Alh. These fell inquisitors! these sons of blood! As I came on, his face so madden'd me, That ever and anon I clutch'd my dagger And half unsheathed it

Ter.

Be more calm, I pray you.

Alh. And as he walked along the narrow path Close by the mountain's edge, my soul grew eager; 'T was with hard toil I made myself remember That his Familiars held my babes and husband. To have leapt upon him with a tiger's plunge, And hurl'd him down the rugged precipice, O, it had been most sweet!

Ter.

Where is your woman's heart?

Alh.

Hush! hush for shame!

O gentle lady!

You have no skill to guess my many wrongs,
Many and strange! Besides (ironically), I am a Chris-

tian,

And Christians never pardon-'t is their faith!

Ter. Shame fall on those who so have shown it to

thee!

Alh. I know that man: 't is well he knows not

me.

Five years ago (and he was the prime agent),
Five years ago the holy brethren seized me.

Ter. What might your crime be?

I was a Moresco !

Ath.
They cast me, then a young and nursing mother,
Into a dungeon of their prison-house,
Where was no bed, no fire, no ray of light,
No touch, no sound of comfort! The black air,
It was a toil to breathe it! when the door,
Slow opening at the appointed hour, disclosed
One human countenance, the lamp's red flame
Cower'd as it enter'd, and at once sunk down.

Oh miserable! by that lamp to see

My infant quarrelling with the coarse hard bread
Brought daily for the little wretch was sickly- .
My rage had dried away its natural food.
In darkness I remain'd-the dull bell counting,
Which haply told me, that the all-cheering Sun
Was rising on our garden. When I dozed,
My infant's moanings mingled with my slumbers
And waked me.-If you were a mother, Lady,
I should scarce dare to tell you, that its noises
And peevish cries so fretted on my brain
That I have struck the innocent babe in anger.
Ter. O Heaven! it is too horrible to hear.

Alh. What was it then to suffer? 'Tis most right
That such as you should hear it.-Know you not,
What Nature makes you mourn, she bids you heal?
Great Evils ask great Passions to redress them,
And Whirlwinds fitliest scatter Pestilence.

Ter. You were at length released?

Alh.

Yes, at length

I saw the blessed arch of the whole heaven!

"T was the first time my infant smiled. No moreFor if I dwell upon that moment, Lady,

A trance comes on which makes me o'er again
All I then was-my knees hang loose and drag,
And my lip falls with such an idiot laugh,

That you would start and shudder!

Ter.

But your husband—

Alh. A month's imprisonment would kill him, Lady. Ter. Alas, poor man!

Alh.

He hath a lion's courage,

Fearless in act, but feeble in endurance;
Unfit for boisterous times, with gentle heart
He worships Nature in the hill and valley,
Not knowing what he loves, but loves it all--

Enter ALVAR disguised as a MORESCO, and in Moorish garments.

Ter. Know you that stately Moor?

I know him not:

Alh.
But doubt not he is some Moresco chieftain,

Who hides himself among the Alpuxarras.

Ter. The Alpuxarras? Does he know his danger, So near this seat?

Alh.

He wears the Moorish robes too,

As in defiance of the royal edict.

[Alhadra advances to Alvar, who has walked to the back of the stage near the rocks. Teresa drops her veil.

Alh. Gallant Moresco! An inquisitor,

Monviedro, of known hatred to our race

Alvar (interrupting her). You have mistaken me. I am a Christian.

Alh. He deems, that we are plotting to ensnare

him:

Speak to him, Lady-none can hear you speak,

And not believe you innocent of guile.

Ter. If aught enforce you to concealment, Sir-▬▬▬▬ Alh. He trembles strangely.

[Alvar sinks down and hides his face in his robe. See, we have disturb'd him.

Ter.

[Approaches nearer to him.

I pray you think us friends-uncowl your face,

For

you seem faint, and the night breeze blows healing.

I pray you think us friends!

Alvar (raising his head). Calm, very calm!

"T is all too tranquil for reality!

And she spoke to me with her innocent voice,

That voice, that innocent voice! She is no traitress! Ter. Let us retire. (Haughtily to Alhadra).

[They advance to the front of the Stage.

Alhadra (with scorn). He is indeed a Christian. Alvar (aside). She deems me dead. vet wears no mourning garment!

Why should my brother's-wife-wear mourning

garments?

[To Teresa.

Your pardon, noble dame! that I disturb'd you:
I had just started from a frightful dream.

Ter. Dreams tell but of the Past, and yet, 't is

said,

They prophecy

Alv.

The Past lives o'er again

In its effects, and to the guilty spirit

The ever-frowning Present is its image.
Ter. Traitress! (Then aside).

What sudden spell o'ermasters me?

Why seeks he me, shunning the Moorish woman? [Teresa looks round uneasily, but gradually becomes attentive as Alvar proceeds in the next speech.

Alv. I dreamt I had a friend, on whom I leant
With blindest trust, and a betrothed maid,

Whom I was wont to call not mine, but me:
For mine own self seem'd nothing, lacking her.
This maid, so idolized, that trusted friend
Dishonor'd in my absence, soul and body!
Fear, following guilt, tempted to blacker guilt,
And murderers were suborn'd against my
life.
But by my looks, and most impassion'd words,
I roused the virtues that are dead in no man,
Even in the assassins' hearts! they made their terms,
And thank'd me for redeeming them from murder.

Alh. You are lost in thought: hear him no more,
sweet Lady!

Ter. From morn to night I am myself a dreamer,

And slight things bring on me the idle mood!
Well, Sir, what happen'd then?

Alv.

On a rude rock,
A rock, methought, fast by a grove of firs,
Whose thready leaves to the low-breathing gale
Made a soft sound most like the distant ocean,
I stay'd as though the hour of death were pass'd,
And I were sitting in the world of spirits—
For all things seem'd unreal! There I sate—
The dews fell clammy, and the night descended,
Black, sultry, close! and ere the midnight hour,
A storm came on, mingling all sounds of fear,
That woods, and sky, and mountains, seem'd cne
havoc.

The second flash of lightning show'd a tree
Hard by me, newly scathed. I rose tumultuous:
My soul work'd high, I bared my head to the storm,
And, with loud voice and clamorous agony,
Kneeling I pray'd to the great Spirit that made me,
Pray'd that REMORSE might fasten on their hearts,
And cling with poisonous tooth, inextricable

As the gored lion's bite!

Ter. (shuddering).

A fearful curse!

Alh. (fiercely). But dreamt you not that you return'd and kill'd them?

Dreamt you of no revenge?

Alv. (his voice trembling, and in tones of deep distress).

She would have died,

Died in her guilt-perchance by her own hands!
And bending o'er her self-inflicted wounds,
I might have met the evil glance of frenzy,
And leapt myself into an unblest grave!

pray'd for the punishment that cleanseth hearts : For still ì loved her!

Alh.

And you dreamit a this?