 
 He paused, and at the distance his eye fell upon the 
 lonely minarets of the distant and deserted palace of 
 Muza Ben Abil Gazan. 
 
 " Thou wert right, then," resumed the king; "thou 
 wert right, brave spirit, not to pity Boabdil ; but not be- 
 cause death was in his power ; man's soul is greater tlian 
 his fortunes, and there is majesty in a life that towers 
 above the ruins that fall around its path." He turned 
 away, and his cheek suddenly grew pale ; for he heard 
 in the courts below the tread of hoofs, the bustle of prep- 
 aration : it was the hour for his departure. His philos- 
 ophy vanished : he groaned aloud, and re-entered the 
 chamber just as his vizier and the chief of his guard 
 broke upon his solitude. 
 
 The old vizier attempted to speak, but his voice failed 
 him. 
 
 " It is time, then, to depart," said Boabdil, witli calm- 
 ness ; " let it be so : render up the palace and the for- 
 tress, and join thy friend, no more thy monarch, in h's 
 new home." 
 
 He staid not for reply ; he hurried on, descended to 
 the court. Hung himself on liis barb, and with a small 
 and saddened train passe 1 through the gate wliich we 
 yet survey, by a blackened and crumbling tower, over- 
 grown with vines and ivy ; thence amidst gardens, now 
 appertaining to the convent of the victor faith, he took 
 his mournful and" unnoticed way. When he came to the 
 middle of the hill that rises above those gardens, the 
 steel of tlie Spanish armor gleamed upon hiui as the de- 
 tachment sent to occupy the palace marched over the 
 summit in steady order and profound silence. 
 
 At tlie head of the vanguard rode, upon a snow-white
 
 LEILA. l6l 
 
 palfrey, the Bisiiop of Avila, followed by a long train of 
 barefooted monks. They halted as Boabdil approached, 
 and the grave bishop saluted him with the air of one 
 who addresses an infidel and an inferior. With the 
 quick sense of dignity common to the great, and yet 
 more to the fallen^ Boabdil felt, but resented not, the 
 pride of tlie ecclesiastic. " Go, Christian," said he, 
 mildly, "the gates of tiie Alhambra are open, and Allah. 
 has bestowed the palace and the city upon your king : 
 may his virtues atone the faults of Boabdil !" So sav- 
 ing, and waiting no answer, he rode on without looking 
 to the right or left. Tlie Spaniards also pursued their 
 way. The sun had fairly risen above the mountains 
 when Boabdil and his train beheld, from the eminence 
 on vvliich they were, the whole armament of Spain ; and 
 at the same moment, louder than the tramp of horse or 
 the flash of arms, was heard distinctly the solemn chant of 
 Te Deum, v;hich preceded the blaze of the unfurled and 
 lofty standards. Boabdil, himself still silent, heard the 
 groans and exchimations of his train ; he turned to 
 cheer or chide them, and then sav/, from his own watch- 
 tower, witli the sun shining full upon its pure and daz- 
 zling surface, the silver cross of Spain. His Alhambra 
 was already in the hands of the foe ; wliile beside that 
 badge of the holy war waved the gay and flaunting flag 
 of St. lago, the canonized Mars of the chivalry of Spain. 
 At that sight the king's voice died within him ; he gave 
 the rein to his barb, impaxient to close the fatal ceremo- 
 nial, and did not slacken his speed till almost within 
 bowshot of the first ranks of the army. Never had 
 Christian war assumed a more splendid and imposing 
 aspect. Far as the eye could reach extended the glitter- 
 ing and gorgeous lines of tliat goodly power, bristling 
 with sunlighted spears and blazoned banners ; while be- 
 side murmured, and glowed, and danced the silver andi 
 laughing Xenil, careless what lord should possess, for 
 his little day, the banks that bloomed by its everlasting 
 course. By a small mosque halted the flower of the 
 army. Surrounded by the archpriests of that mighty 
 hierarchy, tlie peers and princes of a court tliat rivaled 
 the Rolands of Chaiiemagne, was seen the kingly form 
 of Ferdinand liimself, witli Isabel at his rigiit liand, and 
 the high-born dames of Spain, relieving, with their gaj 
 11
 
 l62 LEILA. 
 
 colors and sparkling gems, the sterner splendor of the 
 crested helmet and polished mail. 
 
 Within siglit of the royal [;roup Hoabdil halted, com- 
 posed his aspect so as best to conceal his soul, and, a lit- 
 tle in advance of his scanty train, but never, in mien and 
 majesty, more a king, the son of Abdallah met his haughty 
 conqueror. 
 
 At the sight of his princely countenance and golden 
 hair, his comely and commanding beauty, made more 
 touching by youth, a thrill of comi)assionate admiration 
 ran through that assembly of the brave and fair. Fer- 
 dinand and Isabel slowly advanced to meet their late 
 rival, their new subject ; and, as Boabdil wfculd have 
 disniounted, tiie Spanish king placed liis hand upon iiis 
 shoulder. " Brother and i)iince," said he, "forget thy 
 sorrows ; and may our friendship hereafter console tlie© 
 for reverses against whicli thou hast contended as a hero 
 and a king; resisting man, but resigned at length to 
 God !" 
 
