646 THE RED TART AXE. 



was about to proceed to Nantes, to take the command of a slaver, 

 proposed that I should accompany him. I agreed, and ten days after 

 we were in sight of the Straits of Gibraltar. We put into Tangiers 

 for a few days, and I fortunately encountered Zamerik the Jew, the 

 bounden friend of my race ; and here the wealthiest of that scattered 

 people. It was then, caro mio, by virtue of what this belt contains that 

 the Jew ceded to me the twins I love so much and thou, Fasillo, 

 into the bargain thou, a poor volunteer of the Spanish navy, taken 

 in a yacht in which nearly all besides were massacreed thou attached 

 thyself to my fate. Poor child ! thou could' st love the accursed ! 

 Speak, Fasillo, dost thou love me ?" 



The Gitano pronounced these last words with much emotion; the 

 only tear he had shed for years trembled a moment on his eyelids as 

 he extended his hand to Fasillo, who seized it with the utmost en- 

 thusiasm, exclaiming " As my life to the death, commandant." 



The Gitano unclasped the ornamental belt from his waist, and 

 pressing a small polished silver stud, a portion of the leather flew 

 open, showing a little recess, from which the Rover took a slip of 

 parchment, covered apparently with Arabic characters and various 

 fantastic marks. Unsheathing his dagger he cut it into two equal 

 parts, and returning one to its former niche, held out the other to 

 Fasillo, saying, " Take it, boy ; it is perhaps the best gift I can confer 

 on thee, for whether thou art rich or poor, powerful or desolate, 

 wherever a member of my race exists, with that scrap of parchment 

 shalt thou command his services, his fortune nay, even his life 'tis 

 thine, Fasillo." 



" Oh, commandant !" sighed the young man his heart too full to 

 find words with which to express his gratitude to his generous 

 patron. 



" Let us drink," continued the Rover, assuming an air of vivacity ; 

 " let us drink, for I have fatigued thee with a long and tedious con- 

 fession, amico caro mio ; recollect only never again speak of this 

 never, never speak of my past life ! Allons, to Juana." 



f< To the mouja, commandant." 



" Alas ! I fear my project of escalade is useless ; the walls are too 

 elevated, Fasillo." 



" By the heavens above us, commandant, if the walls of the 

 convent of Santa Magdalen a are elevated, an arrow attached to a 

 silk cord, and launched from an arbulete, may reach still higher, and 

 descend even in the garden of the old cloister." 



Well, mio caro ?" 



" Well, commandant, your mouja will receive the silk line, of 

 which you retain the end, and informs you of it by a slight move- 

 ment ; you then attach a rope ladder to the line, and the mouja 

 makes it fast inside the wall, as you have already done on the outside, 

 and, by the Virgin ! you may on a fine night enter the holy place, 

 and return again as easily as I empty this glass." 



" By my kangiar, young man, thou understandest marvellously 

 well the strong and weak points of the affair ; it has all been consi- 

 dered, Fasillo, long since, and indeed I am " 



At this moment the old chief of the negroes, the only man of the 



