484 VALENTINE AND ORSON.

enormous giant, who lifted his club to forbid their approach ;
but Orson seized him by the middle, and bore him from the
chamber to a dungeon, where he secured him. Valentine fixed
x his eyes upon the head,
anxious to hear what it
would say concerning his
birth. At length when
Orson had retumneditspake
thus: “Thou, O renowned
knight, art calledValentine
the brave, and art the man
destined to be the husband
= of the Princess Eglantine of
France. Thou art son to the Emperor of Greece, and thy mo-
ther is Bellisant, sister to King Pepin of France. She was
unjustly banished from her throne and took refuge in a monas-
tery, where she has resided these twenty years. The wild man,
who hath so long accompanied thee, is thy brother. You were
both born in the forest of Orleans. Thou wert found and brought
up under the care of King Pepin thy uncle, but thy brother was
stolen and nurtured by a bear. Proceed, Valentine, to France,
where thou wilt find the innocent empress, thy hapless mother ;
at the moment when she embraces thy brother, speech will be
given to him. Away, and prosper! ‘These are the last words
I shall utter. Fate has decreed that, when Valentine and Orson
enter this chamber my power ends.”

Having thus spoken, the brazen head fell from its pedestal :
thunder shook the foundations of the castle ; they were sur
rounded with thick darkness ; and when the light again burst
upon them, they found themselves on an open plain, and no
traces of the castle remained. The little dwarf, whose name
was Pacolet, at the same time appeared before them on &