Page:The Enchanted Knights; or The Chronicle of the Three Sisters.djvu/28

16 then, by wagging his tail, quickly drove the boat ashore. The count took his trout home, had them boiled, and, as well as the countess and the handsome Bertha, found this Carthusian dinner very much to their taste. The young lady did not know how dearly she would have to pay for her dinner. Meanwhile the moon had waned six times, and the count nearly forgotten his adventure, but when the horned Aster began to fill for the seventh time, he became thoughtful upon the impending catastrophe, and, unwilling to be a spectator of the coming scene, undertook a short journey into the country. In the sultry hour of noon, the day when Luna was at her full, a troop of stately horsemen approached the castle. The countess, astonished at seeing so many visitors, knew not whether she ought to open the gate or not, but as a well known knight announced himself she no longer hesitated. At the time when tournaments were held at the castle, the season of the count’s wealth and prosperity, this knight had many times fought in the lists, received the reward of his valour from the finely moulded hands of Bertha, and led the dance with her. Since the change in the fortunes of the family he had disappeared as well as the other knights. The good