had indulged with the youthful stranger, and to become every day more
shy and silent.

Antonio had read many books, but this was the first volume of
womankind that he had ever studied. He had been captivated with the
very title-page; but the further he read, the more he was delighted.
She seemed formed to love; her soft black eye rolled languidly under
its long silken lashes, and wherever it turned, it would linger and
repose; there was tenderness in every beam. To him alone she was
reserved and distant. Now that the common cares of the sick-room were
at an end, he saw little more of her than before his admission to the
house. Sometimes he met her on his way to and from the laboratory, and
at such times there was ever a smile and a blush; but, after a simple
salutation, she glided on and disappeared.

"'Tis plain," thought Antonio, "my presence is indifferent, if not
irksome to her. She has noticed my admiration, and is determined to
discourage it; nothing but a feeling of gratitude prevents her
treating me with marked distaste--and then has she not another lover,
rich, gallant, splendid, musical? how can I suppose she would turn her
eyes from so brilliant a cavalier, to a poor obscure student, raking
among the cinders of her father's laboratory?"

Indeed, the idea of the amorous serenader continually haunted his
mind. He felt convinced that he was a favoured lover; yet, if so, why
did he not frequent the tower?--why did he not make his approaches by
noon-day? There was mystery in this eavesdropping and musical
courtship. Surely Inez could not be encouraging a secret intrigue! Oh!
no! she was too artless, too pure, too ingenuous! But then the Spanish
females were so prone to love and intrigue; and music and moonlight
were so seductive, and Inez had such a tender soul languishing in
every look.--"Oh!" would the poor scholar exclaim, clasping his hands,
"oh, that I could but once behold those loving eyes beaming on me with
affection!"

It is incredible to those who have not experienced it, on what scanty
aliment human life and human love may be supported. A dry crust,
thrown now and then to a starving man, will give him a new lease of
existence; and a faint smile, or a kind look, bestowed at casual
intervals, will keep a lover loving on, when a man in his sober senses
would despair.

When Antonio found himself alone in the laboratory, his mind would be
haunted by one of these looks, or smiles, which he had received