OB,

WEEKLY

THE

VISITOR.

A Tale.

were he so inclined I should think inyself bound in honour not to listen to him." Then I am satisfied,' returned the inquisitor, as hisfeatures recovered their usual expression: 'your conduct in this affair, Don Juan, as it proceeds from the nobleness of your disposition, I shall overlook: but for this wretch, I must insist upon reconducting him to his prison, from which he has been illegally released.' O never,' cried Donna Lucinda, as she fell at his feet; it were doub

Don Jerome advanced to the middle of the apartment; he seemed in great agitation, while a deadly paleness overspread his countenance. The crime which this man has been guilty of,' said he in a hesitating broken tone of voice, 'deserves the most exemplary punishment. He has dared to of ficiate as a minister of our holy religion; he has impiously listened to the confession, in a manner which no mortal but those appoint-ly cruel to snatch that liberty from him, which, but a moment ago, he seemed assured of.' The sacred duties of my function,' replied the inquisitor, must not give way to the claims of private friendship; he is my prisoner; I have the sole disposal of him; I find him here in a place and situation which I did not allot to him; I must again insist upon reconduction him to his cell.' Don Juan took hold of the arm of the obstinate inqusiter, and led him to the farther end of the apartment; they spoke together in so low a tone of voice, that the

ed by God ought to have done; but this, however sacrilegiously obtained, was delivered by my deceased brother, in full security on the inviolable secresy ordained by the church on these occasions, this is no trifling matter. Mark me, Don Juan, I require you upon the faith and honour of a knight, upon that sacred character you bear as a gentleman and a Spaniard, to declaire whether this man has directly or indirectly divulged the whole or any part of the confession he so impiously obtained? upon your

trembling and agitated Pedro saj me than life itself; the illustrious

They retracked the windings which led the way back to Pedrosa's place of confinement. Don Jerome never once opened his lips, and his fearful prisoner trembled || at every step. When they arrived in the middle of the apartment, the former, laying down the lamp, walked for some moments backwards and forwards in the most violent agitation of mind: he or three times repeated the word Pedrosa, but the rest of the sentence died away upon his lips; at last making an extraordinary effort to command the turbulence of his feeling, Pedrosa, said he, the wil of Heaven has made you acquainted with a secret dearer to

ed the most excruciating tortures await you, and all that is yours. Were you to By to the most savage desert upon earth, you would not be safe from my resentment. I have agents every where, and the most intricate labyrinths of a mine dug the centre of the earth, could not hide you from my pursuit.' 'Never shall your holy reverence have occasion to complain of me,' returned Pedrosa; industry and frugality will Stop,' interrupted the impatient inquisitor, 'I had forgot one thing: I have ever observed that meanness of idea is the inseparable attendant on poverty and wretched means of subsistence: I consider it as sn additional security for your silence to raise you above necesity, even to a comparative state of opulence in respect to your former condition; wherever you are, this paper will intile you to draw upon any mercantile house, who knows the opúlence of our family, for the sum of one thousand ducats: and at the expiration of a year from this date I shall take care to transmit another of the same kind to you. Nay, do not thank me: I scorn to pretend that I do you an act of kindness, for were this moment the last of your existence, I should rejoice.' "What I am going to cbserve to your holy reverence,' replied Pedrosa, is, that your bounty is useless: Don Juan has alrea

in

drosa,' said he, in a calmer voice than he had hitherto used, 'you are simple and honest; these are virtues unknown to many in your condition of life; I respect them; keep what I have given you, you are deserving of it; you shall now obtain your liberty, but remember the conditions; whereever you go your steps are watched; remember, your disobedience of my commands will be followed by consequences the most terrible. Lest you should meet with any terruption in your journey through Spain, take this seal, it is that of the holy office; if you find yourself in any perplexity, shew it to the spiritual director of the place where you may be, and it will be your sure passport; but be certain to destroy it when you pass the frontiers. Come. follow, me? Don Jerome gave Pedrosa the lamp, who proceeded through the mouldy damp passages with cheerfulness and alacrity. They pass through a great hall which led a range of dungeons, the doors of which seemed to be strongly fastened with large iron bars No sound but their own footsteps were heard in this dreary mansion of misery; and they at last arrived at a passage which led to a door, which was hardly 3 feet in height but strongly secured in the inside. Put out the light,' said the inquis

dy provided for me, by a pensionitor: Pedrosa tremblingly obeyed; of eight hundred ducats. The

for he could not tell what to think

inquisitor looked at him with great of an order which was to involve

them in total darkness. Don Jerome with dificulty drew back the bolts; a sudden gust of the external air blew along the passage: he took hold of the shoulder of Pedrosa, in a moment pushed him into the street, and the door was shut with violence hehind him.'

,

Pedrosa stood for a moment almost stupified with the sudden effect which the open air had upon his agitated nerves, at last, after moving forwards a few paces, he easily recollected the spot where he then was. In his simple uncultivated mind, his joy began to shew itself in a thousand different modes, which to an observer would have been highly entertaining,he stretched forth his limbs ran from one side of the street to the other, sometimes stopping for a moment, and turning round and round as if to assure himself he was free, then clapping his hands above his head, and leaping up, he would hurry rapidly along. In this manner, like a person in a fit of intoxication, without thinking precisely on the matter, for he was too confused to think, he, as it where instinctively took the way to his home.

The clock struck one as Pedrosa turned the corner of the church of San Nicholas, and the streets seemed to be deserted of every living creature, he was therefore secure from that interruption which the singularity of his manner

might have occasioned, and a few minutes brought him to the upper end of the Strada de Toledo.

Let us enter his humble habitation.--It was not long after the hour which in happier times, used to call to rest the smiling family of Pedrosa. His daughter Lisetta had just awaked from a short slumber, and beheld her mother still sitting by the fire bathed in tears, she arose, and putting on a part of her clothes, endeavoured to comfort her. The more robust, Stephano had fallen into a deep sleep of the fatigue of a third day's unsuccessful search for his father, over most part of the city. of Madrid, while little Pedro, who had cried all day, now slumbered unconcious of the misery around him. Suddenly a knocking is heard at the door, accompanied with the exclamation of 'Rise up, Janetta, rise up and open the door, it is I. My father! my father!" cried Lisetta, and clapped her hands together with rapture. Her mother and she flew to the door together, and in a moment Pedrosa felt himself encircled in both their arms. Where have you been?' cried Janetta, in a tone of the fondest affection. Where have you

been. father?' echoed Lisetta. But had Pedrosa been willing to have informed them, they were too much agitated to have listened to him. The noise they made awakened Stephano, who instantly sprung up and flew to his father.