the less determined never tamely to yield her to another."

Zicci looked gravely at the young man, whose sparkling eyes and
heightened color testified the spirit to support his words, and replied:
"So bold! well, it becomes you. You have courage, then; I thought it.
Perhaps it may be put to a sharper test than you dream of. But take my
advice: wait three days, and tell me then if you will marry this young
person."

"But if you love her, why, why--"

"Why am I anxious that she should wed another? To save her from myself!
Listen to me. That girl, humble and uneducated though she be, has in
her the seeds of the most lofty qualities and virtues. She can be all
to the man she loves,--all that man can desire in wife or mistress. Her
soul, developed by affection, will elevate your own; it will influence
your fortunes, exalt your destiny; you will become a great and
prosperous man. If, on the contrary, she fall to me, I know not what
may be her lot; but I know that few can pass the ordeal, and hitherto no
woman has survived the struggle."

As Zicci spoke, his face became livid, and there was something in his
voice that froze the warm blood of his listener.

"What is this mystery which surrounds you?" exclaimed Glyndon, unable to
repress his emotion. "Are you, in truth, different from other men?
Have you passed the boundary of lawful knowledge? Are you, as some
declare, a sorcerer, only a--"

"Hush!" interrupted Zicci, gently, and with a smile of singular but