he earth, so long as you are pure and innocent?'"

"'No, no,' she cried hastily, 'you misunderstand me. There breathes not
a more upright man than my father.'

"'Then wherefore should I be ashamed to own my marriage with his
daughter?' I asked in an impassioned manner.

"'Because,' she said, in a tone of such intense anguish that it rent my
heart as she began to speak; 'because,' she repeated slowly and
emphatically, 'he is viewed with abhorrence by that world which is so
unjust; for that which constitutes the stigma is hereditary office in
his family--an office that he dares not vacate under pain of death; and
now you can too well comprehend that my sire is the PUBLIC EXECUTIONER
OF NAPLES!'

"This announcement came upon me like a thunderbolt. I turned sick at
heart--my eyes grew dim--my brain whirled--I staggered and should have
fallen had I not come in contact with a wall. It appeared to me
afterward that sobs of ineffable agony fell upon my ears, while I was
yet in a state of semi-stupefaction--and methought likewise that a
delicate, soft hand pressed mine convulsively for a moment. Certain it
was, that when I recovered my presence of mind, when I was enabled to
collect my scattered thoughts, the executioner's daughter was no longer
near me. I was in despair at the revelation which had been
made--overwhelmed with grief, too, at having suffered her thus to
depart--for I feared that I should never see her more. Before me was my
hopeless love, behind me, like an evil dream, was the astounding
announcement which still rang in my ears, though breathed in such soft
and plaintive tones! Three or four minutes were wasted in the struggles
of conflicting thoughts, ere I was sufficiently master of myself to
remember that I might still overtake the maiden who had fled from me. It
struck me that her father's dwelling must be near the criminal prison;
and this was in the squalid quarter of the town where I had first
encountered her. Thither I sped--into the dark streets, so perilous
after dusk, I plunged; and at length I overtook the object of my
affection, just as she was skirting the very wall of the prison. I
seized her by the hand and implored her to forgive me for the manner in
which I had received the last explanation to which I had urged her.

"'It was natural that you should shrink in loathing from the bare idea,'
she said, in a tone which rent my heart. 'And now leave me, signor; for
further conversation between us