ty and serenity about
this little nestling-place of innocence; it was the emblem of a chaste
and quiet mind. Some few articles of female dress lay on the chairs;
and there was the very bed on which she had slept--the pillow on which
her soft cheek had reclined! The poor scholar was treading enchanted
ground; for what fairy land has more of magic in it, than the
bedchamber of innocence and beauty?

From various expressions of the old man in his ravings, and from what
he had noticed on a subsequent visit to the tower, to see that the
fire was extinguished, Antonio had gathered that his patient was an
alchymist. The philosopher's stone was an object eagerly sought after
by visionaries in those days; but in consequence of the superstitious
prejudices of the times, and the frequent persecutions of its
votaries, they were apt to pursue their experiments in secret; in
lonely houses, in caverns and ruins, or in the privacy of cloistered
cells.

In the course of the night, the old man had several fits of
restlessness and delirium; he would call out upon Theophrastus, and
Geber, and Albertus Magnus, and other sages of his art; and anon would
murmur about fermentation and projection, until, toward daylight, he
once more sunk into a salutary sleep. When the morning sun darted his
rays into the casement, the fair Inez, attended by the female
domestic, came blushing into the chamber. The student now took his
leave, having himself need of repose, but obtaining ready permission
to return and inquire after the sufferer.

When he called again, he found the alchymist languid and in pain, but
apparently suffering more in mind than in body. His delirium had left
him, and he had been informed of the particulars of his deliverance,
and of the subsequent attentions of the scholar. He could do little
more than look his thanks, but Antonio did not require them; his own
heart repaid him for all that he had done, and he almost rejoiced in
the disaster that had gained him an entrance into this mysterious
habitation. The alchymist was so helpless as to need much assistance;
Antonio remained with him, therefore, the greater part of the day. He
repeated his visit the next day, and the next. Every day his company
seemed more pleasing to the invalid; and every day he felt his
interest in the latter increasing. Perhaps the presence of the
daughter might have been at the bottom of this solicitude.

He had frequent and long conversations with the alch