felt that there was but one appropriate
rejoinder. He kissed her.

She sighed again as she relinquished herself to his embrace.

'You English merchants are so fascinating--and so rich.'

Amyntas thought the Spanish lady was sent him by the gods, for she took
him to her house and gave him melons and grapes, which, being young and
of lusty appetite, he devoured with great content. She gave him
wine--strong, red, fiery wine, that burned his throat--and she gave him
sundry other very delightful things, which it does not seem necessary to
relate.

When Amyntas on his departure shyly offered some remuneration for his
entertainment, it was with an exquisite southern grace that she relieved
him of his ten golden guineas, and he almost felt she was doing him a
favour as she carelessly rattled the coins into a silken purse. And if
he was a little dismayed to see his treasure go so speedily, he was far
too delicate-minded to betray any emotion; but he resolved to lose no
time in finding out the offices of the wealthy Tiefel.

IX

But Van Tiefel was no longer in Cadiz! On the outbreak of the treaty,
the Spanish authorities had given the Dutch merchant four-and-twenty
hours to leave the country, and had seized his property, making him
understand that it was only by a signal mercy that his life was spared.
Amyntas rushed down to the harbour in dismay. The good ship _Calderon_
had already sailed. Amyntas cursed his luck, he cursed himself; above
all, he cursed the lovely Spanish lady whose charms had caused him to
delay his search for Van Tiefel till the ship had gone on its eastward
journey.

After looking long and wistfully at the sea, he turned back into the
town and rambled melancholy through the streets, wondering what would
become of him. Soon the pangs of hunger assailed him, and he knew the
discomfort of a healthy English appetite. He hadn't a single farthing,
and even Scotch poets, when they come to London to set the Thames on
fire, are wont to put a half-crown piece in their pockets. Amyntas
meditated upon the folly of extravagance, the indiscretion of youth and
the wickedness of woman.... He tightened his belt and walked on. At
last, feeling weary and faint with hunger, he lay down on the steps of a
church and there spent the night. When he awoke next morning, he soon
remembered that he had slept supperless; he was ravenous. Suddenly his
eye, looking across the square, caught sight of a book shop, and it
occurr