The Prime Minister Part 6

"I can give you no hopes," answered the Priest, gravely. "She is engaged of her own freewill: nor can she ever be yours; but I speak, I know, to one of too superior an understanding to mourn for what he will soon learn to consider at its true value, a glittering, a tempting, but an empty bauble. What matters the loss of the love of a s.e.x ever false and uncertain?"

"Say not so!" exclaimed Don Luis, interrupting him; "say not she is false--say not her s.e.x is false! I alone am to blame for my own wretchedness. I set my hopes of happiness on a cast, and have miserably failed; and now what more have I to expect or wish for, than a speedy end to my woes on the field of battle, or amid the ocean tempest?"

The Priest smiled, as he answered calmly, "Is love, then, the only object of man's life? Are there not a hundred other occupations for the mind? Is not ambition alone sufficient to employ his thoughts? Will not power satisfy him? Does fame bring no satisfaction? Has wealth, and all that wealth can give, no allurements? Say not, then, because you have suffered this first check in the prosperous current of your existence, that life has nought else in store for you. The antidotes which I propose are sufficient to make you soon smile at your present feelings as the effect of a youthful folly."

"You cannot convince my heart," answered the young man. "But should I seek for consolation by the remedies you advise, at what can ambition in this country aim? How can power be obtained? or how can I, with honour, seek for wealth?"

The Priest, smiling, again said, "You speak as one who knows not the world. I mean not the outward, material world, the common machinery which moves the every-day actions of men: any coa.r.s.e, ordinary being, with a little cunning and observation, may gain sufficient knowledge of that to acc.u.mulate wealth, and to guide his way free from danger amid the throngs of his fellows. But I speak of the minds and pa.s.sions, the inward and intricate workings of the souls of men; of that accurate knowledge of the past, and keen observation of the present, by which we can foresee the future, thus to be able to determine exactly how mankind will act in ma.s.ses or as individuals, and stoically to look upon the world as a vast chess-board, and its inhabitants as the chess-men, whom we move without any volition of their own, as a player free from any part or feeling with the senseless blocks; as well as to learn how to gain a command over ourselves, and thus to soar above the pa.s.sions, the frailties, the vanities, and the folly of the common herd. Such is the true knowledge of the world to which a philosophical mind and dauntless soul may attain; and in such, my young friend, would I instruct you."

Don Luis remained silent with astonishment, while the priest keenly marked the effect of his words. "Is this the man," he thought, "whom I have regarded as the humble priest and confessor--the meekly-pious minister of our holy faith? But how and where can this knowledge be attained?" he said, looking up; "what means have I of learning the lore you speak of?"

"Have I not said that I would instruct you?" said the Priest. "Within the quiet precincts of these walls you may learn the first rudiments, and within the pale of our order you may become a master in the science."

"What! can you advise me to give up my t.i.tle, my name, and fortune, and to a.s.sume the gown of a priest?" exclaimed Don Luis, hurriedly. "I expected not such advice from you."

"I advise you to do nothing rashly," returned the Jesuit, calmly. "But yet, let me ask you, what are rank and name but empty sounds, though often enc.u.mbrances to their possessors? And for your fortune, I grieve to say, for your father's sake, that has greatly diminished of late, so that, in truth, I ask you to give up but little, and offer you in return power and knowledge--the true science of the knowledge of mankind, for with us alone does it exist. Do I say exists? Alas! I ought rather to say existed; for, with some rare exceptions, how few are initiated into its mysteries! Their dull, sensual minds are incapable of comprehending them; and they have thus failed, miserably failed, in all the ends for which our order was inst.i.tuted, by men as superior to those of the present day as light to darkness. What a comprehensive, what a n.o.ble and glorious conception was that of our great founder, and his immediate successors, who even jet more improved and systematised his plans;--but of that I will speak anon. I now speak openly to you, my young cousin, more so than I would to any other not in our order; but I know that I may trust to your honour not to divulge what I may say. I have liked you from your earliest youth. I have watched anxiously over you, and I have seen in you qualities which I would wish to cultivate, to conduct you to high destinies; and I frankly confess that I seek to join you to our company, as one fully able to elevate it again to its former standard of power."

Few men can entirely withstand the influence of compliments addressed to their mental superiority, and Don Luis was thus insensibly attracted to listen to the conversation of the Father. "I fear that you would find I did not answer your expectations," he at length said; "for I feel that I am but dull of comprehension, nor can I even understand to what the knowledge you speak of could lead."

