dy to open before him. Maulear, on the other
hand, was sad and pensive, and scarcely dared to lift his eyes to
Aminta, fearing, beyond doubt, that he would thus increase his sorrow
and distress, and diminish his courage when the crisis came. As the day
wore on. Aminta, feeling unwell, retired to her room. Signora Rovero,
accustomed to see her daughter have similar attacks, sat to play
_reversis_ with Count Brignoli and two other persons. Monte-Leone and
Maulear exchanged a mysterious sign and left the room nearly at the same
time. The night was not so beautiful as the preceding one had been. The
disk of the moon sometimes was clouded, and the wind whistled among the
trees of the park; all nature, deeply agitated, seemed to sympathize
with the thoughts which agitated the minds of the two enemies. The dark
and cloudy sky was a meet back-ground for such a picture.

Nine o'clock was struck by the bell of the Church at Sorrento, when two
men met at the cove we have described. One of them wrapped in a cloak
had a case under his arm. They went towards the bank and found the
gondola there. This boat was long, like those of Venice, in imitation of
which it had been made--had a little cabin in its stern, which now was
closed. In it the ladies used to take refuge when bad weather interfered
with their pleasure. The two men used all their strength to detach the
gondola from the shore. At last they succeeded. The most robust then
took one of the oars and pushed the boat from the bank. Just as they
were about to put off, a burst of demoniac laughter rung in their ears.
A very demon, a breathing spirit of evil, had witnessed all their
preparations, and had learned, from its shape, the contents of the box;
the idea of what they meditated caused him to utter this shout of
laughter. This demon was Scorpione. This deformity was the rival of
Monte-Leone and Maulear.

The blue and azure waves of the sea of Naples on that night seemed dark
as ink. The wind agitated them. Calm as they usually are, and like a
vast cemetery, the tombs of which open to receive the dead, they opened
before the prow of the boat like a grave, as they were intended to be.
At a distance of about three hundred fathoms the two adversaries ceased
to row and replaced the oars in the gondola. Without speaking, they took
out the pistols, examined their locks, and opened them.

"Signor," said Monte-Leone, "I thank you for the honor you have done me
in deigning to use my a