sufficed to denote the melancholy
nature of the reverie which the maid indulged.

"Ah," thought she, "to what danger am I exposed! If my father, if
my lover dreamed of the persecution to which their poor Leila is
abandoned!"

A few tears, large and bitter, broke from her eyes, and stole unheeded
down her cheek. At that moment, the deep and musical chime of a bell was
heard summoning the chiefs of the army to prayer; for Ferdinand invested
all his worldly schemes with a religious covering, and to his politic
war he sought to give the imposing character of a sacred crusade.

"That sound," thought she, sinking on her knees, "summons the Nazarenes
to the presence of their God. It reminds me, a captive by the waters of
Babylon, that God is ever with the friendless. Oh! succour and defend
me, Thou who didst look of old upon Ruth standing amidst the corn, and
didst watch over Thy chosen people in the hungry wilderness, and in the
stranger's land."

Wrapt in her mute and passionate devotions, Leila remained long in
her touching posture. The bell had ceased; all without was hushed and
still--when the drapery, stretched across the opening of the tent, was
lifted, and a young Spaniard, cloaked, from head to foot, in a long
mantle, stood within the space. He gazed in silence, upon the kneeling
maiden; nor was it until she rose that he made his presence audible.

"Ah, fairest!" said he, then, as he attempted to take her hand, "thou
wilt not answer my letters--see me, then, at thy feet. It is thou who
teachest me to kneel."

"You, prince." said Leila, agitated, and in great and evident fear. "Why
harass and insult me thus? Am I not sacred as a hostage and a charge?
and are name, honour, peace, and all that woman is taught to hold most
dear, to be thus robbed from me under the pretext of a love dishonouring
to thee and an insult to myself?"

"Sweet one," answered Don Juan, with a slight laugh, "thou hast learned,
within yonder walls, a creed of morals little known to Moorish maidens,
if fame belies them not. Suffer me to teach thee easier morality and
sounder logic. It is no dishonour to a Christian prince to adore beauty
like thine; it is no insult to a maiden hostage if the Infant of Spain
proffer her the homage of his heart. But we waste time. Spies, and
envious tongues, and vigilant eyes, are around us; and it is not often
that I can baffle them as I have done now. Fairest, hear me!" and this
time he succeeded in seizing