446 THE SEVEN CHAMPIONS

children, who are chained down in the dungeon of a castle, and
must remain there till some brave knight shall destroy their
monstrous jailer.” Moved by the tears of the old man, the
champions sallied forth against the giant. As they wished he
should fall by only one of them, they cast lots, and the lot fell
upon St. Denis ; but he was soon overcome, and with five more
of them was thrown into a dungeon. St. George having seen
that the giant's skin was too hard to be pierced by a sword,
armed himself with a heavy iron bar, and after an obstinate
conflict struck him on the head with such force, that he fell to
the ground, and died. St. George then rushed into the castle,
and set the prisoners free. The old man being now made happy,
feasted the champions, and then sent them away with many rich
presents. After passing the deserts of Arabia, on a sudden they
saw smoke on the side of a mountain, and St. George rode for-
ward to make inquiries. On his coming near the spot, a huge
giant rushed out of a cave, and put himself into a threatening
posture; but St. George cleft the monster's head with a battle-
axe. The other champions now eame up, and in the cave they.
set many unhappy captives free. The prisoners told them of
the cruel deedsof a knight called Leoger, who was protected by
magicians, and who made it a practice to send part of those he
seized on, to be eaten by the giant that was just killed, ‘The
champions straight set off to seek the castle of Leoger.

The approach to Leoger's castle was very hard; there was a
deep moat round it, and the drawbridge was always drawn up.
Before the gate of the drawbridge stood a pillar, to which a
silver trampet was made fast, and over it were placed these
words :—

Who sounds this trumpet shortly will behold
‘The drawbridge fall, and yonder doors unfold ;
Yet of your ent’ring here you must take heed,
Lest, for presuming it, you chance to bleed.”