YHE ADVENTURES OF PRINCE HEMPSEED. 75

man and lady of high rank, who were charged by the king
to see them safe to their parents’ dwelling.

Their father and mother came out to meet them ;—and
then—oh! what kisses—what happiness—what tears of joy !

    
   
   

cM, fino

 

 

And how the beautiful white pigeon was fondled, for
having so well delivered the letter! Auriol belonged to
that race of carrier-pigeons which originally came from the
East, and which are trained, when very young, to carry a
letter, fastened to their necks, for even a distance of many
hundred miles. The frequent absence of Auriol may now
be understood: during his stay in France, with the two
children, he had constantly visited Prince and Princess Or-
fano-Orfana, who were kept captive for nearly two years,
in the fortress of Pignerol, in Piedmont. Oh! if he had
only been able to tell Prince Hempseed and his sister in
what place their beloved parents endured an unjust im-
prisonment!—But on that day when the Princess—(for a
mother alone thinks of such means!)—fastened a letter to
Auriol’s neck by a piece of silk, he knew what she wished,
‘and set off with rapid wing from the valley of Lake Major
to the walls of Bicétre. You already know through what
perils he passed in order to convey that letter, which was
stained with his blood, from a despairing mother to her
captive son.

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