whose excitement might scarcely be called pleasant, yei with nothing to divert me from their agitating influence: »br Juan was too valuable a servant that I should spoil him by unnecessary conversation, and there was no sound to break the stillness of the evening, save the scream of the carrion-vultures, as they swept over the arid plains o! Cumana in search of their loathsome food, or the occasional spouting of the dolphins as they rose in play tothf surface of the river,—and pleasant though it is to count ihe stars, when one is in the mood for contemplation, yet to the lover waiting for his mistress^-waiting too to meet her for the first time! though heaven itself should open If display its wonders, there would be little beauty in the prospect.

Presently Juan came running up to me. "I hear them coming, sir," he said, in the whisper one naturally assumes under such circumstances, even when there is Dc occasion for secrecy.

"Ah? Hush! I do not hear them, Juan."

"No 1 Listen now, sir.— There, you can hear them distinctly. Blessed St. Francis! there they are! Looksir,— a little to your right,—one, two, three—three females, and a little man with them! They are commg^11 they are coming!"

"Yes, I see them now! I see them !—— But, Juan-look; they are all dressed alike, all like slaves; and th' little man is not a priest. O God! when will thev come?" a

"Ah, seflor," said my servant, half laughing, H haven't learned to see through the dark as I l"^' Notice, sir, the one in the middle, how erect she ho • herself,—and then, she seems to glide along the groun while the others swagger, and tread heavily- Ana W. at the man, sir! no one walks like Father Joseph. • He was right. The party was now within three or to yards of the cabin, and the stars shone so intensely bng (No one can conceive their lustre, who has never

them shine but in our dull climate !) that I could plainly distinguish the particulars which the eagle eye of Juan, ov rather his acute observation, had discovered with such singular quickness. Where now were the fine speeches I had so carefully prepared! All ceremony forgotten in the peculiar excitement of the moment, I rushed from the hut. "Beatriz!" And the beautiful girl was pressed to my bosom.

For a few seconds I held her in my embrace. Then Beatriz gently released herself, and bashfully depressing her head upon her breast, said, in a voice whose feminine yet deep tones, (deep from the sonorousness of the language to whose music they were struck,) thrilled to my very heart,—" Sefior, I fear I have lessened myself in your eyes, by complying so readily with your request; but the persuasions of this holy priest, and—and the reasons you have urged"

"Yes!" I exclaimed, interrupting my mistress in the only words I had yet heard her utter, and breaking at once into the language of passion,—from that impetuosity of my temper, which even in ordinary cases was frequently hurtful to the interests I should most cherish, and invariably where the heart was concerned drove me headlong into folly,—" Yes, circumstanced as' we are, Beatriz, (pardon the freedom—this is no time for ceremony,) what other resource is left us than this? The

reasons I have urged O, do not speak so coldly! If

you feel as I do, you will think no time, no place, can be meeter than the present, for hearts like ours, Beatriz, that would shiver in the cold constraint of ceremony. Is it not fittest thus, when the bright stars are out in heaven. the only light for lovers, to shine upon our meeting, and the stillness that reigns on all things round seems meant for our whispers,—is it not fittest thus, at such an hour, in such a scene, my Beatriz, that I should repeat, for the first time with my lips, what my eyes have so often dared to tell you? that I should pour forth all the passioa eth the Lord, and offer him the half of my treasures which thou hast, that he may conceal thee; for thou livest in a sinful world, Malachi, and the voice of the heathen hat gone about to speak evil of thee and thy good deeds. This, therefore, shalt thou do, lest peradventure thou suffer for thy righteousness.' So the master"

"Et ceetera. Now put thyself in Cadiz, hone* Snubbs, thou favoured of the devil — I beg your pardon; I meant to say, of— thy lord, pious Snubbs."

