Page:The Enchanted Knights; or The Chronicle of the Three Sisters.djvu/49

Rh ing on a nest built upon a millenary oak. Reginald, greatly rejoiced at the discovery, hid among the bushes to await till the eagle would again resume its flight, and, after seven hours of anxious expectation, he saw the bird depart, then stepping out, he loudly hallooed:—“Adelaide, dear sister! If you dwell upon this lofty oak answer me! I am Reginald, the child of wonder! your loving brother, who seeks you, endeavouring to break the potent spell that keeps you captive.” As he ceased to speak a soft female voice answered as from the cloud above:—“If you are Reginald, the child of wonder, be welcome to your sister Adelaide, ascend the tree to clasp the sorrowing in your arms.” The knight joyfully tried to mount the tree, but in vain; its compass was far too large to be spanned, and the branches too high to be reached; he therefore went around searching for the means of accomplishing his purpose, when a silken ladder descended from the tree by whose assistance he soon reached the eagle’s nest—it was spacious and firmly built, like a balcony erected on a lime tree. He found his sister sitting under a canopy, covered on the exterior with cere-cloth, and its interior lined with rose-coloured satin. On her lap lay an eagle’s egg, which she was fondling. The