“ Lucretia Borgia started, and uttered an exclamation of surprise, as she turned and beheld the countenance of her visitor.
" Mud Seta here ! " she exclaimed, as a shudder crept over her form.
" Ay, mad Seta ! " and the weird woman laughed, " yet is not this very madness, that is so reviled, a glori- ous gift, that does away with the narrow limits in which the sane mind is confined ? The mad see strange sights, and hear strange things, that are not known to the common mind. The veil is removed, and they penetrate mysteries at which the common herd cannot even grasp. ”

“ The ghastly features of the dead were rendered still more white and unearthly in appearance by the pale rays of the moon and stars that shone upon them !
" O, God, it is Mercado!" cried Zinna, as he knelt beside the body. "Dead! stabbed to the heart ; and many days ago, if I may judge from appearances. Who has done this work ? "
" The mask of St. Peter's ! " was the reply, in a sharp, clear voice, that seemed to come from close beside him. ”

“ He turned suddenly as he spoke, and retired from the apartment, while Floretta clasped her father in a fond embrace, and exclaimed,
" Saved saved, my father ! "
" Yes, thank Heaven ! But let us hasten from this gild- ed abode of crime and infamy ! " responded Delano, as they arose and passed from the room.
" Ha, ha ! " laughed Borgia, entering the apartment as they departed, and there was Satanic joy in every look, and word, and action, as he gazed after them. " Thus have I planned my revenge, and now for the Inquisition ! " ”

“ ALEXANDER BORGIA. 49
" She never injured you ; or, if she did, the wrong was unintentionally given."
" 'T is false ! " cried Borgia, passionately. " Did she not scorn me, despise my love, and drive me from her presence ? But I had a glorious revenge. Ha ! ha ! They who brave the vengeance of Alexander Borgia should have a myriad of lives ! "
" And my mother she, too, was fearfully wronged by this demon," said Lucretia, musingly, as her hand in- voluntarily sought the hilt of a dagger. ”

“ She will live in the midst of every luxury and splendor, and time shall pass on in a continual round of gayety and enjoyment. A palace will open its portals to her ; troops of servants will be in readiness to obey her slightest wish ; and' you, Delano, shall live like a lord and feast like a king; ay, even with the Pope himself! ”

“ The mask uttered a hoarse laugh, that expressed the most insulting contempt.
" It is strange," observed Corneto, with a puzzled ex- pression of countenance, and speaking to a companion " very strange that a man who knows certain death is to soon be his lot can be so indifferent to it. How deeply sunken in crime must this man be, how dead to all the common feelings of humanity, when he can stand here, in the presence of our august council, and laugh at us as we pronounce his doom ! ”

“ I was weak, and he painted a picture of luxury and happiness that dazzled me for the moment."
" Happiness ! " repeated Floretta, with a vehemence that startled her listener. " Would you sell your child to such a monster as Alexander Borgia for gold ? If so, know you that I will never consent to his wishes. He may kill, but he cannot enslave me. Do you not know that I am betrothed to Hernaldo Zinna ? " ”

“ Matters have reached a pretty crisis, indeed, when a mere hireling of the Coun- cil ventures to assume the privileges you are taking to yourself. If we submit to such insults as these from a man whose very life is not his own, but held through our clemency, then are we the most despicable of men. For one, I will not longer brook your insolent conduct and your neglect of our orders ; and I now summons you, in the name of the Council, to lay aside your cloak, mask, and dagger, and surrender yourself a prisoner. ”

“ Wherever it has acquired even a moderate degree of power, it has left a track of blood. Wherever its supremacy has been such as to warrant the experiment, it has been a harbinger of destruction, death and desolation, to all who have ventured to oppose it by word or deed. And such it will ever be, such it will finally be in America, should its strength ever be so over- whelming as to make this end one easy of accomplishment, which God forbid ! ”

