m; the magnificent plain of the Vega beyond, streaked
with evening sunshine, and the distant hills tinted with rosy and
purple hues: it seemed an emblem of the happy future, that love and
hope were decking out for them.

As if to make the scene complete, a group of Andalusians struck up a
dance, in one of the vistas of the garden, to the guitars of two
wandering musicians. The Spanish music is wild and plaintive, yet the
people dance to it with spirit and enthusiasm. The picturesque figures
of the dancers; the girls with their hair in silken nets that hung in
knots and tassels down their backs, their mantillas floating round
their graceful forms, their slender feet peeping from under their
basquinas, their arms tossed up in the air to play the castanets, had
a beautiful effect on this airy height, with the rich evening
landscape spreading out below them.

When the dance was ended, two of the parties approached Antonio and
Inez; one of them began a soft and tender Moorish ballad, accompanied
by the other on the lute. It alluded to the story of the garden, the
wrongs of the fair queen of Granada, and the misfortunes of the
Abencerrages. It was one of those old ballads that abound in this part
of Spain, and live, like echoes, about the ruins of Moorish greatness.
The heart of Inez was at that moment open to every tender impression;
the tears rose into her eyes, as she listened to the tale. The singer
approached nearer to her; she was striking in her appearance;--young,
beautiful, with a mixture of wildness and melancholy in her fine black
eyes. She fixed them mournfully and expressively on Inez, and,
suddenly varying her manner, sang another ballad, which treated of
impending danger and treachery. All this might have passed for a mere
accidental caprice of the singer, had there not been something in her
look, manner, and gesticulation that made it pointed and startling.

Inez was about to ask the meaning of this evidently personal
application of the song, when she was interrupted by Antonio, who
gently drew her from the place. Whilst she had been lost in attention
to the music, he had remarked a group of men, in the shadows of the
trees, whispering together. They were enveloped in the broad hats and
great cloaks so much worn by the Spanish, and, while they were
regarding himself and Inez attentively, seemed anxious to avoid
observation. Not knowing what might be their character or intention,
he hastened to quit a place