"Is not knowledge confessed by all philosophers to be power? and for what are all men striving through life but for power?" responded the Jesuit. "For what purpose do kings make war but to increase their power? and yet their utmost aim is to rule over the sinews, the bones, the bodies of men, to extend their sway over the senseless earth which they call their own. But how far, how immeasurably superior is the power at which we aim!--we would rule over the minds of men--we would bend their insane pa.s.sions to our own will, and would make them, by those means, the tools to work out our glorious projects. Hear me, then, and learn the sublime idea of our founder, which, had he and his immediate followers been succeeded by men equal to themselves, would long ere this have been realised. His aim--how superior to the ambition and vaunted glory of any conqueror who has spread desolation over the fair face of the globe!--was to join all the kingdoms of the earth under one sceptre, and that sceptre swayed by our hands; ay, by the humble friars of the order of the mystical Jesus; and yet, far different would it be from the power to which the Pontiff of Rome can ever hope to attain. Ah! you think such aims cannot be accomplished; yet, look around at every Court in Europe, and see how nearly we had once succeeded. Scarce a sovereign whose mind was not under our direction; and were it not for the dull, stultish understandings of those who have been admitted into our order, our success might have been complete. But they, alas! are beings so completely overwhelmed with the gross, sensual pa.s.sions of our nature, as to be utterly unable to comprehend the pure, esoterical principles of our faith; and ignorantly interpreting, without a key to the mysteries, the words they find in that volume, never written to meet the eye of the vulgar, they fail in all the great aims of our existence as an order. In this country they have still more greatly erred, and, instead of securing friends, they have raised up enemies. The whole body of the priesthood is against us; but their united efforts we might despise, had we not a deadly foe in the person of Sebastiao Joze de Carvalho, the minister of the king, whose dauntless courage, boundless ambition, and the unscrupulous means he employs, make him more to be feared than any who have ever yet appeared in arms against us. So dull are those who are sent to work with me, that I cannot make them comprehend the means by which alone they can stem the torrent, or rather, turn it aside; nor is it in the power of one man to do so; yet have I done much, and even alone, will I boldly strive for the glorious principle of our const.i.tution."--His eye dilated, and he unconsciously rose from his chair, as with increased energy, he continued--"and if I fail, and am hurled, as I most a.s.suredly shall be, to destruction, I shall have the consolation of knowing that I have played for a glorious stake."

"Your words overpower me with astonishment," exclaimed Don Luis. "I did not suppose such ideas could have been conceived by the heart of man, much less by the members of an order whose quiet and un.o.btrusive manners are their marked distinction."

"Trust not ever to such deceitful appearances as the outward manners of a man," answered the Father; "a general, who would succeed against the foe, must not show his position and strength. Luis, I have thus spoken openly to you, far more so than to any who have not pa.s.sed the threshold of our order; for I would win you to enter; and I know that I may trust to your judgment and honour; and were it not strictly forbidden, I should not fear to confide to you all the mysteries of our admirable inst.i.tution. Ah!" he exclaimed, as his eye brightened, and a proud smile lighted up his majestic features, "an inst.i.tution based on such firm, such true principles of philosophy, must live, though, for a time, it may sink beneath persecution--though, for a time, through the ignorance and obtuseness of members incapable of comprehending its tenets alone, its aims may be perverted, and its power diminished, yet the true word, the principle of its existence, will never be lost; and when the world least expects it, when people are unprepared to oppose it, will it spring up with power and l.u.s.tre far surpa.s.sing what it ever before attained. In countries the most liberal and enlightened will it possess the greatest influence, by means of that very education of which they boast--ay, even in that country from which you have just returned, whose Church, through the absurd folly and neglect of its own ministers, has become a mere cipher in the state, without a shadow of authority over the people; yet does the true principle exist among a few sagacious men, who will cherish it as the lapidary does a precious jewel, whose value, when yet uncut, is unestimated by the common eye. The day will arrive when all those who acknowledge the symbol of the cross will again be joined under one ruling power,--the glorious aim of our order. You deem me enthusiastic and visionary in my hopes, because you know not the secret means by which we work. You know not how we become acquainted with the intricate operations of the minds of all with whom we come in contact, of all cla.s.ses and religions. We learn the pa.s.sions, the frailties, the foibles of every one; and thus many, unknown even to themselves, are our tools, and while they fancy that they are obeying the rules of their own sect, are but working out our ends. The end with us sanct.i.ties the means, and thus, to attain our objects, we consider every disguise, every fraud, allowable. Know, also, that though our open and avowed members are numerous, yet they fall far short of the real strength of our body; for we have among the priests of each of the various sects of the religion of the cross our secret brethren, who are strenuously working for the great cause. Ah, you start! but the idea is not new; and such was practised before that religion became known to the world; and in that very country which boasts of possessing what is called the blessing of religious liberty do we most strenuously work the whole force of that intricate machinery, which was for years forming, before it was brought to perfection; and thus shall we be able to laugh to scorn the puny efforts of those who dare to oppose us; for even now, in the seats of learning, in every university of the kingdom I speak of, are the seeds sown which will, sooner or later, bring their fruit to perfection. And it is among the young and pliant minds, while they fancy themselves most secure, that we most easily work our way. But the great a.s.sistants to our cause are the softer s.e.x; for, by their gentle influence are others won over to aid us, and we therefore spare no means to gain them. We work upon their vanity; the tendency of their natures to adoration; the feeling that they must lean for support on others, to make them place their trust in us; and when such means fail, we win their love: their pa.s.sions make them subservient to us, and they become our slaves for ever. But such license has been much abused by the baser members of our order, who cannot comprehend that it is over the minds alone of their flock that authority is given them, to gain which any means may be pardoned."

