dark evening through the street, where the boys were pursuing their sport, and the men were playing at mora.

"Do you see the Jew?" one of them had said, and began to scoff at and ridicule the old man; and then, as he pursued his way in silence, they closed up the street. One of the fellows, a thick, broad-shouldered man, held a long stick stretched out, and cried, "Nay, Jew, take thy legs with thee, however; they will shut Ghetto, thou wilt not get in to-night. Let us see how nimble thou art in the legs!

"Leap, Jew!" cried all the boys; "Abraham's God will help thee!"

"What harm have I done you?" said he.

"Let me, an

old man, go on my own way, and make not a jest of my gray hair before her to whom you yourselves pray for pardon:" and he pointed to the image of the Madonna just by.

"Dost thou think," said the fellow, "that Madonna troubles herself about a Jew? Wilt thou jump, thou old hound?" and he now clenched his fist in his face, and the boys pressed in a closer circle around him.

With this Bernardo sprang forth, pushed the nearest aside, snatched in an instant the stick out of the fellow's hand, swung round his sword above him, held the stick which he had taken from him before him, and cried in a strong, manly voice, "Jump thou, or I will cleave thy head! - delay not! - by all the saints, I'll split thy skull if thou do not jump over it!"

The fellow stood as if all heaven had fallen amid the astonished crowd. The thundering words, the drawn sabre, the papal officer uniform, all electrified him, and, without replying one word, he gave a great spring over the stick, which he had just held before the poor Jew. The whole assembly appeared equally surprised; no one ventured to say a word, but looked astonished by that which had happened.

Scarcely had the fellow leapt over, than Bernardo seized him by the shoulder, and, striking him lightly on the cheek with the flat of his sabre, said,

Bravo, my hound! well done! Yet once more this trick, and then, I think, thou wilt have had enough of this dog's play!"

The fellow was obliged to leap, and the people, who went

over to the merry side of the thing, cried "Bravo!" and clapped their hands.

"Where art thou, Jew?" asked Bernardo.

Come, I will

lead thee!" But nobody replied; the Jew was gone. "Come," said I, when we were out of the crowd, come, let them say what, they may, I will drink a bottle of wine with you. I will drink your health. May we always be friends in whatever circumstances we may be!"

"You are a fool, Antonio!" replied he, "and I also at bottom, to have vexed myself about the rude fellow. I think that he will not speedily be making anybody jump again.” We went into the hostel; none of the lively guests observed There stood in a corner a little table, and here we bade them bring us a bottle of wine, and drank to our happy meeting and to the endurance of our friendship; then we parted.

us.

I returned to the Jesuit school, where the old custodian, my particular friend, let me in unobserved of any one, and I was quickly asleep and dreaming of this evening's many adven

tures.

CHAPTER IX.

THE JEW MAIDEN.

HAT I had been out for an evening without permission,

THA

nay, drunk wine also in an inn with Bernardo, troubled me afterwards; but fortune favored me — nobody missed me, or, if they did, they supposed, like the old custodian, that I had received permission, for I was indeed considered to be the quietest and the most conscientious of the scholars. The days glided on smoothly for weeks; I studied industriously, and visited in the mean time my noble benefactress: these visits were my highest recreation. The little abbess became dearer to me every day; I took to her the pictures which I myself when a child had drawn, but when she had played some minutes with them they flew in many pieces about the floor; these I collected and joined again for her.

At that time I was reading Virgil. The sixth book, where the Cumaan sibyl conducts Æneas down to the lower regions, interested me greatly, for it bore a relationship to that of Dante. With this I thought of my poem, and that brought Bernardo vividly to my mind, whom I had not seen for so long a time. I longed for him. This was precisely on one of those days in the week on which the gallery of the Vatican stood open to the public. I obtained leave of absence to go and see the glorious marble gods and the beautiful pictures; but that which I particularly wished for was to meet with my dear Bernardo.