“ Cardinals," said he, " there goes a dangerous man ! One whom we must crush, or who will crush us ; a man of mystery, whom none of us understand. He has been the most humble of servants ; you see that he can be the most stern and powerful of masters. He must be re- moved, or from this hour we hold our lives only by his permission. But, how can we dispose of him? Send priests among the people, to incite them to vengeance against the mask, for the many assassinations from which they have suffered at his hands ? ”

“ There was an anxious look upon her features, one that gave them an almost stern expression.
" Father Janzen," said she, as she seated herself beside him, " you doubtless know that the purpose of this visit is to speak of your love."
" Then I shall be so happy ! " murmured Father Janzen, as a flush swept over his features. The dark eyes of his visitor were instantly bent upon him.
" Father Janzen," she observed, with a strange sternness of manner, " have I not told you that these expressions of your passion are disagreeable to me ? " ”

“ The emergency is one that will admit of no child's play; we must strike boldly and at once. My advice is to send a strong detachment of officers from the Inquisition to arrest the mask at his residence, the palace that was built for him by the church, in consideration of his services as public executioner. Let us drag him forth to a dungeon, try him by our right as the secret council of cardinals, condemn him by our authority, and gibbet him by our power. This is the only way in which he can be placed beyond the power to do us harm. ”

“ I have slain others who have plotted against me ; and you may each and all have an example of my power before we have parted company. Bethink ye, my lord cardinals, how long is it since you were plotting in secret conclave against the Pope ? How long since you determined to establish a system of espionage over him ? Ha, ha ! " and the mask laughed gleefully. " Ye should all be careful what you do, for you are as open books to Alexander Borgia ! "
" Away with him ! " shouted Corneto, fiercely. " Listen no longer to his ravings. Away to the wheel ! " ”

“ ROME ! A pleasant moonlight evening. The hour nine. The scene a splendidly-furnished apartment, in the palace of the Borgias. The only occupant of the room was an almost gloriously beautiful maiden, of seventeen summers, with hair as dark as night, and eyes as bright as the peerless diadems of her own native clime ! And she she was Lucretia Borgia ! ”

“ It is the fatality that ever hovers over the victims of Alexander Borgia ! Sir," she added, aloud, " you have, indeed, penetrated my disguise ; but allow me to pass, and a for- tune shall be yours."
" I cannot, lady. Your father bade me to prevent and forbid all admittance to -Mercado ; and you you, Donna Lucretia were specially excepted by name."
" Ay, I must kill him ! " murmured the agonized woman, again turning away, and her hand clutched the hilt of a dagger. " He must not baulk my purpose ; my lover dies unless this man is removed at once. ”

“ I am ready for the sacrifice," continued the old man, " yet before I die let me call down a curse upon the one who "has wronged me so deeply, who has destroyed my daughter. Thou, God, that seest all things, be thou the avenger of one whose power for revenge is lost ! May
ALEXANDER BORGIA. 23
thy most terrible curse rest, now and forever, upon that fiend in human guise, Alexander Borgia " ,
" Hold ! " exclaimed the mask, with much agitation, as he seized the arm of the old man. " Thou knowest not what thou art saying. Though here I hold a warrant for thy death, thy life shall not be taken. ”

“ ALEXANDER BORGIA. 137
said Corneto. " I most strongly advocate the course you have advanced. We have all been insulted, again and again, by the mask. He has neglected our orders, and despised all our intimations of punishment. Even in our very presence, within the hour, he has dared to boast that it was his hand that assassinated Montelli, one of the most worthy and respected members of our Council. In view of such outrages as these, there is but one course to adopt towards him, death ! " ”

“ Then she knelt and prayed, not as one who feels despair, not as one who feels the need of heavenly consolation, but as one whose gentle spirit feels the sweet assurance of its own innocence and purity, and the consciousness of having a treasure laid up in heaven. When such an one can thus pray, prayer is sublimely beautiful. ”

