edifice, and well worthy the attention of such honorable Caballeros."

As for taking us to see the Church dedicated to St. John, as a sight worthy of notice, so preposterous an idea never would have entered the imagination of our guide, had he not been closely pressed on the occasion, and, moreover, had not the altercation taken place on the steps of the very edifice named. In fact, it was the presence of the building itself, and not the recollection of the miracles and relics therein contained, that brought the proposition to Mateo's lips.

Having upwards of an hour yet at our disposal, we willingly caught at the suggestion offered, and forthwith entered the building.

There was not anything particularly remarkable in the construction of the church, neither were the decorations of the interior in any degree splendid, yet it was a large and somewhat lofty building, having its due proportion of wooden images and tinsel-covered saints thickly distributed amid various paintings, executed no one knows when, and by no one knows who.

At the moment we made our appearance the music had just ceased, and the soft cadence from the organ died away in the distance; and no sooner had the monotonous chant of the priest succeeded the stilling silence which reigned around, than I proceeded noiselessly with my friends along the aisles to view the various altars teeming with foil and trash.

It took but a short time to complete our inspection, and understanding from the guide that there would not be any more music that evening, we were turning towards the entrance when my eyes fell upon an object which instantly rivetted my whole attention. Exactly in front an image supposed to represent the Virgin, and having one silver lamp suspended before it, knelt the figure of a woman; not that there was any thing particularly remarkable in a circumstance which, throughout the twentyfour hours, was of momentary occurrence-but there was an expression in the uplifted countenance so sweetly touching, yet so deeply tinged with melancholy, that none could have passed that fair suppliant without notice; the attitude in which I beheld her was graceful in the extreme, yet wholly devoid of any theatrical effect, and what in another woman might readilyand perhaps with justice-have been laid to the score of affectation and study, was, in the handsome penitent before me, but the natural and spontaneous connection of the frame moving in accordance with the energetic pleadings of the mind.

I had seen many Spanish women in my day, and beautiful ones too, but never had I encountered anything approaching to

the loveliness I then gazed on; her features were as nearly faultless, as it were possible to conceive, and, her dark luxuriant tresses were parted in profusion across a brow white and smooth to perfection; still there was a touching expression-an intelligence in her countenance, as though in that beauteous face might be read the very inmost workings of her secret soul, that struck more immediately to the heart of the beholder, than did a perusal of her features, unequalled in beauty as they unquestionably were. Her age could not have exceeded twenty, and so intent was she on her devotions, as wholly to disregard the proximity of my companions and myself, all of whom, wrapped in admiration, betrayed more astonishment than good breeding, by pausing, as if rooted to the spot beside her.

From this state of contemplation we were speedily aroused by Mateo, who placing the forefinger of one hand upon his lips, made unequivocal demonstrations with the other of his anxiety to withdraw us from the church. Little as I felt inclined implicitly to obey his imperious summons, I could not avoid being struck at the change which a few moments had wrought on the colour of his complexion, which albeit never of a most delicate tint, now assumed an appearance somewhat between lead and blue white.

"Vamos," muttered the agonized guide from between his closed teeth, and seizing one of my companions suddenly by the arm, in an instant they had quitted the building.

"What is the matter, Mateo?" we all exclaimed on reaching the street; "what is the meaning of this nonsense?"

"Nonsense!" replied the agitated man, reproachfully; and extending his chest, as though relieved from an oppressive load, he seemed to breathe more freely, while by degrees the accustomed hue of saffron took possession of his not at any time particularly captivating visage.

"Temblar me hace," continued Maseo-"peroque hermosa es," and off he proceeded in the direction of the posada, with as little delay as could be afforded. All this very naturally excited our curiosity, but as Mateo was to us wholly unintelligible on the subject, we were compelled to seek information elsewhere, when, having made many inquiries, we were eventually put in possession of the following tale, the leading particulars of which, having occurred so recently, are yet fresh in the recollection of those who took an interest in the events; the names of the parties are of course suspended by fictitious appellations, but the thread of the story, together with the leading incidents, I have reason to believe occurred in strict accordance with the details here pourtrayed, under the head of

"ADELAIDA DE SALVADOR."

Adelaida de Salvador was the only offspring, and consequently the sole care of a widowed father, who, doating to folly on the budding beauties, and growing perfections of his daughter, turned his thoughts by day, and his cogitations by night, towards the means of effecting the primary desire of his heart -a splendid union for his child.

The inhabitants of few countries have undergone such sudden variations of fortune as the Spaniards; and within the last thirty or thirty-five years, nobles who were one day basking in all the luxury and enjoyment of wealth, have on the following morning found themselves deprived of their honors, stripped of their possessions, and frequently compelled to seek personal safety by flight. Such had been the case with the parents of Adelaida, and truly thankful were they on being permitted to find an undisturbed shelter, although in comparative obscurity, at Malaga. Years rolled on, the mother of his child died, and, discarding all his former anticipations of splendor and ambition, the surviving parent determined to devote the remainder of his days in watching and protecting the beautiful creature that still remained to cheer his close of life.

In undisturbed tranquillity, thus glided on the happy hours of Adelaida's infancy, and well would it have been for all parties, had the expiring ambition of her father been allowed to perish, instead of being once more fanned into a flame destined to burn more fiercely than ever.

