Page:History of Jock Haxton.pdf/20



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A STORY FROM PORTUGUESE. LIFE.

A Portuguese gentleman, returning one night to Lisbon from Sacavein, heard, as he       was passing near a vineyard, the moans of        a female in apparent suffering. He im- mediately proceeded to the spot, where he       found a young and apparently lovely female in labour, who implored his assistance, which he unhesitatingly afforded to the best of his power. She afterwards conjur- ed him, by every thing that was sacred, to       carry the new born babe to the Roda, in that city; to this he also consented. The darkness of the night, and the care which she had taken to conceal her features in       the best way possible, prevented his being able to recognise her positively. But his auriosity, however, was so much excited that he followed her at a convenient dis- tance unpreceived, and saw her enter a       gentleman's quinta not far of; he conclud- ed, therefore that she was the daughter of       the house; and he was not mistaken, The interest she had excited in him was so       intense, (for this nation are not fastidious        in these matters,) that for a long time he