the other side of the curtain. This time the fair one took care that
no part of her countenance was visible, and the young man was equally
guarded for the time, not to betray his sweet knowledge of the other's
scrutiny.

It was at this juncture, that King Haffgo addressed some pointed
questions to Ashman who was forced to withdraw his gaze from the
marvellously attractive sight, and fasten it upon the rugged and
wrinkled countenance of the king of the Murhapas.

But those eyes were in his field of vision, and, even while speaking to
the potentate, his glance continually wandered to the orbs which
attracted him as the lodestone draws the magnet.

But alas! the American forgot a fact of the first importance: the eyes
of the father were as observant as those of his only child. He saw the
furtive glances at the curtains, and a slight rustling at his right
hand told him that his beloved Ariel, with the curiosity of her sex,
was playing the eavesdropper.

The indulgent father would have cared nothing for this, had he not
discovered the extraordinary interest which one of his three callers
manifested in his child. In that moment, the distrust which he felt of
the strange race was turned to violent hatred toward one of its
members, because of his unpardonable insolence in daring to return the
gaze with a smile.

The king suddenly leaned the javelin in his hand against the chair in
which he was sitting, and partly rose from his seat as if about to
descend from the throne. Instead of doing so, he leaned slightly to
one side, and, with a quick movement, seized one of the curtains and
snatched it aside.

The act, which was like the flitting of a bird's wing, caused Ariel,
his daughter, to stand forth fully revealed!

If the white men had been dazzled by the amazing collection of diamonds
on the brow of the king, it may be said that they were now blinded for
the moment by the vision of loveliness which burst upon them, like the
unexpected emergence of the sun from behind a dark cloud.

Before the princess could rally from her bewilderment, her father
sharply commanded her to advance. She knew that that affectionate
parent could be stern and cruel as well as loving and affectionate, and
with her eyes bent modestly on the floor she stepped forward and stood
beside him.

Her hair, instead of being auburn like her parent's, was as black as
the raven's wing. It hung in luxuriant wavy masses below her waist,
being gathe