"Be it what it may, I will bear it like a man." Leonard then briefly recounted all that had occurred, describing Nizza's disguise as a page, and her forcible abduction by Parravicin.

He was frequently interrupted by the groans of his hearer, who at last gave vent to his rage and anguish in words.
"Heaven's direst curse upon her ravisher!" he cried.

"May he endure worse misery than I now endure.

She is lost for ever." "She may yet be preserved," rejoined Leonard.

"Doctor Hodges thinks he has discovered her retreat, and I will not rest till I find her." "No--no, you will never find her," replied the piper, bitterly; "or if you do, it will be only to bewail her ruin." His rage then gave way to such an access of grief, that, letting his head fall on Leonard's shoulder, he wept aloud.
"There is a secret connected with that poor girl," he said, at length, controlling his emotion by a powerful effort, "which must now go to the grave with me.