banished from her throne, and after many wander- VALEN-
ings, she was seized by a giant and confined in a TINE_AND
dungeon of this castle, where she has been for ORSON
twenty years. The wild man, who hath so long
accompanied thee, is thy brother. You were both
lost 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 to France with the innocent
empress, thy hapless mother. 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, and in the fall was broken into a thou-
sand pieces.

The two youths stood for a moment fixed with
astonishment; they then joyfully embraced each
other, and rejoined the empress to tell her the
extraordinary news they had just heard. Imagine
her surprise when she saw before her her two long-
lost sons. To describe her emotions on this joyful
occasion would be impossible.

After the first transports were over, they prepared
for their departure. The stables of the giant’s
castle furnished them with horses; and everything
else necessary for their journey was found in its
well-stored recesses. So, taking with them the
dwarf as their servant, the whole party proceeded
towards France.

The meeting of King Pepin and his dear sister
was, we need not say, a happy and joyful one. A
courier was immediately despatched to Constan-
tinople to inform the Emperor Alexander of the
arrival of his empress at the capital of France.
The messenger found him still mourning the loss
of his innocent queen, and refusing all comfort
from those around him, from the thought that by
his own folly and rashness he had been the cause

D 49