prey in a tranſport of joy, burning with impatience to know what lot fortune had ſent him.
As ſoon as he had entruſted the treaſure to his iron coffer, he took his ſtation on a kind of terrace at the entrance of his grotto, and there he ſtood watching, like a Roman augur, the flight of the birds—anxious for the revelation of his own fate. The evening ſtar began now to ſparkle in the heavens, when immediately two ſwans aroſe with a ſhy ſuſpicious flight, and haſtened away as if ſcared by a bird of prey. Now his heart began to labour with ſtronger pulſations, joy thrilled in every vein and nerve: curioſity urged him to the pool, caution pulled him back into the grot. After a long battle, conſideration gained the victory—a rare event in the concerns of love. He ſagaciouſly concluded that it was adviſeable, and would promote his cauſe, to hide the knave; and it would be at leaſt more prudent to act the hypocrite than the robber. He im-mediately
