--and my soul might be
in the regions of the blessed. But the tempter came, and dazzled me with
prospects of endless happiness--and I succumbed! Oh! Faust! would that
thou hadst never crossed the threshold of my humble cottage in the Black
Forest! How much sorrow--how much misery should I have been spared!
Better--better to have remained in poverty--solitude--helplessness--worn
down by the weight of years--and crushed by the sense of utter
loneliness--oh! better to have endured all this, than to have taken on
myself a new tenure of that existence which is so marked with misery and
woe!"

He threw himself upon a seat, and endeavored to reflect on his position
with calmness; but he could not!

Starting up, he again paced the dungeon in an agitated manner.

"Holy God!" he exclaimed aloud, "how much wretchedness has fallen upon
me in a single day! Agnes murdered--Nisida perhaps forever estranged
from me--myself accused of a dreadful crime, whereof I am innocent--and
circumstances all combining so wonderfully against me! But who could
have perpetrated the appalling deed? Can that mysterious lady, whom
Agnes spoke of so frequently, and who, by her description, so closely
resembled my much-loved Nisida--can she----"

At that moment the bolts were suddenly drawn back from the door of the
dungeon--the clanking chains fell heavily on the stone pavement
outside--and the jailer appeared, holding a lamp in his hand.

"Your brother, signor, is come to visit you," said the turnkey. "But
pray let the interview be a brief one--for it is as much as my situation
and my own liberty are worth to have admitted him without an order from
the chief judge."

"With these words the jailer made way for a cavalier to enter the
dungeon;" and as he closed the door, he said, "I shall return shortly to
let your brother out again."

Surprise had hitherto placed a seal upon Wagner's lips; but even before
the visitor had entered the cell, a faint suspicion--a wild hope had
flashed to his mind that Nisida had not forgotten him, that she would
not abandon him.

But this hope was destroyed almost as soon as formed, by the sudden
recollection of her affliction;--for how could a deaf and dumb woman
succeed in bribing and deceiving one so cautious and wary as the jailer
of a criminal prison?

Nevertheless the moment the visitor had entered the cell--and in spite
of the deep disguise which she wore, the eyes of the lover failed not to
recognize the ob