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VERITAS
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UNIVERSITY OF MICHIGAN
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VINW
HIIHDE
SCIENTIA
QUÆRIS PENINSULAM AMŒNAM
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OF THE
KUSEN SIJO UNUL BANANA 3/9) 31.3.3)..
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U
THE GIFT OF
Cornelia Steketee Hulst
PEREOTYPODMETRINATIONA
BY
Gederton
BX
4700

Commedia Stetten Hulst.
.G4
P36
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UNIL
OF
METHIN
BICK
THE
ADVENTURES OF ST. GEORGE
10
AFTER
is Famous Encounter
WITH
THE DRAGON.
RY
W F. PEACOCK.
G
LONDON:
JAMES BLACKWOOD, PATERNOSTER ROW.
1859
"
9%.
Cornelia Stiket Fulch
6-4.36
PREFACE.
IN Japan the priests of Bhudda are designated bonzes. These priests
prevent Christian missionaries from making converts, by assuring the common
folk that their eyes will be used by the heretics as telescope glasses !—a fiction
which the people don't seem to see through. Now, I want you to look, with
my eyes, at this little narrative; perceiving its honest purpose, to innocently
amuse, and afford a few hours' pleasure. I pray you avoid a severe judgment,
and let me have the benefit of any doubts you may hold; in which case, I
may hereafter give to posterity the adventures of Boldheart the Warrior, and
perhaps succeed better than in the present Chronicle.
W. F. P.
A 2
DEDICATED
TO
J. J. GREENHALGH,
THE VALUED FRIEND
WHO HAS, WITH ME, VISITED MANY A BOLD AND LOVELY SCENE,
THE NATURAL FEATURES OF WHICH I HAVE
HEREIN DESCRIBED.
CONTENTS.
CHAPTER I.
St. George's Escape from the Tower-Song of the Knights-St. George Departs-The Lonely Wood
at Sunset-The Mystic Shrine-St. George's Prayer-His Dream-The Vision-The Guiding
Bird-The Enchanted Castle-His Entrance-The Terrible Inscription of Malgreda the Sorcerer
-The Unknown Knight who has attached himself to Malgreda-His Promised Reward-St.
George's Oath-Exit from the Tower.
•
CHAPTER II.
The Enchanted Cave-The Siren-The Temptation—“Is it, or is it not?"-St. George's Potent
Talisman to discover Good and Evil Influences-His Rejection of the Temptress-The Demon
of the Desert-St. George's Encounter-Senseless-The Recluse-The Erector of the Memo-
rial-St. George's Progress-His Encounter with the Robbers-Victory-The Defile and
Pass-The City Damsel at the Spring-Her Tears-Her Story-Watched from the Walls-The
Dead Knight-Icalon the Seven-Fingered-The Cry-" My Father!"-Discovery of the Dead
Knight-Malgreda's Onset-St. George's Prowess.
(C
•
CHAPTER III.
The Harper's Story-The Black Knight and the Holy Cross-St. George hath a Relic !-The Harper's
Prophecy-St. George's Departure-Attacked by a Savage Lion, he Worsts him, and Follows
to his Haunt-The Work of Death-Issue from the Lair-The Ruined Castle-The Encounter-
Hold, Knight!"-The Beleaguering Spirits of Malgreda's Conjurations-Escape of Icalon-
St. George Powerless-Falls on his Shield!
PAGE
CHAPTER IV.
St. George Awakes in a Dungeon—His Adventures there-The promised Auto-da-fé-His Escape-
His Steed Recovered-The Alarm-Obstacles to his Escape-Safe Exit-Benighted-The Weird
Figure-Anasie's Sainted Mother-She bespeaks Protection for Anasie-The Chilling Wind-
The Globes of Fire-St. George's Steed's Mad Career-The Torrent-The Leap-The Fall-
The Brazen Ring-The Clangour-The Potent Spirit-The Relic, and Discomfiture of the
Enemy-St. George hemmed-in!
g
7
12
20
21
vi
CONTENTS.
CHAPTER V.
St. George's Adventures in the Chasm-His Exit-Discovery of the Murdered Knights-" Good
Friend!" he cried-Further Adventures-Hungry, he Eats of a peculiar Fruit-Delirium—
His Surprisal of the Fiends in Knights' Disguise-The Battle- His Madness and the
Talisman-Hangs it on his Lance !-Victory-Thanks to his Lance !-The Upborne Talisman at
its Point Exerts its Power-Recovery.
CHAPTER VI.
The Ancient Cross-The Monastery-The Dark Pool-The Dwarf of Icalon, who arises and bids him
Despair-St. George's Determination-The Sable Knight—The Combat-Approach of Monks—
"Victory for the Right!"-St. George's Conquest-Invitation to the Monastery-His Arrival-
His Sleep-Surprised by Traitor Monk-Retribution-St. George, fearing Priestly Vengeance,
Flies.
CHAPTER VII.
St. George's further Adventures and Progress-His Arrival at the Court-The Wounded Knight—
St. George's Oath-The Conflict-St. George's Prowess-His Honours, and Departure.
CHAPTER VIII.
K
Adventures in the Valley-The Cheating Voices-Malgreda's Sorceries-Encounters the Friendly
Knights who had previously released him from the Dragon-He recounts his Subsequent
Adventures-One of the Group scoffs at them-The Combat-" Knight, thou dost press me
sore!"-Victory-Avowal of the Vanquished-The Maiden Anasie has been carried off!—Her
Father's Stronghold-The Secret Fastness-The Knight's Death.
CHAPTER IX.
Adventures-The Impish Attendant of Icalon-St. George Encounters the Seven-Fingered-The
Conflict-Death of Icalon-St. George's Vengeance on the Dwarf—The Prototype of Mazeppa-
Terrible Approach to Malgreda's Stronghold-Dangers of the Path.
•
•
CHAPTER X. AND LAST.
The Fortress in the Moonlight-The Casement-St. George's Advance-Anasie-The Alarm-The
Obstacles-Malgreda-The Talismen-The General Dissolution-Anasie's Tears-Revelations—
Their Departure.
•
•
28
31
35
38
42
45
3

MU
"Dord
UNI
BICH
OF
MESOM
log
ST. GEORGE: HIS FURTHER ADVENTURES.
CHAPTER I.
St. George's Escape from the Tower-Song of the Knights-St. George Departs-The Lonely
Wood at Sunset-The Mystic Shrine-St. George's Prayer-The Dream-The Vision-The
Guiding Bird-The Enchanted Castle-His Entrance-The Terrible Inscription of Malgreda
the Sorcerer-The Unknown Knight who has attached himself to Malgreda-His promised
Reward-St. George's Oath-Exit from the Tower.
Ir is not generally known that, ere pursuing the dragon to its haunt in
the ruined tower, St. George had precipitately, but securely, fastened the
reins of his horse to an iron ring which stood out from the walls beneath.
His terrific combat with the monster has become a household word, and
I need not enter into the details thereof. Wounded to the death, the expir-
ing foe clung, gasping, to the dilapidated rampart, where, with many a
hideous cry-its wings outspread, and quivering with convulsive throes-
it presently breathed its last. Not to be wearied by re-traversing the
sinuous and difficult passages through which he had so valiantly followed his
conquered enemy, St. George determined on a novel mode of action. He
assured himself of the dragon's death; then, mounting the ramparts, prepared
to let himself fall upon the external sward, from the great horns of the monster.
While balancing his body for that purpose, a great and cheering shout met his
ear, and looking beneath, he beheld the knights who had bid him God speed in
bygone times, ere his encounter with the dreadful beast which he had vowed to
slay. Again and again, as they perceived the bleeding evidence of his valour,
their acclamations arose: then, dismounting from their steeds, the warriors
formed into a compact circle, and, elevating a shield on their united lances,
received St. George in safety, until he sprang therefrom and stood unharmed
C
..
8
ST. GEORGE: HIS FURTHER ADVENTURES.
at their side. It is unnecessary to dwell on what was said in welcome and in
admiration; nor need I recount the experiences, dangers, and deeds of daring,
which were exchanged in story, as they made merry in the tent of Conrad the
Eagle-Crested, their leader-the guest and hero, St. George, meanwhile reclin-
ing in their midst. But before taking leave of those gallant knights I may
preserve for future generations the song which Eustace de Tracy improvised
for the occasion, and accompanied on the harp of his gentle page, young
Landois.
GUILBERT.
A knight from a distant land there came,
Where the dewdrop kisses the opening bell;
And he wandered in search of Beauty and Fame,
With inward yearnings which nought could quell.
Gallant and noble this knight, I trow;
Gaze on his form and manly brow!
Ready to fight
For God and the Right
With his falchion bright at saddle-bow!
Glittered his armour, flashed his lance,
And the plume in his casque waved gracefully;
Behold how the rays of the sun enhance
His charger's trappings and panoply !
This gallant knight
And steed bedight,
Bearing themselves so firm and free!
Thus and thus he journeyed on,
And gracefully waved his eagle plume,
Till he reached the walls of Ascalon,
Which darkly mirrored night's gathering gloom.
A maiden there,
In tearful prayer,
Knelt, like an angel within a tomb!
Shadowed around, the maiden kneels,
And her voice is all the knight can hear; ▾
He tightens his rein; his start reveals
A secret thrill, and a secret fear!
"'Tis she! 'tis she!-
Yet it may not be!”
But she prays for Guilbert her cavalier!
ST. GEORGE; HIS FURTHER ADVENTURES.
9
Then he cried, "Clarisse, oh sigh no more!
Thy cavalier comes to thy release ;
He hath sought thee long, and his search was sore!
But thy captivity soon shall cease!
Far and wide
I have sought my bride,
My long-lost ladye-my own Clarisse !"
Who hath not heard the glowing rede?
How Guilbert laughed at Ascalon's might?
How he bore the maid on his gallant steed,
And humbled the Saracens in the fight?
For Valour's seat
Is at Love's feet,
And God and Heaven protect the right!
"Not
As the echo of De Tracy's voice faded away and gave place to the plaudits
of his brethren, St. George arose and announced his desire to depart.
that," said he, "I desire to quit such goodly company; but a sense of duty
impels, and I have a mental prophecy of coming events."
So, with many a friendly greeting, our champion rode forth on his beloved
horse. Presently he arrived at the desert's verge, and entered a lonely wood.
