indicating the victim of a remarkable destiny.
And it is not to be wondered at, that a superstition so sad, and an
affection so tender and solicitous, discovered an almost miraculous
precocity in the first developments of the intellectual and moral
qualities of its subject. She was the attractive centre of all the
admiration and love of the royal household. Imagination fancied a
peculiar sadness in her eye, and her merry laugh was supposed to mingle
an element of sadness in its tones. Her mild and winning manners, and
her affectionate disposition made her the idol of all whom she loved;
and each one strove to do her service, as if hoping to avert, in some
measure, the coming doom of their darling; while she clung to the fond
and devoted hearts around her, as the ivy clings to the oak, which
receives its embraces, and is necessary to its support.

When the young princess, who received the name of Tecuichpo, had arrived
at the age of one year, she was given in charge to a young and beautiful
slave, whom the Emperor had recently obtained from Azcapozalco. Karee
was gifted with rare powers of minstrelsy. Her voice had the sweetness,
power and compass of a mocking bird, and all day long she warbled her
ever-changing lays, as if her natural breathing were music, and song the
natural flow of her thoughts. She soon became passionately devoted to
the little pet, and exerted all her uncommon gifts to amuse and instruct
her. She taught her all the native songs of Azcapozalco and Mexitli,
instructed her in dancing, embroidery and feather-work, and initiated
her into the science of picture-writing and the fanciful language of
flowers. Karee and her royal charge were never apart. Gentle and timid
as the dove, Tecuichpo clung to her new nurse, as to the bosom of a
mother. Even in her early infancy, she would so sweetly respond, like an
echo, to the gentle lullaby, and mingle her little notes so
symphoniously with those of Karee, that it excited the wonder and
admiration of all. Karee was passionately fond of flowers. It was indeed
an element in the national taste of this remarkable people. But Karee
was unusually gifted in her preceptions of natural beauty, and seemed to
have a soul most delicately attuned to the spirit and language of
flowers, the painted hieroglyphics of nature. She loved to exercise her
exuberant fancy in decorating her little mistress, and often contrived
so to arrange them upon the various parts of her person and