the mountains; he cursed the intervention of Ginotti, and secretly swore that nor heaven nor hell again should dash the goblet of destruction from the mouth of the detested Cavigni. The soul of Wolfstein too, insatiable in its desires, and panting for liberty, ill could brook the confinement of idea, which the cavern of the bandits must necessarily induce. He longed again to try his fortune; he longed to re-enter that world which he had never tried but once, and that indeed for a short time; sufficiently long, however, to blast his blooming hopes, and to graft on the stock, which otherwise might have produced virtue, the fatal seeds of vice.
CHAPTER II.
The fiends of fate are heard to rave,
And the death-angel flaps his broad wing o'er the wave.
It was midnight; and all the robbers were assembled
in the banquet-hall, amongst whom, bearing
in his bosom a weight of premeditated crime, was
Wolfstein; he sat by the chief. They discoursed on
indifferent subjects; the sparkling goblet went round;
loud laughter succeeded. The ruffians were rejoicing
over some plunder which they had taken from a traveller,
whom they had robbed of immense wealth; they had
left his body a prey to the vultures of the mountains.
The table groaned with the pressure of the feast.
Hilarity reigned around: reiterated were the shouts of
merriment and joy; if such could exist in a cavern of
robbers.
It was long past midnight: another hour, and Megalena must be Cavigni's. This idea rendered Wolfstein callous to every sting of conscience; and he eagerly awaited an opportunity when he might, unperceived, infuse poison into the goblet of one who confided in him. Ginotti sat opposite to Wolfstein: his arms