The sunset streamed around him, and seemed to glorify the silence of the
forest. Thus he proceeded, when at last he came upon a shrine about which
many a parasite flowret lingered, and many a green leaf throve. A curiously
fashioned tablet, fixed on the summit, arrested his attention; and, in quaint
characters, this inscription appeared:-"To the future unknown knight who
shall address his lance in defence of beauty, chivalry, and love." Dismounting,
St. George prayed that he might be the hero of that mystic tablet, and then,
overpowered by sleep, he secured his steed, and reclined on the verdant carpet
of nature. Long were his slumbers, but a dream sundered them. It seemed
to him that he was beneath the walls of a fortified city. A maiden, young
and beautiful as the May morn, besought his aid. Before her stood a colossal
monster, terrific indeed, who, with upraised axe, endangered her life. Thrice
he lifted his weapon, but at each time an arm arrested his; but which, though it
averted the blow, was powerless to annihilate the giver. Then, at the next
stroke, a dagger was (by a gauntleted palm) sheathed in the destroyer's
heart; and as he gasped his hideous life away, a noble knight stepped forth,
who claimed the ladye as his guerdon. With that, St. George awoke; and,
saddling his trusty steed, he said,
10
ST. GEORGE HIS FURTHER ADVENTURES.
"Fate hath reserved for me some special act of heroism, and I go
the truth thereof !"
So St. George mounted. At that moment a beautiful bird flew from the
rustling cedars, and, with chirp and little cries, wooed him to follow. He did
so, he knew not wherefore; and the gentle winged herald sped before his
plume until it alighted on the mossy stones of a ruined pile which stood forth
threateningly in the dying twilight. The brave St. George, as holy as brave,
looked with religious enthusiasm on the tower before him; he felt that his
dream was in process of being interpreted, and his instincts told him of a
connection between it and the stones in front. "God and the Right!" he
cried, then spurred his steed up the acclivity. And now he was beneath the
tower walls, which, though shaken by accident and mutilated by time, still
barred his progress. A massive gate appeared to check his advance, but the
memory of a cry he had heard in his dream, when the threatening arm
descended, came to him; and impulsively he uttered, "The truth must con-
quer! Give way, O destroyer of innocence!" With that, the gate swung
inwards, and he rode forward, astonished at the instant efficacy of his conjura-
tion. For a time nought save weeds, and creeping plants, and dismantled
gateways, met his view. Finally, he emerged into a temple, the entrance to
which was guarded by brazen bulls and personations in iron of fiends, whose
uncouth shapes excited his disgust. A giant stood before them, breathing
flame from his extended lips, and brandishing a sword around which many
hissing serpents twined. Couching his lance, St. George shouted his adjura-
tion; but ere his armed heel smote the willing steed that bore him, the figures
passed into air, and a noise, as of a thousand gongs, grew loud and louder in
his ear.
There was no guardian of the temple now. Entering, he beheld a
table of ebony, on which lay a casket of pearl. It was with St. George the
work of a moment to seize the beaming receptacle, and with anxious fingers
he strove to open it, the chamber meanwhile glowing with the light which had
In vain
from the beginning streamed from a transparent vase in its centre.
his efforts, until the words of his dream recurring, he repeated them: "The
truth must conquer! Give way, O destroyer of innocence!"
Immediately the secret springs unclasped, and he perceived that the cas-
ket held a parchment sealed with the image of the dragon transfixed by a
spear. Unfolding the parchment, and assisted by the mysterious radiance
which lit the chamber, he read what called a burning flush to his cheek and
caused his brow to knit in anger; and the writing was this:-
"Malgreda the Sorcerer to all greeting! Be it known that to the knight
to prove
ST. GEORGE: HIS FURTHER ADVENTURES.
11
who shall slay the greatest foe to sorcery and the spirits of evil shall be given
Malgreda's lovely child, and that to him who shall destroy Malgreda's greatest
friend shall be bequeathed Malgreda's bitterest hate. The friend is found, but
the foe is not. Tremble who readest, for if thou armest thyself against Mal-
greda and the approved champion of his cause, ICALON, nought can save thee
but the possession of that before which even sorceries fail, and faith and reli-
gion bow!"
•
With mailed fist upraised and menacing, St. George vowed a solemn vow to
relieve the endangered damsel; then, confiding the parchment to his breast,
he left the temple of the sorcerer by the way he had gained it, the moonlight
(which had arisen) falling in tender floods around him.
12
ST. GEORGE: HIS FURTHER ADVENTURES.
CHAPTER II.
The Enchanted Cave-The Siren-The Temptation-"Is it, or is it not?"-St. George's Potent
Talisman to discover Good and Evil Influences-His Rejection of the Temptress-The Demon
of the Desert-St. George's Encounter-Senseless-The Recluse-The Erector of the Memo-
rial-St. George's Progress-His Encounter with the Robbers-Victory-The Defile and
Pass-The City Damsel at the Spring-Her Tears-Her Story-Watched from the Walls-
The Dead Knight-Icalon the Seven-Fingered-The Cry-"My Father"-Discovery of the
Dead Knight-Malgreda's Onset-St. George's Prowess.
PURSUING his course, and aided by the gentle light, St. George perceived a
ridge of rocks. He gained its summit, then descending, with difficulty reached
a broad plain. Letting the reins repose on his horse's neck, he rode along,
meditating on previous events. Who was Malgreda, and who Icalon? and
was he the knight destined to preserve Malgreda's child from Icalon's ambitious
grasp? In St. George would the sorcerer find his greatest foe, and Innocence
her dearest friend? "To be, or not to be ?"-only Shakspeare, you know,
was not alive or dead at the period in question; St. George knowing as little
of Shakspeare as Shakspeare then knew of Hamlet, or Hamlet of St. George.
The argent radiance silvered the champion's armour, and the point of his
lance seemed to be a star. By-and-by he had crossed the plain, and entered
a wood which enclosed a babbling stream. Threading the trees, and now
keeping a tight rein on his charger, St. George made his way to the water-
course, and on its brink halted to observe. The moonbeams toyed with the
little waves, and the young current leaped on as though caressed by its noc-
turnal guardian into playfulness. But where there is light exists darkness;
and the opposite side of the stream was overcast by rocks, which stood like
adverse and threatening spirits of the place. Willows here and there bowed
mournfully, and many a portentous chasm met the good knight's glance. In
particular, he remarked a great opening in the cliff, not ten lances' length
from where he sat, and its rugged and gloomy appearance suggested danger
and adventure to him. He walked his steed through the stream, and, gaining
the cave, dismounted. A gloomy place, good sooth!-dark within as the cavern
of Ogof, and even the very darkness made darker by shrubs and boughs which
spread about the entrance thereto. Leading his steed, St. George stepped
ST. GEORGE HIS FURTHER ADVENTURES.
13
forward, cautiously and wonderingly. The earth seemed regular, and, being
above the river's level by a foot or more, was dry. He had not proceeded
twelve paces when a blow on his helm caused him to unsheath his dagger; but,
as the harsh cry of a great bat, which with rustling progress flew past, ex-
plained the stroke, he returned it to his side with a smile. His steed reared
and resisted, but a few words uttered in the deep tones of its master allayed its
fright. So they proceeded, in utter blackness, and not knowing whither. St.
George, regretting what he esteemed a useless task, seeing that the cave pro-
mised no end, was about to retrace his steps. He perceived, however, a light
not far in advance, and, rightly conjecturing it must be some truant moon-ray
which had entered through a cleft above, went on. Ere he reached it, St.
George and his horse were precipitated into a chasm, but escaped with a few
bruises. Thanking Providence, the knight collected himself and regained the
bridle of his faithful companion. Darkness and uncertainty still!
As he communed with himself what course to take, he became sensible of
a decrease in the obscurity. Gradually lessening, it at last gave way to a deep
rich light, suffusing and revealing to him the high and spacious vault wherein
he stood; and the light came not from the moon, but was of an ambery hue.
He surveyed the rough and shapeless enclosure in search of a path, which,
indeed, seemed not to exist; and as he gazed, a voice called sweetly from he
knew not where, "Hither! come hither, thou gallant knight !" and imme-
diately the inhospitable walls before him were cloven as by a magician's wand,
and a way appeared for man and horse. It seemed to him that fingers clasped
his arm, and dauntlessly leading his steed, they reached, by sinuous passages,
a brązen gate which blocked their progress. A marvel now! for though the
portal remained closed, St. George and his steed passed through it, as though
it or they were spirits only. Led by the unseen fingers, they reached a great
carpet, whose centre was of emerald colour. Still impelled, St. George and his
steed strode onward; but no sooner did they touch the centre than carpet and
floor descended with them, and rested presently. Then our knight perceived
that he stood in a beautiful hall, whose pavement was of jasper and gold, and
whose perforated glass roof admitted precious perfumes. Figures in alabaster
of knights and lovely ladies, were around him, and a soft music ravished his
ear-such sweet and soothing strains as he had never heard before! and they
melted his heart into gentleness and love. Then a hidden choir of tender
voices poured forth seducing melody, which floated away and left the knight
with a sense of sadness in his breast. Thus for a brief space, and then the
same sweet voices recalled his love. They sang these words:-
14
ST. GEORGE: HIS FURTHER ADVENTURES.
“Bravest of knights is he!
Noblest of ladyes she!
O favoured knight!
O happy fair!
When Beauty bright
And Bravery
Their loves unite!
How good to see!
In earth or air,
What can compare
With gentle hearts in unity?"
And, with the echo, a bewitching maiden revealed herself to the strained eye
of St. George. Fascinating in truth!-and as the knight's scrutiny met her
own timid glance, she withdrew her eyes from him in modest confusion. She
was evidently waiting to hear the knight's speech, and he did not delay it.
Thrilled by her presence he cried, "Lady, who art thou? Do I behold a
vision, or art thou like myself, no image, but a living reality?"
"Sir Knight "-and the maiden's tone was soft as the music of a dulcimer
when touched by gentlest fingers-"Sir Knight! I know thee, and that
thou art in quest of an afflicted ladye! Thou wishest to overcome her per-
secutor, and to rescue her from the toils with which she is surrounded. Thou
hast learned to hate Icalon, and thy detestation of the sorcerer Malgreda is
great. Sir Knight! thou already lovest his child Anasie"-the name riveted
still more St. George's attention-" and longest to make her thine. But thou
knowest not where she is; thy love is bestowed on one whom thou hast never
seen. I—I alone-can guide thee to the fair Anasie !"
“Thanks, siren of this temple! thanks a thousandfold!" he cried.
"But who art thou, for I know not ?"
She answered, "Her good angel, deputed by a higher power than that
thou seest to guard and to befriend Anasie!"
66
Spirit," he answered, with a heaving breast, "tell me-oh, tell me where
my good lance may avenge her wrongs, and these mailed arms enfold her
lovely form!" The maiden smiled tenderly at his emotion, and her dark eyes
shot inquiring glances into his.
"Darest thou, and darest thou? Bethink thee, Sir Knight, of the perils to
encounter, and the self-denials thou must make! I know thee, and assure thee
now that thine antagonist the dragon occasioned thee less effort than thy present
enterprise shall, if undertaken. Yet, if thou art resolved,"-""
"By Heaven,
ST. GEORGE: HIS FURTHER ADVENTURES.
