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Alarm'd:..there was an entrance then below;
And were it possible that she could save
The Stranger's child,.. Oh what a joy it were
To tell Lincoya that!

It was a thought

Which made her heart with terror and delight
Throb audibly. From crag to crag she past
Descending, and beheld a narrow cave
Enter the hill. A little way the light
Fell,.. but its feeble glimmering she herself
Obstructed half, as stooping in she went.

The arch grew loftier, and the increasing gloom
Fill'd her with more affright; and now she paused;
For at a sudden and abrupt descent

She stood, and fear'd its unseen depth; her heart
Fail'd, and she back had hasten'd; but the cry
Reach'd her again, the near and certain cry
Of that most pitiable innocent.

Again adown the dark descent she look'd,
Straining her eyes; by this the strengthen'd sight
Had grown adapted to the gloom around,
And her dilated pupils now received

Dim sense of objects near. Something below,
White in the darkness lay, it mark'd the depth,
Still Coatel stood dubious; but she heard
The wailing of the child, and his loud sobs; ..
Then, clinging to the rock with fearful hands,
Her feet explored below, and twice she felt
Firm footing, ere her fearful hold relax'd.
The sound she made, along the hollow rock
Ran echoing. Hoel heard it, and he came
Groping along the side. A dim, dim light

Broke on the darkness of his sepulchre ;

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A human form drew near him; he sprang on,
Screaming with joy, and clung to Coatel,

And cried, O take me from this dismal place!
She answer'd not; she understood him not;
But clasp'd the little victim to her breast,
And shed delightful tears.

But from that den

Of darkness and of horror, Coatel

Durst not convey the child, though in her heart
There was a female tenderness which yearn'd,
As with maternal love, to cherish him.

She hush'd his clamours, fearful lest the sound
Might reach some other ear; she kiss'd away
The tears that stream'd adown his little cheeks;
She

gave him food which in the morn she brought,
For her own wants, from Aztlan. Some few words
Of Britain's ancient language she had learnt
From her Lincoya, in those happy days

Of peace, when Aztlan was the Stranger's friend :
Aptly she learnt, what willingly he taught,
Terms of endearment, and the parting words
Which promised quick return. She to the child
These precious words address'd; and if it chanced
Imperfect knowledge, or some difficult sound
Check'd her heart's utterance, then the gentle tone,
The fond caress, intelligibly spake

Affection's language.

But when she arose,

And would have climb'd the ascent, the affrighted boy Fast held her, and his tears interpreted

The prayer to leave him not.

Again she kiss'd

His tears away; again of soon return
Assured and soothed him; till reluctantly
And weeping, but in silence, he unloosed
His grasp; and up the difficult ascent
Coatel climb'd, and to the light of day
Returning, with her flowers she hastened home.

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XIV.

THE STONE OF SACRIFICE.

WHO comes to Aztlan, bounding like a deer
Along the plain? . . The herald of success;
For lo! his locks are braided, and his loins
Cinctured with white; and see, he lifts the shield,
And brandishes the sword. The populace
Flock round, impatient for the tale of joy,
And follow to the palace in his path.

Joy! joy! the Tyger hath achieved his quest !
They bring a captive home!.. Triumphantly
Coanocotzin and his Chiefs go forth

To greet the youth triumphant, and receive
The victim whom the gracious gods have given,
Sure omen and first fruits of victory.

A woman leads the train, young, beautiful, .
More beautiful for that translucent joy

Flushing her cheek, and sparkling in her eye; . .
Her hair is twined with festal flowers, her robe
With flowing wreaths adorn'd; she holds a child,
He, too, bedeck'd and garlanded with flowers,
And, lifting him, with agile force of arm,
In graceful action, to harmonious step
Accordant, leads the dance. It is the wife

Of Tlalala, who, with his child, goes forth
To meet her hero husband.

And behold

The Tyger comes! and ere the shouts and sounds
Of gratulation cease, his followers bear

The captive Prince. At that so welcome sight
Loud rose the glad acclaim; nor knew they yet
That he who there lay patient in his bonds,
Expecting the inevitable lot,

Was Madoc. Patient in his bonds he lay,
Exhausted with vain efforts, hopeless now,
And silently resign'd. But when the King
Approach'd the prisoner, and beheld his face,
And knew the Chief of Strangers, at that sound
Electric joy shot through the multitude,
And, like the raging of the hurricane,

Their thundering transports peal'd. A deeper joy,
A nobler triumph kindled Tlalala,

As, limb by limb, his eye survey'd the Prince,
With a calm fierceness. And by this the Priests
Approach'd their victim, clad in vestments white
Of sacrifice, which from the shoulders fell,

As from the breast, unbending, broad and straight,
Leaving their black arms bare. The blood-red robe,
The turquoise pendant from his down-drawn lip,
The crown of glossy plumage, whose green hue
Vied with his emerald ear-drops, mark'd their Chief
Tezozomoc: his thin and ghastly cheek,
Which,..save the temple serpents, when he brought
Their human banquet, . . never living eye
Rejoiced to see, became more ghastly now,
As in Mexitli's name, upon the Prince

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