“ Look again," whispered the mask ; " you have not yet seen all the horrors of this well. Do you not see that sharp knives, gleaming swords, and huge sabres, are fastened, here and there, in the masonry, upon which any person who is condemned to be hurled into this well must fall, and be thus cut in pieces ? Many and many a victim of the Inquisition has been plunged into this pit, and, before reaching the bottom, been mangled so horribly that not a single feature, or even the outlines of his form, could have been recognized by his most intimate friend ! ”

“ Again, I say, beware of Alexander Borgia ! "
Donna Lucretia subdued the resentment aroused by the repetition of the disagreeable words, and listened atten- tively as the old woman continued :
" You love a noble young man, and are beloved by him. But there is one ay, your father, girl, as you are pleased to call him who looks upon you both with feel- ings that bode neither of you any good. When next thou seest Mercado, warn him that danger is hovering in his steps ; tell him to be on his guard, sleeping and waking, if he would escape the machinations under foot against him." ”

“ Signor Mercado," he said, " I come from Alexander Borgia. One of the chief elements of my business is briefness ; so I shall not trouble you long. My master has learned that you are in love with his daughter which he dislikes. You are condemned to death, and only one course can save you. If you will leave Home forever, and within the hour, and swear never to have any further acquaintance with Donna Lucretia, either by word or deed, you will be set at liberty. ”

“ We may add that he was no other than Hernaldo Zinna, the lover of La Belle Floretta. He was young evidently not more than two-and-twcnty years of age, of prepossessing appearance, and with a countenance that evinced courage and manliness.
" Brothers," he observed, in a clear, ringing tone, " I need not speak of what we are, nor dwell upon the aims of this organization. You all know that we are Italian artisans, met together for the attainment of mental and political supremacy, and for the protection of our rights. Our numbers are few, but are every day increasing. ”

“ Ask the Tiber, or the mask of St. Peter's ; both can give ye a true account of it," was the reply. " 0, Donna Lucretia, I would that I had died ere this misery was meted out to you ! Ere these tears of pity "
" Hush ! do not speak of pity to me," and there was a ghastly smile of desperation upon the woman's features, and her eyes glittered fearfully as she spoke. " Ha, ha ! Who shall dare to speak of pity to Lucretia Borgia ? List you, mad Seta, and judge if I am not a fiend in the shape of a woman, and one already damned ! ”

“ THE meeting between La Belle Floretta and her father was most affecting. The old man clasped her to his heart, and she wept like a child upon his bosom.
But Delano was sad and gloomy. The first delight of reunion having passed away, a look of terrible anxiety appeared on his features.
" We have met, my child, but for a terrible purpose has this meeting been designed ; " and then he went on to tell her all that had passed between the mask and himself, even to the pledging of his influence for her consent to the wishes of the Pope. ”

“ If Donna Lucretia is in the palace, inform her that I desire to have her visit me at once," said the Pope. " I will discover whether she loves this Mercado or not," he soliloquized, after the man had gone. " If she does, as I Buspect, both shall feel my vengeance ! Poor fool ! she knows not that I consider myself her lover, rather than her father. ”

“ Dead your lover is to all intents and purposes ; for, by the vengeance of a Borgia, he shall never leave his dungeon alive ! Dost hear?"
Donna Lucretia was wrought up to a terrible state of excitement. She saw the whole damning plot, of which she had been the victim. She saw how Mercado had been denounced and doomed, how she had been inveigled in the hope of saving him, and now she realized that Borgia was still determined on his death. Her excite- ment amounted to a species of madness, and, drawing a dagger, with the quickness of thought, she aimed a power- ful blow at his heart. ”

“ To attain by blood, and retain by the same means, is the greatest element of its success. Its power in America has arrived at a point where it will neither yield what it has, nor be content without grasping for more ; and this feeling will prepare the way for a feud between two great parties, which will lead to the subjugation of one or the other. The disciples of the church of Rome, or the descendants of the revolutionary patriots, must eventually rule the United States ”