15
"Then,"
The knight was about to repeat the formulary which the spirit, with uplifted
finger, was on the point of uttering, when beyond her on the distant wall a
scroll appeared, and he read, "Trust not always to the voice of the charmer!
Fair appearances oftentimes delude, and the loveliest rose may veil the dead-
liest thorn!" Instinctively the knight felt for his talisman,-that wondrous
gift of the old pilgrim whom he had, years agone, rescued from the Black
Vampire of Egypt,—and, producing it from his bosom, spake thus:-"Spirit,
I hold a talisman, the which hath potency to discover for me both good and
evil influences. I have heard thee say thou art the befriending angel of Anasie.
Touch, then, this precious gift; if true, I'll follow thee to the world's centre;
if false, discard thy counsel as the wily seductress sent forth by the malignant
fiend!" With that, he made to approach; but instantaneously, as her eye
perceived the talisman, she, shrieking, faded from his sight, and the charged
thunder rolled within the hall, and shot its lightnings around him. The pave-
ment of jasper and gold became desert sand; the surrounding images of
knights and ladies, trees in the distance; and the delicious perfumes, healthful
odours of the early morn. St. George stood no longer within the glorious hall;
the dome of heaven was above him, and his faithful steed beside. And he
knelt before the rising sun, and to its Maker offered fervent thanks that his
journey had not been turned to nought by compliance with the wiles of the
deluding spirit. Then he upsprang, and tightening the girths of his horse, he
addressed himself to the prosecution of his search. Over the sand he rode.
until, arriving at a spot shaded by a few acacias, he reclined, and partook of a
sober meal, not forgetting his companion. Then, mounting, he proceeded.
Suddenly cries as of distress met his ear. Spurring his steed, he rode towards
the point wherefrom they came, and surprised a gigantic Marabout—as he
seemed by his dress and the girdle which he wore-in the act of plundering a
wounded stripling. The youth lay extended on the ground, blood oozing from
a great gash in his forehead, and his voice gradually dying away with his
life. Throwing himself from his steed, "Hold, wretch!" St. George shouted
passionately; "thou hast me for a foe!" The seeming Marabout retreated from
the boy, over whom St. George bent inquiringly. "Let me raise thee," he
said, taking him in his embrace. But, as though in death, the arms of the
stripling closed around St. George, and the good knight felt he was in the
grasp of an emissary of the evil one. Powerless, his body being as it were
enclosed in bands of iron, he saw the Marabout approaching with unsheathed
I am!" St. George interrupted, and his gauntlet smote his dagger.
she continued, "I will assist thee. Swear!"
16
1
ST. GEORGE: HIS FURTHER ADVENTURES.
dagger, and exulting triumph in his eye. The knight struggled vainly; but
his strength, though weak in itself, so shook his fettered body that the precious
talisman was jerked from his breast and fell on the lad beneath. St. George
was free, and his discomfited confiner, changing into a serpent, ran from him.
But the Marabout! No longer so, he stood forth undisguised,-a gigantic
creature, utterly deformed in limb and shape, glaring with baffled hatred on
the released knight, and advancing, with huge strides and uplifted mace, to
crush him! "God and the Right!" our hero cried, and drew his sword.
"Yield thee!" his adversary yelled, and aimed a terrible blow which St.
George avoided dexterously. "Not to thee, thou foul and hideous thing !" and
with these words he dealt the enemy a great blow which brought him to the
ground. Then, with his sword well balanced for the death-stroke, St. George
stood over him. But an encircling armour of iron spikes a yard long suddenly
appeared to avert the blow, and the gigantic enemy laughed aloud.
" Not
thus," he cried, "thou slayest a genie !" And receding from the protecting
barrier, the monstrous wretch, by his witchery, transformed the spikes into
simple bullrushes, on which St. George gazed wonderingly. He would have
pressed through them, but immediately a cloud of locusts darkened the air,
and when they had passed his eye beheld only the vacant desert. His enemy
was gone, and a low laugh smote his ear! And as he surveyed the bullrushes
they seemed to change into uncouth shapes, and a spell came over him, and
he fell senseless. When he recovered, a travel-stained pilgrim, or recluse, as
he appeared to be, was bending above him, striving to arouse the afflicted
knight. By his kindly offices, St. George soon regained his senses, which in
truth had been obscured by the foul sorcery of the monster. He learned that
the recluse was he who had reared the memorial shrine, and for a full hour the
two conversed of what had occurred. Then St. George with grateful words
took leave of his friend, on whom he would have forced some more substantial
gift. But the recluse said, "Nay, my son! good deeds carry their own
reward; and he who accepts a return for kindness robs himself of the gem
which it contains. Shouldst thou befriend the distressed, receive their
thanks, but nought beside; for the gratitude of one true heart surpasses the
treasures of Golconda !" With that they separated, but not until St. George
had partaken of the food which the good man carried in the wallet on his back.
Mounting, the knight proceeded, and for a time encountered nothing. At last
he perceived a smoke arising from the plain, and, riding to it, came upon three
robbers, as they seemed. With a shout at his sudden appearance in the
valley, which had disguised his approach, the foremost, leaping to his feet,
ST. GEORGE HIS FURTHER ADVENTURES.
17
aroused his comrades, and the band stood expectantly.
cried a stalwart ruffian, eyeing St. George with distrust.
Cappadocia !" the good knight replied; "and ye?"
the death, as thou shalt discover !" and with levelled spears they advanced to
the combat.
"Icalon to his trusty myrmidons !-When ye shall
remove her to
*
*
*
Our knight retreated a few paces; then, riding round them at his beast's best
speed, he gradually closed, and by a clever use of his rein broke their discomfited
phalanx, and crying "God and our Ladye!" pierced with his lance the fore-
most through his heart; then, as the others assailed him, he smote another with
his falchion and laid him low for ever. The surviving wretch would have fled,
but a few strokes of his spur brought St. George upon him, and the robber fell,
transfixed by his fatal lance. Dismounting, he knelt by the side of his dying
foe, and held before his glazing eye the cross which our knight carried in his
bosom, but with a faint cry the ruffian breathed his iniquitous soul away, and
all was still! And the quiet that succeeds death has something in it to excite
Then St. George opened the robber's corslet and found a paper which
he perused. It was torn and soiled, and little could be gleaned from it, but
this:
awe.
*
*
"Who art thou?"
"George, whilom of
"Enemies of thine to
*
remembering that a hero hath undertaken
* and Malgreda shall reward ye !"
The corslets of the other wretches enclosed nought. St. George, spurning
them with his armed heel, mounted, and presently (winding through the
valley) entered a defile whose overhanging rocks frowned on him. Many a
wild animal fled at the clangour of his horse's hoof, and many an unearthly
scream saluted him from the carrion birds which marked his approach as they
studded the crags and peaks. Following the dry bed of a past torrent, St.
George at length emerged from the gloomy pass, and beheld a city's towers
three furlongs before him. As he rode along he discovered a spring, by
which, with heedless feet, a damsel stood. She was gazing on its waters with
an absent eye; an emblem of patient suffering not unmingled with despair.
Gently approaching, our knight, dismounting, accosted her, and it seemed to
him that he had never previously beheld so fair a damsel. Her long dark
tresses flowed negligently adown her snowy neck, and her features were
chiselled as by a master hand which excelled in the production of grace and
beauty. But she cared little to preserve that master's work, as was seen by
the signs of a constant grief in her poor heart, which shrouded her face with
an expression of deep-set agony.
*
B
18
ST. GEORGE HIS FURTHER ADVENTURES.
"Maiden, fear not!" he said, "I perceive distress in thine attitude, and
despair in thine eye. In me regard the champion of the afflicted: George of
Cappadocia, thy friend ere he knows thy story!"
As though trouble had erased every feeling of surprise or fear, the damsel
looked up with gentleness in her eye. "O Knight," she faltering said, "thou
art not unknown to me, for I have heard of thy prowess. Protect me and I
will bless thee, for indeed I am afflicted!"
He took her hand, which she withdrew not. "Maiden, I will, if Fate her-
self said 'Nay!' Tell me thy wrongs and how to redress them!"
At that moment a great sepulchral blast swept from the city wall, and as she
heard it, the damsel, shaking with fear, cried, "Ala s,alas! I must be gone.
My father summons me, and I dare not disobey. Ah me!"-the rising tears
suffused her brilliant eyes, and she bowed her head in deepest grief.
"Damsel! think not of it," said St. George, his bronzed cheek flushing
with indignant blood; "I will protect thee. Only tell me what threatens thee.”
Gently beseeching, he at length restored courage to her heart, and she poured
forth her confidence with many a bitter sigh. A knight whom she detested
for his villanies wooed her, and her father held her in captivity until the
recreant should have performed certain conditions. A gallant youth who had
in love and pity espoused her cause, had fallen by the lance of her persecutor.
She was proceeding to recount the circumstances when the terrible blast again
came forth on the affrighted air from the city, and she trembled as the aspen.
St. George prayed her to continue her narrative: he had learned that her
persecutor was Icalon the Seven-Fingered, and his heart said, "This is the
damsel whom thou lovest." She might have resumed, but a cloud of dust up-
sprang before the distant city, and out of it came a gigantic rider with fifteen
or more followers, all armed cap-a-pie. Then the maiden cried, "Sir Knight!
to God I commend thee. Be prudent, vigilant, and true, and by thy quality I
beseech thee, oh, remember Anasie the afflicted!" She sped away with the
lightness of the gazelle, and St. George had only a moment to mount ere the
assailants-that gigantic figure heading them-burst on him like a swollen
torrent. Dexterously wheeling his steed he obtained their flank, then, ere they
could recover their horses, charged through their midst and galloped at full
speed from the city, they pursuing. Wheeling again, with couched lance, he
met them firmly; bore down their giant leader, and again broke the line; then
turned his horse's head to the left and rode hotly past the city walls. Relin-
quishing the chase, his assailants gathered up their prostrate and disarranged
chief, and returned to their stronghold. And as St. George pricked over the
:
:
!
!

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BUYING
PISAN
BICH
ST. GEORGE: HIS FURTHER ADVENTURES.
19
kam
plain he, turning his head towards the city, became conscious of a white
kerchief waving from a casement in its highest tower.
By-and-by he reached a mountain range, and wound along a disused path
made perilous by rocks and stones which had fallen from the cliffs above, and
were slippery with the mountain haze. Thinking of Anasie's storyhe pro-
ceeded right carefully, and entering a gloomy place hemmed in by great
precipices, dark and boding, his horse's tramp aroused some waterfowls which,
shrieking, flew away from the rock on which they had sat, and, with many a
dip, hasted across the shadowed lake. His glance instinctively reverted to
their first place, and he saw that which led him to spur towards it vigorously.
