succession has been determined by the drinking of the powder. These maidens purchased, or stolen, are well treated by them; in this alone they are not barbarous; and they buy them at the highest prices, which they pay in pieces of uncoined gold and in precious pearls, with which the sea around these islands, abounds. For this cause, and impelled by this interest and desire of gain, many have become pirates and merchants. Arnoldo then, as I have before said, fancies that Auristella may be in this island;--she, who is the other half of his soul, and without whom he cannot live: and in order to ascertain this fact, he has determined to sell me to the barbarians, so that I, remaining among them, may serve as a spy to discover what he wishes to know, and he is now hoping for nothing more than that the sea should be calm enough for him to land and conclude the sale. See then whether I have not reason to complain, since the lot that remains for me is to go and live among savages, where I shall not be beautiful enough to hope to become their Queen, especially if her cruel fate should have brought to this land the peerless Auristella. This, then, is the cause of the sighs thou hast heard, and from this fear arise the lamentations I have uttered." She ceased speaking, and the boy felt a something rise in his throat, and pressed his mouth to the boards, which he watered with copious tears; and after a short space, he asked if by chance she had any conjecture whether Arnoldo had obtained the love of Auristella, or whether it was possible that she, having elsewhere pledged her faith, had disdained his offers, and refused the splendid gift of a Throne; for it seemed to him, he said, that sometimes the laws of human affection were even stronger than those of religion. She answered, that though she had fancied there was a time, when Auristella seemed to like one Periander, who had taken her from her own country, a noble gentleman endowed with all the qualities that could make him beloved, yet she never heard her mention his name in the continual complaints that she made to Heaven of her misfortunes, nor in any other way whatsoever. He asked if she knew this Periander, of whom she spoke. She said she did not, but that by what she had heard, she knew it was he who had carried off her lady, into whose service she had entered after Periander left her, owing to a very extraordinary incident.