cognize in thy race a knowledge of the arts and sciences not yet
extended to the Christian. Yet, for all this, thou art but an infidel.
Let me but baptize thee with the water thou wouldst have drunk, and all
will yet be well."

"No, sir saint," answered the Moor. "When in my castle strangers thus
treat me rudely, I can die, but not bend to their orders. If yonder
baron is a true Christian, why has he not taken the thirty-three baths
enjoined by thee?"

"And if my father do take them, wilt thou, as thou didst promise me,"
said Alina, "be converted to the true faith?"

"The Moor breaks not his promise. As the golondrina returns to its nest
in due season, so the man of honour returns to his promise." Then,
turning to the baron, he demanded to know if he would comply with the
saint's instructions.

"Yes," answered the baron; "I have promised the good saint everything,
and I will fulfil my promises. Al-Muli, if you love my daughter, love
her faith also, and I will then have regained not only a daughter, but a
son in my old age."

"The promise of the Moor is sacred," said Al-Muli. "Baptize me and my
household; and do thou, good baron, intercede for me with the venerable
saint, for I like not this lowly posture."

"My dear Al-Muli," sobbed Alina for joy, "the Cross and the Crescent are
thus united in the mightier ocean of love and goodwill. May the two
races whom one God has made be reconciled! And to-morrow's sun must not
set before we all comply with the condition imposed by St.
Bartholomew."

The saint was rejoiced with the work he had that day done, and declared
that the churches he liked men to construct are those built within them,
where the incense offered is prayer, and the work done, love. "As for
the baths, they are but desirable auxiliaries," said he.

THE WHITE CAT OF ECIJA.

From the gates of the palace, situated on a gentle eminence in the
vicinity of Ecija, down to the banks of the Genil, the ground was
covered with olive-trees; and the wild aloes formed a natural and strong
fence around the property of the White Cat of Ecija, whose origin,
dating back to the days of Saracenic rule, was unknown to the liberated
Spaniard.

There was a great mystery attaching to the palace and its occupants; and
although the servants of the White Cat were to all appearances human
beings, still, as they were deaf and dumb, and would not, or could not,
understand signs, the neighbours had not been able to discov