nd found us
still seated upon the steps of the throne. At last, she rose and said,
"I know not whether you be sincere in what you say, but I must
acknowledge that I hope you are; and I shall be very miserable if it
should prove otherwise. But you are now under the effects of the
intoxicating water, and may deceive yourself. Come, sir, it is time that
I conduct you to your chamber, where you must sleep away the
exhilarating effects of the golden fountain. To-morrow morning, if you
are of the same opinion, I may be induced to make a discovery."

The next morning I awoke without any headache from the intemperance of
the previous night. As soon as I quitted the apartment I met the
princess outside. "I am still in the same mind, dear princess," said I,
implanting a kiss upon her hand, "to live for you alone, or die if I
cannot remain with you."

She smiled and answered, "Then for you will I sacrifice every thing; for
until I beheld you, I never was aware that I had a heart. Rise and
follow me, and you shall know all."

"We passed the large hall, with which the whole of the bed-chambers
communicated, and she conducted me through a dark passage to a room, in
which were several golden plinths without statues. At the further end of
it I perceived, to my horror, that two of them were already occupied
with the forms of the boatswain and sailor who had been intoxicated the
night before. They were now changed into the same blue chalcedony of
which the statues in the porticos were composed.

"Do you recognise these figures?" inquired the princess.

"I do, indeed," answered I with amazement.

"Such are the effects," continued she, "of intoxication from the water
of the golden fountain. They contain in solution so large a quantity of
the matter which by mineralogists is denominated silex, that once allow
the senses to be overpowered by repeated draughts, and in a few hours
the effects which you behold will be produced. It is by these means that
my father has obtained the variety and number of statues which you have
seen--all of whom were once visitors to the island in different ships,
not one of the crews of which have ever returned. It has also the power
of producing longevity, and hardening the hearts of those who use it in
moderation. My father's cruelty, therefore, is not thought of by his
subjects, who, if convicted of any heinous crime, are forced to drink
this water, and are erected as monuments of his displeasure in vario