Dragoni's Daughter.

DRAGONI'S DAUGHTER .

BY MARVIN HYDE . ( Continued from page 50 . ) C ± IAPTER III . A JIEURY carnival was that of 1560 .

Sounds of merriment and boisterous gaiety saluted the ear at every turn . Sleep seemed to have flown to regions unknown ; maskers were abroad early and late ; every inn and hostelry iu all Venice was crowded with gay cavalierswho divided their

, nights between the card-table and the wine-cup . Almost every palazzo was ablaze with lights for the festival , and strains of merry music stole through thick shrubberies and floated out on the Adriatic .

It was near midnight when Dragoni ' s daughter sat mid gloom and tears in her father ' s palace . This alone was unlighted , for a brilliant festa , given by one of Venice ' s proudest nobles , claimed among the guests the count and countess , and Elena , on plea

of fatigue , remained at home . Now she sat alone ; not a breath of air stirred either trees or flowers , and even the very silence seemed audible , as she sat musing upon her fate . The farewell kisses of her parents yet lingered on her lips , and her grief broke forth at the thought that perhaps that night she had seen them for the last time .

" It is thus that I repay their neverceasing love ! " she exclaimed , in an agony of grief ; " thus , by taking my fate in my own hands , and new vows upon my lips . I have seen them for the last time—will they not curse my memory 1 Will they not

cast me utterly from their hearts ? Alas , alas !—never again can I breathe proudly within these old palace walls . Dragoni ' s daughter will become an outcast , an alien from her native Venice . " But a gush of woman ' s tenderness swept over her . "Woman-like , she accused herself of selfishness . ;

( . -D wIly tliese teai ^ " slie murmured . ' Back , weak tones offa selfish love ! Be still , vacillating will—faltering heart What has he not dared for me ? The daggers of a hundred nobles—aye , even the horrors of the Inquisition ' , from which all good saints preserve him ! And now Elena

Dragoni sits selfishly weeping at the hour when his reward should be bestowed !" " Nay , dearest , " said a low , sweet voice by her side . " Mutual is the clanger ; and can my poor love ever recompense such a sacrifice 1 "

Elena lifted her eyes to the beautifully eloquent face of her lover , and laid her hand in his . Its pressure was tenderly returned . No further word was spoken . Drawing near the toilette , Pietro noted the jewels ling in their casketsnot one

y , of which , her father ' s gifts , the daughter could take with her on her flight ; and silently , almost tearfully , yet with the light of a firm purpose burning in his dark eyes , he placed a folded slip of parchment among the gems , then turned toward the

weeper , and led her , amid her blinding tears , to a seat in the waiting gondola . Pushing rapidly from the marble steps leading down to the water , the barge bounded on its way ; but after passing rapidlthrough a narrow inlet and out

y into the Grand Canal , Pietro suddenly laid down his oars and looked back . Venice , the first city of Italian liberty , the mistress of the sea , the queen of the

Adriatic , lay bathed iu moonlight . Her hundred palaces threw back the white ' moonlig ht from their marble walls ; light shone resplendently from the casements ; the air was one hum of blended music , voices , and laughter j a rising breeze swept

outward upon the Adriatic ' s bosom the fragrance of orange-blossoms blooming at the water ' s side ; and the silver moonlight enveloped the spires of San Blare pointing heavenward . The motion of the gondola ceasedand Pietro broke the silence .

, " Elena Dragoni ! " he exclaimed , sadly , lifting from his bossom the beautiful head which had rested thereon , and withdrawing to a little distance— " Elena Dragoni , ere my gondola takes us another oar ' s length from Venice , my lips must unfold a story

which I intended not to tell you till many and many a league away . Listen to its recital ! " Two years ago the fame of Dragoni ' s daughter's wondrous beauty came to me in fur-off mountain home . I said to n ! y

my own heart , 'Take courage ; let us gaye on this noble lady ; let us journey to distant Venice , and gaze for ourself on her passing beauteous face . ' Thither came I , the mountain youth , to your proud city