ied up the ladder. He sprang in at the window, and found
Inez struggling in the grasp of his fancied rival; the latter,
disturbed from his prey, caught up his lantern, turned its light full
upon Antonio, and, drawing his sword, made a furious assault; luckily
the student saw the light gleam along the blade, and parried the
thrust with the stiletto. A fierce, but unequal combat ensued. Antonio
fought exposed to the full glare of the light, while his antagonist
was in shadow: his stiletto, too, was but a poor defence against a
rapier. He saw that nothing would save him but closing with his
adversary, and getting within his weapon: he rushed furiously upon
him, and gave him a severe blow with the stiletto; but received a
wound in return from the shortened sword. At the same moment, a blow
was inflicted from behind, by the confederate, who had ascended the
ladder; it felled him to the floor, and his antagonists made their
escape.

By this time, the cries of Inez had brought her father and the
domestic into the room. Antonio was found weltering in his blood, and
senseless. He was conveyed to the chamber of the alchymist, who now
repaid in kind the attentions which the student had once bestowed upon
him. Among his varied knowledge he possessed some skill in surgery,
which at this moment was of more value than even his chymical lore. He
stanched and dressed the wounds of his disciple, which on examination
proved less desperate than he had at first apprehended. For a few
days, however, his case was anxious, and attended with danger. The old
man watched over him with the affection of a parent. He felt a double
debt of gratitude towards him, on account of his daughter and himself;
he loved him too as a faithful and zealous disciple; and he dreaded
lest the world, should be deprived of the promising talents of so
aspiring an alchymist.

An excellent constitution soon medicined his wounds; and there was a
balsam in the looks and words of Inez, that had a healing effect on
the still severer wounds which he carried in his heart. She displayed
the strongest interest in his safety; she called him her deliverer,
her preserver. It seemed as if her grateful disposition sought, in the
warmth of its acknowledgments, to repay him for past coldness. But
what most contributed to Antonio's recovery, was her explanation
concerning his supposed rival. It was some time since he had first
beheld her at church, and he had ever since persecuted her