"At Cadiz, as I lay awake one night, thinking of the tender mercies of the Lord, and wondering what would be the end of my journeying for precious sinners, I heard a voice at my bed's side, not like the one before, but soft and small as of a woman; and it said,' Malachi! Malachi!. — and I asked in fear, 'Who calleth me?'— and the voice said, ' Look !' — and I looked, and lo, a great light shone in the chamber, and a woman stood beside me. young and well-favoured, and habited in snow-white apparel. Then I was struck with exceeding terrour, and cried aloud, 'Avaunt! get thee hence, thou lewd one ol the devil! thou shalt not tempt me.' And the vision said, 'Peace, wretched man! and learn at whom thou railest. I am the Virgin Mary, sent to turn thee from the path wherein thou treadest, and lead thee to the true and open road. Hear now. For what purpose, thinkest thou. weak mortal as thou art, that thou hast been ordered to do the very deeds which men condemn, and for which thou mightest have been made to suffer, even as the blessed Apostles once did suffer? For what but to bring thee to this land of the only true faith, that thou mightest be converted from thy former heresy, and be made a clean and holy Catholic?' When I heard this, sinner as I was. I began to wax incredulous. And the Virgin, seeing itsaid, 'O, thou man of little faith! put thy hand beneath the pillow, and tell me what thou findest.' So I put m.v hand beneath the pillow, and drew forth the little casket. once belonging to my wife, which the Lord had com

manded me to keep. 'Now, put thy hand in without looking," said the Virgin, 'and take forth what thou touchest first.' And I put in my hand, and lo, I touched a diamond cross. Then I was convinced, and kissed the

symbol of the blessed faith, and, leaping from the bed »

"What! in thy shirt, Snubbs? O thou naughty man!"

Snubbs was too warm to feel my profane interruption. "I threw myself before the Virgin, and would have embraced her knees. But the Virgin shrunk back. 'Touch me not!' she said, 'thou man impure! But get thee

back again into thy bed, and listen further. Thus

shall thou do. In this city of Sodom, thou wilt find a man of noble birth, an Andalusian, named Caspar de Mulo de los Sacerdotes, a man that feareth God and cherisheth his holy ministers. His favourite thou art destined to become; and with him shalt thou cross the ocean to the New World. There, in the Spanish Main, m the province which is called Cumana, there, O Malaehi, shalt thou find the end of thy wanderings, devoting thy pious labour, and the treasures thou hast heaped together, to the good of my church, administering the balm of thy wisdom to the zealous among my worshippers, and opening the eyes of the still blinded Indians.—But, long before thou canst do this, O Malachi, thou must purge thyself, and put on the garments of the true faith; when % name too shall be changed, for that of Joseph, seeing thou hast fled from thy wife even as the son of Israel did from the wife of Potiphar.'"

"Ha, ha, ha!" I laughed, springing from my seat, and giving Snubbs a blow upon the back that almost forced him from his chair,—" By all that's beautiful! had the son of Israel looked like thee, thou freckled little lump of chastity, he had found no need to go without his cloak!"

The apostate Malachi, who had commenced his narrative with alacrity, and, from aa idea that the attention I paid to his blasphemous hypocrisy was serious, had con,tinued to speak throughout, with a warmth that converted his usually vulgar language into something decent, (as the reader must have observed,) now grew sulky, and refused to proceed.

"Come, come, Father Joseph," I said, patting hi* back of twelve inches' breadth, as I would the head of a child, or the flanks of a puppy,—" we are now just touching on the very part I want to hear. Proceed, if you please." But Malachi-Joseph sat unmoved, hislowet lip protruded like a flogged schoolboy's. How different from his conduct at the Bull! But, then, he wasarogw in cover; now, he felt his character stood before me completely naked.

I saw I must take another course. "Now heat me, Mr. Malachi Snubbs—or whatever else the devil has been pleased to call you. You are acting, sir, a most absurd part, considering before whom the farce is played. Do you suppose I brought you home with me, merely for Ae pleasure of hearing you insult the majesty of your Maker and make a jest of the mysteries of his religion? Come, sir, let us deal plainly together. I know more of your private life than you are well aware of; but I will not make it a means to force from you the information I want —it is my intention to pay, and pay liberally, for any services you may render me."

"Well, Mr. Levis," said little Malachi, somewhat softened, "it is not my fault lhat you wouldn't hear me, when I was going on so nicely.—What shall I tell Jw now, sir?"

"You remember, Mr. Snubbs, that when we met, you had just left a gentleman's house. Is it the house of Don Caspar de Mulo?"

"No, sir; but of a gentleman whose daughter Do" Caspar is soon to marry."

"I knew as much,—1 have merely asked in order to lead to another question. Tell me, have you much influence with the family?"