which is said to prolong human existence. Many wonder-ful secrets of nature were in this process revealed to his sight ; hut be became so sad and gloomy, and his eyes beamed on me with such an unwonted fire, that I feared lest grief should dethrone the angel of reason. To divert his mind, I began to lead him forth in his accustomed walks. One day when we had lingered rather later than usual beyond the walls of Grenada, a band of armed Cas-' tilians fell upon us, and carried us away captives. The noble Sancho found me singing songs for my cruel master, and redeemed me from my fate." " And what became of thy father?" inquired Berenga-ria. " He was enabled by some of his medicines to heal a long-established malady of his captor, and thus obtained his freedom : since which, until within a few months, he has wandered through Spain in search of his lost child." " And wherefore didst thou commit to a dying man the precious jewel which I saw in thy hand ?" The tears of Elsiebede began to fall fast, and with a choking voice she replied, " Question me not, I entreat thee. Oh, my mis-tress, concerning the ring, at another time I will tell thee all." Touched with the instinctive reverence that nature always pays to genuine sorrow, the princess forbore further inquiries, and the two maidens completed their walk in silence. The terror that Berengaria had suffered took away all desire to prosecute her inquiries with the alchemist, but with unusual consideration, on the following day, she dis-missed Elsiebede at an early hour, giving her permission to pass the night with her father. The poor girl returned in the morning overwhelmed with grief. The alchemist was dead. From her self-reproaches and lamentation^ Beren-garia learned, that in his scientific researches he had con-sumed all his property, and melted every valuable belonging to his daughter, except her mother's ring. This gem she had steadily refused to give him, both on account of its being a memento and a charm, and the failure of his experiment with its fatal results he had in his dying hour attributed to 204 HEROINES OF THE CRUSADES.