Shall there be no more heart-longings because ye are cold? ...
Spare her! ... she is so young, so fond, so innocent of all
reproach save one, the shame of loving me! Spare her! ... or, if
ye will not spare, slay her at once! ... now!--now, with swift
compassionate sword, . . but cast her not alive into yon hideous
serpent's den! ... not alive! ... ah no, no,--ye gods have pity!
..."

Here his voice broke and a sudden light passed over his agonized
countenance. Gazing steadfastly at the girl, whose beautiful,
white body now lay motionless on the cold stone, with a cloud of
fair hair falling veil-like over it, his eyes seemed to strain
themselves out of their sockets in the intensity of his eager
regard, when all at once he gave vent to a wild peal of delirious
laughter and exclaimed..

"Dead.. dead! ... Thanks be to the merciless gods for this one
gift of grace at the last! Dead.. dead! ... O the blessed favor
and freedom of death! ... Sweetheart, they can torture thee no
more.. no more! ... Ah, devils that ye are!" and his voice grown
frantically loud, pierced the gloomy arches with terrible
resonance, as he saw the red-garmented slaves vainly endeavoring
to rouse, with ferocious blows and thrusts, new life in the fair,
stiffening corpse before them.. "This time ye are baffled! ...
Baffled!--and I live to see your vanquishment! Give her to me!"
and he stretched out his trembling arms ... "Give her...she is
dead--and ye cannot offer to Nagaya any lifeless thing! I will
weave her a shroud of her own gold hair--I will bury her softly
away in the darkness--I will sing to her as I used to sing in the
silent summer evenings, when we fancied our secret of forbidden