ken?" asked the poet.

"No, dear Dante!" replied the soldier, whose warlike tones rang with the
thrill of battle and the exultation of victory.

"To Florence! To Florence! Ah, my Florence!" cried Dante Alighieri,
drawing himself up, and gazing into the distance. In fancy he saw Italy;
he was gigantic.

"But I--when shall I be in Heaven?" said Godefroid, kneeling on one knee
before the immortal poet, like an angel before the sanctuary.

"Come to Florence," said Dante in compassionate tones. "Come! when you
see its lovely landscape from the heights of Fiesole you will fancy
yourself in Paradise."

The soldier smiled. For the first time, perhaps for the only time in his
life, Dante's gloomy and solemn features wore a look of joy; his eyes
and brows expressed the happiness he has depicted so lavishly in his
vision of Paradise. He thought perhaps that he heard the voice of
Beatrice.

A light step, and the rustle of a woman's gown, were audible in the
silence. Dawn was now showing its first streaks of light. The fair
Comtesse de Mahaut came in and flew to Godefroid.

"Come, my child, my son! I may at last acknowledge you. Your birth is
recognized, your rights are under the protection of the King of France,
and you will find Paradise in your mother's heart."

"I hear, I know, the voice of Heaven!" cried the youth in rapture.

The exclamation roused Dante, who saw the young man folded in the
Countess' arms. He took leave of them with a look, and left his young
companion on his mother's bosom.

"Come away!" he cried in a voice of thunder. "Death to the Guelphs!"

PARIS, October 1831.

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