Page:Tales of old Lusitania.djvu/180

164 in a thick forest, and here a great storm arose: the thunder crashed, thunderbolts fell on the earth, and great flashes of lightning seemed to set the world on fire. The princess, terrified beyond description, cried out aloud, "Lord Jesus, help me!" She had hardly spoken these words, when suddenly the tempest was stilled, the carriage with green lackeys vanished from sight, and the gentleman of the green blinds—who was no other than the Devil himself—the moment he heard the blessed name of the Saviour, sank to the depths of the infernal regions.

When the poor princess found herself suddenly alone and unprotected in so wild a place without a house near to shelter her, she cried to Our Lady, promising that if anyone should come to save her, she would keep silence for a whole year. She had not long to wait, for she soon heard the tramping of horses, followed by the sound of a gun; and a moment after a young prince, who was out on a hunting excursion, came into view, mounted on a noble steed, and surrounded by a troop of cavaliers.

The prince was astonished to find in such wilds a lonely maiden weeping, whom by her exalted appearance, and the magnificent robes she had on, he judged to be a royal princess. He rode up to her, and, dismounting, accosted her with great respect, and said, "O lovely maid, who has left you here, alone and exposed to the weather, and the wild beasts that