There is no bait which has more alluring attractions than the idea of possessing illimitable power over the minds of our fellow men; yet Don Luis was not caught by it. And, although the Father was enthusiastic in his hopes, he did not exaggerate the influence which his sect possessed throughout the world; as for his predictions with respect to Britain, at this day their great stronghold, we must examine well the principles professed openly by a large body of the members of the Established Church, encouraged by many of the highest rank in it, and admired by the greater number of the young aspirants for the clerical profession, and then let us judge whether they were well founded or not. But we wish not here to discuss the subject, and have given merely the opinion of one high in his order, as we have found it written, whose mind was raised far above the vulgar aims of his a.s.sociates.

Don Luis heard with unmitigated astonishment the doctrines which the Father so boldly advanced; although, from the various societies in which he mixed during his travels, particularly in Paris, where those principles of false philosophy were generally discussed, which led to the atrocities of the revolution, he was not quite so much startled as most men of his rank in Portugal would have been; yet he was of too generous, too unambitious a disposition to be thus tempted to grasp the mysterious and potent sceptre presented to him.

"Father," he answered, gravely, after some minutes' silence, "my ambition aims not at such power as you describe; and, methinks, few but those who have from their youth been educated in your order, could be brought to train their minds to forward a system which has, to the uninitiated, too much the appearance of treachery towards their fellow men; for as such I feel it, though, to you I speak with no disrespect, and am grateful for the confidence you repose in me, which, be a.s.sured, I will not betray; but I must endeavour to seek some other field for my exertions than the one you offer."

The Jesuit looked at him sternly; it seemed, that an almost imperceptible smile--it might have been a sneer--played round his mouth.

"I did not antic.i.p.ate such an answer from you, Luis," he said, "but thought you would take a more comprehensive and philosophical view of the principles I have explained to you; yet, my wish being alone to convince your understanding, I will not further press the subject, though I feel a.s.sured you will, before long, learn to change your opinion. However, for the present, my good cousin, I trust your mind will be sufficiently employed on the reflections to which our conversation has given rise, to make you forget the treachery and deceit of Donna Theresa--qualities which, you seem to insinuate, belong exclusively to our order. Now, let me tell you, that, in communication with the world, all men use deceit; that it is impossible to succeed without it; and that truth, as society is const.i.tuted, is utterly incompatible with its customs. Indeed, the latter quality exists but in one science, and that is in geometry: all else is false or unsatisfactory. Talk, therefore, no more of deceit and treachery, for the world, our very existence, is full of it, and you cannot avoid the common lot." The Priest smiled, perhaps at his own reasoning, and continued--"Now, my dear cousin, think of what I have said, and when you return to Lisbon, we will speak further on these matters. In the meantime, you must be the bearer of important information to your father, which I have gained from an indubitable source. Learn, then, that Carvalho is using every effort to crush our order,--so strong a barrier to his ambition,--and, knowing that the n.o.bles are our firm upholders, he intends to weaken their influence in the state, by bringing accusations of all sorts against them; when he will imprison, banish, or execute all whom he fears. I have reason to think that he, at present, suspects there is a plot hatching against him; but he allows it to proceed, anxious to get as many as possible drawn into it, and, amongst them, your father. Advise him, therefore, to remain quietly at his Quinta; neither answering, nor, if possible, receiving, any communications made to him, till he hears further from me; and when you return to Lisbon, avoid intimacy with any one, for you cannot discern friends from foes in these times. And now, my son, farewell: I expect another visitor, and must not detain you."

