would have looked upon as the most
insane triflings;--thus was the weariness of her thoughts relieved by
disporting in the water, as we ere now saw her, or by contemplating the
playfulness of the birds. Presently she wandered into the vale, and
gathered a magnificent nosegay of flowers: then the whim struck her that
she would weave for herself a chaplet of roses; and as her work
progressed, she improved upon it, and fashioned a beauteous diadem of
flowers to protect her head from the scorching noonday sun.

But think not, O reader! that while thus diverting herself with
trivialities of which you would scarcely have deemed the
haughty--imperious--active disposition of Nisida of Riverola to be
capable--think not that her mind was altogether abstracted from
unpleasant thoughts. No--far, very far from that! She was merely
relieved from a portion of that weight which oppressed her; but her
entire burden could not be removed from her soul. There were moments
when her grief amounted almost to despair. Was she doomed to pass the
remainder of her existence in that land? was it really an island and
unknown to navigators? She feared so: for did it join a continent, its
loveliness and fruitfulness would not have permitted it to remain long
unoccupied by those who must of necessity discover it.

And oh! what would her brother think of her absence? what would Fernand
conjecture? And what perils might not at that moment envelop her lover,
while she was not near to succor him by means of her artifice, her
machinations, or her gold. Ten thousand-thousand maledictions upon
Stephano, who was the cause of all her present misery! Ten
thousand-thousand maledictions on her own folly for not having exerted
all her energies and all her faculties to escape from his power, ere she
was conveyed on board the corsair ship, and it was too late!

But useless now were regrets and repinings; for the past could not be
recalled, and the future might have much happiness in store for Nisida.
For oh! sweetest comes the hope which is lured back because its presence
is indispensable; and, oppressed as Nisida was with the weight of her
misfortunes, her soul was too energetic, too sanguine, too impetuous to
yield to despair.

Day after day passed, and still not a ship appeared. Nisida did not
penetrate much further into the island than the valley which we have
described, and whither she was accustomed to repair to gather the
flowers that she wove into diadem