Legend and Romance African and European Author:Richard Johns General Books publication date: 2009 Original publication date: 1839 Original Publisher: Richard Bentley Notes: This is a black and white OCR reprint of the original. It has no illustrations and there may be typos or missing text. When you buy the General Books edition of this book you get free trial access to Million-Books.com where you can... more » select from more than a million books for free. Excerpt: CHAPTER III. THE ARABIDA. When Padre Chaves awoke in the morning, it was with a perfect recollection of the circumstances which had marked the previous night. Had he required reminding, his memory was sufficiently refreshed with respect to the debauch he had been guilty of by divers shrill harangues on the subject from his fair niece; while the matrimonial negociation afforded him a much more pleasing " forget me not" in the bag of gold, which he found hidden away in a cupboard, safe from the observation of Marguerita's bright and piercing eyes. The priest, having long made it a custom to ratify all private arrangements over the bottle, had acquired a sagacity in his intoxication well known to some experienced tipplers: he sel- dom forgot what passed, even amid the deepest potations; and was never known to betray a secret confided to him, drunk or sober, -- that is to say, unwittingly. The Padre sold his secrets, like many other confidants ; but then he knew perfectly well what he was about. He was an old acquaintance of Nicolao's, who, as we have before mentioned, had his ancient friend somewhat in his power; the servitor thus imagined that he might trust him with more confidence than any other speculator in secret marriages : but this was a grievous mistake; the first act of the Padre's reason, on waking from his long sleep, was to deliberate on the best means of effecting a solemnization of the midnight ceremonial without endangering his own precious person. The result of this cogitation mounted him on his mule shortly after he had broken his fast, and with sob...« less