and a good house at Terracina, the former of which he inhabited in summer and the latter in winter. His family consisted of his wife and his only daughter, Bettina, who was celebrated far and near for her exquisite beauty. Her large dark eye glistened beneath long silken lashes, and her hair descended in black, glossy, luxuriant ringlets, over a neck of dazzling whiteness. Her face, cast in the Grecian mould, was also delicately fair, and her cheeks were tinged with the hue of the rose. In figure she was tall and elegant; her gait was that of a goddess, and her voice melody itself. At the same time Bettina was a model of virtue and piety; she was the joy of her parents, and beloved and admired by all who knew her.

that fault: not so her parents, who, being better acquainted with their circumstances, deemed it incumbent on them to seek a wealthy match for their daughter, to whom they could give but an inconsiderable portion. They were of course decidedly adverse to this silly passion, as they termed the romantic attachment of their charming daughter to the highspirited Federico.

The love of the young people for each other was almost as old as themselves, for Bettina had grown up with Federico. They had been playmates in childhood; and their young hearts had even then conceived a mutual predilection which strengthened with their years, and grew up in the bosom of the ardent youth in particular into an uncontroulable passion. Bettina loved the dear companion of her infantine sports with enthusiastic tenderness: but her heart was soft, and love itself there assumed a delicate form; and when Federico, with vehement impetuosity, abused her parents as cruel and hard-hearted, because they disap proved his love, Bettina had only si lent tears to express her feelings.

The Count of Castelmare solicited the hand of Altamonte's fascinating daughter. Endowed with all that can assure happiness to a mortal,

Altamonte, though not actually rich, enjoyed the reputation of possessing wealth, and this reputation he was particularly anxious to maintain. His wife, Camilla, understood as well as himself the inestimable art of keeping their expenditure in equilibrium with their income. As they observed the strictest order in their whole domestic economy, their house was well managed, and they lived in a very respectable manner. The fair Bettina soon had many suitors, but only one of them was able to make any impression on her youth-handsome, young, rich, possessing ful heart. The fortunate candidate, a young gentleman, the last scion of a very ancient family, was the handsomest and the most amiable, but at the same time the poorest of all her suitors. Besides a small landed property, which yielded him but a scanty support, Federico Maraviglia possessed absolutely nothing. The loving Bettina easily overlooked Vol. IX. No. XLIX.

an excellent heart and a cultivated mind, the count united in his person all that the marchese could desire in a son-in-law; and both parents hoped to make their child completely happy by this advantageous match. They well knew that Bettina's heart was attached to Federico; but still they trusted that this childish, unpromising passion would soon be overcome C

by the superior qualifications of the || marble steps leading into the garThey gave him therefore den. She soon found in a distant

might some time or other tear you from me, I long since secured their assistance and an asylum for us both, in case of such an event."

and the selfishness of your parents || hastened after Bettina, who had meanwhile reached the door, which closed with violence as soon as she had entered. All he could now do was to make a precipitate retreat. He passed, not without shuddering, the unfortunate old servant, who had fallen a victim to her fidelity and was just breathing her last. He mounted his horse, took the other by the bridle, and away he posted to the ruins, among the inmates of which he was now worthy to be numbered, for he was already a murderer. He had nothing more to lose; his account with the world was closed; the powers of darkness had taken possession of his soul, and he now belonged wholly to the guilty band with which he had associated himself.

"O heavens!" exclaimed Bettina, starting back with horror, "art thou then become the associate of robbers and murderers? Is it to them that thou wouldst conduct me? Is it to the den of ruthless banditti that thou woulst have me flee from the arms of beloved parents, who have trained me to virtue and honour? Desist, Federico; and do thou too return, and forsake not the fair path in which thou hast hitherto walked. I loved only the noble and upright Federico -the comrade of banditti I abhor. I will not flee with thee, for I would rather be unhappy than criminal."

Bettina hurried breathless to her chamber, where she fell on her knees, and thanked God that he had grant

"Ha, serpent! is this thy affection? Girl, girl, drive me not to madness! In order to possess thee I have solded her strength to escape. With myself to the men whom thou callest burning tears she besought the Favillains, and who are far less guilty ther of Mercy to conduct the misthan thou imaginest them to be; for guided youth back to the path of they are the step-sons of unjust For- virtue. She sank exhausted upon tune, who have the courage to com- her bed, and tossed about in restless bat Fate, and to wring from it that anguish: hideous phantoms crowded which it refuses to give them spon- upon her brain, and she was soon taneously. Thou must go with me-- seized with a burning fever. In this I cannot now recede; thou must go condition she was found in the mornwith me, for it shall not be for nothing ing by her mother, who was not a that I have sacrificed myself!" little alarmed at the state of her beWith these words he seized Bet-loved child. The physician who was tina and would have dragged her summoned, declared that her disoraway by force, but, disengaging her- der, which must have been produced self from his grasp, she flew on the by violent agitation of mind, was danwings of the wind towards the house. gerous and likely to be protracted; He would have pursued her, but the but he hoped that her youth would nurse threw herself in his way; she overcome it. The phantoms of her caught hold of him and clung to him delirium were frightful. Sometimes so closely as to fix him to the spot. she was among murderers whose Suddenly drawing his poniard from daggers were pointed at her heart ; his belt, he plunged it into the bosom at others she bemoaned her lover, of the faithful creature. He then whom she beheld in imagination

mention him again.. Neither was he ever seen by any one, so that it seemed as though he had disappeared from the earth.