 Boabdil did not affect to return this bitter but unin- 
 tentional mockery of compliment. He bowed his head, 
 and remained a moment siient ; tJien motioning to his 
 train, four of liis olliccrs approached, and, kneeling be- 
 side Ferdinand, proffered to him, upon a silver buckler, 
 the keys of the city. 
 
 " O king!" then said Boabdil, "accept the keys of 
 the last hold which has resisted the arms of Spain ! Tlie 
 empire of tiie Moslem is no more. Thine arc the city and 
 the people of Grenada ; yielding to thy prowess, they yet 
 confide in thy mercy." 
 
 "They do well," said tiie king ; " our promises shall 
 not be broken. But, since we know tiic gallantry of 
 Moorish cavaliers, not to us, but to gentler hands shall 
 the keys of Grenada be surrendered." 
 
 Thus saying, Ferdinand gave the keys to Isabel, wiio 
 would have addressed some soothing flatteries to Boab- 
 dil ; but the emotion and excitement were too much for 
 her compassionate heart, Iicroine and queen though she 
 was ; and when she lifted Iier eyes upon the calm and 
 pale features of tiie fallen monarch, the tears gushed 
 from them irresistibly, and lier voice died in murmurs. 
 A faint Hush overspread the features of Boabdil, and 
 there was a momentary })ause of embarrassment, which 
 the Moor was the first to break.
 
 LEILA. 163 
 
 "Fair queen," said he, with mournful and pathetic 
 dignity, " thou canst read the heart that tliy generous 
 sympathy touches and subdues : this is thy last nor least 
 glorious conquest. But I detain ye : let not my aspect 
 cloud your triumph. Suffer me to say farewell." 
 
 " May we not hint at the blessed possibility of con- 
 version ?" whispered the pious queen, through her tears, 
 to her royal consort. 
 
 " Not now — not now, by Saint lago !" returned Fer- 
 dinand, quickly, and in the same tone, willing himself to 
 conclude a painful conference. He then added, aloud, 
 " Go, my brother, and fair fortune with you ! Forget 
 the past." 
 
 Boabdil smiled bitterly, saluted the royal pair with 
 profound and silent reverence, and rode slowly on, leav- 
 ing the army below as he ascended the path that led to 
 his new principality beyond the Alpuxarras. As the 
 trees snatched the Moorish cavalcade from the view of 
 the king, Ferdinand ordered the army to recommence its 
 marcii, and trumpet and cymbal presently sent their 
 music to the ear of the Moslems. 
 
 Boabdil spurred on at full speed till his panting 
 charger halted at the little village where his mother, his 
 slaves, and his faithful Amine (sent on before) awaited 
 him. Joining these, he proceeded without delay upon 
 his melancholy path. 
 
 They ascended that eminence which is the pass into 
 the Alpuxarras. From its height, the vale, the rivers, 
 the spires, the towers of Grenada broke gloriously wpon 
 the view of the little band. They halted mechanically 
 and abruptly : every eye was turned to the beloved scene. 
 The proud shame of bafTled warriors, the tender 
 memories of home, of childhood, of fatherland, swelled 
 every heart and gushed from every eye. Suddenly the 
 distant boom of artillery broke from the citadel, and 
 rolled along the sunlightcd valley and crystal river. A 
 universal wail burst from the exiles ; it smote, it over- 
 powered the heart of the ill-starred king, in vain seeking 
 to wrap himself in Eastern pride or stoical philosophy. 
 The tears gushed from his eyes, and he covered his face 
 with his hands. 
 
 Then said his haughty mother, gazing at Inm with 
 hard and disdainful eyes, in that unjust and memorable
 
 164 
 
 LEILA. 
 
 reproach which history has preserved, " Ay, weep like a 
 woman over what thou couldst not defend like a man." 
 
 Boabdil raised his couiUenance with indignant ma- 
 jesty, when he felt his hand tenderly clasped, and, turn- 
 ing round, saw Amine by his side. 
 
 '* Heed her not ! heed her not, Boabdil!" said the 
 slave ; " never didst thou seem to me more noble than in 
 that sorrow. Thou wert a hero for tliy throne ; but feel 
 still, O light of mine eyes, a woman for thy people !" 
 
 ** God is great !" said Boabdil, "and God comforts 
 me still! Thy lips, which. never flattered me in my 
 power, have no reproach for me in my affliction !" 
 
 He said, and smiled upon Amine ; it was her hour of 
 triumph. 
 
 The band wound slowly on through the solitary de- 
 files : and that place where the king wept and the woman 
 soothed is still called, "El ultimo suspire del Moro"— 
 
 TUE LAST SIGH OF THE MoOR. 
 
 THS END.
 
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