St. George came upon a richly-caparisoned steed, grievously wounded and
dying, rearing itself on the rock in the last agonies of death, and the ensan-
guined foam staining its neck. At its feet lay a gallant knight, mangled and
resting in his gore. His arm was raised as though to smite a fallen enemy, but
evidently his own spirit had fled ere the strkoe could be given. In victory he
seemed vanquished. St. George recalled Anasie's story of the knight who
had engaged in her cause, and as he looked on the poor bleeding body, he cried,
"By heaven, 'tis the work of Icalon; but whether his or not, Anasie's knight
shall be avenged, if Providence guide me to the wretch that hath done this."
And leaving the mournful spectacle, St. George pressed onward.
B 2
20
ST. GEORGE HIS FURTHER ADVENTURES.
CHAPTER III.
The Harper's Story-The Black Knight and the Holy Cross-St. George hath a Relic!-The
Harper's Prophecy-St. George's Departure-Attacked by a Savage Lion, he worsts him,
and follows to his Haunt-The Work of Death-Issue from the Lair-The Ruined Castle-
The Encounter" Hold, Knight!"-The Beleaguering Spirits of Malgreda's Conjurations—
Escape of Icalon-St. George Powerless-Falls on his Shield.
LONG he rode by the margin of that gloomy lake, whose silent, lifeless waters,
heavily and as it were unwillingly, reflected the battlemented towers which
rose from its western side, and seemed to bewail their decay. And as the path
ended in a forest, whose tall trees were shadowless in the absence of the noon-
day sun, whose beams refused to penetrate the density, St. George, alighting,
led his steed. Carefully clearing a way, however rough, by separating and
putting back the obstructing branches, the knight proceeded; and as his horse
pricked its ears, he heard the sound of a harp in advance. The sound died
away as he went on, and silence prevailed. No doubt the harpist's ear had
caught the crackling of the branches and the noise of the hoof. Then, as
though convinced that a noble and generous comer approached, and not any
cause of alarm, the harpist struck his instrument right boldly, and sang a little
song of welcome. And our knight, entering a moss-grown dell, perceived an
aged man, white-haired and bent, who, sitting upon the boll of a great fallen
beech, awaited him. St. George prayed the good old harpist to explain the
reason why he welcomed him; and that worthy octogenarian made answer,
"In that I ever hail the coming of Valour and Virtue."-"But knowest thou
me?" St. George inquired.-"Ay, well!" and accompanying the song on
his harp, the old man sang thus:-
"What shall the good knight do—
He, the brave red-cross knight?
Shall Vice, and Shame, and Malice thrive,
And Guilt laugh loud at Innocence,
And sorceries shadow Purity,
And blight its bloom?
Not while the good knight breathics!
ST. GEORGE HIS FURTHER ADVENTURES.
His valiant arm
Shall crush the strength
Of him whose hand is red with blood-
Shall overcome
His subtle frauds,
And seeth the sword of justice in his gore!"
21
The song ended. "What meanest thou, father?" asked St. George. "I
mean," the harper said, "that in thee I behold the good knight, and that ere
the stars shine forth again thou shalt encounter him whom thou hast cause to
hate. But thine arm, though it strike, may not avenge, this day. Thou hast
great perils in store ere the demon knight be slain. But divert not from thy
purpose; thou shalt succeed if thou faintest not. Or man or devil, give not
way, and the holy cross shall ever guard thee. The Black Knight tempts his
fate; be thou the privileged dispenser of his meed. Fare thee well, Sr.
GEORGE! as thou shalt hereafter be styled; be thou but true and strong of
heart! Fare thee well!" and the harper, slinging his harp at his side, went
painfully into the gloom, and was lost to sight. St. George, reclining thought-
fully at the foot of a huge forest-tree, scarcely remarked the restless pawing
of his horse. By every sign the animal could give, it strove to arrest his
attention; now champing its bit uneasily, and now snorting forth a summons.
The cause appeared! Warily surveying him, furthest from his horse, but
not two lances' length from where he lay, the knight perceived a great head,
whose glaring, blood-shot eyeballs foretokened coming battle. The shaggy
mane, shaking with rage, was of a sombre hue in the obscurity; but St.
George well understood how tawny it would be were the sun there to reveal
the true character of its owner. He had encountered many a wild beast of
the forest, but never such a terrible lion as this. Maintaining a calm aspect,
and fixing the monster with his eye, he slowly disengaged his dagger; ad-
justed the fastenings of his mail; firmly seated his helm, and, slowly uprising,
stepped before his trembling horse, and addressed himself to the encounter.
The lion, as though mechanically, stayed its rolling glances, and, looking
straight at St. George, stepped into the arena. A noble beast, in truth! made
greater by the gloom of the dell. St. George, determining to await the attack,
stood with his left arm outstretched, his right foot slightly back, and his armed
dexter hand uplifted. Thus, for some moments, stood the combating foes; then,
with a roar that echoed far and wide, the lion sprang upon him. Leaping
aside nimbly, St. George aimed a thrust which sheathed his blade in the
beast's flank; and ere the lion could recover himself, he grappled with it.
22
ST. GEORGE: HIS FURTHER ADVENTURES.
Over and over they rolled; the horse wrestling with its rein, and striving to
break away from the tree, where it stood a dismayed spectator. But St.
George had the lion in his strong grasp; his hands were at its throat, and
his dagger was drinking its heart's blood. Not once did it disengage itself.
Not once were its sharp teeth effective; for his was a life-battle, and he knew
it. Man and beast, they fought for the space of a half-hour, until the
ground reeked with hot blood, but not of St. George. Never relinquishing
his grasp, he plunged and plunged again his deadly blade into the lion's
breast; then, with a great effort, got his knees on its body, and pierced it
through the brain. With one loud cry, the lion rolled over in death, and St.
George arose from the conflict without a wound. His spirit was now fully
roused; and after glancing at his subdued foe, he walked to whence it had
come, and saw through the leaves and trees a track with many a beast's foot-
print on it. Following the track, he arrived at a cave, which he entered
cautiously. There he found three cubs of the old lion, and these he speedily
despatched; then, issuing from the lair, returned to his good steed, which,
by this time, was, from very terror, bathed in foam. A few gentle words and
caresses restored the horse; and St. George, leading it by its bridle, proceeded
through the forest shades, until he came upon a desolate castle, which
upreared from the valley, and disclosed numerous dismantled gates and en-
trances. A moat surrounded it on three sides; the fourth, if any moat had
been, was dry and desert. Having thus emerged from the forest, St. George,
mounting, rode until he had gained the desert side of the castle, and bent
his course away. But the clatter of a horse's hoofs caused him to check his
speed, and, looking back, he beheld a knight in black armour furiously riding
towards him.
The knight made as though he would have passed, but St. George, leaping
from his horse, seized the stranger's bridle, crying, "Hold, knight! I speak
with thee an thou wilt or no !"
66 If
With lance elevated, the stranger surveyed him through his visor.
thou knewest me," he replied, "thou might not be so bold, O Knight of the
Red Cross ! "
"And wert thou acquainted with my name," our hero responded, "thou
wouldst, peradventure, lower thy tone, Sir Braggart!"
"Who art thou?" the stranger asked.
66 First, let me know thy name," St. George made answer.
With a proud and insulting scowl, his interlocutor said, "Icalon, the Seven-
Fingered! "
ST. GEORGE: HIS FURTHER ADVENTURES.
23
"And I," was the response, "am George of Cappadocia, thy foe to the
death !”
With that he threw himself upon Icalon, who, unprepared for the attack,
reeled in his saddle, and fell heavily to the earth, our hero upon him.
Struggling fiercely, the Seven-Fingered at last recovered his horse, and, leaping
on its back, charged our hero, who, with a few bounds, regained his own
good steed, and, mounting, with levelled lance spurred to the combat. Great
was the meeting, and again Icalon rolled on the sand; but ere St. George
could pursue his advantage, the forms of misshapen demons gathered round
him with horrible gibbering cries, and, as though fascinated, his spear dropped
from his hand. Then, as his shield left his side, and, clattering, rested on the
plain, St. George fell heavily upon it, and his senses left him! For Malgreda's
familiars had been summoned to assist Icalon-and with the spirits of air who
may contend?
24
ST. GEORGE HIS FURTHER ADVENTURES.
CHAPTER IV.
St. George Awakes in a Dungeon-His Adventures there-The promised Auto-da-fe-His Escape-
His Steed Recovered-The Alarm-Obstacles to his Escape-Safe Exit-Benighted—The Weird
Figure-Anasie's Sainted Mother-She bespeaks Protection for Anasie-The Chilling Wind
-The Globes of Fire-St. George's Steed's Mad Career-The Torrent-The Leap-The Fall
-The Brazen Ring-The Clangour-The Potent Spirit-The Relic, and Discomfiture of the
Enemy-St. George hemmed in!
WHEN St. George opened his eyes, he found himself in a gloomy dungeon,
reclining on an iron bed of clumsy make. The only furniture in the room
was a rough table and a few uncouth stools. A pitcher of water rested at his
elbow, and he slaked his burning thirst. As he drank, the door creaked on
its rusty hinges, and Icalon entered. St. George knew him by his dispropor-
tioned hands, though in all else he might have been unrecognized. No longer
wearing his helm and visor, he appeared a man of middle age, dark and
sullen, with heavy brows shading a face which would have been handsome
had not a great scar disfigured his right cheek.
"I have come to glut my revenge," he said. "Nay! rage not at my
words; for within call there are those who would give to the winds the souls
of a thousand Georges! I have come to tell thee that thou art securely mine,
and that ere to-morrow's sun thy bones will be whitening on the highest
gibbet in my castle!" With a bitter laugh he departed.
-
St. George, prudent as bold, had restrained his anger. He now rose from
his rough couch, and, convincing himself of Icalon's distant footsteps, pro-
ceeded to examine his prison. It was lighted (but how dimly!) by a small
window made secure with bars. In returning from it he had swung himself
up by his hands-his foot, striking the floor, awakened a hollow noise, which
suggested a passage beneath. He returned to his bed, thinking the sound
might have been heard. He was right; for presently the door opened again,
and a misshapen dwarf, of muscular make and demoniac presence, appeared.
This creature glanced scrutinizingly here and there; then, as if satisfied,
approached the knight, and croaked hoarsely this greeting:-"Welcome, my
master! the faithful attendant of the Seven-Fingered bids thee welcome!
While thou art his guest, thou shalt want nothing. This brimming goblet
""

UNIL
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JATTIO1
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OF
:
こ
​ST. GEORGE HIS FURTHER ADVENTURES.
25
(he satirized the earthen pitcher) "shall be thine, and the choicest ambrosial
confections" (with this he took a dirty morsel of bread from his side, and
tossed it to St. George) "at thy service. Call for what thou wilt: one wish
of thine will be satisfied as readily as another. And this hospitality thou shalt
receive until the reward which Icalon my master gives to his good friends
shall be dealt unto thee! Be of good cheer! Icalon loves thee much, and
will honour thee on the morrow!"