"Farewell, most reverend Father," answered Don Luis, rising at the hint, and respectfully kissing the hand held out to him. "I shall not easily forget your conversation; and your advice I will bear to my father."

The tinkle of a bell summoned a lay brother, who escorted Don Luis from the apartment, the Superior following the young man's retiring form with his piercing glance. "He will yet be mine," he uttered, half aloud.

"He is wary and timid, and will not take the bait at the first sight; but it is too bright and dazzling not to attract him at last, and he will play round it till he is caught."

The door again opened, and another visitor entered, the Superior rising and embracing him with every mark of respect; and, having led him to the seat he had himself occupied, took one of humbler dimensions, while he seemed prepared to listen attentively to the words which might fall from the lips of his friend. He was a man far advanced in life, of a tall and gaunt figure; his gown, of the fas.h.i.+on of the Jesuits, fitting ill around him. His hair, only partially grizzled, though shorn at the top, he wore (unusually for a priest) in long straggling locks, probably in affectation, to increase the wildness of his extraordinary countenance, which was furrowed and bronzed by exposure to the weather and burning climes. His features were coa.r.s.e, and thoroughly unintellectual; but his eyes gave expression to the whole physiognomy: they were large, round, dark, and l.u.s.trous, with a certain turn in them which caused those who beheld him to suppose that they were glancing in different directions. Every lineament proclaimed the fanatical enthusiast, which the style and substance of his oratory fully confirmed.

Such was the appearance of the holy Father Malagrida, for he whom we have described was that celebrated personage. "Pax vobisc.u.m, holy Father," he began, in a low, deep voice, though with rather a nasal sound. "The spirit of the Blessed Virgin ordered me, in a dream, to come to you, to consult you regarding the best means of preserving the honour and glory of our order inviolate at this critical juncture; yet think not that it was a common dream which prompted me, but a beatific vision of the fair daughter of Saint Anne, in the form she wore before she knew that she was to be the joyful mother of the King of men."

"You are favoured with partiality by Heaven, Father Malagrida," answered the Superior; "and happy are you to rejoice in so great a blessing, while I am left to grope my way in darkness, without any such signs of Heaven's approbation."

"My prayers to Heaven, my fastings and castigations, my long and arduous voyages, with all the perils of the sea and land, have not been thrown away; and as a reward for my pious exertions, it has been given me to see visions, and to prophesy events, even before the saints above know them; ay, to speak in strange tongues the words of truth, even in such strange tongues that none can understand them."

"You are doubtlessly highly favoured," answered his wary companion; "but methinks a little less outward demonstration of zeal, at the present moment, would have been more advisable, and you would yet have retained your post as confessor to the queen, and enjoyed the lofty satisfaction of leading her gentle soul to eternal salvation."

"Ah! that is the subject about which I would speak," answered Malagrida: "most foully have I been thrust out of my office, and I would revenge myself, or I would say it is the duty of our order to punish that heretical, iron-hearted man, Sebastiao Carvalho, who has been the cause of all the injuries inflicted on us."

"You speak words of wisdom, my brother," returned the crafty Jesuit; "but how would you accomplish the n.o.ble end you have in view, so greatly to the advantage of our holy religion, and the safety of our order?"

"I would stir up the people against him, as one hateful in the sight of Heaven; I would call down the thunder of Rome upon his head; and I would work upon the fears and piety of the king to recall those who have for so long possessed the precious care of his soul, ere he delivers it into the power of the prince of darkness in the person of his minister."

"But should the king refuse to hear you, and still follow the evil suggestions of Carvalho?" asked the other.

"Then will I make him tremble on his throne!" exclaimed Malagrida. "The n.o.bles and the people shall rise against his unholy power, and his death shall teach monarchs that our order is not to be trampled on with impunity."

"Truly, my brother, the spirit of inspiration is on you," said the Superior, casting a keen glance towards him. "And nowhere can our order find a more zealous advocate."

