Gons. Psha! what follow'd? quick

Per. They bound and led us deep into the wood, Where, after a short council of their chiefs,

Gon. Proceed, I am prepar'd;

Per. Deep in the earth, the fatal stakes were driv'n, And their wild shouts promiscuous fill❜d the air; When starting from the rest, a chief advanc'd, They call'd him Telico.

Raym. Why, then, 'tis done.

Per. On me heglar'd, and roar'd "Unloose his bonds." Then "Get thee quick to horse, and look not back, Or death will overtake thee: tell your master

That for our captive chief, his son shall die;
Go tell him," (and he whirled a lighted brand,
With savage exultation in the air)

"Tell him that Telico, I, lit the fire."

Hoping they might suspend their damned rights,
I sprung upon my steed and spurr'd him hard;
But, as I bore the tidings fleetly on,

The savage war-song burst upon mine ear;
And oft between

Gons. Proceed, I know the worst.

Per. The shriek of agony

Gons. Then they are dead

Go ring the alarum — summon all the troops.

Hold, 'tis too late- I rave It cannot be

'Twill but redeem their half-consumed bones. Merciless devils! Men! No, they are devils Without a cause to murder in cold blood!

Yet thou art in my gripe, and I will plague thee. Raym. Will that revive them? will my flowing Blood their empty veins replenish? will my groans, (If I should groan) erect the ear of death?

Gons. Bear him to prison.

Raym.

You may extinguish life,.

But cannot give it e'en unto the worm,

Which your poor malice tramples on. [Exit guarded.

Gons. (After a pause.) Abdallah,

I do but call, and thou art quick as thought,
To do thy master's bidding. I have mark'd
Thy forward zeal, and will reward thee.— What,
If I should give thee liberty(He falls at the Gover-

nor's feet.)
Nay, rise.

Abd. What, make me free?

Gons. I do not jest; once more

I'll put thine honest service to the proof,

And having done the thing, thou'rt free as air.

Abd. Name it, that I may fly. What is it? Quick!

Gons. To kill this Indian,

Abd. (After a struggle.) My liberty?

Gons.

Abd.

For ever.

Murder him? (Aside.)

Shall I go back to my own country, sir?

Gons. Ay.

Abd.

Once more behold the spot

Where I was born; and when I die, be buried

Where all my father's sleep. And yet, to kill him

And when it shall be whisper'd in mine ear
That thou hast thrown his carcase in the sea,

I am no more thy master.

Abd.

I'll about it.

[Exit.

GONSALVO solus.

Yet what avails it me when he is gone?

I am at most a miserable man ;

A tree that put two blooming branches forth,
Of which the nobler is for ever wither'd,

And that which lives grows crooked and perverse,

To plague the trunk it springs from. My poor boy!
Perhaps they have not kill'd him. Perhaps,
Out of their very cruelty, they've spared

For fiercer tortures still his mangled form.
Yet I will hunt these monsters to their den.
Perez can track them. He may yet survive:
Or if extinguish❜d quite, like Afric's kings
Who have their monuments of human skulls,
I'll build him up a pile of Indian dead,

That shall commemorate the inhuman deed. [Exit.

Scene, the Wood.

Enter Zos, leading ALMANZA.

Zoa. This is my habitation. Thou shalt sleep Sound and secure beneath its humble roof; Whilst, like a bird that circles round its young,

I will keep danger from thee.

[They go into the hut.

FERNANDEZ and FLORIO.

Fern. Are you mad, Florio?

Flor. Not absolutely mad; but so desperately in love on a sudden, that I would give one of my eyes for a ten minutes tête à tête with her.

Fern. You are more likely to part with both your ears; that's the settled price for a lady's favours here.

T

Flor. Yes, for the favours of a married lady; but one may be decently civil to a maid, without losing any thing but one's heart.

Fern. True, but my sister has your heart, you know.

Flor. Well, and that's as much of a man as a reasonable woman can expect before marriage. Look'e, Fernandez, I love thy sister as a woman ought to be loved; but I am not one of those unmerciful gallants who think the best proof of their attachment to one lady is absolute rudeness to the rest of the sex. I should be in love with thy sister only, 'tis true, but then I may be in charity with all women. (Looking into the hut.) How unfortunate that there should be two of them. Well, there are two of us. If her friend, now, would only have the good breeding to— by heavens, the very thing. Stand back, Fernandez, stand back, I say, and don't spoil the only opportunity that may ever offer us, of learning how the ladies like to be made love to in this part of the world.

Enter Zos from the hut.

Zoa. Yes, I will watch thee like the bird of night, That, having hous'd his victim, shrieks aloud,

And in the drowsy twilight flaps his wings

To scare away the lonely passenger.

[Exit.