should be chasing dastardly robbers in the wilds of Calabria; but no matter, 't is destiny,—all destiny,— Napoleon was born to be the Emperor of France, and to command Europe; and I to do the biddings of some hundreds of my superiors. I must say, however, I should like a better field than this-'t would be humiliating to fall by the shot or the knife of a thief."

The soldiers slept that night at a large masseria or farmhouse, not far from Nicastro; and Vernet forgot, over a cheering bottle of Calabrian wine, the melancholy reflections of the evening. They began their route early the next morning, to reconnoitre the hamlets on the edge of the forest; the men rambled on in the straggling manner usual with light troops, and Vernet imprudently enough in such a country and on such an occasion, frequently strayed apart with a brother officer. As the day advanced, the sun became intensely hot, and they suffered greatly from thirst; about eleven o'clock, Vernet found himself with a friend of the name of Beauchamp on the side of a hill, whence piercing a thick grove of trees, they descried a white cottage, superior in its aspect to the few wretched hovels they had hitherto passed.

"Allons, Beauchamp," cried Vernet, "there's a snug house, which seems by the smoke ascending from its chimney to have an inhabitant; perhaps it may afford us a glass of wine and water."

They ordered their men to halt, and soon reached the open door of the cottage:-it was the house of Peppe

Tosco, and on entering it they found Antonietta and the old man and woman at their early dinner.

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What, ho!" exclaimed Vernet to his companion, as he perceived the lovely and blushing Antonietta, "what have we here? is it Proserpine or one of her nymphs, returned from the valleys of Etna to gather flowers in the plains of Calabria?" *

The sudden entrance of the two strangers occasioned considerable disturbance to the party: Pasquale started to his legs, the old woman turned pale, and Antonietta hung down her head; she would have escaped, but Vernet detained her.

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Fear not, lovely girl," said he, "you have nothing to fear from us-we may have to fear you rather.— Come, come, sit down! we want to partake of this repast, and 't would be all unsavoury should the queen of the feast leave the table;-and you, good dame, don't look so alarmed, I pray you; -and you, old gentleman, pray sit down, and leave off chafing about the room in this manner;-come, a jug of wine to our better acquaintance, and a little water here, good mother; your Calabrian suns make a man thirsty!"

The frank manners of the intruders, re-assured the suspicious Pasquale and Annarella; and Antonietta,

* According to the ancient poets, Proserpine, surrounded by a troop of beautiful nymphs, repaired every year to preside at the harvests in the fertile plain of Hipponium, a few miles from the plain of Sant' Eufemia.

though she had been taught to consider every Frenchman as a near relation of the devil, could not help stealing an occasional glance at the handsome soldier who sat by her side. She had never before seen any object so interesting; the feelings of nature triumphed over an artificial and unfounded dislike, and if she was not actually in love with him in this first short interview, she at least felt (without knowing it) the precursors of that tender passion, preparing her heart for its reception. Vernet on his part was enchanted with her beauty and artlessness, and his warm feelings of adoration threw an eloquence in his manner and in the expression of his face, and in the few words he said to her, that made her heart palpitate with delight. When the young Frenchmen had satisfied their thirst, and partaken of what was on the table, they had no longer any pretext for remaining; Beauchamp arose, and pulled Vernet by the sleeve, and he too, though most unwillingly, prepared to depart.

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Adieu, my pretty maid," said he, patting her on her cheek, half playfully, half mournfully, "Adieu! thanks for your hospitality—and here's something by which to remember me."

Antonietta refused the dollar with something like offended dignity; the old woman, however, sprang forward and clutched it, and kept it in spite of her mistress's frown.

"Farewell, sirs," said Antonietta, "farewell!" she would have said something else, but old Pasquale watched

her narrowly, and seemed to intimidate her. She followed Vernet to the door, and with her eyes until he was out of sight, and then sat down on the stone bench before the cottage.

“Well, Beauchamp," said Vernet, as they hastened on to join their men, "what think you of this rencontre?"

"My faith! she's an angel," cried Beauchamp."Who the devil would ever have expected to unnest such a bird, and in such regions as these! Did you ever see so lovely a Grecian face, such swimming black eyes, under such narrow little arches of eyebrows— such a mouth—such lips-such teeth!—and then, such a transparent complexion, and such a rosy blush as now and then flowed over her cheeks, her forehead, her neck —even to her finger ends;—how she came by it, I can't conceive, in this burning country, where everybody we meet is almost as black as our Martinique cymbal-player."

"And her figure!" rejoined Beauchamp, "her neckher waist-I'm sure I could span it! and her arms, her round, finely-turned arms; her white tapering hand-her feet! I never saw such feet but once-those belonging to the little Venus with the funny name at Naples."

"She's a riddle, Beauchamp, that's certain; how came she by those elegant manners, and that pretty way of speaking? I suppose, at most, she's the daughter of

The Venus Callipiga, which has been attributed to Praxiteles, and considered as a rival to the Venus de Medici.

some little farmer or buffalo driver; but how such a father should have such a daughter, quite passes my comprehension."

"But did you observe the old man and woman?" said Beauchamp.

"I can't say I did, very particularly."

“They have both certainly most sinister physiognomies -the countenance of the old fellow would sign his death-warrant, before any of our military tribunals. I did n't much like his long knife, and that old gun in the corner. I think he's a dangerous rogue."

"Be he what he may, he shall not hinder me from repeating my visit as soon as our present chase is over."

"What! to get a knife in your back, or a bullet from behind a tree-eh, Vernet? He scowled at you most horribly when you patted the little girl on the cheek."

'Oh, nonsense! these people have all an instinctive hatred of us; and, as we run such pretty risks in our bounden duty, surely it may be permitted to us to get into a little amateur scrape, just on one's own account. The fact is, the girl has interested me more than I should be willing to confess to any one but you; and so, see her again I will, whatever be the consequences."

Here they joined their company, and soon had to attend to other matters. In this expedition they suffered severely; a pitiless sirocco, with its dull, red atmosphere, that lasted the whole time, depressed their spirits, and choked them with thirst; the marshes they had to sweep