"For that was I born; for that have I fought; and for that will I die!"

exclaimed Malagrida with enthusiasm. "Such is the spirit which should animate all our order, and we should triumph, in the name of our Lord, against all opposition which frail man can offer."

We need not detail the whole of the conversation, which proceeded for a considerable time in the above style: the cool, calculating policy of Father da Costa strongly contrasted with the wild enthusiasm of Malagrida, upon which he worked, while the latter, at the same time, through the ravings of madness, showed a shrewdness and sagacity in worldly matters, where the interests of his order were concerned, which did credit to the school in which he had been educated. When Malagrida had retired--"Stubborn madman that you are," muttered the Superior, "you are yet a necessary and useful tool in the hands of those who know how to wield you, though alone you are like a scythed war-chariot, dragged on by wild horses without a guiding hand, carrying havoc and destruction wherever it appears."

Volume 1, Chapter VI.

At the time of which we write, the streets of Lisbon were, perhaps, the most rugged, the most ill-lighted, the worst paved, and the most filthy, of any city in Christendom. It is true lanterns were placed before the shrines of the saints, at nearly every corner of the streets; but the gla.s.ses of some had been sacrilegiously broken, and the pale lights which glimmered from the rest served but to make more palpable the obscurity of the other part of the way; indeed, it was considered often a service of danger, by the wealthy citizen, to venture out without a torch-bearer and several armed men to protect him from the bands of marauders, who were constantly prowling about, and hesitated at no kind of atrocity. a.s.sa.s.sination and robbery were of nightly occurrence; seldom, indeed, was the latter committed without murder; the system of the ruffians being first to plunge their daggers into the bosoms of their intended victims, and then to rifle them. Thus, although private revenge often prompted the deed, as the murdered man was always found stripped of his valuables, he was supposed to have fallen as a chance offering to Siva, and no further notice was taken of the affair; the faint cry of _Acad el rey_! [Note] as the cold steel entered his unguarded bosom, was heard ringing through the night air, and the trembling citizens, fearful of being subpoenaed as witnesses, or accused of the deed, would keep close their doors, and leave the unfortunate wretch to perish unaided, when timely succour might have saved him, should the dagger, by chance, have ineffectually accomplished its work.

But few years ago, we remember returning at early dawn from a party, when we encountered several persons, and two guards, standing round a man on the ground weltering in blood yet flowing warm from a deep wound in his side. A convulsive shudder pa.s.sed through his frame, yet no one attempted to aid him, the guards keeping every one off with their bayonets, saying it was their duty to allow none to touch him till the officers of justice had arrived to inquire into the case. The man was then past recovery; but had aid been afforded him when first discovered, he might probably have been saved; yet, surrounded by his fellow creatures, he was allowed to bleed to death without a saving hand held forth. If we recollect rightly, he had been an officer in the Miguelite army, and had committed several atrocious acts; but had he been a friend, the same would have occurred. But to return to earlier times.

It was then also the practice of the dissolute and idle young fidalgos to range the city with baccha.n.a.lian songs, injuring and insulting all they met; often on the slightest resistance, spilling blood, and committing, indeed, every sort of excess, besides amusing themselves, in their milder moods, with those practical jokes at one time fas.h.i.+onable in England, and probably imitated from them. In his youth, it was said that Sebastiao Carvalho had been a leader in one of the most daring of these bands, when, to make his gigantic height more conspicuous, he dressed himself with a white hat and shoes, driving all rival parties before him. Being thus perfectly acquainted with all the mysteries of the system, he had determined, now that he had succeeded to power, to put down all disorders of the sort. Such was the state of Lisbon in 1755, and, as far as cleanliness was concerned, it was not much improved in 1830; but since then, under the beneficial influence of a liberal and more enlightened government, vast improvements have taken place; drains have been formed; it is paved and well lighted, and as well patrolled as any city in Europe, though not more so than the second city of the kingdom, Oporto, through any part of which a person may walk at night without the slightest fear of robbery, owing to a highly efficient munic.i.p.al guard.

