galleys; the fifth--the fifth, Myra--my best
beloved, my brave, my beautiful, received his death wound in defending
me from outrage. _You are his child!_ Judge, then, how I love you, my
daughter. You love the sexton of St. Hubert's--he shall marry you."

"Ah, mother!" said the gypsy girl, "I fear me he is lost. He is the
accepted lover of Margaret Ellis. She did love a young stranger; but
the sexton of St. Hubert's has Farmer Ellis in his debt, and
threatened to throw him in jail, if the latter did not grant him the
hand of his daughter. He has done so, and the wedding day is fixed.
Alas! before he saw his May-day queen, he loved me, and promised to
marry me. Often beneath that very moon, mother, has he sat and told me
his love. When I smiled at his protestations, he would speak of his
wealth, and tell me of hidden stores of gold, for a thrifty and a
rich man is the sexton of St. Hubert's. I do not love him less because
he does not frown upon our wandering tribe, but has lax principles
that suit the fiery passions of our race. I know not in what consists
the art by which he won me; it is enough for me to know that I am
devoted to him. Alas! that knowledge is too much, since he has owned
the fascination of the Queen of the May."

"Enough said, daughter!" cried the crone. "Before the altar he shall
marry you. He shall love you better than he loves the May queen. What
are her attractions when compared to yours? Praise from the old is
little to the young; yet let me say that I have wandered east and
west, north and south; have seen the Georgian and Sicilian maids, have
seen the dark-haired girls of Naples, and the donnas of Madrid; yet
never did these aged eyes rest on a finer form or face than yours, my
daughter."

The gypsy girl smiled.

"Ay," said the old woman, "now you look lovelier than ever. That smile
is like a sunbeam to my heart; it thaws the frost of age. Believe me,
Myra, the sexton of St. Hubert's shall adore you."

"Then you must have love charms," said the gypsy girl, blushing.

"Love charms I have," said the old woman, "and those of wondrous
potency. We are a favored race, Myra. Descended from the old
Egyptians, we inherit their mysterious learning. To a few among us,
the queens and magi of our tribes, there has come down a knowledge of
charms and medicine, and some of the secrets of astrology. Go, Myra;
leave me. I will provide for your peace. Yes, yes, I have love charms.
I have them!"

The gypsy