With these bitter and gibing words the ugly dwarf departed; and though
neither key nor bolt sounded, St. George felt how securely the door was
closed. A secret spring, opening from the outside, no doubt held it; and as
he thought over his incarceration, he became convinced that the dungeon
door would never open to his efforts. He proceeded, with caution, to examine
the floor of the room; but, though near the window it sounded hollow, he
could detect neither spring nor slide. Raging, he stamped his foot in despair;
when lo! the wood parted, and a trap-door was revealed. His foot had acci-
dentally discovered the secret. And to-morrow he was to perish, as the
mysterious words of his gaolers indicated! Then to-day, and at once, must
he act!
Silently stepping down the flight of steps beneath the trap-door, he entered
a vault, dark and clammy, whose sinuous length terminated in a dead wall.
Feeling about for a spring, he at last touched a knob of iron which, pressing,
caused the stone it was in to give way; and St. George, inserting his hand,
seized a wide ring of the same metal. This he pulled with his full strength,
and presently the entire stonework sank, and he stepped into a courtyard
overgrown with wild plants and sickly with the fumes of decaying branches,
which seemed to have been steeped in some obnoxious liquid before piled up
to perish. Warily looking forth he heard a great noise behind him, and
hesitating no longer he crossed the courtyard at his full speed. Making
towards a break in the wall, he let himself down, quickly but safely; the
jutting stones offering a fair foot and hand hold. Descending some thirty
yards, his feet rested on the ground; and, as the gradually nearing outcry
which had met his ear grew loud and louder, his eye perceived his faithful
steed tied to a ring in the wall of a tower to his right. The alarmed voices
were approaching, and our knight decided on his plan. He started towards his
steed, and had all but reached it when two men-at-arms rushed from the tower
and stopped his progress; but only for a moment. Wresting a spear from the
foremost he struck them aside as with the strength of Milo, and in another
second had undone the bridle and was on his horse's back. Snatching up a
26
ST. GEORGE HIS FURTHER ADVENTURES.
lance which leaned against the tower (he had cast away the first one in his
haste), St. George with a wild shout spurred his horse and directed its head to
the distant hills. No man followed him; he had descended from the castle by a
way which neither Icalon nor his adherents cared to take; and when, retracing
their path, they arrived at the tower, the two bruised men-at-arms dismally
pointed to St. George's flying figure afar off, and chafed their wounded
shoulders.
St. George abated his speed when he had obtained a safe distance, and re-
joiced that he was not unarmed. The spear he held was no common one, and he
had not, in his captivity, been divested of his armour or poignard. As the
shades of night approached, and the sunbeams deepened in intensity, he
entered the mountains by a path overhung with tall beeches. He had not
ridden far-the hillside to his left thick with firs, and rustling with the
passage of game-when a tall figure, made taller by the departing sun,
obstructed him, and caused his steed to rear and leap uneasily. Recovering
it, "Heaven!" cried St. George, "whom have we here? Speak, I command
thee!"
But as the woman's form stood stately before him, her long hair waving in
the breeze, she seemed to gaze at him with sorrow and affection; and his lofty
tone faded into respect, and St. George awaited her reply with humility.
"Knight!" she said in mournful accents, while her dark, sunken eyes wore
the expression of a deep-set distress, "listen to me. Malgreda the sorcerer
had a wife whom, in a fit of passion, he slew. It has been given to her to
watch over the daughter of Malgreda, her only child. In me behold the wife,
murdered by that wretched sorcerer, and now appearing unto thee to bid thee
be of a good heart, and to prosecute unceasingly thy generous purpose.
Be
strong, and let the blessings of a loving mother, the sorrows of a gentle child,
and the baseness of a wizard father, sink deep into thy soul! Go on from con-
quering to conquering; part not with the talisman which thou bearest; let thy
first victim be the Seven-Fingered, and thy last Malgreda. Anasie need not
plead for his life; he is not her sire: by a second marriage, I became the
partner of the wizard, whose foul conjurations eclipsed my abhorrence; and the
true sire of my child was Roderick the Blue-Eyed!”
"Gramercy!” cried St. George; "the comrade of my journey to the holy
shrine last year, who fell in battle with the Saracens !
99
"The same," she said.
"Then, holy mother," he continued, " say no more! By my respect for
Roderick, by my hatred of Malgreda and Icalon, by thy prayers and the love

WYMERSOMS
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ST. GEORGE HIS FURTHER ADVENTURES.
27
I bear for Anasie, she shall yet be rescued, if a true heart and strong arm
hath potency."
The weird figure gazed on St. George with affection, and as he looked her
form resolved itself into thin air, and all was still.
near.
His steed now uttered a plaintive neigh, and champed its bit convulsively;
and a chilling wind came from the mountain firs, and blew around him, until
he shook with cold. It seemed to paralyze all motion; but, with an effort, he
broke the spell, and spurred his affrighted steed. A new peril was in store.
Suddenly, great balls of fire danced about and before the horse's eyes; and
the air resounded with groans and moanings, as though spirits in distress were
Fire-flashes revealed dread creatures in his path-things of foul shapes
which gibbered and spat at him; and the thunder rolled through the moun-
tains, as though the last day were at hand. In vain he wrestled with the
horse; it overcame even the strength of his bridle-hand, and bore him away
in mad career. Dashing onward, it reached a wild torrent, and leaped the
angry gulf with a great effort; but, failing to recover its feet, rolled forward
with a terrible noise. Luckily, St. George had disengaged his feet from the
stirrups, and, springing aside, he alighted on solid ground, just as, with a loud
echo, his steed's hoof struck on some metal substance in the earth. A brazen
ring! and it opened a concealed door, through which ascended a monster dread
to look upon. His height was nine cubits, and his mouth exposed great
teeth, sharpened to a point, and reeking as with blood. In his left hand he
bore a newly-severed head, from whose ghastly jaws the purple tide dripped
horribly. His right hand grasped a great sword, the blade whereof was red
with recent death. And this monster, surveying the knight, laughed aloud,
and shook the severed head on high.
For a moment St. George bethought him of his dagger; but there was
that about the monster which spoke of the Infernal. His talisman! With
the remembrance, St. George drew it from his bosom, and crying, "God
and the Right! For Purity and Innocence!" outstretched it. With a yell
of defeated malice, the monstrous creature disappeared beneath the gulf from
whence he had arisen, and the talisman's potency was complete. St. George,
restoring it to his bosom, and patting his steed, which had regained its feet
and stood spell-bound, sought to go forth. Alas! he had fallen into a natural
trap, which talisman or relic (potent against spirits only) could not unclose.
He was hemmed in by great rocks, and it was night!
28
ST. GEORGE: HIS FURTHER ADVENTURES.
CHAPTER V.
St. George's Adventures in the Chasm-His Exit-Discovery of the Murdered Knights-"Good
Friend!" he cried-Further Adventures-Hungry, he Eats of a Peculiar Fruit-Delirium-His
Surprisal of the Fiends in Knights' Disguise-The Battle-His Madness, and the Talisman-
Hangs it on his Lance-Victory-Thanks to his Lance!-The Upborne Talisman at its
Point Exerts its Power-Recovery.
66
'Twas
Il ne se conçoit pas !" and St. George shrugged his shoulders.
saying, in effect, "I don't quite seem to see it!" How to extricate himself
from the dreary place? But then, the night had surprised him, and until
morning came he could hope to do nought. So our friend calmly addressed.
himself to slumber, first attaching his arm to his horse's bridle!
This night he slept long and soundly, and awoke refreshed. Then, with an
assuring pat on his good steed's neck, he, in the rich morning light which
penetrated his prison, entering overhead, sought an outlet. Vainly he walked
hither and thither, hoping for a breach in the rocks. There was none! St.
George made the alarming discovery that he was hermetically closed in with
rocks unscaleable! What to do? The demon of the past night--his appear-
ance and departure-occurred to him. Might not a point of egress exist in
the floor of the chasm? Searching minutely, he detected a brazen ring,
which had escaped his notice by the dust which covered it. And pressing
heavily on this, the earth opened beneath him, revealing a secret path over-
hung with bushes. The distance from where he stood to this path was not
great; and calling his horse, he sprang down and alighted safely, the beast
following. Then St. George perceived that he was in a lane, as it seemed;
but looking above, saw an iron door which had admitted him. Not staying to
close the passage, he proceeded along, his horse's head almost touching the
roof. The truth breaking upon him, he understood that what he had deemed
a lane was in reality a cave; and, guided by the light which entered it from
its furthest limit, he advanced into a broad valley, with distant hills bounding
Almost at the
the horizon. As he emerged, what a sight greeted him!
cave's entrance, and hanging from the great trees which spread their branches
about it, were the bodies and skeletons of fourteen knights and esquires-
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ST. GEORGE: HIS FURTHER ADVENTURES.
29
some in armour, some stripped and shieldless; but all suspended by chains
from the trees above!
Apostrophizing one, "Good friend!" St. George said, slowly, "it may be
that I give thee another companion ere sunset. But whether then or not,
should I surprise the recreant who hath placed thee thus, he shall recount to
And
thee, in the Shades, the pleasurable circumstances of our meeting!"
with an inward conviction that to Icalon and Malgreda the deaths of these
knights and squires were due, St. George departed mournfully.
Winding along the valley side, he skirted the mountain's foot and came on a
well whereat he drank. The water slaked his thirst, but created an unnatural
sensation of hunger, and our knight looked about him ravenously. He could
perceive nothing to satisfy his pangs, save some blood-red berries on a distant
tree. But the sight even of them seemed to arouse him, and he galloped to
where the poor fruit hung, and gathering ate in haste. Sweet they were to
his palate; and he gathered all within his reach. But suddenly a fury pos-
sessed him he knew not why or wherefore-and his brain burned. The
poisoned fruit dropped from his extended hand, and with maddest delirium he
put spurs to his horse and dashed away. He sped like the wind through
covert and dell, by mountain-side and gloomy wood; still urging his horse to
its utmost speed, and laughing wildly as he went. In this way he entered a
valley and perceived a group of knights (as they seemed) riding in close order.
