It far surpassed in beauty anything which Serena ever in her most romantic imaginings had conceived to exist in the world. Wonderful and strange as all appeared, no fear or misgivings of any description entered her bosom; for, although she saw that the shape beside her was wild and hideous, yet well she knew that the spirit which animated it was that which dwelt in the form of Alonzo, to which she had given her heart, her best, her deepest affections. A soft light radiated through the hall, and gentle music floated in the air, while forms of every graceful shape and hue appeared before them, and made obeisance as they passed. They advanced slowly among lines of aerial beings towards a superb throne at the further end of the hall, the canopy over which appeared as if formed of a fountain of glittering water thrown upwards, and petrified before it could again reach the earth. Serena remained mute with astonishment, till by degrees she found words to express herself. "Is what I see around me the work of enchantment, and do I tread on fairy ground?" she exclaimed. "And you, my Alonzo, why have you led me hither, and why are you so strangely disguised?" "You tread, my Serena, the halls of my crystal palace, the home I have prepared for you," answered Borasco. "Those bright gems are the same for which men toil and deem themselves happy if they gain a few, yet all you see and many more are yours." "Oh, I care not for those sparkling gems. It is your love, Alonzo, I prize above all," said Serena, turning on him a look full of deep affection. "But why hide from me those features on which I fondly used to gaze?--Why envelop thus strangely your noble form?" Borasco did not answer till he had placed her on the throne; then throwing himself before her on his knees, he told her of his plot to win her, and of all that had occurred, and implored her forgiveness. As he knelt, the thousands of Spirits who filled the hall followed his example. She answered in a gentle voice, that she had nothing to forgive; as she could scarcely find fault with him for falling in love with her. "But who are the bright beings who fill these halls, and pay me so much respect?" she asked, as the graceful Spirits continued kneeling round her. "They are," replied Borasco, "the Spirits of the summer air, the guardians of the moon-lit waves, the utterers of murmuring sounds, when the calm sea is hushed to rest. Each light and easy duty is confided to their care. They are the Spirits which obey my will, and you, my beloved one, shall from henceforth ride over them. See also the mighty Monarch of the Ocean comes to kneel before your throne." As he spoke, a flourish of conch shells was heard, and Neptune, in a superb car, followed by an innumerable band of Tritons, glided into the hall. Descending from his car, he knelt before the Princess, and exclaimed:--