Page:The Enchanted Knights; or The Chronicle of the Three Sisters.djvu/101

Rh last day Waidewuth conducted his guest into a separate apartment to drink with him a confidential goblet; and when the wine had warmed their hearts, and the thermometer of confidence had risen by degrees, the host took his guest’s hand, and thus spoke:—“One thing more, dear brother, ere we separate. Accept this ring, not as a present but as a loan, in token of my boundless friendship; it will serve for any period you may require it; and, listen to a secret which will prove to you the amount of my feelings and confidence.

“The whole world believes me to be a sorcerer, still I know as little of the black art as a baby, but the world always attributes to princes qualities which they do not possess. I have the means of foretelling by the stars, but my whole sorcery consists in this ring, given me by a sage on his death-bed. It contains a small demon, who bears no malice; he is quick, intelligent and faithful, and can adopt any form his owner wishes him to take. It was he who in the shape of an empty barrel carried me over the sea. He was embodied in the splinter which changed into a hawk for your amusement, which returned to my hand, was carried by me to your residence, amused the court by his different tricks, and procured me at the