Madly spurring into their midst, St. George struck right and left with his
falchion, crying "God and the Right! For Innocence and Beauty!" But
the knights closed about him, and his danger was imminent when his talisman
fell from his breast, and as they saw it each arm was arrested; the knights
retreating slowly with muttered oaths of dismay. In his madness, St. George
passed his lance through the sacred relic, then, ere they could prepare for the
onset, charged the knights again. His lance-point touched them not!-the
talisman was potent indeed. For instantly knights and horses disappeared,
and in their place were trooping fiends of hideous aspect, who tremblingly fled
before the blessed gift. The victory was of heaven, and St. George, not yet
recovered, but seeing things as through a glass, knelt before his good lance and
offered up his prayers to it.
to it. He thought his weapon had gained the day; in
truth, his impulse had been so sudden that all remembrance of having trans-
fixed his talisman had passed from him. So he prayed to his lance-poor
knight, whose reason lay hidden for the time-and reverentially addressing
the point, he said, "O lance! companion of St. George who now apostrophizes
thee! How great art thou! How hast thou served thy master! To thee he
30
kneels in gratitude! Fail him not, O lance! let thy good point work mightily
for him!"
ST. GEORGE HIS FURTHER ADVENTURES.
He knew not what he said, but as he heedlessly regarded the barb whereon.
the talisman was fixed, a mist seemed to disperse from his sight, an oppressive
weight left his brain, he appeared to wake from some strange dream; and, no
longer mad, arose with thankfulness in his heart to the God who had restored
him. "Blessed talisman!" he said, "thou art indeed potent to aid and to
revive; I value thee as the minister in secret of Truth and Right, and pray
thee to desert me never! Not that my heart is wanting in stoutness, but God is
over all; and mortal hands alone cannot presume to cope with secret fiends!
""
ST. GEORGE HIS FURTHER ADVENTURES.
31
1.
CHAPTER VI.
The Ancient Cross--The Monastery-The Dark Pool-The Dwarf of Icalon arises and bids him
Despair-St. George's Determination-The Sable Knight-The Combat-Approach of Monks
-"Victory for the Right!"-St. George's Conquest-Invitation to the Monastery-His
Arrival-His Sleep-Surprised by Traitor Monk-Retribution-St. George, fearing Priestly
Vengeance, Flies.
PROCEEDING, our knight sighted a beaten track which led to a monastery in
the distance, and, pressing on, speedily gained a position whence the full pro-
spect lay visible. An ancient and curiously-wrought cross rose from the valley,
whose centre was formed by a pool, stagnant and shrouded with green film,
alike noxious to eye and smell. The mountain rose beyond, well wooded for
half its height. And the vale was soft to his horse's hoof, as though nature
had laid down her best velvet for the occasion. Yet the place eemed cursed—
a very devil's decoy as you would have said. Ambling playfully, St. George's
steed went on, but suddenly started back. The knight then saw an uncouth,
dwarfed creature some fifty paces in front, and without difficulty he recognized
the misshapen gaoler of his confinement.
"Ho, ho!" that miserable deformity cried, "ho, ho! thou lovest me so
greatly, Sir Knight, that thou must needs come again to solicit my friendship
and protection! Would I could extend them! but for once I must refuse
thee. I cannot hope, in truth, to welcome thee as heretofore; the sweet
dainties which I would give to thee, wert thou my guest (thou rememberest?),
are withheld." Then lowering his harsh voice, and ceasing his bantering tone
and language, the dwarf said, "Sir Knight! if thou hast to make thy peace
with heaven, be chary of the moments; for he cometh who will make thee cap-
tive to his lance, and absolve thee with his sword!" Thus speaking the dwarf
disappeared.
St. George, warming to the threatened encounter, adjusted his gear and
habiliments, then rode on towards the monastery; but as he approached the
clatter of hoofs sounded, and he beheld the sable knight, Icalon, advancing at a
gallop.
32
ST. GEORGE HIS FURTHER ADVENTURES.
Within fair speaking distance, the Seven-Fingered drew rein, and cried,
"Sir Knight, surrender!"
"To whom?" St. George replied "to thee? Not so; I have sworn to
lower thy crest, and, by Heaven! this day I will essay it !"
They spake no more, but made ready for the onset. At the first meeting,
the sable knight strove to strike St. George's visor; but his lance glided
harmlessly by. St. George, too, who had aimed at Icalon's breast, was un-
successful, owing to the rearing of his steed. They were about to engage
again, when two monks drew near, on their way to the monastery.
"For Purity and Inno-
"What do ye?" cried one.
"For God and the Right!" shouted St. George.
cence ! "
"Against whom?"
"Icalon!" the sable knight replied; "the friend of his own friends, and
of others' friends the enemy!"
And the contest was resumed. St. George struck the shield of Icalon on
its central boss, and as that knight reeled in his saddle, St. George grappled
with him; but the dwarf, suddenly appearing, seized our hero's rein, and his
surprised steed leaped wildly aside, thus allowing the afflicted knight to
regain his position and ride back. The dwarf shouted out words of exulta-
tion; and his master, bidding him stand aside, seemed disposed to renew the
encounter, but, quickly changing his mind, he galloped away into the recesses
of the forest; his attendant imp mocking the efforts of St. George to follow-
his horse, terrified by the dwarf's presence, refusing to advance a step. Then
the monks approached, and, with courteous words, besought our hero to go
with them.
"Champion of the Truth!" they said, "we know thee by thy proud
bearing and the device on thy shield. Accompany us to our monastery, and
we will refresh thee for the morrow. Right gallantly hast thou sustained the
fray; and hospitality shall ever be given to him who is stout of heart in a
good cause."
Icalon's imp had followed his master, and, no enemy appearing, St. George
bowed to the welcome of his friends, and signified his acquiescence. They
entered the monastery; and, having seen his horse stalled and fed, St. George
sat down with his holy companions to a frugal repast. He recounted certain
of his adventures, including that with the murdered knights, and found his
story by no means surprised the listening monks. Others had joined them,
and one especially glanced ever and anon at our hero with a peculiar expres-
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33
sion in his eye boding no good. St. George noted it, but said nothing; and
presently, accepting the offer, was shown by the first monk to his sleeping
He
apartment, prepared with exquisite cleanliness, but spare of comforts.
was, however, too much the soldier to have many personal wants; and throwing
himself on the humble truckle-bed, he essayed to sleep. The recollection of that
sinister monk forbade slumber, and he lay awake musingly. The sun went
down behind the distant hills, and the stars came out in the clear sky. One
bright particular orb fixed his attention, and he gazed at it long and earnestly,
unable to divest himself of its mysterious influence. He could hear the
monks at prayer; then silence spread around, and the monastery slept in the
moonlight. Contemplating the bright star, his thoughts reverted to bygone
days, when companion knights, now dead, had shared with him many a peril
and adventure; and at length he relapsed into that peculiar state between
sleep and wakefulness. The disguised and cautious tread of a foot suddenly
caught his ear, and regaining his powers, he listened as he lay. Not stirring,
save with wary hand to loose his dagger, he perceived the sinister monk softly
enter the room, and with bated step regard him. The intruder stood revealed
in the moonlight, his hand grasping a long and glittering blade.
"Malgreda!" he murmured, "assist me now, and by thy spells confound
Icalon's foe and thine, that he awake not, save where spirits groan in tor-
ment!"
With a stride he reached the bed, and raised his weapon. Quick as the
lightning's flash, St. George seized with one hand the descending arm, and
with the other gagged his assailant. Then, springing lightly from his couch,
he wrested the monk's dagger from his grasp, and buried it in his heart.
'Twas the work of a few moments, and without a sound save the checked
groan of the perfidious wretch as he fell dead. Removing his hand from the
monk's mouth, St. George surveyed the corpse, and, perceiving a glittering
substance beneath its gown, undid the fastenings, when there appeared a com-
plete body of chain armour!
"So!" muttered our knight, "the truth stands undisguised! For the base
purposes of thy master Icalon, thou hast adopted a holy apparel, and dwelt in
this monastery as a saintly monk! Of a truth, thy fellows here know it not,
and, as I have slain thee, their undeserved malediction may fall on my head,
though I essay to prove its injustice. Doubtless thou hast sojourned with
them for a time, and they regarded thee as a brother. I fear nor man nor
devil, yet am I loth to receive the Church's anathema! Let me perform au
office for thee, thou wolf; and then, away!"
C
34
ST. GEORGE: HIS FURTHER ADVENTURES.
With that, St. George stripped the dead monk of his external dress, and,
leaving him on the bed-a tall and portly man, clad in bright mail-he
adjusted his helm, and departed. Passing through the silent corridors, he,
without difficulty, discovered the stall wherein lay his good horse, and,
leading him forth, regained the path outside, and cantered away in the moon-
light.
ST. GEORGE: HIS FURTHER ADVENTURES.
35
CHAPTER VII.
St. George's further Adventures and Progress-His Arrival at the Court-The Wounded Knight—
St. George's Oath-The Conflict-St. George's Prowess-His Honours and Departure.
PASSING through the valley, St. George urged his steed up a shelving bank,
and gained high ground. Following this, he perceived it was an enclosed
plain; and, spurring to its limit, came to a great iron door which resisted his
noisy efforts to open it. At length he espied a parchment hanging from one
corner; and reading what appeared thereon in quaint characters, he cried
aloud, "O potent talisman! what a friend art thou to him who bears thee !"
With that he, drawing the gift from his breast, touched with it the massive
gate, which flew open at once, and disclosed a beautiful garden wherein bloomed
all manner of sweet-smelling flowers. He rode down a walk sided with
prickly thorn, and had not proceeded a furlong when the cry of distress arose;
and looking about he descried a man of great stature bearing away a damsel
whose shrieks gradually became faint. Urging his horse, St. George gained
the spot just as the maiden ceased to cry. She had swooned. "Hold, rascal!"
he shouted; "unloose the damsel, or my sword shall acquaint itself with thy
heart!"
The man set down his burden, and, with spear advanced, awaited the attack.
It was not delayed. St. George, leaping from his saddle, with a sudden blow
struck aside the fellow's weapon, and with a sturdy grasp shook him as he
would a leaf. With that, the fellow prayed for mercy, and avowed himself a
follower of the Seven-Fingered.
"And what doest thou here?" cried St. George, still holding him tightly.
"My master commissioned me to carry away this maiden," said the poltroon,
"and I dare not refuse. Otherwise I wish her no injury, for I know her
not!"
Spurning him, St. George bent over the fainting form and strove to revive
her, but suddenly raising his head he was just in time to catch the robber's
That wretch had taken opportunity to draw his dagger, thinking he
could strike St. George as he bent.
arm.
c 2
36
ST. GEORGE HIS FURTHER ADVENTURES.
Vengeance flashing from his eyes, our hero with his mailed right hand seized
his assailant by the throat, and maintained his clutch until the terrible death-
rattle told that he was no more. Then, flinging him away, St. George re-
turned to his ministering task, and was rejoiced to perceive signs of animation.
His fair charge opened her beautiful eyes, and, as they sank beneath the glance
of her preserver, blushed deeply. By degrees he assured her of safety, and she
told her tale.
Her father tended the garden in which they stood, and as she frequently
accompanied him from his cottage, she had (it seemed) attracted the attention
of Icalon, who owned the garden, and was accustomed to visit it occasionally.
