ity. Shall not eternity atone for time?
Eternity, to which the duration of ages is but as an atom to a world!
Shall I not, when this momentary separation is past, again meet ALMEIDA
to part no more? and shall not a purer flame than burns upon the earth,
unite us? Even at this moment, her mind, which not the frauds of sorcery
can taint or alienate, is mine: that pleasure which she reserved for me,
cannot be taken by force; it is in the consent alone that it subsists;
and from the joy that she feels, and from that only, proceeds the joy
she can bestow.'

With these reflections he soothed the anguish of his mind, till the
dreadful moment arrived, in which the power of the talisman took place,
and the figure of ALMORAN was changed into that of HAMET, and the
figure of HAMET into that of ALMORAN.

At the moment of transformation, HAMET was seized with a sudden languor,
and his faculties were suspended as by the stroke of death. When he
recovered, his limbs still trembled, and his lips were parched with
thirst: he rose, therefore, and entering the cavern, at the mouth of
which he had been sitting, he stooped over the well to drink; but
glancing his eyes upon the water, he saw, with astonishment and horror,
that it reflected, not his own countenance, but that of his brother. He
started back from the prodigy; and supporting himself against the side
of the rock, he stood some time like a statue, without the power of
recollection: but at length the thought suddenly rushed into his mind,
that the same sorcery which had suspended his marriage, and driven him
from the throne was still practised against him; and that the change of
his figure to that of ALMORAN, was the effect of ALMORAN'S having
assumed his likeness, to obtain, in this disguise, whatever ALMEIDA
could bestow. This thought, like a whirlwind of the desert, totally
subverted his mind; his fortitude was borne down, and his hopes were
rooted up; no principles remained to regulate his conduct, but all was
phrensy, confusion, and despair. He rushed out of the cave with a
furious and distracted look; and went in haste towards the city, without
having formed any design, or considered any consequence that might
follow.

The shadows of the mountains were now lengthened by the declining sun;
and the approach of evening had invited OMAR to meditate in a grove,
that was adjacent to the gardens of the palace. From this place he was
seen at some distance by HAMET, who came up to