He looks in
every direction for the beautiful slave, but she is not there--
she has been sold! He goes to the trader and inquires, but he is
too late, and he therefore returns to his hotel.
Having entered a military school in Paris when quite young, and
soon after been sent with the French army to India, Antoine
Devenant had never dabbled in matters of love. He viewed all women
from the same stand-point--respected them for their virtues, and
often spoke of the goodness of heart of the sex, but never dreamed
of taking to himself a wife. The unequalled beauty of Clotelle had
dazzled his eyes, and every look that she gave was a dagger that
went to his heart. He felt a shortness of breath, his heart
palpitated, his head grew dizzy, and his limbs trembled; but he
knew not its cause. This was the first stage of "love at first
sight."
He who bows to the shrine of beauty when beckoned by this
mysterious agent seldom regrets it. Devenant reproached himself
for not having made inquiries concerning the girl before he left
the market in the morning. His stay in the city was to be short,
and the yellow fever was raging, which caused him to feel like
making a still earlier departure. The disease appeared in a form
unusually severe and repulsive. It seized its victims from amongst
the most healthy of the citizens. The disorder began in the brain
by oppressive pain accompanied or followed by fever. Fiery veins
streaked the eye, the face was inflamed and dyed of a dark dull
red color; the ears from time to time rang painfully.
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