The Count of Castelmare felt inexpressibly happy in the society of his lovely and beloved wife; but the tranquil melancholy which pervaded her whole manner frequently filled him with apprehension. They had been married two years and had yet no prospect of issue: this was the only cloud that darkened the ho

bleeding on the scaffold. She begged him in the most moving accents to return to virtue; she offered her own life to save his.-The body of the murdered nurse was found: her mother readily guessed the connection of the matter, but strove to conceal as much as possible from her husband, fearing the effect of his anger upon Bettina. She was anxious to keep the count also in ignorance of what had happened, lest he should recede, and break off a match, which, under the then circumstances, ap-rizon of his felicity. Still he hoped peared to her to be more desirable than ever. Bettina now needed protection against the robber, who might easily snatch her from the very bosom of her family. The count was powerful, and when he rode out, his coach was always surrounded by a number of armed servants. His castle on the seacoast was guarded by a troop of soldiers, whom he kept in his own pay there then Bettina might live in safety.

that time would fulfil the fondest wish of his heart, and strove more and more by every means in his pow er to promote the happiness of his adored Bettina. The countess on her part esteemed and respected her generous consort, by whose delicate attentions she was deeply touched; but love she could not give him, for Federico's image yet lived in her heart. The impression of her first attachment was indelibly stamped upon it, and never, no never, could she forget that.

The robbers of Anxur meanwhile prosecuted their unhallowed trade more daringly than ever. They had

In a few weeks Bettina recovered, to the joy of her parents and the count, who was impatient to lead his beauteous bride to the altar. The lovely girl was reserved and melancholy; an interesting paleness over-elected a new chief, whom on account spread her fair face, upon which a sad smile but rarely played, like the moon bursting for a moment through gloomy clouds. Poor Bettina! her mind was wrung by the giant conflict between duty and passion: the former proved victorious, but her heart was rent in the struggle. She gave her hand to the count at the altar, and pronounced the solemn vow of fidelity, which she firmly resolved to keep. No more did Federico's name escape her lips; and once, when her mother would have spoken of him, she urgently entreated her never to

of his hardihood and intrepidity they had named Cor di Leone-Lionheart. Of this chief the most extraordinary stories were circulated throughout the whole country. Many could recount traits of his generosity and liberality shewn to persons who had been plundered by his band; others, on the contrary, attributed to him horrible acts of cruelty and revenge. The domains of the Count Castelmare and the Marchese Altamonte suffered more especially by the depredations of the banditti. To no purpose did the count send forth

ed, frequently repaired alone to the sequestered chapel, seated on a steep rock, overshadowed with pines, in the rear of Castelmare.

Bettina heard of these arrangements, and trembled for him whom she durst no longer love: she might, however, without any violation of her duty, warn and save him; and this she resolved to do at all hazards. She wrote in a disguised hand a few lines, in which she cautioned him against visiting the chapel, because danger awaited him there. She then conjured him by the image of the crucified Redeemer which looked down upon him from the altar of that chapel, to forsake the disgraceful profession of a robber, and return to virtue. "The Saviour," she thus wrote, " has shed his blood for thee.

his soldiers, reinforced by sbirri; the wretches carried their audacity so far as to drive away the cattle from the farm-houses, and to set fire to the villages, almost before the face of the troops posted to protect them. The castle alone had been spared these unwelcome visitations; and often when a numerous band had routed the count's soldiers and the sbirri, and were ascending in full career the hill on which the castle was situated, a commanding figure appeared on a stately steed. His dress was black; feathers of the same colour waved above his high-crowned, broad-brimmed hat; from beneath it descended a profusion of raven hair, which so shaded his embrowned face, that nothing could be seen for it but the glare of his wildly rolling eye. At his beck the victorious troop turn-also-let him not have suffered in ed about and hastened back to their vain! Return, ah return, from the retreat. This conduct appeared black slough of vice, where thou wilt strange and inexplicable to all but be involved in certain perdition!”. Bettina. She alone knew the elegant equestrian: his figure was too deeply impressed upon her memory not to be recognised.

Atrocious outrages had been committed by the banditti: they had fallen at night upon Terracina, pillaged and plundered, and carried off several females, whom they conveyed to their haunts and there detained. The public authorities and the landed proprietors of the whole adjacent country consulted together by what means the excesses of these villains might be checked. They assembled the inhabitants of Fondi, Itri, Gaeta, and the neighbouring villages, and all the sbirri and soldiers in the whole district; they beset all the avenues to the rocky defile, in hopes of securing some of the robbers, or at least their captain, who, it was learn

Taking with her this paper, she went in the evening into the garden. A walk overgrown with grass conducted her among thickly tangled shrubs to a door, which she opened with considerable effort. She then found herself in a wood, where a foot-path wound between rude crags to the chapel on the rock. She pursued her way trembling through the dark shade of the trees, fearing lest she might be discovered and made prisoner by the banditti; but the consciousness of good intentions, as she hoped to bring a sinner back to virtue, infused into her courage and confidence in the protection of high er powers.

She entered the sacred precinct just as the beams of the departing sun through the painted window's irradiated the face of the dying Re