The National tribune., 1899-05-25


Tell her this blood, that pOurs "A flood,
My hearts true faith doth prove
My corse to earth, my signs to thee
My heart to my lady lOve!"
The page, he knelt at the Christians
side,
And sorely sobb'd he then:
| "The faithless love can truer prove
Than hosts of faithful men.
| The cross has valid to the crescent,
The Moorish shouts are high, =
| "Ielileel Lelileer-"but the love untrue
Hath yet another cry.
Thy castle lies on Morena's top,
Jucar is far away;
| But dies the bride at her true lord
side,-
Now God be good for aye,
The page that follOweth well,
Repeats the unbrol1en VOW
| "IeliIee, Lelilee,-
90, look on thy lady now!
For now this blood, that pours flood,
Doth show her true loves plight
My soul to God, my blood to thine
My life for my dying knight"
"Be thou a coniuror or not" said Don
Amador musingly, chou hast the knack
| ever to hit upon subjects, as well in thy
songs as in thy stories, which both pro
woke my curiosity and revive my mel
ancholy My castle, as may say, doth
lie on Morena's tOp,'-that is 10 say, on
the ridge of Cuenza;-and Jucar is, in
deed, far away; but heaven hath lett
me no lady-love, either to die with me
among the infidelS, by whom am made
to bleed or to lament me at home. An
evil destiny chow evil | know not, and
vet do dread, more dark than that which
prevails with a jealous heart hath sepa-
rated me from one whom / loved and,
doubtless, hath separated me forever"
| The cavalier sighed deeply, bent his eyes
for a moment on the ground, and then
raising them, with a solemn look, to the
page, said abruptly: 81 have come TO be
persuaded, altogether beyond the con-
| tradiction of my reason, that thou hast,
somehow, and perhaps by magical arts,
obtained a knowledge of the history of
my past life. II thou knowest aught Of
the fate OF Leila, the lamented maid Of
Almeria, | adjure thee TO reveal thy
knowledge, and without delay. Thou
shakest thy head.-Wherefore didst thou
refuse to finish the story of her who bore
| her name and who dwelt in the same city''
| "When | told my lord the story Of Leila,
and perceived how it disturbed him" said
Jacint0, with faltering voice, 81 re
pented me, and told him a thing that was
not true, to appease him. The Leila of
whom / spoke had dwelt in Almeria
within a year past; and, perhaps, she
was the maid that my lord remembered" "
AS the page made this confession, Don
| Amador Sprang eagerly to his feet, and ,
as he seized the speakers arm, cried,
with much agitation.
"'Dost thou tell me the TRUTH and does
she livc' God be praised forever. doth
the maiden live'"
"She lived, when my father brought me
from Bdrbary."
Heaven be thanked. will ransom
her from the infidels, though | give my
self up 10 captivity as the price"
"Senor," said the page, sOrrowfully,
you forget that you are now prisoner in
another world"
The cavalier smote his breast, crying:
at is true. and the rcvealment comes too
latel-Silly boy" he continued, reproach-
fully, why didst thou delay telling me
this, until this time, when il can only add
to my griefs' Why didst thou not speak
it at Tlascala, that | might have de-
parted forthwith from the land, 10 her
rcScuep
"My lord would not have deserted his
kinsman, Don Gabriel'"
True again" exclaimed Don Amador,
with pang. al could not have left my
knight, even at the call of Leila. But
now will | go to Don Gabriel, and con-
! Tossing TO him my sorrow, will prevail
upon him straightway To depart with me;
for here, it must be plain to him, as it is
10 me, that God is not with u.s."
alas! senor," said the page, at is not
possible that you should go to Don Ga
briel, nor that you should ever more leave
this heather land"
"Dost thou confess, then" demanded
the novice, that Abdalla has deceived
me, and that am held to perpetual cap
tivity'"
'Senor," said the boy, clasping his
hands, and weeping bitterly, 1--WE Eshall
never more see Spain, nor any land but
this. The fate of Don Hernandez, and of
all his men, is written; they are in a net
from which they cannot escape; and we,
who are spared, obtain our lives only at
the price of expatriation. My father re-
memhered his protector,-my lord is
saved; but he shares our exile"
At this confirmation of his worst sus-
picions, the countenance of Don Amador
darkened with despair and horror.
And Abdalla, thy father, has plotted
this foul, traitorous, and most bloody
catastrophe And he thinks that, for my
LIES sake, will divide with him the dis
honor and guilt of my preservation"
III my lord could but protect nay father