I was already in the great open colonnade where the most beautiful bust of Raphael stands, and where the whole ceiling is covered with exquisite pictures from the Bible, drawn by this great master and finished by his scholars. The strange arabesques on the walls, the legions of angels, which are either kneeling in every arch or spreading forth their great wings

towards the Infinite, were not new to me; yet I lingered here a long time, as if contemplating them, but waiting in reality for any lucky chance which might bring Bernardo there. I leaned over the balustrade of masonry, and contemplated the magnificent range of mountains, the proud line of the waves beyond the Campagna, but my eye at the same time looked down into the court of the Vatican to see if it were not Bernardo whenever I heard a sword ring up the broad flag-stones : but he came not.

In vain I wandered through the arcades, visited the Nilegroup and the Laocoön, all my looking was only folly, and I grew out of humor. Bernardo was not to be discovered, and, therefore, my homeward way seemed to me about as interesting as the Torso and the splendid Antinous.

Now skipped a light figure in helmet and with ringing spurs along the passage, and I after it; it was Bernardo. His joy was not less than mine; he drew me hastily along with him, for he had, he said, a thousand things to tell me.

"You do not know what I have suffered and still suffer! You shall be my doctor you alone can help me to the magical plants."

With these words he led me through the great hall, where the papal Swiss kept guard, into a large room fitted up for the accommodation of the officer on duty.

"But you are not ill?" I inquired, —“you cannot be so ! Your eyes and your cheeks burn with the glow of life."

"O yes, they burn," said he. "I burn from head to foot; but it is all right! You are my star of luck—you bring with you charming adventures and good ideas. You must help!sit down. You do not know how much I have lived through since that evening which we two spent together. But I will confide all to you—you are an honest friend, and must have a share in the adventure."

He would not allow me to speak; I must hear that which excited him so much.

"Do you remember the Jew-the old Jew whom the fellow would force to leap over the stick, and who hurried away without thanking me for my knightly help? I soon had forgotten him and the whole history. A few days afterwards

chance led me past the entrance into the Ghetto; I did not observe it until the soldier who had his post at the gate presented arms, because I now belong to the people of rank. I returned his greeting, and saw with that á handsome crowd of black-eyed girls of the Hebrew race just within the gate, and so, as you may imagine, I was possessed with the desire to go down through the narrow, dirty street. It was a whole synagogue within; houses jostling one against another high into the air; from every window was heard 'Bereschit Bara Elohim!' head to head, just as if they were going to pass over the Red Sea. Round about hung old clothes, umbrellas, and such like Rag-Fair goods. I skipped among iron-wares, pictures, and dirt, of course, and heard what a buzzing and screaming there was whether I would not trade, sell, or buy; they would hardly let me have time to notice a pair of blackeyed, beautiful children, which laughed at me from the door. It was such a wandering, you may trust me, as Dante might have described. All at once an old Jew fell upon me, bowed himself down before me as if I had been the holy father.

"Excellenza,' said he, 'my noble deliverer-the savior of my life, blessed be the hour in which I saw you! Think not that old Hanock is ungrateful!' and much more which I did not understand and cannot now remember. I now recognized him; it was the old Hebrew who should have taken the leap.

"Here is my poor house,' continued he, 'but the threshold is too humble for me to pray you to cross it ;' and with this he kissed my hands and my dress. I wished to get away, for the whole neighborhood was gazing upon us; but just then I cast my eyes upwards to the house, and I saw the most beautiful head that I ever had seen a marble Venus with warm blood in her cheeks, and eyes like the daughters of Arabia. Thus you can very well conceive that I followed the old Jew in - he had, indeed, invited me. The passage was truly as narrow and dark as if it had led into the grave of the Scipios, and the stone steps, and the handsome wooden gallery — yes, they were, in particular, formed to teach people stability in walking, and circumspection to the extremest finger-point. In the room itself it did not seem so much amiss, only the girl