Page:The Enchanted Knights; or The Chronicle of the Three Sisters.djvu/65

Rh frightened the duck to cause its flight, and followed its course through the forest, but the duck being unable to hide any longer, flew towards the pond, when the eagle darted down from the sky, and seized and tore it with its large talons. The dying duck dropped a golden egg into the pond. The attentive Reginald knew also how to defeat this new deceit; rubbing the fish scales between his hands, a whale like dolphin immediately appeared on the surface of the water, caught the egg in his mouth, and spat it upon the shore. The knight, pleased at what had occured, broke open the golden egg with a stone, when lo! a little key fell out, which he triumphantly recognised as the key of the enchantment. Rapidly he returned to the steel portal; the dwarfish key did not seem to fit the gigantic padlock, yet still he thought it best to try, and scarcely had the key touched the lock, when behold! it flew asunder, the heavy iron bolts unshot themselves, and the steel gates flew open. In high glee he entered the sombre grotto, from which several doors opened into as many subterranean rooms, each of them most magnificently adorned with oriental riches, and illuminated with spermacetti tapers.

Reginald passed through all, and from the last, he entered a chamber, where lying upon a couch, was a