That morning she had come earlier than usual, her father being absent on
another errand; and while tending a parterre the wretch who had just expiated
his attempt had assailed her and striven to carry her away.
St. George would, perhaps, have delayed his departure and, indeed, there
was that in the lovely damsel's eye to stay a far less susceptible knight-but
she chanced to speak of the Court then being holden some leagues away, and
of the beauty of the president Queen. So, escorting her to her father's cottage
in the plain, St. George, with a kiss on her fair brow, bade her adieu! For an
hour or more he rode along, and at length perceived a city's walls. He recog-
nized them as an enemy's by the early sentinels who were already beginning
to stud the ramparts. As he approached a cross-bow was levelled, and the
shaft grazed his plume. With a laugh he rode along as before, and, passing the
angle of the city, beheld a great concourse of knights and men surrounding the
steps of a lordly castle-gate. A majestic figure stood thereon, her brow encir-
cled by a crown, and a light armour of mail covering her body. Her train was
upborne by two youthful pages, and behind her stood lords and ladies (as they
seemed), gorgeously arrayed, but with alarmed countenances. Pressing forward,
St. George saw a wounded knight reclining in the arms of two good cavaliers,
who were bearing him to the feet of the crowned figure. The crowd gave way,
and St. George with modest demeanour presented himself before the Queen, for
such she was. He was welcomed right graciously, and by-and-by discovered
that an enterprise was on foot (headed by her Majesty) to subdue the hostile
city whose dark walls were in sight. The wounded knight had gone forth to
reconnoitre, and had been attacked by a troop of Saracens who had unhorsed
and would have slain him, but for the valour displayed by the two knights,
who had rescued him after a gallant struggle. As St. George received this
story at the lips of one in blue armour, he raised his hand to heaven, and
said, "If I write not my name in characters of blood on yon city whose num-
+
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ST. GEORGE HIS FURTHER ADVENTURES.
37
bers assailed an individual knight, may my crest be shorn and my spurs lopped
off!" And he besought the Queen to give him the foremost place in the
coming fray. She willingly accorded the boon, for his name was an earnest of
success.
As the sun rose high in the heavens, the army went forth to battle, St.
George heading the van. With clumsy but effective machines the iron-
studded gate was broken in, and our hero dashed forward dealing death around.
Nought seemed to withstand his prowess, and before the day was two hours
older the banner of England floated from the citadel, and the battle was lost
and won.
Then what rejoicings! and how the Queen honoured her noble St.
George! But he had another duty to perform: Anasie was not yet rescued;
Icalon still breathed pollution and dismay; the sorcerer had power to afflict
the good and to defend the evil! So, with many courtesies, the Queen unwil-
lingly parted from him at his request, and St. George rode away with the
acclamations of the whole army ringing in his ears.
W
38
ST. GEORGE HIS FURTHER ADVENTURES.
CHAPTER VIII.
Adventures in the Valley-The Cheating Voices-Malgreda's Sorceries-Encounters the Friendly
Knights who had previously released him from the Dragon-He recounts his subsequent
Adventures-One of the Group scoffs at them-The Combat—“ Knight, thou dost press me
Sore!"-Victory-Avowal of the Vanquished-The Maiden Anasie-Has been carried off!
Her Father's Stronghold-The Secret Fastness-The Knight's Death.
ST. GEORGE had not proceeded far when he descried the ugly dwarf squatting
beneath a cliff, and watching him attentively. As the lion cares not to trample
on the rat, so our knight scorned to pollute his blade with the blood of so
mean a creature as Icalon's imp; but as he remembered how cautiously he
must act to rescue Anasie, and that it was indispensable to root out her enemies.
wherever and whenever found, he started forth at a gallop to slay the misera-
ble wretch who mocked him evidently. As St. George neared the cliff, the
dwarf sprang nimbly from point to point, and at length obtained a sure footing
on the summit, wherefrom his sardonic laugh floated down on the breeze. Our
knight, giving up the attempt, rode on and entered a valley. Pausing a
moment he looked towards the rock on which he had seen the dwarf; but that
creature was no longer there. Almost ashamed at his zeal in so base a matter,
St. George proceeded, and, having ridden a mile or more, found himself on the
margin of a great morass, whose pitchy waters shone heavily in the sun, as
ebony gleams before a lighted mirror. Dank and baneful exhalations rose from
the unhealthy pools, and the sod of the valley had rotted around. There seemed
no path; and St. George sat his horse despairingly. But suddenly he per-
ceived the figure of a youth clambering the hill to his right hand.
boy!" he shouted, "what ho!" The youth heard him not, and again our hero
challenged him. As his voice sounded through the valley and echoed from
cliff and scar, the figure was hid by a conical hill, and St. George beheld him
"Ho,
no more.
But a loud voice cried from afar, "Sir Knight, come hither!" And another
way
voice responded from an opposite direction, “Hither, Sir Knight, lies the
And with that the distant peaks, the water-courses, the chasms, and the air
itself, became alive with outcries; and the universal words were, "Hither, come
hither!"
יי!
ST. GEORGE: HIS FURTHER ADVENTURES.
39
Then a troop of armless and legless fiends, whose matted hair was bespattered
with the foul substance of the bog, arose from its depths and rolled over each
other until their memberless trunks were within a lance-length of the knight;
and these, with hideous gibberings and mockings, cried, "Hither, come hither!
St. George, we will greet thee right nobly! Come hither, come hither!" And
as they sank beneath the foetid waters, the centre of the morass opened, and a
From the cross-tree
tall gallows ascended, remaining fixed above its surface.
swung a figure in mail, and in it our knight recognized his double. Then, as
the ghastly spectacle disappeared, a flaming scroll, held at its ends by demons
whose deep eyes blazed malevolently, spread across the morass, and in letters
of black St. George read, "Such shall be the fate of Malgreda's foe!"
The beleaguering voices had meanwhile continued to mock him from every
hill; but as the flaming scroll and its supporting fiends passed away, they
"So these
ceased, and all was silence. St. George laughed long and loud.
are the weapons with which the sorcerer thinks to slay my courage and my
hopes together! Ho, ho, 'tis a merry masque this! a merry, merry masque !
Verily, Malgreda understands me not, else would he never tempt me to
laughter with these follies! They might terrify the souls of some; but I have
vanquished realities too often to quail before appearances now! By Heaven,
Malgreda, thou but whettest the blade that shall exterminate thee and thy foul con-
federacy when the good time arrives!" Thus saying, St. George retraced his
steps, and rode into a plain well wooded to the right, and rich with verdure.
Proceeding, he beheld a dilapidated wall of rough stone, half enclosing the
plain, and having watch-towers at irregular distances. He also perceived
several cromlechs, cairns, and stones placed transversely on others; but
these things engrossed him not. He saw them, but he saw besides what called
a glow of pleasure to his cheek. Three furlongs away were a body of knights,
and his quick eye recognized them as the friends who had received him on
their shield when escaping from the tower of the dragon. How cheerily they
greeted him!
How their voices resounded with welcome-welcome to the
Red-Cross Knight! From them he learned that the plain where they stood
had been, in times bygone, a neutral ground whereon altars were raised to
Minerva, and the desolated wall built for their protection. That evening, on
the verdant carpet, while the rich sunset glorified the scene, St. George made
merry with his comrades, and De Tracy's songs received the applause of
voice and goblet. Our hero, as in duty bound, told certain of his adventures,
and the listening knights vied with each other in their admiration. But
there was one, Rodolph the Red-Haired, who affected to scoff at the narrative,
40
ST. GEORGE: HIS FURTHER ADVENTURES.
and, inflamed by wine, started upon his feet and said, "I have heard of a
beast in Ethiopia who eats men by the score, but never have I seen him!"
"There are many things thou hast not seen!" St. George replied, with
scornful coldness; "for example, thou hast not seen the knight who would
stoop to use thee as his footboy!" "This to me !" cried Rodolph; "by all I
hold sacred, I will reckon with thee anon!" "Thou swearest," St. George
responded, "by thine own coward self; but, an thou desirest it, I will talk to
thee at lance's point on the morrow. Thou hast given the lie to my story;
I will offer thee to the gods as its moral !" So it was ordered that St. George
and the Red-Haired should try their prowess next day; and with that the
quarrel seemed to terminate, and the brimming cup went round, and the
knights made merry until the evening shades prevailed.
With the morrow came our knights to the combat; Rodolph the Red-Haired
bestriding a noble Arab, and St. George mounted on his own well-tried horse.
At the first shock, St. George bore his opponent to the earth; but, leaping to
his feet, Rodolph drew his great two-handed sword, and dared St. George to
meet him. Our knight, giving his animal to a squire, advanced, unsheathing
his own terrible blade, whose temper had been proved in many a bloody
encounter. Long and fiercely they engaged, Rodolph acquitting himself
above all expectation, his blows resounding as they met the protecting shield
of St. George. He for a time defended himself only, wishing to prove the real
capabilities of the Red-Haired; but at last he cried, "Rodolph! I know thee
now, but thou knowest me not. Thou canst not make me bend; now shalt
thou break to me !" With that, assuming the offensive, St. George smote the
knight to his knees with a great blow, and called upon him to acknowledge his
defeat. "Not to thee, mushroom!" cried the envious and malignant knight;
"with another weapon shalt thou meet me on more equal terms," and throwing
aside his Damascus blade, he drew his dagger. The assembled knights would
have stayed further combat, but St. George's blood was roused, and he resolved
to punish his enemy. So, armed with dagger only, he accepted the gage,
and insisted on the Red-Haired's right to demand it. That unfortunate would
now have shrunk from the conflict; he had counted on his comrades' inter-
position. But as they, one and all, noted his dastard bearing, the right was
accorded, and the conflict recommenced. I need not detail how St. George,
after sorely wounding his antagonist, disarmed him. The defeated knight
rolled at his feet in dying agonies, and St. George gloomily surveyed him, with
a relenting severity in his eye. But he became hard as iron, and relentless as
Fate, when the name of Malgreda passed the lips of Rodolph; and ere the
:
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ST. GEORGE: HIS FURTHER ADVENTURES.
41
recreant expired (absolved on the holy relic which St. George bore) he disclosed
sufficient to establish a complicity between Malgreda, Icalon, and himself. His
agonies, however, were such as to confuse his confession, and St. George could
only glean such facts as these:-That, in an hour of temptation, Rodolph had
joined himself to the sorcerer and the Seven-Fingered; that Malgreda's
daughter had been carried off to her father's stronghold in the mountains,
where she was held captive at the time. And as the Red-Haired breathed his
guilty spirit away, our hero, awakening to the importance of immediate action,
took leave of the knights, and departed.
42
ST. GEORGE HIS FURTHER ADVENTURES.
CHAPTER IX.