Though there were doubtless many more important personages who figured at that period, we must not lose sight of our friend Don Luis. It was nearly dark when he issued from the portals of the Jesuits' College, and, the distance to his own residence being considerable, night had completely set in by the time he reached the lower part of the city, when it occurred to him that it would have been more prudent to have ordered Pedro to attend him. But his mind was too much engrossed by the conversation he had held with Father da Costa, to think much of the danger he ran; and as one strong poison will often prove an antidote to another, so had the new ideas opened to his view banished for a time the recollection of his own griefs and disappointments. He hurried on as fast as the badness of the way would permit, through streets extremely narrow; the houses being lofty, with many stories, their fronts adorned with various figures carved in stone, and the upper floors projecting beyond the lower, little light was afforded to the pa.s.senger, from the sky, even when clear and spangled with stars, as it was at the present time. He had already reached the street leading to that in which his father's house was situated, without meeting any interruption, when, having just pa.s.sed a shrine dedicated to Saint Anthony placed at a corner house, a small lamp burning in front of it, shedding forth its pale light, like a sad epitome of the glorious illumination that pious man spread among his much loved Lusitanians, his eyes, now directed on the ground, to pick his way clear of the immundicities which strewed the way, and now in front, in a vain endeavour to pierce the gloom, he fancied that he saw on the white stone wall of a house close to him, which the rays of the lamp reached, the shadow of a man, with arm uplifted, in the att.i.tude of one about to strike. His nerves were fortunately well strung, his courage undaunted, and his frame well knit and active to obey his will; but not a moment was there for thought, and as the threatening apparition caught his eye, quick as lightning he sprang round, ere a dagger, gleaming brightly, had time to descend, and, seizing the hand which grasped it, wrenched the weapon from the power of the cloaked a.s.sa.s.sin, who stood behind, and dealing him a heavy blow on the face with the handle, laid him prostrate on the ground. The ruffian was, however, not without support; for, at the same moment, a man sprang across the street with dagger in hand, ready to avenge his comrade. But Don Luis was not to be taken thus at advantage; for, retreating a step, his own sword was prepared to receive the wretch on its point. The latter, however, throwing himself back in time, fled a few paces, and gave a shrill whistle, which was answered at several points, and three men rushed forward with threatening att.i.tudes and unsheathed weapons.

Don Luis was fortunate in his ground, having a wall with a projecting b.u.t.tress behind him, and an uneven pavement in front, the lamp of Saint Anthony affording sufficient light to see objects around with tolerable distinctness. He was, notwithstanding, obliged to exert his utmost activity and skill to keep his a.s.sailants at bay, being happily a good swordsman, an accomplishment even then considered a necessary part of a gentleman's education. The clash of steel rang loudly through the silence of night, but none put their heads out of their windows to inquire the cause; and, Luis disdaining to give the usual cry for a.s.sistance, was well nigh exhausted with his exertions, when, most opportunely, a person, pa.s.sing a neighbouring street, was attracted by the noise, and appeared so suddenly on the scene of action, that the bravoes had scarce time to turn and defend themselves.

"Fight on, gallant sir, for the honour of gentlemen!" shouted a clear, manly voice. "Help here! _Acad el rey_! help, ye lazy citizens, to drive away a set of cowardly rascals, who dare not face us man to man!

No matter, we might call till doomsday, and no one could come; so here is at you, sir villains;" saying which, Captain Pinto, for he was the speaker, redoubled his efforts to repel the marauders.

"Thanks for your aid, thanks, Captain Pinto," cried Don Luis, recognising his voice; "I have but short breathing time to speak."

"Ah, my young friend, Don Luis, is it you?" answered the Captain.

"Back, ye villains, back!"

"Don Luis!" exclaimed one of the men, with an oath. "We have made a mistake."

"No, no," shouted another,--"cut them both down--they must not escape."

At that instant, a broad glare of red light burst on the scene of action, proceeding from several torches borne by a party who were turning the corner of the street.

"Fly," cried the ruffians, "fly! or we shall be captured."

"You shall not get off so easily," cried the Captain. "We will teach you not to attack gentlemen in this way in future." The men attempted to escape; but Don Luis and his friend held them in check on one side; while, on the other, the party with the torches, led on by a person who seemed of distinction, rapidly approached. Making, however, a desperate effort, they rushed past them, and were lost in the obscurity, except one, through whose arm, Captain Pinto's sword entered, and brought him to the ground.

The chief of the new comers, taking a torch from the hand of one of his attendants, ordered them, in an authoritative tone, to seize the disturbers of the public peace, and advanced towards the Captain and Don Luis, on whom they were on the point of laying hold.

"Ah!" he exclaimed, "my good friend, Captain Pinto!--not yet tired of fighting? I trust you are not injured,--and your companion?" he added, holding the torch nearer Don Luis's countenance.

"Don Luis d'Almeida, my fellow voyager," answered the Captain.