art, it is thine to vindicate
thyself from blasphemy against the God thou shouldst adore. Confess the
truth: thou art of the tribe and faith of Israel?"

The Hebrew frowned darkly. "Man," said he, solemnly, "is a judge of the
deeds of men, but not of their opinions. I will not answer thee."

"Pause! We have means at hand that the strongest nerves and the stoutest
hearts have failed to encounter. Pause--confess!"

"Thy threat awes me not," said the Hebrew; "but I am human; and since
thou wouldst know the truth, thou mayst learn it without the torture. I
am of the same race as the apostles of thy Church--I am a Jew."

"He confesses--write down the words. Prisoner, thou hast done wisely;
and we pray the Lord that, acting thus, thou mayst escape both the
torture and the death. And in that faith thy daughter was reared?
Answer."

"My daughter! there is no charge against her! By the God of Sinai and
Horeb, you dare not touch a hair of that innocent head!"

"Answer," repeated the inquisitor, coldly.

"I do answer. She was brought up no renegade to her father's faith."

"Write down the confession. Prisoner," resumed the Dominican, after a
pause, "but few more questions remain; answer them truly, and thy life
is saved. In thy conspiracy to raise thy brotherhood of Andalusia to
power and influence--or, as thou didst craftily term it, to equal laws
with the followers of our blessed Lord; in thy conspiracy (by what dark
arts I seek not now to know _protege nos, beate Domine_!) to entangle
in wanton affections to thy daughter the heart of the Infant of
Spain-silence, I say--be still! in this conspiracy, thou wert aided,
abetted, or instigated by certain Jews of Andalusia--"

"Hold, priest!" cried Almamen, impetuously, "thou didst name my child.
Do I hear aright? Placed under the sacred charge of a king, and a belted
knight, has she--oh! answer me, I implore thee--been insulted by the
licentious addresses of one of that king's own lineage? Answer! I am a
Jew--but I am a father and a man."

"This pretended passion deceives us not," said the Dominican, who,
himself cut off from the ties of life, knew nothing of their power.
"Reply to the question put to thee: name thy accomplices."

"I have told thee all. Thou hast refused to answer one. I scorn and defy
thee: my lips are closed."

The Grand Inquisitor glanced to his brethren, and raised his hand.
His assistants whispered each other; one of them rose, and disappeared
behi