Our heroine had attained her sixteenth year, when, as if envious of the happiness she enjoyed, the malignant fates combined to destroy that felicity which, as they could not participate in, seemed but to excite their envy.

The object through whose instrumentality this end was to be effected, appeared in the person of a Spaniard of old and affluent family-the wealth and pride of whose ancestors having accumulated as they descended, reposed in full force in the possession of Don Triarto. This coveted prize, in the estimation of the elder ladies, was not in any way remarkable for good or evil; true, he had his eccentricities, and was esteemed somewhat pompous and tiresome in his harangues, but his greatest crime may be quoted when his inordinate vanity and self-sufficient consequence are mentioned. The Castilian, however, possessed a benevolent heart, in so far as when its promptings to do good in no way interfered with his immediate comfort or convenience: in short, after all his personal cares and fancies had been gratified, he objected in no degree towards contributing to the pleasures and happiness of others.

Having the highest consideration for his own merits, Don Triarto never fancied it possible that he could meet with a February, 1849.-VOL. LIV. NO. CCXIV,

woman worthy of sharing his name; and having, moreover, some slight suspicion that his wealth caused the attention he received, the worthy gentlemen resolved, after fifty-three years' existence, that it would be as agreeable as prudent to continue until the final termination of his career, in a state of single blessedness.

"Intentions are one thing, and actions another," said a late novelist; and so it proved with our Spaniard, for, notwithstanding all the wise resolves and fixed determinations frequently declared, and hitherto acted up to, Don Triarto, on visiting Malaga, no sooner beheld La Senorita Adelaida than he forthwith determined to delay his departure from the town, for the express purpose of cultivating an acquaintance with so perfectly angelic a creature. Small, if any, were the obstacles opposed to the wishes of the rich man, and in brief period, the proud Castilian found himself a daily visitor at the abode which contained the peerless beauty who bound him captive to her car.

Then it was that the ambitious projects of her father began to revive, and feelings which for years had been dormant, sprung up with renewed vigour, as though rest had but added to their strength nothing could have found greater favor in his eyes than the marked attention which this new and affluent acquaintance lavished on his child. Presents of all descriptions, and of considerable value, were momentarily conveyed to the house-by degrees the very mansion assumed a different appearance, and all that a short time previous spoke of straitened means, now. proclaimed loudly the wealth that must have been bestowed, by the renovated aspect of all that Don Salvador was wont to claim as his own. In short, the new arrival became the declared suitor of the lady, while, dazzled by the glittering prospects and enormous wealth of his intended son-in-law, the ill-judging parent, regardless of the possibility of entailing misery on his child, and little heeding the disparity of their ages, readily chimed in with the wishes of his guest, and resolved to sacrifice what he most loved on earth at the accursed shrine of Mammon.

And what were the feelings of the poor girl, while the sordid barter for a human being was in progress? did she enter into the views which animated her parent to the traffic? did this fair and lovely creature dwell on the possession of wealth as the thing most worthy to be coveted on earth, and before which all other considerations should succumb? Far from it! hers was a heart soft and ingenuous as ever throbbed in woman's breast; her mind was attuned to the best and kindliest feelings of our nature, and not a thought or transient wish animated her bosom that might not have stood the searching eye of purity itself.

To such a woman we may well imagine the effect of the shock, when first acquainted with her parent's views; for however convenient and desirable" such matches may often be accounted among those where the heart has little voice in the transaction-so wholly unacquainted was Adelaida with the tortuous ways and crooked labyrinths of the worldly, that neither sophistry nor explanation could convince her why she should be wedded to an old gentleman, whom she exceedingly disliked, and whose age more than tripled her own. It was an enigma which the poor girl found difficult to solve, but it required much less penetration than Adelaida possessed to come to the evident conclusion that whatever might be her wishes in the matter, and however deeply her happiness might be involved, any decision she might arrive at on the subject would weigh but lightly in the balance, when placed in competition with the determination of her parent.

Yet in justice to the father, while his avarice cannot be otherwise than acknowledged, still it should not be forgotten, that at the moment he was undermining his child's happiness for ever, the misguided man felt inwardly convinced that he was adopting the course, of all others, whereby to ensure his daughter opulence, and, as he thought, felicity combined; for there are persons who deem the one indissolubly linked with the other, and Don Salvador was no exception to the rule.

Whether the excessive earnestness with which the lovely victim daily-nay almost hourly-besought her father for release from the detested union arose from some secret attachment to another, none can say yet, among the many who occasionally visited at the house, there was one whose affection for Adelaida was but too conspicuous among his friends in his almost every act and word; but whether the feeling was reciprocal, and whether the devoted homage which her young and handsome cousin seemed to exist but to offer, found any responsive sentiment in the lady's heart, we know not; certain, however, was it, that notwithstanding the admitted intention of speedily bestowing the hand of his daughter on Don Triarto, the father of the devoted bride seemed rather to encourage than repel the multitudinous visits of his nephew; perhaps he was unaware of the misery which each succeeding interview with Adelaida engrafted in his relation's inmost soul, or probably so engaged was he in the completion of his favorite project, that the possibility of an unportioned boy raising his thought to her who was already destined as the wife of another, never for an instant clouded his imagination. This, however, can be but conjecture, yet all save the parent and his fair daughter seemed aware of the anguish which was fast accumu