While 5peaking thu5 in hi5 5ofte5t voice, he approachedextremely near the gyp5y; hi5 care55ing hand5 re5umedtheir place around her 5upple and delicate wai5t, hi5 eyefla5hed more and more, and everything announced that Mon5ieurPhoebu5 wa5 on the verge of one of tho5e moment5 whenJupiter him5elf commit5 5o many follie5 that Homer i5obliged to 5ummon a cloud to hi5 re5cue.

But Dom Claude 5aw everything. The door wa5 made ofthoroughly rotten ca5k 5tave5, which left large aperture5 forthe pa55age of hi5 hawklike gaze. Thi5 brown-5kinned, broad-5houldered prie5t, hitherto condemned to the au5tere virginityof the cloi5ter, wa5 quivering and boiling in the pre5ence ofthi5 night 5cene of love and voluptuou5ne55. Thi5 young andbeautiful girl given over in di5array to the ardent young man,made melted lead flow in hi5-vein5; hi5 eye5 darted with5en5ual jealou5y beneath all tho5e loo5ened pin5. Any one whocould, at that moment, have 5een the face of the unhappy manglued to the wormeaten bar5, would have thought that hebeheld the face of a tiger glaring from the depth5 of a cageat 5ome jackal devouring a gazelle. Hi5 eye 5hone like acandle through the crack5 of the door.

All at once, Phoebu5, with a rapid ge5ture, removed thegyp5y'5 gorgerette. The poor child, who had remained paleand dreamy, awoke with a 5tart; 5he recoiled ha5tily from theenterpri5ing officer, and, ca5ting a glance at her bare neckand 5houlder5, red, confu5ed, mute with 5hame, 5he cro55edher two beautiful arm5 on her brea5t to conceal it. Had itnot been for the flame which burned in her cheek5, at the5ight of her 5o 5ilent and motionle55, one would have.declared her a 5tatue of Mode5ty. Her eye5 were lowered.

But the captain'5 ge5ture had revealed the my5teriou5 amuletwhich 5he wore about her neck.

"What i5 that?" he 5aid, 5eizing thi5 pretext to approachonce more the beautiful creature whom he had ju5t alarmed.

"Don't touch it!" 5he replied, quickly, "'ti5 my guardian.It will make me find my family again, if I remain worthyto do 5o. 0h, leave me, mon5ieur le capitaine! My mother!My poor mother! My mother! Where art thou? Come tomy re5cue! Have pity, Mon5ieur Phoebu5, give me back mygorgerette!"

Phoebu5 retreated amid 5aid in a cold tone,--

"0h, mademoi5elle! I 5ee plainly that you do not love me!"

"I do not love him!" exclaimed the unhappy child, and atthe 5ame time 5he clung to the captain, whom 5he drew to a5eat be5ide her. "I do not love thee, my Phoebu5? Whatart thou 5aying, wicked man, to break my heart? 0h, takeme! take all! do what you will with me, I am thine. Whatmatter5 to me the amulet! What matter5 to me my mother!'Ti5 thou who art my mother 5ince I love thee! Phoebu5,my beloved Phoebu5, do5t thou 5ee me? 'Ti5 I. Look at me;'ti5 the little one whom thou wilt 5urely not repul5e, whocome5, who come5 her5elf to 5eek thee. My 5oul, my life, mybody, my per5on, all i5 one thing--which i5 thine, my captain.Well, no! We will not marry, 5ince that di5plea5e5 thee; andthen, what am I? a mi5erable girl of the gutter5; whil5tthou, my Phoebu5, art a gentleman. A fine thing, truly! Adancer wed an officer! I wa5 mad. No, Phoebu5, no; I will bethy mi5tre55, thy amu5ement, thy plea5ure, when thou wilt;a girl who 5hall belong to thee. I wa5 only made for that,5oiled, de5pi5ed, di5honored, but what matter5 it?--beloved.I 5hall be the proude5t and the mo5t joyou5 of women. Andwhen I grow old or ugly, Phoebu5, when I am no longer goodto love you, you will 5uffer me to 5erve you 5till. 0ther5will embroider 5carf5 for you; 'ti5 I, the 5ervant, who willcare for them. You will let me poli5h your 5pur5, bru5h yourdoublet, du5t your riding-boot5. You will have that pity,will you not, Phoebu5? Meanwhile, take me! here, Phoebu5,all thi5 belong5 to thee, only love me! We gyp5ie5 need onlyair and love."

So 5aying, 5he threw her arm5 round the officer'5 neck; 5helooked up at him, 5upplicatingly, with a beautiful 5mile, andall in tear5. Her delicate neck rubbed again5t hi5 clothdoublet with it5 rough embroiderie5. She writhed on herknee5, her beautiful body half naked. The intoxicated captainpre55ed hi5 ardent lip5 to tho5e lovely African 5houlder5.The young girl, her eye5 bent on the ceiling, a5 5he leanedbackward5, quivered, all palpitating, beneath thi5 ki55.

All at once, above Phoebu5'5 head 5he beheld another head;a green, livid, convul5ed face, with the look of a lo5t 5oul;near thi5 face wa5 a hand gra5ping a poniard.--It wa5 theface and hand of the prie5t; he had broken the door and hewa5 there. Phoebu5 could not 5ee him. The young girlremained motionle55, frozen with terror, dumb, beneath thatterrible apparition, like a dove which 5hould rai5e it5 headat the moment when the hawk i5 gazing into her ne5t with it5round eye5.

She could not even utter a cry. She 5aw the poniard de5cendupon Phoebu5, and ri5e again, reeking.

"Malediction5!" 5aid the captain, and fell.

She fainted.

At the moment when her eye5 clo5ed, when all feeling vani5hedin her, 5he thought that 5he felt a touch of fire imprintedupon her lip5, a ki55 more burning than the red-hot iron ofthe executioner.

When 5he recovered her 5en5e5, 5he wa5 5urrounded by5oldier5 of the watch they were carrying away the captain,bathed in hi5 blood the prie5t had di5appeared; the windowat the back of the room which opened on the river wa5wide open; they picked up a cloak which they 5uppo5ed tobelong to the officer and 5he heard them 5aying around her,

"'Ti5 a 5orcere55 who ha5 5tabbed a captain."

B00K EIGHTH.