This eBook was produced by Pat Castevens
and David Widger
A Tale
By Edward Bulwer-Lytton
Merton and the Italians arrived in safety at the spot where they hadleft the mules; and not till they had recovered their own alarm andbreath did they think of Glyndon. But then, as the minutes passed andhe appeared not, Merton—whose heart was as good, at least, as humanhearts are in general—grew seriously alarmed. He insisted on returningto search for his friend, and by dint of prodigal promises prevailed atlast on the guide to accompany him. The lower part of the mountain laycalm and white in the starlight; and the guide's practised eye coulddiscern all objects on the surface, at a considerable distance. Theyhad not, however, gone very far before they perceived two forms slowlyapproaching towards them.
As they came near, Merton recognized the form of his friend. "Thank
Heaven, he is safe!" he cried, turning to the guide.
"Holy angels befriend us!" said the Italian, trembling; "behold the verybeing that crossed me last Sabbath night. It is he, but his face ishuman now!"
"Signor Inglese," said the voice of Zicci as Glyndon, pale, wan, andsilent, returned passively the joyous greeting of Merton,—" SignorInglese, I told your friend we should meet to-night; you see you havenot foiled my prediction."
"But how, but where?" stammered Merton, in great confusion and surprise.
"I found your friend stretched on the ground, overpowered by themephitic exhalation of the crater. I bore him to a purer atmosphere;and as I know the mountain well, I have conducted him safely to you.This is all our history. You see, sir, that were it not for thatprophecy which you desired to frustrate, your friend would, ere thistime, have been a corpse; one minute more, and the vapor had done itswork. Adieu! good night and pleasant dreams."
"But, my preserver, you will not leave us," said Glyndon, anxiously, andspeaking for the first time. "Will you not return with us?"
Zicci paused, and drew Glyndon aside. "Young man," said he, gravely,"it is necessary that we should again meet to-night. It is necessarythat you should, ere the first hour of morning, decide on your fate.Will you marry Isabel di Pisani, or lose her forever? Consult not yourfriend; he is sensible and wise, but not now is his wisdom needed.There are times in life when from the imagination, and not the reason,should wisdom come,—this for you is one of them. I ask not your answernow. Collect your thoughts, recover your jaded and scattered spirits.It wants two hours of midnight: at midnight I will be with you!"
"Incomprehensible being," replied the Englishman, "I would leave thelife you have preserved in your own hands. But since I have known you,my whole nature has changed. A fiercer desire than that of love burnsin my veins,—the desire, not to resemble, but to surpass my kind; thedesire to penetrate and to share the secret of your own existence; thedesire of a preternatural knowledge and unearthly power. Instruct me,school me, make me thine; and I surrender to thee at once, and without amurmur, the woman that, till I saw thee, I would have defied a world toobtain."
"I ask not the sacrifice, Glyndon," replied Zicci, coldly, yet mildly,"yet—shall I own it t