Adventures-The Impish Attendant of Icalon-St. George Encounters the Seven-Fingered-
The Conflict-Death of Icalon-St. George's Vengeance on the Dwarf-The Prototype of
Mazeppa-Terrible Approach to Malgreda's Stronghold-Dangers of the Path.
COMING to a place where cross-roads met, St. George, dismounting, elevated
his lance to the zenith, and let it fall. Then, following the way it pointed,
he in due time arrived at a fountain of crystal clearness, whose waters flashed
in the sun, and reflected his mail as he bent over them. Around the marble
basin were these words :-" The knight who drinketh of this pure element may
fitly bless the giver!" St. George drank long and gratefully; and as he
raised his head a new ardour seemed to possess him. "O unknown bene-
factor!" he cried, "the friend of him who knows thee not, accept the tribute
of a thankful heart at this thy shrine! The gift is doubly precious, because
thou benefitest him who can never return thy favour." And filling his saddle-
horn, he ministered unto his good steed, and departed with a prayer for the
repose of the donor's soul, if dead he were.
As he rode on, the path grew tangled with weeds, and many a glittering
snake glided past in alarm. The air became thick and hot, and vapours
exhaled from the parched underwood, and darkness gathered about him.
From covert and den, almost obscured, he heard the cries of wild animals,
and swooping carrion-birds shrieked dismally. The gloom increased, and it
was as though the shades of night had fallen. His path narrowed, until the
faithful horse he bestrode could scarcely proceed. Then, suddenly entering a
forest, he descended into a delicious dell, fragrant with the scents of flowers,
and resounding with the sweet notes of bright-plumaged birds, who sang from
the branches above. Here all was light and gay; the sunbeams gilding the
rich verdure, and flooding the distant hills with ambery radiance. If before
he had traversed the purgatorial depths, he was now in an Elysium. Pre-
sently St. George emerged from the dell, and rode into an open country. A
league before him shone the sun-lit turrets of a strong castle, built on the
mountain-top, and looking towards the Orient. St. George spurred by a clump
of trees, whose gnarled trunks and fantastically-twisted boughs suggested
ST. GEORGE HIS FURTHER ADVENTURES.
43
fiends in strife; and, as his horse reared and uttered a cry of terror, he
observed the deformed dwarf attentively regarding him with malicious eyes.
But another figure engrossed the knight. He beheld the gigantic Icalon
advancing towards him at full speed, his sable armour gleaming as he came
on, and his long lance levelled. Couching his own, St. George struck spur,
and, with steady arm, directed his point at the knight's broad chest. Icalon,
swerving in his saddle, passed unharmed beyond him, and, wheeling, returned
to the charge. This time St. George aimed at his visor, but, dexterously
avoiding the thrust, the Seven-Fingered pierced our hero's shield, and carried
away a part at his spear's point. Again, while the dwarf laughed aloud and
stamped his misshapen feet with unholy rapture, they met midway. Alas for
Icalon! the lance of St. George, quivering to its stock, but bravely sus-
taining the encounter, struck his enemy full in the shoulder, and passed
through a cubit's length or more, unhorsing and prostrating him on the plain.
Leaping from saddle, St. George unsheathed his sword, and cried, "Now,
""
!
yield thee, recreant, to thy conqueror
He spake to one who heard him not: Icalon was dead.
St. George
assured himself of this; then, taking the bridle of the tenantless horse, gal-
loped towards the affrighted dwarf, who would have fled. But our knight
seized that crooked wretch by the nape, and, with a grasp confirmatory of his
intentions, proceeded to lash him to the tail of Icalon's horse, using its dis-
severed bridle for that purpose. "Now, devil or dwarf!" he said, "thou
shalt be my messenger to him who loves thee! To Malgreda commend thy
captor knight, and tell him, if thou diest not by the way, his sworn foe will
greet him anon!"
Smiting the animal's flank with his sword-hilt, it sped like the wind; and
as the dwarf's afflicted yells became fainter in the distance, St. George re-
turned to the body of his late master. With a great blow he separated its
neck; then, elevating the grim head of Icalon on his own spear, planted it in
the earth, and rode away. A parchment which our hero had found within
the fallen knight's hauberk instructed him whither to proceed; and, vowing
speedy vengeance on the sorcerer, he galloped past the gnarled trunks, and
made for a far-off mountain. There, changing his course, St. George directed
his horse towards the setting sun, and beneath a spreading chesnut halted.
Here he scrutinized the parchment, and, presently remounting, entered a wild
pass, from whose overhanging rocks the mountain springs dripped ceaselessly.
By-and-by he alighted, and, with a good hold of his horse's rein, led him
down a declivity whose base was dark and terrible. Cautiously treading an
44
ST. GEORGE HIS FURTHER ADVENTURES.
uneven path, the besetting crags frowning above him, St. George forded a
stream and arrived before a great block of granite. This, touched with his
talisman, slowly moved from its place, disclosing a gulf of no great depth. Our
hero, encouraging his steed, which at first seemed restive, but was soothed
into compliance, leaped down, and the horse after him. They passed through
an arched vault, and were presently on a broad highway. Here St. George
mounted and rode on. For a while no obstacle appeared; but, as he gained
a point where the road opened into a broad plain, a monstrous beast disputed
the path, with lowered horns and bristling hair. Our hero had never en-
countered a more formidable enemy, save the great dragon; but instantly,
with lance in rest, he charged the monster, and pierced it to the brain. A
few paces brought him to a stone pile, which, entering, he perceived was the
lodge of an enormous stronghold, whose massive gates stood full before him.
With uplifted eyes, he said, "Now, Heaven assist the right! Malgreda, I
come to prove thy boasted power!"
P
ST. GEORGE: HIS FURTHER ADVENTURES.
CHAPTER X. AND LAST.
45
His Advance-Anasie-The Alarm-The
The Fortress in the Moonlight - The Casement
Obstacles-Malgreda-The Talisman-The General Dissolution-Anasie's Tears-Revelations
―Their Departure.
In vain with heavy blows he assailed the gate, which refused further pro-
gress. But no sooner did St. George touch, with his talisman, its iron-studded
face, than, swinging heavily inwards, the path was free. Securing his steed
outside, he mounted a winding stair, and found himself in a noble corridor.
As he debated which way to proceed, a voice, whose sadness was apparent,
met his ear; and, darting swiftly onward, he ascended another and higher
flight of oaken steps, which brought him out upon the first leads of the
fortress. And the moon flooded all around with her gentle light, bringing
forth angle and turret in silver prominence, while the recesses of the cas-
tellated summit deepened by very contrast.
But it was not the loving
influences of the moon that absorbed our knight. A casement, opened to the
evening's balmy breath, arrested his glance; and he beheld the chief object of
his search-Anasie-bemoaning her fate, and, with reverential eyes upcast,
murmuring such words as had sounded on his ear.
"Anasie!" he cried, "weep no more-thy deliverer is beside thee!"
The damsel started from her kneeling posture, with alarm depicted on her
fair face. But as she perceived the knight she momentarily brightened with
hope, and responded softly, "Then my dream was true! O yes, Sir Knight
-deliver me, I pray thee, from this foul place for evermore!"
As the liberated bird flies from its prison, so Anasie bounded through the
window; and then, as though ashamed of her impulsiveness, bent with clasped
hands and head downcast. St. George raised her, and whispered,
"Fair
maiden! be resolute as thou art beautiful. I have dared much in thy cause.
Trust to me now, and thou shalt soon be far away!"
She glanced at him for a moment; but in that glance he read his fate and
hers. And immediately he led her forth, but as his foot touched the upper
stair, a great uproar saluted him, and the clashing of arms was heard. At full
speed, and bearing Anasie on his shoulder, our knight recovered the corridor,
46
3
but his advance was disputed. A band of grim skeletons confronted him; their
ghastly arms outstretched and holding flaming swords whose points dripped
blood. "God and the Right!" he cried; "give way, ye creations of a
sorcerer's arts!"
ST. GEORGE HIS FURTHER ADVENTURES.
But they replied only with one prolonged and hollow groan, and stood as
before. Then St. George extended the sacred gift he carried, and the figures
passed into air, while thunders rolled around and lightnings blazed throughout
the corridor. Rushing on with his fair burden, St. George descended the lower
staircase and regained his steed. Mounting with Anasie he deemed the adven-
ture at an end; but as he wound down a declivity, the alarms sounding
behind him even louder than at first, a gigantic figure with extended arms.
crossed his path. The monster wore neither coat of mail nor hauberk; but a
crimson sash was wound about him, and he bore in his right hand a rod of
ebony. "Vain knight," he said, sepulchrally, "what doest thou? Darest
thou to oppose me with thy mortal glance? Knowest thou not I have power
to imprison thee in the winds-to enclose thee for all time in polar ice-to
chain thee in the earth's bowels, whose ardent heat should torment thee till
the crack of doom? Not with lance and helmet do I subdue thee, but with a
stronger power than they."
"Thinkest thou so ?" cried St. George; "if thou art he whom I look for,
thou shouldest beseech, not threaten!"
The giant laughed aloud. "Ere I annihilate thy puny life," he answered,
"thou shalt learn my name.
Behold in me one who has powers which fools
revile and wise men respect; one who controls the ends of life and death,
whose strength can only fail before a strength which thou hast not. Sir
Knight! in me behold MALGREDA !”
"And in me thine executioner !" replied St. George, as he extended his
talisman.
The discomfited sorcerer threw up his great arms, and, as his ebon wand
dropped from his fingers, with a wild cry of horror and defeat fell heavily to
the earth, and expired.
"Thus perish those," our hero said, "who dare to doubt the omnipotence of
Heaven!" And putting spurs to his horse he rode on. As he gained the
mountain's base, a thousand thunders shook it, and turning his head he beheld
the distant stronghold of the dead sorcerer shaken as by an earthquake. As
he gazed, its walls, its turrets, bastions, all disappeared from his sight in a
great abyss which opened to receive them. And the thunders ceased to roll, the
fire of heaven to flash, and a dead silence prevailed.
:
1
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UNIL
OF
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ST. GEORGE HIS FURTHER ADVENTURES.
47
"Why art thou distressed ?" her knight asked, with momen-
Anasie wept.
tary displeasure.
"O my lord!" she murmured, while her tears fell fast as rain, "MAL-
GREDA was a bad, bad man; my enemy and the hater of all; but still my sire !"
"Not so, my Anasie! Malgreda took thy mother to wife, and thou wert born
to her; but thou wert born ere she beheld him, and thy sire was Roderick, my
old friend!"
Then he repeated to her the story of her murdered parent's presence, and as
she listened the tears of Anasie ceased to fall.
And the brave St. George bore her away to a distant land, where the memory
of his gallant deeds is still preserved.
THE END.
London: Printed by JACK and EVANS, 16A, Great Windmill-street.
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